2019-08 Digital Marketing Tools - August 2019

1Digital Marketing Tools Magazine
MARKETING TOOLS
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Digital Marketing Tools Magazine | Issue 74 | August 2019
THE DEFINITIVE
GUIDE ON
CONVERSION RATE
OPTIMIZATION
HOW TO LAUNCH
YOUR DIGITAL PRODUCT
IN 7 SIMPLE STEPS
SPECIAL:
7 GREAT
SCHEDULING
TOOLS FOR 2019
MARKETING IN
15 MINUTES A DAY
17 HIDDEN
MARKETING TOOLS

DIGITALMARKETING TOOLS
© Digital Marketing Tools Magazine 2019
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theDigitalFactor.net
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The9-StepSEOStrategyFor2019[NEW]TableOfContents
05 EDITORS NOTES
07 COVER STORY
The Definitive Guide on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
by Brian Dean
FEATURE STORIES
64 WHY THREE PRIORITIES SHOULD GUIDE YOUR
CONTENT MARKETING – HERE’S WHY
by Mark Traphagen
69 17 HIDDEN FACEBOOK MARKETING TOOLS THAT
WILL INCREASE YOUR ENGAGEMENT BY 154%
by Neil Patel
93 HOW TO BUILD A
CONTENT CONVERSION FUNNEL
by Ian Cleary
100 HOW TO CREATE AND USE SCREEN RECORDING
VIDEOS IN YOUR CONTENT MARKETING
by Mitt Ray
107 LAUNCH YOUR DIGITAL PRODUCT
IN 7 SIMPLE STEPS
By Kim Garst
113 7 GREAT INSTAGRAM SCHEDULING TOOLS
FOR 2019
by Olga Rabo
RESOURCES & REVIEWS
120 CONTRIBUTOR BIO’S
129 LINKEDIN MARKETING IN 15 MINUTES
A DAY [CHECKLIST]
By Melonie Dodaro
Contents

Welcome to Digital Marketing Tools!
Thank you to everyone who clicked the link below and
took my quick survey. You said you wanted more SEO
and Content Marketing Tips.
My goal is to bring you the latest digital marketing tools,
practical step-by-step guides and ‘how-to’ blueprints from
the best SEO, Social and Content Marketing masters on
the planet!
That said, here are the latest marketing strategies, Content
Marketing tools, Social Selling tips and SEO blueprints
from today’s top digital marketing professionals.
• The Definitive Guide on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
• Why Three Priorities Should Guide Your Content Marketing - Here’s Why
• 17 Hidden Facebook Marketing Tools That Will Increase Your Engagement by 154%
• How to Build a Content Conversion Funnel
• How to Create and Use Screen Recording Videos in Your Content Marketing
• How to Launch Your Digital Product in 7 Simple Steps
• 7 Great Instagram Scheduling Tools for 2019
• LinkedIn Marketing in 15 Minutes a Day [CHECKLIST]
Please connect with our contributors and tell me what you think!
NickEditor-in-Chief
Editor’sNotes
Editor’s Notes

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DIGITALMARKETING TOOLS

by Brian Dean
The Definitive Guide on
ConversionRateOptimization(CRO)
Cover Story
TheDefinitiveGuideonConversionRateOptimization(CRO)
T
his is a complete guide to conversion rate optimization (CRO).
With this guide you’ll learn:
• How to run A/B tests
• How to optimize landing pages
• How to convert first-time visitors into customers
• Dozens of CRO best practices
In short: if you want to get more leads, sales, and signups, you’ll love this new guide.

Contents

CHAPTER 1
CRO Basics
CHAPTER 3
How to Run A/B Tests
CHAPTER 5
How to Create High-
Converting Landing Pages
CHAPTER 7
How to Create
Irresistible CTAs
CHAPTER 2
How to Get Started With CRO
CHAPTER 4
Conversion-Focused Design
CHAPTER 6
CRO for Ecommerce Sites
BONUS CHAPTER
Advanced Tips and
CRO Best Practices

CHAPTER 1:
CRO Basics
In this chapter I’ll cover
conversion rate optimization
fundamentals.
(Including what it is and why
it’s important)
So if you’re just getting started
with CRO, this chapter is for
you.
Let’s jump right in.
What is Conversion Rate Optimization?
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the practice of optimizing your website to maximize
the number of people that take a desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making
a purchase.
As you might expect, a “conversion” is the specific action that you want visitors to take.
Do you run an Ecommerce site? Then a “conversion” is buying one of your products.
Are you a blogger? Then a “conversion” is signing up for your email newsletter.
Are you a SaaS founder? Then a “conversion” is signing up for a free trial.

What is Conversion Rate?
Your conversion rate is the percentage of people that visit a page and take a desired action.
You can calculate your conversion rate by dividing number that actually convert by the number
of people that visit a page.
For example, let’s say that you run a software product that helps people stick to their diet.
And 100 people visit your homepage every month.
If 10 of those people sign up for a free trial, that page’s conversion rate is 10%.

Why is Conversion Rate Optimization Important?
You might have heard the phrase: “It’s easier to double your conversions than double your traffic”.
And it’s 1000% true.
A simple tweak on a landing page can double or even 10x that page’s conversion rate.
That’s why the ROI of conversion rate optimization is off the charts.
I’m not going to bore you with a bunch of stats. I just want to highlight a few industry studies
that prove CRO is worth the investment.
68.5% of companies in one survey said that they plan to make CRO a “higher” priority than last year.
And it’s no secret why: only 22% of businesses are happy with their site’s conversion rate.

When businesses DO decide to invest in CRO, it usually pays off. Venture Beat reports that the
average ROI from a CRO tool is 223%.

Why Conversion Rate Shouldn’t Be Your #1 Goal
I should point something out:
The term “Conversion Rate Optimization” is kind of misleading.
Yes, you want to increase your conversion rate. But it shouldn’t be your #1 goal.
Here’s why:
Let’s say that you run an Ecommerce site that sells iPhones. And your conversion rate is 5%.
Well, if you started selling your iPhones for 1 dollar, your conversion rate would probably increase
to 100%!
Bottom line? Increasing your conversion rate is nice. But the ultimate goal of CRO is to
increase the amount of revenue that your site generates. 9 times out of 10, these two goals
align. But it’s an important distinction to make.
With that, it’s time to dive into chapter 2.

CHAPTER 2:
How to Get Started With CRO
This chapter is all about the critical first step
of any CRO campaign: collecting data.
And let me be clear about something:
Most people skip this step. And they end up
testing random stuff (like button colors).
Sure, you might get a slight bump in
conversions with a button color change.
But if you want to get 2-10x conversion
boosts, this initial research is KEY.
So without further ado, here’s how to CRUSH
data collection for CRO.
Internal Goals and Benchmarks
Your first steps are to set up goals for your CRO campaign… and figure out where you’re at.
For example, let’s say that you run an Ecommerce site.
Your goal might be to boost overall site conversion rate by 10%. Or maybe you want to focus
on improving a specific product page.
Either way, it’s important to set these high-level goals BEFORE you get into the weeds of
Analytics and A/B testing.
Then, once you’ve set your goals, it’s time to jot down your current conversion rate (aka your
benchmarks). That way, you can monitor whether or not your conversion rate improves… and
by how much.

Dig Into Google Analytics
So now you know your site’s current conversion rate. You also have a specific goal.
Great.
Now it’s time to figure out WHY your pages aren’t converting as well as they should.
And the first place to look? Google Analytics. Analytics tells you exactly WHERE conversions are
strongest (and weakest).
For example, cart abandonment is a huge problem for many Ecommerce sites. And Analytics
can tell you where in the process people tend to drop off. That way, you know where to
start testing.

Another example: a blog.
You can use Google Analytics to see which blog posts do the worst job converting readers into
email subscribers.
Analytics can also help you see conversion rate differences between devices.
For example, you can see that my conversion rate from tablets is almost half of mobile phones
and desktops.

Which means I’d want to figure out why tablet users aren’t converting. It could be that my pages
display weird on iPads. Or that my popup isn’t loading on tablets.
Either way, this kind of stuff is usually a quick win. And something that you can ONLY find
using analytics.
Find Quantitative Data
Quantitative data is another goldmine that you can use to increase conversions.
First, you can fire up heatmap and user session software like HotJar and Crazy Egg.
These tools show you how people interact with your pages. Which takes a lot of the guesswork
out of answering: “Why does this page convert like crap?”.
For example, I have two “helpful resources” in my blog’s sidebar. And according to my heatmap
data, the vast majority of people completely ignore them.

