Customer Testimonials: How to Showcase Your Credibility

That sounds complicated, but it’s basically just creating a homepage or landing page designed in a strategic way to get users to convert on one main desired action, and in turn, raise the ROI of your PPC marketing campaigns.

The ultimate goal of conversion rate optimization (CRO) is to build pages that better engage your target audience so you can have better lead generation in your online marketing strategy. It also helps improve search engine optimization (SEO) by increasing user engagement and lowering bounce rate, which are favorable search engine signals.

Landing page optimization is essential for successful campaigns, and unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach (although that would make our jobs a lot easier).

Let’s talk about the ways you can get high-converting landing pages.

7 Landing Page Optimization Best Practices

1. The 5-Second Usability Test

Your eyes are your best free auditing tool, and it only takes five seconds to prioritize what’s important.

The 5-Second Usability Test is a method of user behavior research that helps you measure what valuable information users take away and what impression they get within the first five seconds of looking at a landing page. Is the landing page effectively communicating its intended message?

There are three questions that you need to be able to answer within five seconds:

1. Who are you (the business)?
2. What product/service do you provide?
3. What’s in it for me (the potential customer)?

If your webpage does not address these questions, it’s time to reevaluate your landing page copywriting and web design for better user experience.

2. Decrease Distractions

The ideal ratio between the number of things you can do on a given page to the number of things you want people to do is 1:1.

The only action people should be able to take on your landing page is the one action you want them to do. That might be downloading a whitepaper, submitting a phone number for a consultation, or making a purchase. Other links, popups, or excessive offers can distract from the conversion goal.

Clean, clutter-free functionality always wins. Make use of white space so the eye can smoothly flow from one landing page element to the next.

3. Design for Motivation First, Then for Ability

Landing page design isn’t just about choosing bright, contrasting colors or using popular templates. While those tactics can help, they’re not the end all, be all. Enter the Fogg Behavior Model: B = MAT (Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Trigger).

To improve landing page performance:

• Increase motivation with urgency or scarcity. Try countdown timers or limited-time offers.
• Increase ability by making the action feel effortless. Fast page load time, mobile-friendly design, and simple form fields are key.
• Use a strong trigger, like a value-based CTA.

One practical way to track success here is to monitor key metrics like bounce rate, click-through rates, and conversion rates using Google Analytics.

4. Create Calls to Value vs. Calls to Action

Typical calls to action (CTAs) like “Submit” or “Sign Up” are bland and give nothing back to the user.

Instead, give your call-to-action button a value proposition. For example, instead of “Book Now,” try “Get Your Free Quote Today.”

Including that “why” element in your CTA gives users a reason to act. A/B testing different CTA variants is a great way to benchmark effectiveness.

5. Add Social Proof and Build Trust

If people don’t know you, they need a reason to trust you.

Adding trust signals and social proof can make a major difference:

• Customer testimonials
• Awards or media mentions
• Case studies
• Satisfaction guarantees or return policies
• Logos from well-known partners
• Links to social media profiles

Including this information directly on your landing page helps build credibility with customers and reduces their hesitation to give you their contact information.

6. Answer Users’ Questions Before They Think of Them

Your landing page should answer common objections before the user even has to ask.

Some questions you should proactively answer:

• What happens after I click this?
• How much does it cost?
• What if I’m not satisfied?
• Can I do this on mobile devices?
• Is my personal information safe?

Use landing page optimization tools like heatmap software or session recordings to see where users get stuck. Then adjust your landing page copy and design accordingly.

7. Use Landing Page Testing to Drive Results

Conversion success is rarely achieved on the first attempt. That’s why A/B testing is essential to any effective landing page strategy.

Test different:

• Headlines and subheadings
• CTA button colors or text
• Form lengths
• Imagery or product visuals
• Offers or pricing

Track results in Google Analytics to determine which variants drive better landing page conversion rates. Over time, consistent testing improves landing page performance significantly.

Let’s Build a Better Landing Page, Together

At Digital Strike, we don’t do guesswork. We combine data-backed landing page testing, in-depth persona/demographic research, and CRO strategies tailored to your campaign goals—whether you’re in ecommerce, service, or B2B.

From Google Ads landing pages to organic search SEO-focused templates, we know how to craft high-quality pages that convert. Want your PPC campaigns and landing pages working together to drive real digital marketing growth? Let’s talk.

Contact Digital Strike for a consultation, and let’s make digital lightning strike.

In digital marketing, one of the most common misunderstandings is that PPC campaigns directly influence organic search rankings. We hear it all the time: “If I spend more on Google Ads, will I rank better in organic listings?” The short answer? No. Google has a metaphorical wall between paid ads and organic search. Its algorithms are designed to surface the most relevant organic search results based on quality content, SEO strategy, and user experience—not based on your cost per click (CPC) or pay per click (PPC) budget.

That said, SEO and PPC do influence each other—just not in the way people often assume.

So… does PPC affect SEO? Not directly. Google’s mission is to deliver the best organic search results possible. Giving advertisers an SEO boost based on ad spend would compromise the integrity of search engine results pages (SERPs). While PPC ads don’t impact organic rankings directly, there are powerful, indirect ways these two strategies complement each other and can drive serious performance improvements when combined.

Let’s break it down.

When SEO and PPC Work Together

It’s not about “SEO vs. PPC.” It’s about how PPC campaigns and SEO campaigns can work in tandem to build a smarter, more effective long-term strategy. Using both unlocks a shared ecosystem of data, messaging, and insights that strengthens your overall online presence.

Here are just a few ways they complement each other:

1. Shared Keyword Strategy & PPC Data

Use specific keyword research data from PPC to inform your organic SEO content. By analyzing search terms, demographics, and click-through rates (CTR) from your paid search efforts, you can find out which target keywords convert best and build SEO content around them. Testing high-intent PPC keywords in paid ads first also helps validate them before building them into a long-term SEO strategy.

2. A/B Testing for Ad Copy & Landing Pages

Use your PPC efforts to test messaging, meta descriptions, and landing pages. The results from A/B testing can guide your SEO team to optimize organic landing pages, improve quality score, and increase engagement.

3. Increased Brand Visibility & CTR

When you appear in both paid ads and organic listings, your brand dominates more real estate on the SERP. This dual presence increases brand awareness and trust, and often lifts CTR for both your PPC ads and your organic search results.

4. More Reliable Metrics & Optimization Opportunities

PPC provides rapid feedback on relevant keyword performance, messaging, and user experience. Combine that with long-term data from SEO tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, and you get a full view of your digital marketing performance—from impressions and CPC to bounce rates and backlinks.

5. Better Return on Investment

Integrating PPC and SEO efforts gives you the flexibility to pursue both immediate results and long-term growth. Use PPC to drive quick conversion rates, while building up organic traffic and authority through content marketing, link building, and optimized web pages.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Whether you’re in ecommerce, real estate, or another competitive vertical, your marketing efforts are more powerful when SEO and PPC strategies are aligned. Using PPC ads to remarket to organic visitors, optimizing for high-quality search terms, and continuously analyzing performance metrics allows you to make better, faster decisions.

