No matter how much you promote your own brand, there will always be customers who aren’t willing to take it from you. In fact, HubSpot Research shows that 57% of U.S. consumers trust the opinion of their friends and family when it comes to a new product.  

Plus, with the widespread access of the Internet, customers can deep-dive into their research before they put up their hard-earned money. It’s easier than ever to compare products, seek recommendations and read reviews.  

That’s where earned media can help build your credibility.  

But what is earned media?  

In the eCommerce space, Mailchimp’s latest benchmarks showed that the average open rate for marketing emails is 15.68% and the average click-through rate is 2.01%.  

But when it comes to thank you emails... the numbers speak for themselves. According to Remarkety, thank you emails received (on average):   

• An open rate of 42.51%
• A click-through rate of 18.27%   
• A conversion rate of 10.34%   

So, if you don’t invest in a well-crafted “thank you” email... well, you’re missing out on a major opportunity. Saying “thank you” helps you build long-term relationships with your customers, humanize your brand and even re-engage customers. Here’s how you can turn a simple “thank you” into a powerful avenue for relationship-building.   

When it comes to eCommerce marketing, you need to take stock of your sales funnel from the top... through the middle... and last but not least, the bottom. If you’ve been following along with our blog series, you’ve made it to the final installment of our eCommerce Sales Funnel series. And if you missed it, head over to our posts on ToFu tactics and MoFu strategies to explore the rest. 

Here’s a New Year’s resolution for eCommerce marketers: ramp up your middle-of-the-funnel strategies. Sometimes referred to as “MoFu,” this strategy helps nudge people down through the funnel once they’re already familiar with your brand.  

And to see some top-of-the-funnel (or ToFu) strategies, take a look at this blog post. And since J&C knows these strategies top-to-bottom, stay tuned for our final post of this series: bottom of the funnel. 

Now let’s take a look at how you can make the most of the middle: 

Gift-giving season is here... But this year, with safety on everyone’s mind and technology readily available, eCommerce is more relevant than ever.  

The competition is fierce out there. And every level of the sales funnel is important to get right. 

But let’s take it from the top. The top of the funnel, that is.  

Here are three ToFu strategies to try for this season and the year ahead.  

In the final episode of season two of J&See: Views on Marketing, Meg Goodman chats with Michaelynn Rose, the director of marketing for Bernina. They talk about marketing on both the client and agency side of the table, how Bernina used education to reignite interest in sewing masks (and more) during the pandemic, and how direct mail is still an effective method of marketing with innovations like hyperpersonalization and digital printing.

Hear their conversation in full below. 

It’s been said before. 

The right message... to the right person... at the right time. It’s the recipe for a successful conversion. 

Of course, it sounds simple. But how do you find the right audience? How do you deliver that resonant message? How do you ensure it gets to them at the right moment?  

Well... that’s where an email drip campaign can help.  

In the latest episode of J&See: Views on Marketing, J&C's Meg Goodman chats with Jason Baumann. He's a serial entrepreneur, non-profit alum and the president/founder of the digital marketing company Boxless Media. Together, they talk about retooling marketing plans amid the pandemic, leading with compassion, and how failure doesn't define you... it's the way you get back up again that does.

Click below to listen to the interview now. And of course, make sure to subscribe to J&See: Views on Marketing to hear a compelling interview like this once a month.

The elusive email subject line...

It's the first impression. The teaser. The little moment you get to plead your case in someone's inbox. It's the difference between getting a click... or getting sent to the trash. 

So, how do you do it? How do you create that perfect subject line that gets the reader to pause... click... and read the rest of your email? Well, there's not one formula. But there are a few tried-and-true techniques that WORK... and a couple that usually DO NOT.

Check out the do's and don'ts of email subject lines in the infographic below. 

Email marketing is essential... especially for the financial services industry. As banking and finance management becomes more digital by the day, it makes sense to utilize this all-important channel for marketing. Read on to learn how you can use email marketing to build trust with your customers.