So if I wanted to improve the conversion rate on my blog posts, I’d want to test different
resources in the sidebar… or delete them altogether.
You can also use survey tools to poll users about why they landed on a certain page.
For example, HubSpot asks multiple choice questions to better understand what their visitors
want to achieve.

Collect Qualitative Data
Quantitative data is nice and all.
But if you want to paint a full picture of why people don’t convert, you also need qualitative data.
You can grab this data using:
• In-person or Skype interviews
• In-depth surveys
• On-site surveys
• Chat logs and customer support tickets
• User testing
So yeah, there are a million different ways to collect qualitative data for CRO.
That said, the exact approach isn’t as important as asking the right questions.
Specifically, you want to ask questions that help you figure out why people DO and DON’T convert.
For example, let’s say you run an SEO agency. You’d want to ask current clients and site visitors
questions like:
• “What’s the #1 reason that you want to hire an SEO agency?”
• “What other SEO services have you looked at?”
• “What kind of price range are you looking at?”
• “What would make you say: ‘YES, this agency is right for me’?”
• Then, you’d want to use these responses to inspire A/B tests.
Speaking of…

CHAPTER 3:
How to Run A/B Tests
In this chapter you’ll learn how to
conduct A/B tests like a pro.
So if you’ve ever asked yourself:
“How do I get started with split
testing?”
“What’s the best A/B testing software?”
“How do you actually perform an A/B
test?”
This chapter has you covered.
Do You Have Enough Traffic?
If your site doesn’t get much traffic, A/B testing is pretty much impossible.
Why?
Because your tests won’t reach statistical significance.
(Most optimizers consider a result legit at 90-95% statistical significance)

Fortunately, you can easily find out if your site has enough traffic for A/B testing with Optimizely’s
Sample Size calculator.
Just enter your page’s current conversion rate, the boost in conversion rate you want, and a
statistical significance level.

And the tool will let you know how many visitors you need to hit significance with your test.
What To Split Test First
One of the biggest questions people have about split testing is:
“What do I test first?”
It’s a tough question to answer. After all: there are a million things that you can test on your site,
from headlines to pricing to button copy.
That said, here are 3 ways to help you decide where to start with A/B testing:
High-Traffic Pages
This is simple math.
When you improve the conversion rate on a page that gets a lot of traffic, you’ll get A LOT
more conversions.

For example, last year I decided to run a split test on the Backlinko homepage.
Why did I start with the homepage?
It gets more traffic than any other page on my site.
2. Worst-Performing Pages
You can also start A/B testing on pages that have a super low conversion rate.
Why?

They have nowhere to go but up.
In fact, you can sometimes see a 5-10x improvement on low-converting page with a single
A/B test.
3. Qualitative and Quantitative Data
The data you collected in the last chapter will come in handy here.
Here’s where you let the data inform your first test.
For example, let’s say your user testing data told you: “People have trouble finding the button
to book a room”.
Well, your first test should be putting a “Book a Room” button front and center on your page.
Create a Hypothesis
Now that you’ve decided what to start testing, it’s time to create a hypothesis.
Why is this important?
Well, without a hypothesis, you end up testing random stuff without any rhyme or reason.
And a hypothesis helps you test stuff based on logic and data.
(Not gut feelings)
For example, last year I decided
to test a scrollbox at Backlinko:

My hypothesis was that a scrollbox would improve newsletter signups without hurting conversions
in other places (like exit intent popups).
And I made sure to jot down that hypothesis before I started the test:
How to Run an A/B Test
Here are two tips to help you run split tests:
First, start testing BIG changes.
One of the most common A/B testing rookie mistakes is testing tiny changes.
(Like button colors)

Instead, you want to start testing two VERY different versions of your pages. Then, refine the
winning page with smaller changes over time.
For example, when I ran a test on the Backlinko homepage last year, I could have tested my
button copy, logos, headline font size… and a thousand other minor tweaks.
Instead, I tested dramatically different versions of the page.
Specifically, my old homepage linked to my recent blog posts.

So I decided to test that original design against a version that offered a free case study in
exchange for an email.

Sure enough, because I tested something big, I got a BIG boost:
Second, you’ll need software.
There are dozens of A/B testing tools on the market, like:
• Unbounce
• VWO
• Optimizely
• AB Tasty
I personally use Optimizely, but it ultimately depends on your budget and the features that
matter most to you.
Collect Results and Scale
Your last step is to collect your results, analyze them, and learn.
Fortunately, most A/B testing software lets you know if your results have reached
statistical significance:

Then, once you’ve found a winner, it’s time to jot a few things down. Specifically, answers to
these questions:
• Was our hypothesis correct?
• What lesson did we learn that we can apply to future tests?
• Based on these results, what should be tested next?
CHAPTER 4:
Conversion-Focused Design
As you probably know, site design isn’t just about looking pretty.
Instead, the goal of your site’s design is to get your visitors to convert.
And in this chapter you’ll learn how to maximize conversions with design.

Persuade With Image Captions
According to one of my all-time favorite copywriting books, Cashvertising, captions get read 2x
more than non-headline copy.
Don’t waste that precious real estate with a boring description. Instead, write persuasive copy
in your captions.
Here’s an example:
Guide Users With Directional Cues
Directional cues guide users to a specific place on your page. For example, if you see an image
of someone looking to the right, you’ll probably look there too. Or if you see an arrow, your eyes
will probably follow where it leads.

Here’s a great example of directional cues in action:
See how the guy is looking up at the button? Subtle… yet super effective.
Turn Boring Forms Into Fill In The Blanks
Let’s face it: no one likes filling out forms. That is, unless you make them fun. One company
found that replacing a typical boring form with a “Mad Lib”-style form boosted form completion
rate by 25%-40%.

Make CTAs Look Clearly Like Buttons (Instead of Text
or Images)
When it comes to CTAs, traditional-looking buttons work best. That’s because people are used
to clicking on buttons.
And if your CTA looks like a text link or an image, people won’t always know that they’re looking
at a call-to-action. You guessed it: that means fewer people will click.
Show a Giant Phone Number for Mobile Visitors
If you run a business where calls = leads = revenue, try turning your tiny text phone number into
a large, clickable number. A prominent phone number can also boost credibility and trust.

Use Short Landing Pages for Small Commitments
For small initial commitments (like an email opt-in or lead gen form) try a super-short landing page.
For example, Pastel’s trial signup page is extremely short and (I can imagine) converts well
for them:

Use a Progress Bar
Use a progress bar for multi-step funnels and form submissions. Why? A progress bar motivates
people to finish what they started. Here’s an example from GoDaddy:
Use an “Action Color” For Your CTAs
The last thing you want is for your button to blend in with the rest of your page.
Fortunately, you can easily get around this issue. How? Make your CTA contrast with the rest of
your page. And BINGO… you have a CTA that instantly stands out.
For example, in a case study published at Hubspot, Performable saw a 21% lift in conversions
when they switched to a high-contrast red button.
Reduce Options and Form Fills
Lots of options=anxiety.
In fact, cutting out just a single option can make a HUGE difference. Expedia boosted annual
sales by $12 million dollars by removing a “Company Name” field from their signup process:

Bottom line? Destroy all unnecessary
options on your site.
CHAPTER 5:
How to Create High-Converting
Landing Pages
When it comes to CRO, landing
pages are HUGE.
That’s because your landing page
exists for one reason: to get someone
to convert into a lead or sale.
So if you can increase your landing
page conversion rate by 10%,
that’s 10% added directly to your
bottom line.
And in this chapter you’ll learn a
handful of actionable techniques that
you can use to boost your landing
page conversion rate.

Test Negative Words In Your Headline
Outbrain discovered that negative words in headlines like “never” and “worst” outperform positive
words, like “always” and “best”… by 63%.
For example, a headline like “5 worst foods for losing belly fat” will grab more attention than “5
best foods for losing belly fat”.
Replace “Buy” or “Sign up” with Benefit-Oriented CTAs
The word “buy” reminds someone that they’re about to make a big commitment. Not good. So
instead of “buy”, use CTAs that emphasize what they’ll GET.