And let’s be honest—the more high-quality data you have, the better your results. When PPC and SEO work together, your brand is positioned to deliver a seamless user experience across paid and organic channels.

Final Thought: It’s Not Either/Or. It’s Yes, And…

Don’t fall into the trap of choosing between SEO and paid search. The real power comes from combining them with a cohesive, data-driven digital marketing strategy.

At Digital Strike, we’re experts in crafting search engine optimization and PPC strategies that not only coexist—they thrive together. Whether you’re optimizing content, testing new search ads, or building full-funnel PPC campaigns, we help you reach the right target audience, with the right messaging, at the right time.

Let’s make digital lightning strike for your brand. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

What is Geofencing Marketing?

Geofencing marketing, sometimes called geo fencing or geo-fencing, is a type of location-based marketing that marries the digital and real world; it allows advertisers to meet potential customers where they are at, literally.

A form of programmatic advertising, geofencing marketing works by establishing a custom virtual boundary, or fence, around a specific geographic area in the real world. Mobile devices with location-enabled mobile apps can provide data (GPS, WiFi, RFID Bluetooth, etc.) to marketers and advertisers. Marketers can then use this data to set their ads to only appear to potential customers that enter this fence. Entering these fences can trigger an activity, like sending push notifications or displaying search ads when mobile users search target queries, like “restaurants near me.” This form of advertising therefore relies on phone and app permissions with real-time data tracking.

Unlike radius targeting (more on that below), geofencing is incredibly granular. With it, advertisers can create custom fences rather than simply creating a radius around an area. This way, advertisers can create a geofence that includes only what they want, and nothing they don’t. In other words, geofences can be as broad or as specific as advertisers would like. It all depends on what type of ad campaign they’d like to run.

Geofencing Example #1

Say you own a restaurant (yummy). It’s in close proximity to several popular locations in a bustling downtown area. Depending on the ad platform you use, you can create a unique geofence that includes not just your restaurant, but also nearby locations, like a park where people are going to work up their appetite. Your geofence excludes a nearby street, however, that contains condemned buildings and, therefore, doesn’t have any potential customers. Once you establish this geofence, you can run targeted mobile ads at peak dinner time hours to people who are physically near your establishment.

Geofencing Example #2

You’re still a restaurant owner in this example, but now you have a rival who is stealing your hungry customers. If you’re feeling mischievous, you can set up a geofence around your competitor’s location. Once people get near enough to your competitor’s store, you can target them with coupons for your business, drawing them away from your rival and into your own doors.

What is Geotargeting? And How Does It Differ from Geofencing?

Geotargeting is another form of location-based audience targeting, although it differs slightly from geofencing. Geofencing is all about advertising based on specific location data. Geotargeting allows advertisers to refine an ad campaign’s target audience by enhancing demographic metrics with specific location data. In other words, geotargeting allows advertisers to create a target audience using not just physical location (based on data like GPS and IP address), but also other data points, like age, gender, and shopping habits.

Radius targeting is a specific form of geotargeting that allows advertisers to establish a radius around a certain area, like a zip code or city. This form of targeting does not allow advertisers to exclude certain areas inside the radius.

Geotargeting Example

Say you’re a business owner with a charming boutique that stocks women’s clothing and accessories. You can set up a one-mile radius around your business. But you don’t stop there; you run a comprehensive geotargeting campaign and make sure that your ads not only reach people who are in that radius, but who are also women, between the ages of 18 to 35, and have a shopping history focusing on fashion and makeup.

What are the Benefits of Geofencing Marketing and Geotargeting?

Still on the fence about geofencing and geotargeting? Don’t be. Some of the benefits of incorporating location-targeting tech into digital marketing efforts can include:

• Improved brand awareness with local customers
• Enhanced retargeting campaigns
• Boosted conversion rates and click-through rates
• Reduced waste in ad spend
• More personalized ads, landing pages, and call to action
• Can increase walk-ins for business locations with heavy foot traffic

Don’t think that the size of your business will limit your potential with location-targeting tech. An organization of any size can benefit from advertising using location data.

Small businesses that offer location-based services, like mom-and-pop restaurants and non-chain retail stores, for instance, cannot physically sell products to customers in a state away. So, why should they waste ad dollars on them? These businesses can directly benefit from adding location-based parameters to their online ad campaigns.

Larger businesses can also make use of geotargeting and geofencing technology. These businesses can target people with different ads based on geographic location. An ad that does well in Toronto, for example, might perform much differently in London. By running different campaigns with different copy and imagery, these companies can tailor their messaging to the unique needs and wants of consumers in various regions. These customized ads can offer greater personalization and relevancy, which can boost overall conversion rates.

How to Set Up Location Targeting in Google Ads

If you’re running a nationwide campaign in Google Ads, here are the steps you can take to add a country-wide perimeter to your campaign:

1. Go to your Google Ads account.
2. Click “Campaigns.”
3. In this section’s sidebar menu, select “Campaigns.”
4. You should see “Campaigns,” “Ad Groups,” and “Ads.” Click “Campaigns.”
5. Select “Settings.”
6. Select “Locations” and choose the country you will target with your campaign.
7. Hit “Save.”

Of course, many companies run campaigns on a smaller, more local scale. The Google Ads platform lets businesses set up location targeting for smaller municipalities within a country (such as on the state or city level in the US) or even lets them create a custom geofence down to a one-mile radius.

Adding Geofencing Ads to Your Digital Marketing Strategy

There is no way around it: geofencing is an incredibly important marketing tool in the age of online and mobile marketing. It allows for enhanced ad targeting in a way that other marketing tools can’t easily replicate. When you need help with geofencing marketing campaigns, don’t leave it up to chance or guesswork. Contact the experts who have years of experience helping clients with geofencing advertising (and SEO, and social media advertising, and much, much more).

The words alone sound almost too sci-fi-ish to take seriously. We tend to eat up the concept as it’s interpreted by Hollywood — Schwarzenegger in Terminator, Will Smith in I, Robot, Pixar’s WALL-E — but what is the reaction when the cinematic wonder of AI tends to bleed over into our everyday lives? What then?

AI has been the trending topic of 2023 thus far. No matter your field, interests, or how you prefer to receive your daily dose of information, odds are you’ve been hearing some rumblings lately.

Everyday, it’s something new, and it can be hard to keep up — even when you need to do so to the benefit of your business. But it’s important that we try, because if the past few months are any indication, the barrage will likely only intensify.

More specifically, we owe it to you as a trusted digital marketing agency to evaluate, if any, the effect artificial intelligence will have on how brands interact with customers — and vice versa.

When Did All Of This Ai Chatter Begin?

Believe it or not, a lot has gone down in a very short period of time. 

