1. Content, content and more content.

Content Marketing has been dubbed the key to a successful marketing campaign in 2014 whether it be on your websites or via eMail, and as we increase our online content and see better results we are not ones to disagree.

The trouble is, content is one of those things that none of us have enough time for. Often described as a marathon, not a sprint content should not be seen as something that can be fixed quickly. Content creation requires investment of both time and money, developing content quickly or cheaply is likely to produce poor results.

One option for small businesses is to outsource your content creation. SME’s are full of busy people and it often makes sense to bring in the experts to achieve the best results, outsourcing to those who can make your content work for you could be far more cost effective than trying to do it yourself and could get better results a lot faster.

We will be discussing the power of content and how to maximise your content channels in our next digital best practice event on 20^th March at Winchester Science Center.

2. V-Mail

In 2013, 93% of marketers included online videos as part of their marketing strategies and a recent survey ascertained that 80% of marketers have seen positive results from their video marketing.

As an audience we have become more visual. We prefer infographics to blogs and would rather watch a video than read a report. The CIM recently published an article stating that 76% of those who embed videos into their emails see higher click through rates and of those who received videos in eMails 72% are more likely to buy.

But using Youtube or other social media channels is not the only route to promote your video content. Social Networks are a great way to spread your content but when it comes to driving lead generation and increasing ROI eMail is still the number 1 way to display new content.

It is still early days for Videos in eMails but the development of HTML5 compatible eMail clients should see this form of marketing explode this year so watch this space.

3. Mobile

I recently went to an eMail Marketing best practice event and unsurprisingly the focus was on mobile friendly emails.

The open rates on mobile devices are rocketing (by 70% in some cases) and recent studies have shown that 88% of smartphone users check emails on their mobile every day. In fact, despite the numerous apps and other functionality available on smartphones and other mobile devices, checking emails still holds the number 1 spot.

So, have you reviewed your email campaigns for this year? If you have an email marketing wish list for 2014, I would suggest adding a responsive design template to the top of your priorities. With the increasing amount of mobile opens, you don’t then want your audience to lose interest and see declining interactions just because your email isn’t mobile friendly.

At our next best practice event we will be discussing the key things to consider in mobile email marketing and will be giving away a few nuggets of information for you to apply straight away!