Here’s an example from Unbounce:
Instead of “Buy Plan”, they say “Start My Free 30-Day Trial”, which is much more benefit oriented.
Use Action-Focused Copy
Copywriters have long known that this action-oriented copy is more persuasive than passive copy.
So instead of highlighting facts (“Our product helps people lose weight”), describe what will
HAPPEN when someone uses your product (“Lose that stubborn belly fat”).
Show Expert Social Proof
Social proof isn’t all about having thousands of customers. You can also use social proof in the
form of quotes from experts, logos of companies you’ve worked with, and awards you’ve won.
In fact, expert social proof (“Our clients include Microsoft”) can be more powerful than sheer
numbers (“We’ve served 876 clients”).

You may notice that I use this strategy here at Backlinko. I include logos of places I’ve been
featured at the top of my homepage.
Use Information Gaps
When you get a little bit of information (but not the whole thing) you’ll do almost anything to
close the gap.
Information gaps are especially powerful for email opt-ins and lead generation.
For example, let’s say you just wrote a weight loss ebook.
You could use copy like this to create an information gap: “Research shows that this seemingly
‘healthy’ food actually slows down your metabolism”.
I know I’m curious about what that food might be (and I made that example up ).
Make Your Headlines SUPER Specific
It’s a fact: vague headlines don’t sell. Instead, you want your headline to be insanely specific
about what your product or service does. Yes, you may turn some people away. But your target
customers will eat it up.

For example, look at BonFire.
Instead of something lame
like “The Next Generation of
T-Shirts”, they go with the
much more specific “The
easy way to design and sell
t-shirts online”.
Nice.
Use Inline Validation
Inline validation=awesome. Ever spend 10-minutes to fill out a form, only to see a “You need to
accept the terms of service” error message? #facepalm
Instead of showing people errors after they fill out and submit your form, inline validation gives
people notes as they work. Here’s a real-life example:
And there’s data to back
this up: several case
studies (including this one)
found that inline validation
significantly improves form
completion rates.

Use No-Nonsense Headlines
The purpose of your headline isn’t to straight up sell. Instead, the #1 goal of your headline is to
show people the benefit of using your product.
That’s why you want to use copy that highlights the #1 benefit people will get from your product
or service. Here’s a great example:
Use Likes, Users, Followers or Customers as Social Proof
Whether we admit to it or not, social proof has a strong influence on what we do. In the world
of CRO, you can use social proof in the form of Facebook likes, customers, total users, number
of downloads… or anything else that shows off social proof.

Like anything in CRO, social proof doesn’t work 100% of the time. So if you already have social
proof on your landing pages, you might want test removing social proof from your landing
pages (or try a different form of social proof).
Replace Jargon With Plain English
Your visitor shouldn’t need a PhD to understand your copy.
The fact is, jargon like this does NOT work: “We are an enterprise software company that focuses
on providing customers with revenue-driven solutions throughout the sales cycle.” Huh?
Instead, use copy anyone can understand: “We’re a CRM that helps you get more sales.”
Replace Blocks of Text With Bullets
No one likes to read huge blocks of text (especially on a super long sales letter). Instead, break
things up with bullet points.

Show Your Price on Landing Pages
If your price is lower than average, don’t hide your price. Why?
Well, when you hide your product’s price, people think: “Where’s the price? This thing must be
crazy expensive.”
In fact, Market Dialer found that including a price of “$75 per seat” doubled conversions.

CHAPTER 6:
CRO for Ecommerce Sites
If you run an Ecommerce site,
you already know that you can
draw a straight line between
conversions and revenue.
The question is:
How do you optimize your
ecommerce site for conversions?
That’s exactly what this chapter
is all about.
It’s a collection of CRO
techniques specifically designed
to turn ecommerce site browsers
into buyers.
Use Price Anchoring
Want to make your products seem dirt cheap… without slashing prices? Try price anchoring.
Here’s how it works: When you show someone a certain price, they’re “anchored” to that price
for a short time.
(That’s why infomercials show a bunch of higher prices before revealing the actual price).
Williams-Sonoma anchors like a boss. Most of the products on their category pages have a
“Suggested Price” price anchor:

Add “Reassurance Copy” to Product and Checkout Pages
Reassurance Copy are little snippets of copy around your CTAs that make your customer feel
more comfortable about their decision.
This can be free shipping, a money back guarantee, your privacy policy, social proof, or a
key benefit.
Booking.com is the king of Reassurance Copy. They sprinkle them EVERYWHERE. I count five
of them just in the above the fold area of this hotel listing page:

Show MULTIPLE High-Quality Product Images
You probably already know that product images can make or break your product page
conversion rate.
So before you throw up a single hero shot, consider featuring 5-10 images of your product.
You can show images of the product from different angles.
You can also show your product in action.
For example, this product image of a Crock-Pot features a delicious stew cooking in the pot:

Clearly Mark Your Top Sellers
Marking a product as a “Top Seller” or “Popular” is a VERY strong form of social proof.
Want to take this to the next level? Personalize your best seller list by customer segments or
purchase history.
For example, Booking.com notes that certain rooms are ideal for certain types of travelers:

Have an (Awesome) Site Search
Site search can make a HUGE difference in Ecommerce conversions. Why? Because you’re
showing people exactly what they want to find!
Pro Tip: Pay attention to products that people search for the most. Then, make those sought-
after products easier to find. For example, you can feature them on your home page or at the
top of a category page.
Feature High-Revenue Products Above The Fold
If you want an EASY way to increase conversions, feature your most profitable products front
and center in the above the fold area of your site. This rule applies to your homepage as well as
product and category pages.
Collect Emails and Nurture
Yes, you want that visitor to buy right away.
But unless you’re Amazon, that’s probably not going to happen. So instead of trying to close right
away, consider a popup that offers something for free (like a list of recipes or awesome newsletter).
Then, drip your new lead
valuable content and discounts.
When they ARE ready to buy,
you’ll be the first company that
comes to mind.

Add Product Filters
If you have a category page with 1001 products on it, add a product filter. That way, people can
easily see items that fit their style, size and budget.
Kilt ecommerce site Kilt Society saw a massive 76% increase in revenue when they added a
simple product filter to their category pages:
That means 76% more men wearing kilts. That’s a good thing, right?
Let Customers Checkout as a Guest
Yes, capturing emails is wonderful. But if you force would-be buyers to “register for an account”,
you might be losing out on some serious revenue.
Yes, Amazon and other giants can get away with it…

…but if you run a mom and pop Ecommerce site, let users buy without creating an account.
In fact, 26% of people say they won’t complete a purchase if they’re forced to register for
an account.
Use Discount Popups
Consider offering your visitors a discount in exchange for their email address.
The best way to do that? An exit intent popup.

Use Interactive Product Images
Interactive images are as close as you can get to an in-store shopping experience on the web.
Ecommerce Partners found that an interactive zoom boosted sales at an online shoe store
by 51%.
Add Trust Symbols
Several industry studies (like this one) show that trust symbols (like association memberships,
credit card logos and security icons) boost conversions… especially at checkout.
Optimize for Mobile Buyers
If you haven’t optimized your Ecommerce site for mobile phones and tablets, you need to hop
in your Delorean and leave 1998 in a hurry.
And for the record: “mobile optimized” doesn’t just mean that your site technically works on an
iPhone. The entire experience needs to be flawless. Otherwise, people are going to head over
to Amazon.

For example, ProFlowers increased their conversion rates by 20-30% when they made their site
easier to use on mobile.
Make Product and Category Pages Load Lightning Fast
Amazon once reported that one second of load site delay can cost them over $1 billion in annual
sales. Needless to say, they don’t let that happen

So whether you run your Ecommerce site on Shopify or BigCommerce, it’s important that your
pages load pretty much instantly. If you’re ready to get started, here’s a helpful guide to improving
ecommerce site pagespeed.
Hide Your Coupon Field
When you see a coupon field on a checkout page, what do you do? You go to Google and
search for coupon codes!
And you might never end up going back to that checkout page. So removing (or hiding) the
coupon field can really help with shopping cart abandonment.

Show Why You’re Better
You don’t always need to woo potential customers with fancy copy.
Instead, directly compare your product with the competition. That way, people can quickly see
why they should choose you over the rest.
Test Different Prices to Maximize Revenue
You can split test headlines and button colors till you’re blue in the face. And hey, you’ll sometimes
see a lift on conversions.
But you can sometimes get a HUGE conversion boost by lowering or raising your prices.