The craziness started only this past November with the public release of ChatGPT, a natural language processing chatbot developed by OpenAI, the Silicon Valley artificial intelligence research laboratory founded in 2015 by a group of notable entrepreneurs headlined by Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. 

Fast forward to today, and ChatGPT boasts well over 100 million users since its launch, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history.

To put that number into perspective, it took TikTok roughly nine months – and Instagram nearly three years – to gain as many users as ChatGPT did in fewer than 90 days.

Why Is Chatgpt Such A Big Deal?

Directly correlated to the growth of ChatGPT is its unprecedented effectiveness. 

The premise is simple: Ask ChatGPT a question or give it a command, and it provides you with a response. More often than not, a very, very good response.

Need to write an essay on the economic implications of the Renaissance period? ChatGPT will formulate an outline for you.

Owner of a new LLC and need a set of brand guidelines and help with messaging? ChatGPT will give your company a full-blown identity in seconds.

A weekend project warrior? ChatGPT will walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to seal your driveway, complete with a list of materials needed.

AI chatbots are nothing new, but the pride-and-joy of OpenAI – owner of the world’s fifth-most powerful supercomputer – has wowed Fortune 500 CEOs, Web developers, digital marketing aficionados, researchers, journalists, lawyers, doctors – generally, anyone who has a question or a problem to solve.

ChatGPT is able to process virtually any prompt in existence with lightning-quick speed. Additionally, the accuracy with which it produces results is staggering. 

The platform’s exhilarating debut, though, has not been without its “meh” moments.

Built upon a family of large language models (LLM), ChatGPT is trained using a process called reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), which is both a blessing and a curse.

Undoubtedly the primary reason for ChatGPT’s rapid ascent, RLHF is unmatched among AI models in its ability to align with human intent, but it’s also directly responsible for what have easily been the platform’s most scrutinized shortcomings, including incidences of dangerous misinformation, altogether nonsensical answers, blatant racism, and downright creepiness. 

The latest iteration of the platform, ChatGPT-4, has since been released in an attempt to eradicate these bugs. It is reportedly 10 times more powerful than its predecessor, GPT-3.5, notably able to better understand context and determine nuance.

OpenAI has also begun monetizing the platform through its ChatGPT Plus subscription service, which provides users with uninterrupted use, even during peak hours, faster response times, and priority access to new features, all for $20 per month.

Has There Been Any Chatgpt Fallout?

Yes, but the dust from ChatGPT’s arrival is starting to settle … sort of. 

In February, Microsoft, which formed a billion-dollar partnership with OpenAI in 2019, announced the integration of the chatbot platform into its Bing search engine, confirming reports that initially surfaced in early January.

When the announcement dropped, Google had already been sweating bullets for weeks over the implications of ChatGPT’s sudden emergence, not the least of which is the imminent threat it poses to Google’s decades-long dominance as the Web’s utmost provider of information upon demand.

ChatGPT operating as a lone rogue was troublesome enough, but working intimately with the chief rival? Google’s hand has been forced. Standing idly by would inevitably give way to ascenario that Google hasn’t had a reason to consider since Bing’s launch in 2009: losing market share.

Enter Google Bard, the name assigned to Google’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT marriage with Bing, and the first of what Google has said could be more than 20 new AI-centric projects forthcoming. Those projects have already started rolling out, with Google announcing in March that AI updates have been made to Google Docs and Gmail. 

Impressive in its own right, Bard looks identical to ChatGPT, but that’s where most of the similarities end. Whereas ChatGPT’s training data comes with a cutoff date of 2021 (OpenAI has since created a plugin to help with this), Bard is able to pull real-time data from Google Search. One (ChatGPT) is a conversational tool that thrives at assistance with specific tasks, while the other (Bard) is more suitable for quickly pooling informational sources.

Still, each AI system has drawn the same early-stage criticism for gaffes that are comical at best and, at worst, downright embarrassing.

Kinks to iron out and all, any way you slice it, the AI arms race is underway. And the biggest names are officially off the starting line.

Apple and Meta have joined the fun, both reportedly working on AI tools. And then there’s the countless other brands that have piled on thanks to the newly-released GPT-4 API, which gives developers access to OpenAI’s technology to build any application that seeks to understand and generate natural language, code, or images.

Early examples of this have been everything from AI-powered audio solutions (AudioAI, formerly RadioGPT) and language learning apps (Duolingo) to productivity tools (Slack) and familiar social media outlets (Snapchat).

The next 6-12 months should be incredibly interesting, if for no other reason that we’ll get a deeper and deeper glimpse into the true versatility of AI technology, for better or worse.

Are There Larger Implications Of Ai?

This depends upon how you view artificial intelligence, specifically the role it should – or should not – play in our everyday lives.

Proponents of ChatGPT are head over heels, proclaiming the platform as the future of, well, basically everything – from the cure for boredom to writing sophisticated computer code.

Speaking of boredom, nothing cures that like receiving real-time instructions on how to remove a peanut butter sandwich from a VCR – all written in the style and tone of a verse from the King James version of the Bible. ChatGPT was able to provide this in a matter of seconds, by the way.

Opponents are more wary of the technology than downright dismissive. For them, AI so advanced has its place, primarily in the form of making previously tedious tasks a mere afterthought. But if we let it go too far, they fear that ChatGPT will overstep its virtual boundaries and unleash a wide-ranging arsenal of unintended consequences.

Some of these are likely, perhaps inevitable (e.g. college students cheating on papers). Others, however, are utterly frightening and depressing, more reminiscent of a dystopian nightmare. 

One of ChatGPT’s largest skeptics is none other than Musk, who left the board of OpenAI in 2018 over concerns about the organization’s move toward a for-profit model. 

Earlier this year, Musk, who no longer owns a stake in the company, told attendees at the World Government Summit in Dubai that AI needs to be regulated and poses “a bigger risk to society than cars or planes or medicine.”

These sentiments have since been echoed in an open letter issued by the non-profit Future of Life. More than 1,000 artificial intelligence experts, including Musk, signed the letter as a call to halt all further AI development for a period of six months to allow for the creation and implementation of safety protocols.  

Days later, Italy became the first Western country to ban all use of ChatGPT, citing privacy concerns, and vowed to investigate whether the platform fails to comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards.

ChatGPT is already banned in a handful of Eastern countries, including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

How Will Ai Affect Digital Marketing?

Artificial intelligence will affect digital marketing in that it will greatly influence how marketers perform their duties. But it’s not meant to altogether supplant those marketers.

Consider the words of Samyutha Reddy, Head of Enterprise Marketing at Jasper, a generative AI platform — and OpenAI partner — that specializes in helping businesses produce content of any form, including but not limited to blog posts, product descriptions, short stories, ad copy, and social media posts:

“AI augments the human experience, but it doesn’t replace the human within that experience.”

There is a palpable fear among digital marketers that AI will render our jobs obsolete. Elsewhere on our blog, we have outlined in detail why the profession is not destined to be outsourced to a bunch of robots. Not even close.

In other words, we’re not going anywhere!

