You Better Get Those 2016 Resolutions…#WerkBranch!

It’s a new year and everyone makes at least a couple of resolutions for themselves. Actually, 45% of Americans make resolutions each year! Most people say they’ll lose weight (#1), eat healthier (#5) or get 8 hours of sleep per night (#8). I like to choose goals that are challenging, but also attainable. I usually make a few for my personal life and for my work life.

I took the time to look back at my 2015 resolutions for work and got excited! Everything that I had set out to do, I accomplished. I wanted to have more of a leadership role, be more involved with clients, manage more projects and take time to learn best practices on my skills. Those were some great resolutions, but 2016 is a year to up the ante… again!

Making Resolutions

This year I want to create sales nurturing workflows that direct leads through the sales funnel to bring them closer to purchasing my clients products. Lead nurturing emails get between 4 and 10 times the response rate of email blasts. I made this goal because after taking over the department and learning the basics, Maren and I decided that we need to use marketing automation more strategically.

There are many companies that send out weekly emails that bore their lists and see their performance numbers dissipate week after week. I don’t want to be a company that does that! It’s best to start small and work your way up. Creating two or three segments within your subscriber database, based on things like age group, job title, interests and company size. Then, you should vary the content and subject lines of your messages to suit each segment.

If you’re already segmenting your subscribers, try sending a targeted email to a specific group within one of your segments – for example, pushing a related product to everyone in Segment A who’s purchased Product B in the last 6 months.

How to Keep Your Resolutions

The best way to keep your resolutions and how I make sure I keep mine is by putting them in a space that allows you to see them weekly. I put mine inside my favorite moleskine notebook where I write down my weekly tasks and important meeting notes. If taking notes doesn’t work for you then I suggest posting them on your bathroom mirror, taping them to your computer or pinning them on your cork-board.

Tools to Help

I am currently using Sharpspring and HubSpot for our marketing automation department. While doing a quick search for other available tools, I came up with Net-results. This company has a hilarious slogan on their website that says: The 1st choice of people buying marketing automation for the 2nd time. One of my favorite tools we use for PPC management is Wordstream. They also have an amazing blog that gives me the best information about all different marketing tactics. I love learning from their years of experience.

With a little bit of work, most of this should be easy to stay on top of and complete before 2017. Now is the time to dive into those campaigns segment people out and have your email marketing better nurture your sales leads. If you’ve made any other email marketing resolutions, I’d love to hear about them in the comments! 

Happy New Year!

Eric Foutch

Eric is Managing Partner at Red Branch Media.

Eric began his journey as a social media associate and swiftly ascended to lead the digital media department and eventually assume the role of managing partner. In his current capacity, he orchestrates and executes impactful marketing strategies that harmonize with clients' business objectives. His proficiency spans across various domains including lead generation, lead funnel nurturing, email, social media, digital, and traditional advertising. Outside of work, Eric finds joy in cooking, gardening, and traveling the world.