Obviously, a lower price can boost conversion rate… but hurt profits. And a higher price can
hurt your conversion rate… and increase profits.
So if you decide to use this approach it’s important to look past pure conversion rate numbers
and focus on revenue.
Keep the Number of Items In Your Cart Visible
People on a shopping spree can lose track of what they put into their cart. You can easily sidestep
this issue with a feature that shows people how many items they have in their shopping cart.
Here’s an example from Keurig:

CHAPTER 7:
How to Create Irresistible CTAs
There’s no other way to say it:
Your call-to-action can make or break
your conversion rate.
Use the wrong CTA? Your visitor will
say: “Nah. Maybe later”.
But when you use the CTA, you’ll find
more users hitting that “buy” button.
So without further ado, here are simple
(yet effective) strategies you can use to
craft powerful call-to-actions.
Test First and Second Person Copy In Your CTAs
Several CRO case studies show that first person CTAs (“I want to try it!”) works well.
However, some people have seen a higher conversion rate with the second person (“Get your
free quote”). Try both.
Add Urgency to Your CTA
Want an easy way to get more visitors to whip out their wallets? Add urgency to your
call-to-actions.
Pro Tip: Use numbers to spark urgency. For example: “Order in the next 2 hours for delivery
today” or “Only 7 left” works better than “Supplies are limited”.

For example, look at easyJet. They actually show you the number of people looking at the same
route. This makes you think “I better book this flight before someone else does”:
Tap Into Loss Aversion
“Loss aversion” is a powerful psychological motivator.
In other words: “Stop losing customers” is more convincing than “Get more customers”.
And research shows that people are MUCH more motivated to avoid a loss than to gain
something new.
Add Countdown Timers to Time-Sensitive Offers
A countdown timer is one of the best ways to dial up scarcity for time-sensitive products.
In this ConversionXL case study, Marcus Taylor saw a 332% increase in conversions by adding
a countdown timer to one of his landing pages.

BONUS CHAPTER:
Advanced Tips and CRO Best Practices
Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s
time to go advanced.
In this chapter you’ll see advanced tips
and CRO best practices that you can
use to get more conversions… FAST.
Test The Weakest Links In Your Funnel FIRST
Let’s say you have a funnel with 7 steps. How do you know which step to optimize first?
Well, most people focus on the beginning (landing page) or the end (checkout page). And it’s a
rookie mistake.
Instead, focus on fixing the bottlenecks. First, outline each step of your funnel. Then use
Analytics to measure the conversion rate at each step. Finally, zero-in on the worst performing
steps first. These are steps where people “fall off” your funnel… and have the highest upside.
Ask for Micro-commitments
Micro-commitments let a visitor “date” you before getting married.
In the world of conversion rate optimization, micro-commitments can be used in two ways:
First, you can include tiny commitments at the top of your sales funnel. For example, you
can offer a free trial or a monthly membership instead of making people commit to a pricey
annual plan.

Second, you can emphasize smaller commitments in your sales copy. For example, a call to
action like “See a sample” sounds like less of a commitment than “Get a free quote”… even
though they’re basically the same thing.
CrazyEgg does an awesome job with this technique. Instead of asking you to sign up, they let
you take their software for a spin:
Directly Counter Objections
Don’t be afraid to feature customers objections on your landing pages… and directly counter them.
Common objections include:
• Why should I believe you?
• What if it doesn’t work for me?
• It’s not worth the money.
• How does this compare to…?

Here’s an example of this technique in action:
Give People MORE Information
Squeeze pages don’t need a ton of info. A short description of the free ebook usually does
the trick.
On the other hand, sales pages for complex and costly products need LOTS of info.
You’ve probably seen insanely long sales pages for online courses. Why are they so long?
Because people need a lot of convincing to invest in an online course.
So if you have an expensive product, don’t be shy about providing people with A LOT of information.
Make Your “About Us” Page More Human
If your site is like most websites out there, your About Page is one of your top 5 most-visited pages.
So don’t waste the opportunity to show people that your company is made up of living, breathing
human beings. Wistia’s About Page is a perfect example of this concept in action:

Instead of stiff headshots, Wistia lets their employees show off some personality.
Use Specific Stats and Numbers
Looking to add credibility to your copy? Sprinkle in stats and figures. For example, “works 52%
better than the competition” is much more powerful than “best product around!”.
Here’s an example from Unbounce:

Test Live Chat Support
In many industries (like SaaS) live chat can mean the difference between a sale and an abandoned
cart. In fact, Zendesk reports that 92% of consumers are satisfied after using live chat.
Pro Tip: Read over chat transcripts. You’ll probably find that the same 5-10 questions crop up
over and over again. Then, address those questions on your landing pages or add them to your
FAQ page.
Autofill Fields at Checkout
It’s no secret that more fields=fewer conversions. But what if you absolutely need a ton of
fields? Try autofill fields.
For example, automatically pull in a user’s city and country info from their zip code. This means
less typing, which can increase your conversion rate significantly (especially on mobile).
Create MORE Landing Pages
According to Hubspot, companies with 10+ landing pages generate 55% more leads than
companies with 5 fewer landing pages.

Why does this work?
More landing pages=more personalized offers. You can create one landing page for moms,
another page for dentists, etc.
Also, more landing pages=more potential traffic from long tail searches in Google.
But be careful: you can’t just take the same offer and make 30 different versions of it. That’s
duplicate content.
Instead, make each landing page 90%+ unique. That means different copy, different images,
different lead magnets, and different CTAs.
Encourage Customers to Share Their Purchase
Encourage users to share what they just bought on Facebook and Instagram.
This will not only bring you some referral sales (“Those sneakers look awesome. I want ‘em
too!”), but this can also increase your brand awareness.
For example, EventBrite started encouraging customers to share their tickets on social media.
They found that the average return on a share was $4.15 for Facebook and $1.85 for Twitter.
Not bad.

Now It’s Your Turn
I hope you enjoyed my guide to CRO.
Now I want to turn it over to you: Which of the tips from today’s guide are you going to try first?
Are you going to work on your landing pages? Or start A/B testing?
Let me know.

by Mark Traphagen
Why Three Priorities Should Guide
YourContentMarketing–Here’sWhy
WhyThreePrioritiesShouldGuideYourContentMarketing–Here’sWhy
C
ontent marketing is a complicated and relatively young practice. What really matters to
achieve success?
In this episode of the award-winning Here’s Why digital marketing video series, Mark Traphagen
gives you the three top priorities to get ROI from your content strategy.

Resources
• Your 3 Top Content Marketing Priorities for 2019
• Why You Should Build Content Marketing Bridges
Transcript
Eric: Mark, content marketing is a complex topic. What would you say are the most important
things content marketers should be pursuing right now?
Mark: I have three priorities that I try to follow myself. Number one is to balance quantity and
quality, two is to prioritize content hubs, and three, build content bridges.
Eric: All right, let’s take those one at a time then. Start with balancing quantity and quality in
your content.
VIDEO PLACEHOLDERINTERNET CONNECTION REQUIRED

Mark: In the old days, the conventional wisdom was to create as much content as you can. In
an upcoming video in our “Here’s Why” series you’re going to talk a little bit more in detail about
what that means and what that looks like in terms of balancing those two things.
Let’s talk for a moment about why it seemed to used to make sense to just create as much
content as you possibly can.
Before social media, for example, almost all content had a short lifespan. Most people got their
content through an RSS feed or email notification and that was it; it was gone forever. Now with
social media, if you’re doing it right, you can take your best content, your evergreen content,
promote it again and again and again so more people see it.
Also, Google hadn’t yet shifted its focus fully to content quality and user-value. All the traditional
signals are still there in Google, but these are things that they’ve done a lot better with in recent
years. So having really great quality content now can become evergreen in search where Google
keeps promoting it even if it’s older, if it’s still relevant.
And finally, everyone was playing catch up back then because most brands lacked sufficient
quality or quantity of content. I think those are the reasons why they concentrated on quantity.
Now Google’s shift to machine-learning driven content quality has swung the pendulum the
other way where content quality has become more of a priority.
So the ideal I think is—and this is if you have the capacity and the resources to do this—is to
put as much as you can toward that high-quality user-focused, highly-relevant content. If you
have the capacity, fill that in with shorter posts in between other kinds of content so that you
keep top of mind but you’re giving lots of context around your content.
Eric: Let’s talk about the importance of content hubs.
Mark: Yes, and this is something I learned from you, and I love it now because I see what it does
in our own content and that of our clients, for sure. So, once you get a quality content mindset,
content hub creation is the next step.
Let’s talk about what a content hub is. At the most fundamental level, it’s a centralized curation
of your content around one of your main topics.