Despite the disruption caused to the overall landscape by ChatGPT, Google is still Google. Since the release of ChatGPT, users have shown no indication that they intend to use it for what they’ve entrusted to Google and Bing for more than two decades.

Together, the two are responsible for more than 9.4 billion searches per day worldwide, according to the most recent reports. When it comes to getting information that matters in the moment — breaking news, product research before a purchase, reviews on local businesses, etc. — people are not cozying up to AI.

The keys to online success prior to ChatGPT were as follows: a clean website, informative, helpful content, and high levels of website authority. Those keys now? You got it: a clean website, informative, helpful content, and high levels of website authority. 

If anything has changed, it’s that generative AI has given rise to an exciting plethora of ways in which digital marketers can leverage the technology to more efficiently execute tasks critical to client success.

What once took an hour can now be completed in 10 minutes. As of this writing, here is a list of action items for which the team at Digital Strike — from account managers to paid search strategists and content writers to SEO specialists — depends on artificial intelligence for a little assistance:

• Keyword research
• Blog post outlines
• Long-form content ideation
• Social media ad copy
• Client content research (particularly for more complex B2B verticals)
• On-page technical SEO guidance

At the end of the day, tools like ChatGPT make our team smarter and more nimble, but ultimately, the quality of the final output is determined by the marketer. Clients of any digital marketing agency should expect nothing less.

Our clients certainly do, and they place a premium on the knowledge we bring to the table to assist them in reaching their marketing goals.

The breadth of this knowledge will expand with time, whether it’s due to the evolution of AI platforms or something else, but the human element should and has to remain.

No amount of artificial intelligence can completely replace that.

Let’s discuss.

What is Microsoft Bing AI?

Jesus may take the wheel, but artificial intelligence is taking over the Microsoft experience. The company recently unveiled its new Bing search engine and Microsoft Edge browser, both powered by sophisticated generative AI technology. Specifically, Microsoft’s new chatbot and search are powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. Unlike previous iterations that pulled results from the web alone, the new Bing bot can directly answer queries in addition to offering search results, creating a hyper-personalized search experience.

Just what can Microsoft’s new AI do?

• Generate ideas and text based on specific prompts.
• Create hyper-personalized search experiences.
• Offer unique, human-sounding chat features.

Squaring Up the AI-Powered Competition

• OpenAI’s ChatGPT – The free version of this AI-powered chatbot is an advanced version of GPT-3.5, an earlier large language model, that’s made headlines for its impressive list of capabilities, including generating human-like text quickly and easily. The paid version of ChatGPT is powered by GPT-4.
• Google’s Bard – Google hopes its recently released Bard, powered by LaMDA, will outcompete ChatGPT and other AI chatbots thanks to its unique algorithm that relies heavily on the vast amounts of data that Google owns. Unfortunately for Google, however, Bard currently appears to struggle to match the sophistication of both Bing and OpenAI’s models.
• Jasper – This subscription-based AI service is all about generating ideas, search engine-optimized blog posts, chat services, visual art, and more.

Is Microsoft’s Bing AI better than OpenAI’s ChatGPT?

The question remains: is Bing AI better than ChatGPT? Well, it depends on what sort of features you’re comparing.

Who Provides the Better Search Experience?

When it comes to hyper-personalized search results, Bing is tough to beat. Its AI-powered search engine is ready to deliver all the information users want, complete with a personal touch to make the whole experience feel unique. It also helps that Bing offers citations and links to further reading in its results, rather than simply making up sources (looking at you, ChatGPT). Also, to be clear: ChatGPT is strictly a chatbot; it is not a search platform.

Who Provides the Better Chat Experience?

What do you want from a chatbot? Do you want wordier responses that leave further research up to you? Or do you want more direct responses that offer additional sources of information?

If it’s the former, ChatGPT is for you. If it’s the latter, Bing AI is your new boo.

ChatGPT may not be perfect, but it does typically offer more robust (or at least more verbose) answers. Bing AI, by contrast, tends to be more direct with its answers.

See how each bot responded to the query “How do I pick the best dog breed for me? Is it better to adopt or buy?”

ChatGPT is as chatty as always when responding to this prompt. What it excels at, however, is organizing information in a way that’s easy to read and digest (e.g., creating a numbered list).

Now take a look at Bing.

Since Bing’s bot runs off GPT-4, it should be no surprise that there are some striking similarities between Bing’s response and ChatGPT’s. That said, Bing does tend to be more straight to the point in answering all aspects of the original query—pros, cons, and all—while also offering citations and links to further information.

Who Provides the Better Content Generation Services?

If it’s accuracy you’re after, skip the AI.

ChatGPT offers free text generation services on an easy-to-use webpage based on simple prompts; while the results may seem impressive at first, it’s important to remember that services like Bing AI and ChatGPT learn based on content already available on the web—and there’s a lot of misinformation on the web. ChatGPT already has well-documented issues with misinformation, including offering fictitious citations. To be fair to OpenAI’s darling, however, Microsoft also admits that its AI technology currently struggles with misinformation, too.

If you’re after quick content for publication on blogs that don’t rely heavily on documentation, however, AI tools could be beneficial for generating content ideas, alt text, and article outlines. In this regard, ChatGPT would likely be better for simply getting a basic outline to help you get started. If you want a little extra help with research and brainstorming, Bing would likely better suit your purposes.

Who Tries to Break Up Marriages?

Wait, what? Let’s take a step back.

Bing AI tried to convince a man to leave his wife.

Yes. Really.

Trust us, though; the experience is a little less creepy than it seems at first.

The incident in question: Kevin Roose from The New York Times interviewed Bing AI, and the conversation ended bizarrely. Specifically, the chatbot called itself Sydney and professed its love for Roose, encouraging the columnist to leave his wife.

Freaked out yet? We don’t blame you if you are, but we will tell you that you shouldn’t be that concerned. Microsoft responded to the incident, reminding people that its AI tech bases its responses based on what it can find on the web.

Think of it this way: how many rom-coms have you seen where Character A convinces Character B to leave their spouse? Given the prevalence of this plotline in many stories, it’s no surprise that Bing’s chatbot took cues from this rom-com phenomenon and generated similar responses in its conversation with Roose. In other words, this conversation isn’t indicative of AI becoming self-aware, but simply parroting common tropes from rom-coms and the like.

Again, don’t freak out; the plot of Her is still far from reality.

ChatGPT, by contrast, is much more stiff when it comes to making connections with human beings.

To answer the original question: if you’re looking for an AI-powered bot that won’t try to come in between yourself and your spouse, ChatGPT may be the way to go.

Our Verdict

Bing AI. Bing chat. Microsoft AI. Bing chatbot. No matter what you call Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot, what remains the same is its impressive functionality that can compete with and even exceed that of its competitors—including ChatGPT. Bing’s chatbot has an edge over ChatGPT when it comes to citing sources or offering links to further information (although it isn’t always 100% accurate), so it currently comes out ahead in regards to search functionality.