You can have multiple content hubs on your site, but each one is centered around one of
the things you really want to be known for. So blog content we know gets pushed down and
disappears. A hub creates a better user experience, because everything that the user wants to
know about that topic they can find in that one place, but it also helps search engines to see
what you should be known for.
Examples on our site include our hubs built around our research studies. Because of those,
we’ve got number one ranks for over a year now for “mobile versus desktop,” “digital personal
assistants,” and many other high–volume keywords that are really important to our business.
Eric: Right. And I think what most people don’t realize is that in a blog construct—this is a little
bit of research work I did—75% of the content that goes in a blog are things that Google really
shouldn’t index. And like you said, that content gradually disappears over time as it descends
in the hierarchy.
Mark: And it should, right?
Eric: Yes. But in a content hub, you have the big advantage of really controlling where everything
shows up which is great.
But the last priority you mentioned is building content marketing bridges. What do you mean
by that?
Mark: First of all, I have a lot more detail about that in another “Here’s Why” episode and also a
blog post that I published about it, but let’s talk about the basic idea.
A content bridge means bridging the gulf between brand goals and consumer wants and needs.
I see the most successful content has the right balance of both. You can be out of balance
either way too much, trying to engage consumers but little about your products or services or
what your brand is really about, or the other way of just trying to sell, sell, sell that people don’t
want to see with no helpful informational content.
So you want to find the bridge, the balance between those two.

BONUS Videos:
Why These 3 Elements Are Critical for Content Marketing Success – Here’s Why
Why You Must Publish Frequently (But Keep Quality High!) – Here’s Why

by Neil Patel
17 Hidden Facebook Marketing Tools That
WillIncreaseYourEngagementby154%
17HiddenFacebookMarketingToolsThatWillIncreaseYourEngagementby154%
F
acebook engagement is easier and more valuable than you ever imagined.
I found this out the hard way.
At one point, I was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a month on Facebook Ads.
Sure, I was getting some huge successes. But I was also wasting a ton of money.

For example, I once spent $400,000 on Facebook fan page likes.
I still feel dumb for that one…
The engagement just wasn’t there. I had a large number of fans but very little actual engagement.
I had no idea that hidden tools within Facebook’s apps, extensions, insights, tactics, and bots
that could have made my Facebook ad spend 80 times more effective.
Facebook marketing is like an iceberg. Most people see the top part — Facebook ads. They
spend their entire time optimizing that little bit of potential.
The real power is underneath. It’s hidden.
And that’s why I created this list.
I want you to know exactly what those hidden Facebook marketing tools are and how you can
increase your engagement by 154% as I did.
Now before we get started, for the first few hidden tools you need Mobile Monkey to utilize all
of the tactics (it’s free). In addition to that, some of the hidden tools that I’ll uncover are within
Facebook… you just don’t know about them.

Hidden Tool #1: Facebook Messenger Marketing
Okay, I’m starting out with a big, broad one.
It’s hiding in plain sight: Facebook Messenger marketing.
For some reason, not very many marketers are taking advantage of Messenger marketing, even
though it’s the hottest opportunity in digital marketing today.
What does this mean for you? It means that you can gain first mover’s advantage.
Using Facebook Messenger for marketing is as simple as it sounds… you send messages to
customers on Facebook Messenger.
What makes this channel different from other marketing methods like email marketing is
the results.
• Facebook Messenger messages have an open rate of 50-80%.
• Facebook Messenger messages have a clickthrough rate of 20%, especially when using
chat blasting.
• Facebook Messenger messages have a conversion rate of 3-5x higher than Facebook
desktop ads.
• Facebook Messenger marketing costs 30-50x less than Facebook ad campaigns (when using
Facebook Send To Messenger Ads)

Where else can you get engagement results like that?
I don’t know of any, and I’ve done quite a bit of online marketing.
The best way to get started with Facebook Messenger marketing is with MobileMonkey.
MobileMonkey is a powerful chatbot builder that I use personally. Chatbots are essential for
scoring sky-high open rates, CTRs, and conversion rates.
And best of all, it’s free.
Hidden Tool #2: Comment Guard (Private Reply
via Messenger)
A comment guard is a Facebook Messenger marketing feature that allows you to add new
contacts to your contact list when they comment on your Facebook post.
It’s like a magic elixir for engagement.
It works like this.
1. You post something on Facebook as usual.
2. People comment on your post.
3. Anyone who comments on the post gets your automatic private reply in Messenger.
4. When they engage with this reply, they are added to your Facebook Messenger contact list.
The mobile screenshot below displays exactly what happens.

Someone comments on the post, and they immediately receive a Messenger message.
Imagine this. You post something on your Facebook page that has high engagement potential…
a meme, a quiz, a contest, a question, whatever. All the comments that you rack up aren’t just
comments anymore, they’re warm leads.
You’ll need to use MobileMonkey in order to pull this off, but it’s really easy.
1. Just click the “FB comment guard” button using the MobileMonkey app.
2. Create an autoresponder message.
3. Point them to your Messenger chat landing page.
4. Add the comment guard to your selected Facebook post.

Hidden Tool #3: Click to Messenger Ads
A Click-to-Messenger Ad is a normal Facebook ad with a twist. Instead of sending people to a
landing page, you send them to a Facebook Messenger bot sequence.
It looks like this:
Once the person starts that Facebook Messenger sequence, they are a lead. And that’s when
a chatbot takes over to bring them down the conversion funnel.
For example, you could have your chatbot ask users questions, and send them offers that
they’re interested in.

It can be hard to manually respond to thousands of message inquiries. Instead, you can direct
those chat sessions derived from your Messenger Ads directly to a MobileMonkey chatbot,
which can ask qualifying questions and engage users at scale.
Check out this article, for step by step instructions on leveraging this ad unit
Hidden Tool #4: Chat Blaster
Chat blasting is a powerful method for getting your message in front of your entire Facebook
Messenger list in minutes.
I’ve managed chat blasting campaigns that scored a 96.9% open rates in just sixty minutes.

With MobileMonkey you can schedule chat blasts, bulk send, develop interactive Messenger
sequences, create special offers, and anything else that helps your marketing.
To start, just click “Chat Blaster” in the app.
One of the things that I like about the Chat Blaster is the ability to segment audiences. Many
of the campaigns that I manage involve thousands of contacts, so I want to narrow down my
contacts to just the right targets.
Creating segments is simple using MobileMonkey, which allows you to “Create Audience” with
a click.

Your audience can perform self-segmentation when the chat blast sends.
Hidden Tool #5: Messenger Scan Codes
Remember QR codes? They didn’t really catch on that big, but the idea is gaining new ground
with Facebook Messenger codes.
Anyone who’s on Facebook Messenger has a unique code.
• In Messenger, tap on your profile picture in the upper right.
• Then tap your profile picture again
• The image that appears is your Messenger code.
From this screen, you can also scan a code.
Your Facebook page’s unique scan code is an excellent way to add people to your Messenger
contact list. A person simply scans your code and they’re part of your list.
I can see applications for this at conferences, on bulletin board ads, merchandise, or even
business cards.

Hidden Tool #6. Warm Engaged Invites
One tactic that I’ve used to build my Facebook audience is by personally inviting people who
have engaged with my facebook page, to become a page fan.
From your business Facebook page (desktop), find a post that has engagement.
Using this tool, you view the people who engaged with your post and can invite people to like
the page.

The reason why this is valuable is that you’re able to target engaged fans. If you have a lot of
Facebook fans, but not a lot of engagement, Facebook’s algorithm will punish you.
Instead, identify those people who will be engaged and manually invite them.
Hidden Tool #7: Send Personal Invites in Messenger
A similar hack is inviting your friends to like your business page, and also sending the invite
in Messenger.
This is the method that I recommend since you can also personalize the message and give them
two touches instead of just one.
Click on the … button on your Facebook page, then click “Invite Friends.”

Here, you can invite friends and create a personalized message. Be sure to check the box at
the bottom to send the invite using Messenger.

Hidden Tool #8: Invite People to Your Facebook
Group by Email
I love hacks that combine two platforms. I can leverage one of my marketing channels by
combining it with another.
You can invite people to join your Facebook group by sending them an email. Obviously, you’ll
need an email list to do this.
Here’s how.
From your Facebook Group page, click “members”
on the left side.

From the next page, you can add
email addresses and personal
notes to invitees.
Currently, the only way I know
how to do this is manually. If you
have a large email list, it could take
some time. :/
Hidden Tool #9: Competitor Ad Espionage
I’m a huge fan of ethical espionage.
In the world of SEO, it’s not that hard.
Just plug in a URL to something like RankSignals.
Boom, instantly you have intel.

And some of it is really helpful.
But with so many brands now spending millions on Facebook ads, how do you get a handle on
that kind of information?
You will not be able to get your competitor’s targeting info and ad spend but you can find out
where, how often, and what the competition is advertising.
Let’s say I’m the competition and you want to spy
on me. First, find my Facebook page and tap the
“i” button on the right side.

On this page, you can find out if the page has ever changed
names, when it was created, and where the page managers
are located. This can be handy intel.
Tap on “Active Ads.”
If the page is running ads, you’ll be able to see them here.
Hidden Tool #10: Page Competition Gauge
I like to have a solid understanding of who my competition is and what they’re up to.
But how do I know who my competition is? Thankfully, Facebook’s algorithm has figured it out
for me.
To use this feature, go to your Facebook Page Insights. From Insights, scroll down until you see
“Pages to Watch.

By default, Facebook shows you five potential competitors, but you can view more by clicking
“See More Suggested Pages.”
When you add a competitor to your watched pages, you’ll be able to keep up with their activity,
growth rates, total likes, and the frequency of their posts.
This information will help you understand how you’re doing and what you might need to change.
Hidden Tool #11: Find Where You’re
Gaining Followers
It is important for you to figure out where you’re getting your followers so you can know how to
get more.
One helpful way to get this information is again through Page Insights. Tap “Followers” and
scroll down until you see “Where Your Page Follows Happened.”

Facebook shows you follow quantities according to five locations:
1. On Your Page
2. Search
3. Uncategorized Desktop
4. Your Posts
5. Others
If a particular source shows large follow rates, try to reverse engineer what happened, then do
it again.
Hidden Tool #12: Identify Audience Signals on
Page Insights
One way that I use metrics to leverage my marketing efforts is to view my Facebook page
insights, particularly the demographic information.
When viewing this information, I’m looking for strong positives — indications that my audience
favors a particular demographic.
For example, this page demonstrates a strong positive for men and women between the ages
of 25-44.

If you’re 21, there’s only a small chance you’re going to be interested in my page. By contrast,
if you’re a 30-year old male, there is a far stronger likelihood that you will have an interest in
this page.
This information helps me know how, where, and upon whom to focus my marketing and
advertising efforts.
Hidden Tool #13: Pull Email Addresses
I love this hack.
You know how hard it is to get people’s email address these days, right? No matter how
appealing your content upgrade, asking for someone’s email address is tantamount to asking
for their social security number.
With Facebook Messenger marketing, that’s no longer the case.
You can create a Facebook Messenger chatbot that asks for an individual’s email address.
Then, all they do is click a button to pre-fill their address.
Facebook does all the work for you.
Here’s what the bot looks like in MobileMonkey.

As long as you set the input type as
email, Facebook will know to pull the
user’semailaddressexactlyasthey’ve
entered it when creating a Facebook
account. No typos, nothing.
This is another case of using two
different channels to get information
and engage your users. When you
use a chatbot, it makes the process
automatic and easy.
Hidden Tool #14: Pull Phone Numbers
If there’s one thing harder to get from a customer than their email address, it’s their phone number.
Again, powered by chatbots, it’s a
cinch. Using input type “phone” in
MobileMonkey means that you’re
guaranteed to get the user’s primary
phone number as they provided when
and if they stored their phone number
in Facebook.
It’s understandable that people are
hesitant to enter their phone number
on an unfamiliar platform — a contact
form on your website, for instance.
It’s quite a different level of comfort
when they are asked for a phone
number in a familiar messaging app,
and Facebook automatically adds
the number.

Literally, all that your contact has to do is tap their
phone number.
Hidden Tool #15: Website Chat Widget
This one seems obvious, but again it’s surprising how few websites are putting the power of a
website chat widget to work.
Check this out. If you go to MobileMonkey’s website, there is a chat widget on nearly every page.

If you’ve logged into Facebook Messenger on that browser, all you have to do is click and you’re
introduced to a Messenger sequence with MobileMonkey.
This sequence powered by a chatbot brings you further down the funnel.
One of the unique and powerful features of this funnel is that it is self-guided. You feel as if
you’re in control — making choices and selecting options.
Regardless of your choices, however, you are making deeper connections with the product and
the marketing funnel.
HiddenTool#16:TrackSpecificFacebookConversions
The good thing about Facebook Ads Manager is that you have access to a ton of information.
The bad thing about Facebook Ads Manager is that you also have access to a ton of information.
Take conversions, for example.
If you’re tracking them, good for you. But which conversions are you tracking? Here are
the options:

I call this one “hidden” because true conversions are essentially in Ad Manager underneath a
lot of other noise.
You have to narrow down your conversion tracking to just the conversions that you need to
know about.
For one of my businesses, I only focus on
five types of conversions.
Everything else is useless.
I’ve written about this before… when you
get clarity on what to track, you’ll do a lot
better at making real progress with your
Facebook advertising.
Hidden Tool #17: Messenger Drip Campaigns
If you’ve been in Internet marketing for any amount of time, you know how potent a good drip
campaign can be.
Imagine increasing this potency by 10x.
That’s exactly what a Facebook Messenger drip campaign can do. Again, the power is in the
chatbot builder.
MobileMonkey’s drip campaign feature just takes a click to get started.

Unlike an email drip campaign which can take days or weeks to complete, a Facebook Messenger
drip campaign can be completed in a matter of minutes or hours.
Plus, when you use a chatbot, the entire sequence can be interactive. You can create choices
and engage the user on a far deeper level.
Conclusion
There’s way more to Facebook than meets the eye.
I have a strong sense that Facebook marketing isn’t going to decline in the next 2-4 years. It’s
going to become exponentially more powerful.
There’s a reason why so many of the hidden marketing tools above focus on Facebook Messenger.
Facebook Messenger marketing has fundamentally changed the game, and it’s done so in two
areas where marketing rises or falls:
• Interactivity or dialogue — Messenger marketing, even when powered by a bot, has a
personal feel. Instead of bullhorn marketing — telling your audience to do, buy, read, visit,
watch. You’re asking for their feedback and opening up a conversation.
• Speed of engagement — Unlike the glacial speed of email marketing (like drip campaigns),
Messenger marketing has a much swifter cadence. Many people have a pavlovian response
to the crisp ding of their Messenger notifications. They want to see who’s sending them a
personal message. This means your open rates and click through rates are shooting up.
It’s not going to last forever. Like the banner ads of decades past, Messenger marketing will lose
its luster as people become accustomed to it.
By engaging Messenger marketing now, you’ll have a far stronger advantage.
What Messenger marketing tactics does your brand or business currently use?

by Ian Cleary
HowtoBuildaContentConversionFunnel
How to
BuildaContentConversionFunnel
Y
ou know how much hard work it is creating content, don’t you? Well… for all that hard
work, you need to get some rewards for doing it! This is where a content conversion
funnel comes in.
A content conversion funnel is where you share a piece of content that gets attention from your
potential audience and then you lead them down a path to a potential sale.
This could be text, images, video, voice… whatever form your content takes.
In this article, we break down some examples of content conversion funnels and, of course, we
take a look at the tech side to building the funnels

The Social Media Funnel / Blogging Funnel
Our PRISM framework will help you understand how to go from sending a tweet all the way
through to getting a sale.

The process is as follows:
• P for People – You build an audience of people interested in your products and services
(followers/fans).
• R for Relationships – If you have a relationship with your audience, they are more likely to
take action. Valuable content is a great way of building an engaged audience.
• I for Inbound Traffic – When you share out your content (e.g. blog posts) on social media to
an engaged following, you get traffic to your site.
• S for subscribers and social retargeting – Most people arriving on your site won’t buy your
products or services immediately, so you need to capture their details. You can do this by
building email subscribers or retargeting them with ads if they don’t subscribe.
• M for Monetization – You then build a sales funnel to monetize the traffic.
Monetization is complex because there many spinning parts, combinations and permutations.
For example, have a look at the following monetization funnel:
• You get inbound traffic from a variety of sources and this traffic goes to a piece of content with
a content upgrade. This is something of value related to the post that people can download
in return for an email address. If someone doesn’t join the email list, they are retargeted with
Facebook ads.
• If they do join the email list, they are offered a product for sale. If they buy this, they may be
offered another product. If they don’t buy it, then they are retargeted with ads on Facebook.
• There is also email retargeting with a series of emails that ultimately end in an offer.