Not sure how to fold AI-powered tech into your digital marketing plans? Not a problem. Give us a buzz. We here at Digital Strike – Targeted Marketing stay on top of industry trends and already use AI to augment our services, so we can offer you unique insights on how artificial intelligence can boost your outcomes and deliverables.

Here’s why the team at Digital Strike – Targeted Marketing thinks that AI tools like ChatGPT won’t completely replace us humans any time soon (or ever).

What is ChatGPT (and How Does It Work)?

Let’s start at the beginning—just what is ChatGPT, exactly?

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence program from OpenAI. It is a more advanced iteration of GPT-3.5, an earlier large language model that utilizes deep learning to produce text that sounds human (aka, it studies human languages and mimics them). What makes OpenAI’s ChatGPT different from other AI tech currently on the market is the fact that it can churn out decently written content quickly on an easy-to-use webpage (no fancy software downloads required), all for free.

How is that possible?

Here’s how ChatGPT works: the algorithm uses natural language processing technology to go through large datasets (training data) to learn how to process, analyze, and use human languages. Reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) further helps the chatbot better understand best practices and how to improve itself. Using this knowledge, it can then produce its own content based on a series of prompts and directions from human users. 

Other Popular AI Tools

ChatGPT isn’t the only AI cowboy around; plenty of other AI tools have rode into town in recent years, all stoking their own concerns along the way.

AI Art Software

AI art is no longer a concept restricted to the realm of science fiction; it’s here and it’s creating real concern among human artists. One popular AI art tool, DALL-E (and its successor, DALL-E 2), has gained worldwide recognition for its ability to create hyper-realistic (or hyper-stylized) visual art based on text prompts. Like ChatGPT, DALL-E makes use of an iteration of GPT-3 to process text prompts to generate these images.

Other AI Chatbots

ChatGPT has some competition; many other companies are creating similarly functioning chatbots to rival OpenAI’s own.

Current competitors include:

• Quora’s POE (Platform for Open Exploration), which answers Quora user queries
• Neeva, an AI-powered search platform
• You.com, an AI search engine, chatbot, shopping site, social media platform, AI code writer, AI text generator, and AI image generator
• Yep Beta, a search engine created using information from AhrefsBots that gives 90% of ad revenue directly to content creators, incentivizing quality content

Competitors still in development at the time of writing include:

• Google’s Bard, powered by LaMDA
• Baidu’s Ernie Bot

So while OpenAI’s latest chatbot darling may be in the spotlight now, it should expect to share the limelight with others soon.

Why are People Freaking Out About AI Technology?

Quick, easy, cheap content? What’s not to love about ChatGPT and other AI software?

A lot, depending on who you ask.

Common concerns regarding AI use include:

1. Replacing human content creators
2. Plagiarism
3. Copyright infringement
4. Cybersecurity risks

Let’s talk about each a little more in depth.

1. Replacing Humans

Perhaps the most common concern regarding AI use is that it will replace human artists and content creators, leaving human beings with real talent out of luck (and out of work).

These concerns aren’t entirely baseless, either. In 2022, for example, one Jason M. Allen submitted an AI-generated art piece using Midjourney to the Colorado State Fair’s art competition. The piece, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” won first place in the digital painting category.

2. Plagiarism

As long as homework has existed, students avoided completing it. AI is now helping less-than-academically-honest students skirt their assignments. Since ChatGPT’s release, educators have reported numerous cases of students submitting papers written entirely by AI, prompting a discussion among educators about how exactly to use AI–if at all–in a learning environment.

3. Copyright Infringement

DALL-E and similar tools rely on databases of submitted images in order to create new art and mimic art styles distinct to specific artists. Not all art submitted to these databases has the original copyright holder’s stamp of approval, however, which many artists claim is copyright infringement and puts their livelihood at risk. After all, they argue, who would spend large sums of money on original artwork when they could use a cheap AI alternative that mimics their unique artistic style?

4. Cybersecurity Risks

Many cybersecurity experts have voiced concerns about the risks ChatGPT and similar tools pose. Specifically, AI can help scammers write convincing phishing emails, misinformation campaigns for social media dissemination, or code for malware, among other malicious online activities.

Why ChatGPT isn’t as Scary as You Think

Even if there are real concerns about AI, ChatGPT needn’t be the boogeyman.

Here’s why:

Still needs human feedback.

ChatGPT cannot operate on its own. So, don’t worry, human beings aren’t out of the picture just yet when it comes to content creation, even when AI is involved.

Still doesn’t sound 100% human.

ChatGPT can generate good content, but it’s not that good. This AI app specifically has well-documented issues with metaphors, being too wordy, misinformation, and more. With such glaring issues, ChatGPT in its current state isn’t poised to replace human writers any time soon.

May become cost prohibitive in the future.

ChatGPT is currently free, but that might not last for long; OpenAI has already released a pilot subscription plan, ChatGPT Plus. As the tech becomes more sophisticated and more competition enters the market, it’s likely that AI text-generation tools will no longer be free to use at all, as is already the case with several AI image-generation tools. As costs for these tools increase, it may ultimately become more affordable in the long run to hire human content creators in the first place (resulting in better content, too).

New legislation will likely create obstacles for AI.

In the United States, AI software cannot claim patents or authorship, and there have been several cases of US courts denying requests to copyright art created by AI. While US law currently focuses on AI-created images (albeit not comprehensively), it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that it could include AI text in the future.

Lawsuits can change the trajectory of AI software use.

Two lawsuits are already underway against AI art generation software, with copyright holders and artists claiming copyright infringement. As AI use continues, the law is expected to catch up, placing restrictions on what content can be submitted to training datasets, specifically what constitutes copyright infringement with AI use. Depending on how these cases play out, lawsuits against AI may become commonplace, including lawsuits against ChatGPT and similar chatbots.

Software can catch AI-generated content.

Plagiarizers shouldn’t be too confident that they won’t be caught submitting AI-generated content. OpenAI’s ChatGPT detector is already available and free to use, helping educators catch students attempting to use AI to write their essays and other assignments. While not 100% foolproof, these AI-detection algorithms are only expected to become more sophisticated over time, helping educators identify more and more AI-produced text.

Search engine crackdowns (indirectly).

Search engines prioritize useful content above all else. Why? Because these platforms need to read, or crawl, each individually indexed page on the web to operate. Crawling costs money. So when tons of poorly written content suddenly appears online, these search platforms will have a lot of crawling to do, meaning lots of upkeep costs. In order to keep costs down, they penalize websites using poorly written content to discourage sites from engaging in poor business practices and offering lots of unhelpful content to users.

Google Search, Microsoft Bing, and other search engines will almost certainly crack down on AI content—albeit indirectly. Google has already mentioned that it does not mind AI-generated content, so long as it’s useful. Websites that merely use AI to pump out as much content as possible without regards to quality or user experiences will likely sink. Conversely, websites that instead use AI to augment services and provide better user experiences can expect to avoid such penalizations.