Some sales funnels are very aggressive with many steps in them and many different types of
offers. But don’t be put off, you don’t need to be that aggressive.
Someone could sign up for an email list and your next offer could be a free trial of your product
or service. If they don’t go for this, you could ask them if they want to go to a webinar. Either
way, you are looking for people to take the next step.
It’s very difficult to be successful with social media or content marketing without an understanding
of sales funnels.
There are many different types of content funnels. Here are a few examples:
The Webinar Funnel
Webinars are a great way of generating sales for your product or service. If someone is prepared
to allocate 45 minutes to 1 hour to a webinar with you, there’s a good chance that they are
interested in your products or services.
They may not all be buyers but you will have potential buyers on the call.
You start off by picking a great topic and creating a promotion plan for promoting that that topic.
That could include:
• Ads on your website
• Facebook Ads
• Promotion to your email list
• Promotion on social media channels
• Promotion to previous webinar registrations.
Read our post on how to build 1,000 subscribers in your next webinar.
Once you have your subscribers, you need to make sure they turn up! We typically provide
emails and a video that explain the importance and value of the content. We also only promote
our webinars about 7 to 10 days before the event because we get fewer people registered but
more attendees!

Product Launch Funnel
The product launch funnel is a term coined by Jeff Walker, who came up with this formula for
launching a product. It starts with a survey to your audience and results in a 4-part video series
to sell.
When you are selling an expensive product, you need to provide a lot of value over a period of
time before the offer is made. So, over a 7- to 10-day period, you send a series of videos.
At the end, you offer the product or service for a limited time. Typically, this launch opens on a
particular date and then closes on a different date (i.e. it’s not open all the time).
The Lead Capture Funnel
This funnel is just about creating leads. After you create the lead, you can link this to the funnel
so that it sells!
You might have a lead-capture landing page on your site and you drive traffic to this page.
When someone signs up, they are brought to a thank-you page.
If they arrived on the landing page but didn’t go to the thank-you page, you know they didn’t
sign up so you can retarget them with ads.
The Sales Funnel
There is where you extend the lead-capture funnel to a sale. You capture the lead and then, on
the next page, you offer the person the opportunity to buy a product or service.
If they buy, you could offer them the opportunity to upgrade.
You could also go straight to a sale.
In the following example, your website visitor gets an offer to buy an event ticket.
• If they don’t buy the event ticket, they are retargeted with an ad.
• If they do buy the ticket, they are offered the chance to upgrade the ticket.
• If they don’t buy the upgrade, they are retargeted with an ad.

What skills do you need to build the full, end-to-
end content marketing funnel process?
Ok… so before you fall off your chair, remember that you can build a funnel piece by piece and
the most important thing to do is keep improving your skills.
The second most important thing to do is figure out which bits you will do and which bits other
people will do.
• Content creation – You’ll need to create content for blogs, lead-gen guides, ads etc. You’ll
also need to have someone who can help with creating imagery or video.
• Advertising – When you want to drive more traffic into your funnel, you’ll need skills such as
knowledge of Facebook ads.
• Conversion funnel analytics – Measurement of what you are doing is just as important as
doing it. Without measuring, you really don’t know what worked and what didn’t work.
• Tools – You’ll need to have a good knowledge of the tools that are available, how to set them
up, and how to get the best use out of them.
• Social media – People buy from people they know, like and trust. There is no better channel
than social media for this to happen.

• Email marketing – If people are not going to buy from you immediately, you’ll need to retarget
them with ads or using email. Email is free (except for the cost of the tool), so use it more often.
• Payment providers – You’ll need to understand which payment providers to use to support
the collection of money from product/service sales.
• Content funnel optimization – When you create all that content, you’ll need to optimize it so
you can get more social, organic traffic.
• Content promotion – No matter how good you are at creating content, you still need to
promote the content. You’ll need to understand how to find good opportunities to promote
it, learn how to build relationships with influencers, how to optimize your content for maximum
sharing etc.
Summary
Understanding how to design, implement and optimize a conversion funnel is the most essential
skill you need as a content marketer.
But….
…It’s not easy so help is often required.
What is your opinion/feedback? I’d love to hear
from you.
Are you building content conversion funnels?

HowtoCreateandUseScreenRecordingVideosinYourContentMarketing
by Mitt Ray
How to Create and Use Screen Recording Videos
in Your Content Marketing
I
f you want to take your content marketing to the next level, video is the way to go. It’s
estimated that by 2022, 82% of all global traffic will be from video.
An easy way to venture into video content marketing is through screen recording videos. This is
because anybody can create them. You don’t even need to record yourself. All you need to do
is record your screen and your voice.
So, here’s a helpful step by step guide on how to create and use screen recording videos in
your content marketing…

Step 1 – Brainstorm topics
The first thing you must do before creating your screen recording video is to decide on a topic.
You can typically create two types of screen recording videos. The most common way is to
show tips on how to use a tool or tactic. For example, if you’re a productivity coach, you could
create a video tutorial on using a tool like Evernote. While if you are a marketer, you could create
a tutorial on using a popular marketing tool. An example is this video from Active Growth on
using Buffer, a social media management tool.
But if you are a software company, along with sharing tutorials on how to use other tools, you
can share tutorials on using your own tool as well. This way you will not only be educating your
audience but also selling your product at the same time. 93% of businesses find that videos
increase a user’s understanding of their product.
A company that regularly does this is Canva. An example is the below video…
They regularly share screen recordings like this where they share a tip on image designing and

how to execute it with their image editor. This way they are educating their viewers and selling
at the same time.
So, have a brainstorm and decide on which type of screen recording video would work best
for you. To get a better idea on what will work best you can conduct searches on top video
networks like Vimeo and YouTube to see which video content gets the most views, comments,
and shares.
Then make a content calendar full of these topic ideas.
Step 2 – Get a good screen recording tool
Once you have a few ideas you can begin recording the videos. The main thing you require for
this is a screen recording tool. An affordable one you can use is Screencast O Matic.

Screencast-O-Matic is a video creation platform that has a screen recorder and video editor.
The recorder lets you record the screen and/or the webcam. You can create and demonstrate
anything on your screen. The video editor is great for editing your recordings. You can easily
remove mistakes that you make during the recording. You can also add in extra elements
including text, arrows or zoom in on specific sections to highlight important bits of the video.
Step 3 – Write the script
After you install your screen recording tool, begin writing the script. Even if you are very
knowledgeable on the topic and are confident that you can get away by winging it you should
write a script.
Just speaking can be an easy task, but when you are speaking and recording your screen and
moving the cursor your mind will be occupied with too many things. This is why writing a script
helps. You don’t have to follow it completely. Only when you get a little lost while recording, you
can refer to it and it will help you get back on track.
Screencast-O-Matic has a neat feature for scripted recordings. All you need to do is copy and
paste your script into the tool and it will break it up in sections so that it’s easy to follow. You
can then record your voice and add your video on top of your narration.
If you desire the old fashioned way, you can print the script out and place it next to your computer
or PC as you won’t be able to see it while you record your screen. After you finish recording the
video you can actually give this document for free (in PDF form) as the transcript.
Step 4 – Practice, practice, and practice
After you finish writing the script you should begin practicing. First read through the script a
few times.
Next, go through all the steps you plan to record. Write down all the steps on a piece of paper
if you need to so that you don’t miss anything.
After that, practice going through the steps you plan to record and read through the script as
well. You can record your practice session if you would like to. This will help you check how well
you are doing.

Step 5 – Record the video
Once you are confident that you can record the video properly, begin recording the final version.
If you practiced properly, this should be an easy step. If you mess up a step or make a mistake
while speaking, repeat the line or go back and repeat the step. There’s no need to start recording
from scratch again as you can always edit the mistake out later using the video editor.
Step 6 – Edit the video
After you finish recording, open up the video editor and begin editing the video.