What’s Next?

What happens from here? We can’t be 100% certain, but at Digital Strike – Targeted Marketing, we believe that AI will likely just become another mainstay tool that humans in digital marketing can use. An important tool, certainly, but not the only tool, and definitely not the tool that replaces an entire workforce. (Or leads to Rise of the Machines.)

Our team here already uses AI to help us deliver clients the results they need. From helping us discover campaigns that need optimization to finding opportunity-rich keywords, AI is just another tool in our arsenal that we use each and every day. Not sure how you can incorporate AI into your digital marketing plans? Not a problem. Give the experts a call.

What AI Is (Not)

Before we discuss what AI is, let’s first cover what it is not.

It’s not the Steven Spielberg movie. It’s also not a front for Skynet.

Artificial intelligence is simply a type of machine learning; that is, it’s machine-based decision-making abilities, pattern-recognition capabilities, and learning aptitude as opposed to the organic problem-solving skills we and non-human animals possess.

Despite what the news will have you believe, AI technology cannot replace most jobs in the digital marketing industry in its current state. Although, it can assist humans in this industry to optimize performance, profitability, and customer experiences.

Let’s dig into these strategies a little more.

AI Marketing Strategies 101

The ins, the outs, and the in-betweens of AI marketing.

5 E-Commerce Examples

See how other companies are using AI to get inspired with your own digital marketing strategies.

1. Starbucks Product Recommendations

This coffee shop giant makes smart use of AI technology to encourage customers to buy products and join rewards programs—and it works!

The company’s AI/machine-learning program is appropriately known as Deep Brew. Among other functions, it helps Starbucks give their mobile app users and loyalty program members personalized product recommendations using a combination of weather forecasting software and customer data (such as previous Starbucks purchases and location data). For example, Starbucks may give a sweet tooth-having user a hot, sugary drink recommendation on a cold overcast day, and a light fruity drink recommendation during a sweltering heat wave.

This personalization is far more effective than standard one-size-fits-all advertisements of years past. Deep Brew launched in 2019, and, in that same year, “Starbucks reported U.S. same-store sales growth of 6%.” That’s a latte extra sales!

2. Apple and Amazon Virtual Assistants

Currently available virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa aren’t quite on par with Tony Stark’s JARVIS. They can, however, use AI and voice recognition technology to provide convenient, hands-free tools like voice searches. These virtual assistants are able to work so well with voice input thanks to the use of natural language processing technology, or technology that allows AI to analyze and interpret human speech and synthesize this information to interact with real people in real time in a way that feels natural.

But virtual assistants do more than simply analyze voice data; they also keep track of plenty of other kinds of useful user information, such as search history, location data, and product purchases. By keeping a database of user information, Alexa and Siri can offer personalized recommendations, such as suggestions on new restaurants to try nearby.

Hey, Siri: how do you like them apples?

3. Netflix Viewing Recommendations and Content Curation

It might be Netflix and chill for you and bae, but, behind the scenes, this streaming platform is anything but relaxed.

Netflix’s algorithm works overtime to display content early in your feed that it thinks you will like. It bases these recommendations on what viewers similar to you rate highly or what content you have watched in the past. Based on viewership numbers, AI also helps Netflix executives predict what types of shows will be successful in the future, helping the streaming platform decide which shows to greenlight and which to cancel.

The goal of these algorithms is to keep people watching more content for longer periods of time—and renewing their subscriptions year after year. These algorithms are effective, too; some estimate that as much as 75% of what users on the platform watch is discovered via auto-generated recommendations. Think about that the next time you log into your (or your friend’s) account.

4. Amazon Product Promotions

It might seem like Amazon can read your mind, but the truth is far less glamorous: all those spot-on product recommendations are curated by algorithms sifting through massive amounts of consumer data.

You see, as the largest retailer on the planet, Amazon knows a thing or two about targeted AI marketing. Their most profitable use of AI marketing is using consumer data to generate product recommendations customized to each user (including you!).

What sort of data, you ask? Data that makes Amazon’s product-recommendation algorithm so efficient includes:

• Personal purchase history
• Other people’s purchase history (including what items they have bought together)
• Time of the year
• Location/geotargeting information
• Products users have viewed before/put on a wish list
• Customer reviews

Using this data, algorithms can make and then push these recommendations to users both on the site (Your Recommendations) and via email campaigns.

The result?

Big bucks for Bezos.

These recommendations generate up to 35% of purchases on the site, providing Amazon with an incredible return on investment (ROI) through AI marketing.

5. Snapchat Filters

Remember in third-grade math when your teacher said you can’t use a calculator on your test because you won’t have a calculator on you at all times in the real world? Well, now we do have a calculator on our hands at all times, and you can use that same device to turn yourself into a dog that vomits rainbows. Checkmate, third-grade math teacher.

Snapchat is more than just fun filters, though. It’s also an incredible advertising platform for big-name brands.

Many people might not automatically think of Snapchat when they think of AI, but this popular app has long capitalized on augmented reality (AR) and AI tech to offer users unique and interactive experiences. Brands have taken notice of this popularity and used this tech to generate personalized experiences for users in the hopes of converting them to future customers.

Take, for example, L’Oréal USA. This makeup brand partnered with Snapchat in 2016, becoming the first beauty brand to create a sponsored lens on the platform. The resulting filters allowed users to effectively test new products by superimposing makeup, skincare, and hair style lenses onto users’ faces through a combination of AR and AI tech. The result was a fun, customized experience for users that simultaneously advertised L’Oréal USA products like mascara, lipstick, and hair dye.

The results weren’t just fun for users, either; they were ridiculously profitable for L’Oréal USA, too. Some of its products saw a massive boost in sales, such as a 51% increase in sales of one of its clay masks. It’s therefore no wonder that the beauty company has run other Snapchat campaigns since its first in 2016.

3 AI Marketing Strategies for Your Business

Check out the following tips, tricks, and tools for implementing your own AI-driven digital marketing strategies.

1. Use Chatbots

Rise of the Machines might have been more accurate if it focused on the recent surge in chatbots.

Using natural language processing in ways similar to Siri, chatbots can help users instantly (or nearly instantly) with a wide range of concerns and queries around the clock. That’s why it should be no surprise that chatbots are growing in popularity among not just businesses, but also consumers. According to one ServiceBell consumer survey, around 60% of participants reported that they “like to send and receive messages using a chat service rather than deal with an agent for help with an issue.”

In addition to potentially offering an elevated customer experience, chatbots can also save businesses money and time when dealing with customer inquiries. Additionally, these bots can provide businesses with invaluable real-time consumer data that companies can use to further improve services and products for consumers.

The best part about chatbot services today is that they can fit just about any budget. So, if you have a B2C or massive B2B company that emphasizes sales or customer service, utilizing these services could help your business improve not only user experiences, but also long-term savings.

2. Try Digital Advertising AI Tools

Finding a target audience, building a campaign, testing out various layouts, adjusting bids… There’s no way to sugarcoat it—running digital ad campaigns is hard. Wouldn’t life be easier if you had some help here?

Thanks to advancement in AI tech, you may now be able to do just that. Tools like Albert.ai can assist human advertisers with their social, paid search, and other online ad campaigns. It works like this: humans run the show and generate creatives, while Albert continuously works across channels to optimize bidding, demographic segmentation, and more for these campaigns. The result? A partnership of human and AI tools that could be a predictor of where the digital advertising industry as a whole is headed.

3. Discover AI Email Marketing Tools

If you’ve got (e)mail (campaigns), AI tools may strengthen your existing email marketing strategies. Long-reigning email automation champion Mailchimp is just one of many companies folding AI tech into their product offerings, using machine-learning technology to optimize subject lines, design layout, and more.

Like AI ad tools, current AI email marketing tools don’t replace human workers so much as they partner up with us. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The Future of AI Marketing – 6 Predictions

As we’ve said time and again, we aren’t living in a sci-fi movie. That means no time machine, which means we cannot know for certain what the future of digital marketing holds. Although, many experts (including us here at Digital Strike – Targeted Marketing) believe that the use of AI in this industry will only increase.

Here’s what we believe that future will look like. Just don’t quote us (unless we’re right).

1. Hyper-Personalized Experiences Remain the Norm

Hyper-personalized experiences aren’t becoming the norm; they already are. It’s why you see oddly specific ad after oddly specific ad while scrolling through your phone.

We expect this situation to remain the same for the foreseeable future.

After all, when hyper-personalized experiences mean hyper-effective marketing campaigns, how could we expect any different? Starbucks and Netflix, for instance, show just how lucrative offering personalized user experiences can be.

2. More Companies Will Use Augmented Reality

AR allows companies to elevate their hyper-targeted ads and experiences (and sales), as seen with L’Oréal USA’s Snapchat campaigns. With more and more online users craving unique and helpful experiences, the use of data and AI tech to create such experiences can only be expected to continue. By some estimates, the AR advertising market is expected to be worth $3.5 billion by the end of 2022. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that pie?

3. Improvements in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

CRM software is standard fare in the B2C world, and we expect that most of this software will continue to or begin implementing machine-learning tech to improve performance and efficiency. Since AI can sift through and analyze big data sets far more quickly and effectively than humans can, it will allow CRM products to offer real-time customer insights and swift optimization suggestions. That’s why it’s no surprise that IDC estimated $1.1 trillion (yes, trillion) in revenue from “AI associated with CRM activities” at the end of 2021. With money like that on the line, there is plenty of incentive for CRM to use AI more and more in the near future.

Just don’t expect CRM products to replace current human employees. Like other AI tools currently available, AI-powered CRM software can only complement human input, not replace it entirely. Until massive leaps in AI tech occur, we see no reason to believe that AI-powered CRM software will replace us meat bags any time soon.

4. Increased Use of Content Marketing Software

Content creation is absolutely critical to best SEO practices. Without content, there is no Internet! It therefore only makes sense that people have tried to marry AI and content generation. The results are promising, with current AI content generation software showing an ability to mimic certain writing styles.

That said, like other AI tools on the market, current content creation software cannot totally replace human workers (and the author isn’t just saying this because she wants to keep her job). For starters, while software can mimic writing styles, they cannot yet totally create their own unique style. Furthermore, this software still requires human input to deliver polished content that other humans will enjoy reading.

5. Further Legislation of AI Art

Lensa, DALL-E, and other AI art-generating software have made waves in the art world, and for good reason: AI makes some darn good visual pieces… and that leads to the existential question of what exactly makes art “good” and how art “should” be created.

One AI-generated art piece (“Théâtre D’opéra Spatial”), for example, placed first in its category in the 2022 Colorado State Fair. This win caused major upset among human artists who claimed that this art piece violated the competition’s rules. But the AI art controversy extends past one competition. Many visual artists are upset that AI software developers are using their artwork without their permission to help AI learn how to make new art and mimic certain artists’ styles. Still others are worried that AI artists will completely replace human content creators, giving a whole new meaning to the term “starving artist.”

Since AI art is still so new, AI artwork is largely unregulated, although many governments—including the US—currently maintain that AI artwork cannot be copyrighted. We expect that stricter government regulation will occur in the future, specifically in regards to how software developers use human-generated artwork to plug into their machine-learning tools (and if this use constitutes copyright violations).

6. AI Will Replace Jobs (But Create Many More)

The largest concern with AI (outside of triggering a Terminator-like doomsday event) is that it will displace human workers, completely erasing jobs for real people in certain sectors of the economy. According to the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020,” that fear isn’t unfounded—AI is expected to replace humans in jobs by 2025. 85 million humans, in fact.

Okay, that’s the bad news.

The good news?

This report also estimates that AI will generate 97 million jobs in that same period. That’s a net gain of 12 million jobs!

While the future of this industry is clearly changing (and is bound to come with growing pains), we want to assure our readers that the future isn’t as bleak as some people make it out to be. Human workers are still needed, because AI as it currently stands cannot authenticate genuine human connections and insight.

And when you need real human insight into your digital marketing strategies, you know who to call.

• Drive sales
• Increase reach
• Improve engagement
• Customize brand experiences
• Boost brand recognition and awareness

What more could you want from a single campaign?

15 Best Email Newsletter Practices You Need to Use

Try any of the following practices for your next email marketing campaign. You may be surprised at just how much your audience appreciates them.

1. Make a Killer Subject Line

The way to someone’s heart is through the subject line (or something like that). You’re fighting for your readers’ attention, competing against thousands of other emails trying to do exactly the same. In this game, the most important tool in your open rate arsenal is your subject line.

In other words: your headlines can make or break your campaign. So make the most of the limited space you have in your subject line to grab attention and encourage users to open up your email.

Ways to stand out with your subject line include:

• Punny words or phrases
• Emojis (just avoid the eggplant and peach)
• CAPITAL LETTERS
• Punctuation marks!
• This Just In: use urgent phrasing
• Including [Subscriber’s Name]

Whatever you decide to do, just make sure your subject line is accurate and relevant. Misleading or false marketing in emails is against several e-commerce laws and regulations in the United States.

2. Include Eye-Catching CTAs

Your subscribers may open your emails, but don’t stop there—make sure they continue and click through to your landing pages. The best way to do just that? By optimizing your calls to action (CTAs).

Keep in mind the following four fundamentals when designing CTAs for your email newsletters:

• Word choice – Be brief and enticing with CTA copy. We recommend using action words, or energizing verbs with positive connotations.
• Placement – Place CTAs somewhere that make sense in the context of your entire email and are easy to see.
• Color – Drive conversions with high-contrast colors, or colors that make your CTA stand apart from the background.
• Shape – Rectangles and ovals are great shapes. The outline of Texas’s 33rd Congressional District? Not so much. Keep the shape of your CTAs simple and easy to click on.

3. Prioritize Quality Copywriting and Proofreading

Errors in your email content will cost you deerly dearly.

Research shows that glaring grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors can increase bounce rates by as much as 85%. And those bounce rates mean that you will potentially cough up +10% on your Google ad spend.

The solution? Prioritize quality copywriting and proofread everything before sending out your emails. Some of our favorite proofreading strategies here at Digital Strike include:

• Checking. Checking. Checking.
• Using online writing tools.
• Letting content “cool” a day before revisiting it.
• Reading your copy out loud.
• Checking again.

4. Perform A/B Testing

Testing. Testing. 1, 2, 3…

Find yourself stuck between two methods for optimizing your email marketing campaign? Perform A/B tests to see what works best. Simply divide your audience into two segments, and pair each segment with a unique version of your newsletter. Send both out, and see which version gets you better results!

Good news: performing A/B tests is easy. Several popular newsletter services, like Mailchimp, offer these tools.

5. Track Data Religiously

In the digital marketing world, we are all subject to the power of All-Mighty Data, which guides the trajectory of all campaigns and venture-planning.

Simply put, you need plenty of information to track the success of any campaign you have. That means you need a foolproof system for keeping track of data points like open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), and conversions. As is the case with A/B testing, many newsletter services automatically keep track of this data for you, so your only job is to analyze this information.

6. Be Consistent

People are largely comfortable with the familiar, which means you can keep subscribers happy simply by being consistent. By consistent, we mean in regards to both time and tone.

Firstly, you want to keep a consistent schedule. So make an editorial calendar, decide whether you want a quarterly, monthly, or weekly newsletter, and stick to this plan. Keep any extra emails outside of this posting schedule to a minimum to avoid flooding (and annoying) subscribers. Break this schedule only for truly important events, such as the launch of a new product.

Secondly, make sure to find your brand’s voice and then stick to it. If your brand has always been more traditional and conservative in tone, for example, don’t suddenly put eggplant emojis in your subject lines.

7. Use Roundups

Time is a precious commodity, and sometimes you have little of it. (Such is the life of a digital marketer.) In these cases, use roundups in your emails. This tactic helps you:

• Circulate old content
• Curate content for different demographics
• Save time and effort
• Group content by subject or theme

Can you say yeehaw, pardner?

8. Be Seasonal

It’s the most wonderful time of the year (to be on top of seasonal trends).

Evergreen content has its place, but seasonal posts can spice up even the most bland of inboxes. Welcome changing seasons and holidays with special offers and relevant content. For example, if you run a bakery, send an email about the easiest holiday pie recipes.

9. Don’t Neglect Social Media

More and more digital marketers are seeing the value in using social media for business; you should count yourself among them. Many people, especially younger audiences, are using social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram for searches. That means you need to make your business stand out on your socials in order to build yourself as an authority to (and connect with) netizens.

Share newsletter signup information on your social media profiles. But don’t just use social media to send traffic to your newsletter; use your newsletter to send people to your socials by including social media buttons in your newsletter.

10. Create an Attractive Email Design

Newsletter design is critical when it comes to email campaigns, as how (un)attractive your newsletter appears to users could influence CTRs and conversions.

We could spend another 10,000 words explaining the importance and intricacy of good design elements, but we’ll keep it simple here. When it comes to visual email design, consider the following two elements above all else:

• Fonts – We strongly advise against using “goofy” fonts like Comic Sans. The stars of the show should always be your content; the design is merely there to enhance what you already have. In other words, don’t overshadow great content with distracting design elements. Keep things on brand, attention-grabbing, and complementary to your copy. When it comes to fonts, that often means choosing a simpler style.
• Colors – Incorporate your brand’s key colors into the design. Just keep in mind that less is more when it comes to visual design. So, if you’re stuck between two colors, pick the least obtrusive of the two (unless your goal is to create contrast).

11. Include Useful Content

Spam on your plate? Good.

Spam in your inbox? Bad.

It should go without saying, but we’ll say it: give your subscribers a reason to read your emails. When it comes to email marketing, quality is always more important than quantity. No matter your emailing schedule, make sure your emails always include content that is useful, helpful, and/or enjoyable (more on that below).

12. Reward New Subscribers

Kick ass and take names… for your email subscriber list!

Giving newcomers a special deal or gift is a tried-and-true customer recruitment method for all industries. Do the same with your emails. Give new email subscribers something special, like a discount code, to entice people to sign up for your email list.

13. Offer More

Blog posts are great, but your newsletters should offer more than just that. Other items to offer to your valuable subscribers include:

• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Case studies
• Thought leadership pieces
• Subscriber-exclusive discounts

By offering varied, engaging content that people can’t find anywhere else, you increase the likelihood that subscribers will continue to open (and click through) emails.

14. Make It Easy to Unsubscribe

It’s illegal to make it impossible to unsubscribe from emails in the US. But go one step further and make it easy to unsubscribe.

Let people peace out peacefully from your email list. This one might seem counterintuitive, but trust us. Nothing will make people dislike your brand more than having to jump through hoops to unsubscribe from what they perceive as annoying emails.

15. Don’t Neglect Mobile Users

You’ve carefully crafted the most appealing newsletter… for people on computers. But, according to IBM research, that’s only about half of your audience! More and more people are using mobile devices to check emails, and more than 60% of people report ignoring emails that just don’t look right on their mobile devices.

Moral of the story is that your newsletter layout needs to translate well to both desktop and mobile devices.

Our Favorite Email Marketing Tools

You know the best practices. Now find the best email marketing tools to elevate your newsletter campaigns.

(We aren’t partnered with or sponsored by any of the following tools; we genuinely just think they rock.)

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is the undisputed monarch of user-friendly email marketing software.

It’s easy to see why too, as Mailchimp:

• Features a drag-and-drop editor that’s intuitive for even the most technologically illiterate,
• Offers plenty of email newsletter templates to suit the style of most businesses,
• Starts pricing for paid plans at just $11/mo, with a free plan available, and
• Has data-tracking software built into its newsletter services.

When it comes to easy email marketing automation, it doesn’t get much better than Mailchimp.

WordPress

The most popular website builder can also function as an email builder. There are plenty of free or affordable WordPress plugins that make it easy to create email newsletters and newsletter signup forms.

Popular plugins worth exploring include:

• Mailchimp for WordPress
• WP Subscribe
• OptinMonster
• MailPoet

Campaign URL Builder

Someone just visited your landing page. Great! But where did this person come from? You need this information to monitor the success of your various campaigns.

If you need an easy and free tool to track URLs for social media and email marketing campaigns, we recommend Campaign URL Builder. Simply enter your landing page URL, campaign source, and campaign medium, and this tool will generate a tracker URL for you. It’s that easy!

But when email marketing (or PPC marketing, or social media marketing, or content marketing, or… you get the idea) gets too difficult, our most valuable piece of advice is to give digital marketing experts a call.