Here you mainly want to cut out any mistakes you might have made with the video or the voice
recording. These include repetitions, gaps in speaking, etc. You can also remove unwanted
sounds in the background.
The editor lets you add overlay options including text and icons like arrows and boxes. Use
these to make the important parts of a video more obvious. You can also add music to the
recordings while editing.
Step 7 – Upload it
After you finish editing, upload the video. If you want your video to have maximum exposure you
should upload it to as many social networks as you can.
Some great networks where videos do well are YouTube, Facebook, and IGTV. Videos perform
well on Instagram too, but you need to shorten them to less than a minute. So, you will need
to create a new video for Instagram or edit the video you already created to less than a minute.
Here’s an example of a short screen recording video from Visme.
If you want your video to be private because you are creating it for a course or if you plan to use
it as a lead magnet, you can upload it to a more private video platform. Three great options are
Vimeo, Wistia and Screencast O Matic’s own video hosting platform. These sites let you adjust
the privacy settings to make sure the video isn’t visible to the public.

Step 8 – Promote it
After you upload the video it’s time to begin promoting it. Start by sharing it on your own social
networks, blog and with your email list. After that reach out to influencers and get them to share
it. You can easily find people who will share your video by using Buzzsumo.
Just copy and paste the URLs of videos similar to yours into the search field provided on Buzzsumo.
This will show you the number of shares the video received. If the video did well on social media,
click on ‘View Sharers’. This will show you a list of influencers who shared the video on Twitter.
You can contact them one by one and ask them to share your video too.
You can also use ads to drive more views.
Wrap
These are all the steps you must follow to create and use screen recording videos in your content
marketing. First, get started with the creation process by brainstorming topics, writing the script
and then finally recording the video. After that upload the video onto your top networks and do
your best to promote it.
How do you use screen recording videos in your content marketing? Have you got any recording
and promotion techniques you would like to share with us?

by Kim Garst
Launch Your Digital Product in
7 Simple Steps
LaunchYourDigitalProductin7SimpleSteps
A
re you ready to finally launch your digital product?
Whether it’s an eBook, online course, membership site, software, or something else entirely,
HOW and WHEN you launch your product is key to success!
In this article, I’m going to walk through a simple 7-step process for launching your digital
product to your target audience.
So, whether your product is ready to go or you’re simply planning ahead to make your launch
as successful as possible, keep reading!

Need more info on creating and marketing a digital product? I’ve got you covered:
The Most Profitable, Popular Digital Products to Sell Online
The Straightforward Guide on How to Create and Sell Your Digital Product Online
The Pre-Launch Stage
This stage involves everything you do in the weeks (and even months) leading up to your
product launch.
Some business owners assume that the process of launching begins on the day you actually
start selling your product…but more often than not, this strategy is a recipe for failure.
Below, I’ll outline exactly what you need to do in the month or so leading up to your launch.
Whether your product is ready to go or not, this is the time to begin preparing your audience for
what’s coming!
1. Establish Clear Lines of Communication with Your Audience
If you haven’t already been communicating regularly with your audience on social media and
through email, NOW is the time to start!
The last thing you want to do is be one of “those people” who only posts or emails when they
want something.
Not only is this unlikely to result in sales, but it will probably annoy and alienate your audience!
To avoid this, start now by committing to regular communication with your audience.
Post valuable content, preferably that’s related to the topic of your digital product.
At a minimum, I’d suggest emailing your subscribers once per week, and posting on
social media 3x per week.
This way, when you do post about your product launch, your audience will be used to hearing
from you, you’ll have built up trust, and they’ll be primed and eager to learn about your product!

2. Recruit Some Testers/Reviewers for Your Product
In the weeks or months leading up to your launch, recruit some people to test out your product.
In exchange for free or deeply-discounted access, ask for feedback and suggestions.
If you don’t yet have your full product done, consider creating an MVP – minimum viable
product. This is a shortened, condensed version of your product you can use to test out
whether people actually want what you’re offering…BEFORE you create the whole thing!
Not only will this help you tweak your product to make it even MORE amazing, but it will allow
you to gather up some “social proof” you can use for your product launch.
Getting glowing testimonials – especially video testimonials – can go a long way to generating
excitement about your product, and reducing the risk people will feel in buying it!
3. Generate Buzz About Your Product
Basically, you want to hint that your product is coming in order to start generating a buzz among
your target audience.
You can do this in a number of different ways:
• Post “sneak peeks” of your product on social media
• Give your audience a way to sign up to be notified of your launch (a waitlist)*
• Write a blog post where you talk about your product
• Create an online event to promote a launch party
• Start a unique hashtag for your product that you can use on social media
• Contact influencers in your niche to let them know about your launch
• Post a launch countdown on your product landing page
*If you only use one strategy on this list, it should be this one!
All of these strategies are fairly easy to implement, and are great for setting the stage for
your launch!

4. Get Pre-Orders
Want to generate a buzz about your product AND get sales before you even launch?? Consider
getting pre-orders!
Here’s how this works: Set up a sales page for your digital product, complete with a “Pre-order
now” button. Let visitors know that they’ll receive a special deal if they pre-purchase your
course/eBook/software, etc.
Now promote the check out of your pre-order page!
This is a great way not only to set the stage for your official launch but also to see if people are
ACTUALLY willing to pay for your product!
The Launch Stage
Hopefully, by this stage, your audience not only knows about your impending launch but is
primed and ready to buy!
But even if they’re not…don’t worry, all is not lost.
The following strategies will make sure your target audience knows what you’re offering, and
why they should buy it!
5. Set Up a Launch Email Sequence
Technically, this could also be considered a “pre-launch strategy”, as you’ll use it both in the
days leading up to your launch and on the actual day of your launch.
Here’s how this works: Create a series of 5-7 emails that you’ll send out to your email list. What
you’ll write in these emails is completely up to you, but many business owners use a sequence
something like this:
• Email 1: 7 days before your launch. Let your audience know about your product. Don’t
overwhelm them with info, but make sure you do include the following: HOW your product
solves their biggest problem, WHEN your product will be available for sale, and WHAT they’ll
receive if they decide to buy it.

• Email 2: 5 days before your launch. In this email, give your subscribers more specific
details about your product. Include personal stories (your own or other’s) about why your
product is so useful, and show how it’s already helped others. Use those testimonials you got
during the pre-launch stage!
• Email 3: 3 days before your launch. Think of some questions people may have about your
product: these can be questions people have actually asked or questions you think they
might ask! Use this as an opportunity to address doubts or concerns people may have: like
“This product is too expensive”, “It won’t work for me”, or, “What if I change my mind after I
buy it?”.
• Email 4: 2 days before your launch. Offer a launch discount. Let your subscribers know
they have x days to buy in order to get a special deal or bonuses.
• Email 5: The day of your launch. Briefly remind people why they should buy your product
(remember to address their pain points!), and that your special pre-launch offer will be
expiring soon.
Remember, this is just one example of a launch email sequence you can use. Feel free to make
it your own!
6. Hold a Webinar or Live Q&A
This strategy can be used on its own or in conjunction with a launch email sequence.
Time and time again, live video has been shown to be one of the BEST ways to promote a
digital product.
Hold a free webinar or live Q&A (on Facebook, Instagram, etc.) on a topic that’s closely related
to your product. Promote it to your email list, to your website visitors and to your social media
fans and followers.
At the end of your video, let participants know that you have another product they may find
helpful, and tell them exactly how they can get their hands on it.
I also recommend giving them a special, time-limited coupon code to get an exclusive discount
on your product. This is a great way to boost sales AND to track where sales are coming from!

The Post-Launch Stage
7. Evaluate and Get Feedback
Whether you’ve decided to do an evergreen launch – meaning your product will be available
on an ongoing basis, or an open/close launch – meaning your product will only be available
at certain times of the year, you’re definitely going to want to think about what worked, and
what didn’t.
Some questions you’ll want to ask yourself include:
• How were my conversion rates from my waitlist? If they were very low, you may need to
re-evaluate your launch process or your sales page.
• How were my sales overall? If they were lower than you expected, at what stage did things
fall apart? Did you get a lot of pre-orders, but not many sales at your launch? Then you may
need to tweak your email sequence or other marketing strategies.
• How much traffic did I get to my sales page? If this number was lower than expected,
your promotional strategies may need some tweaking.
• What did my testers or reviewers have to say about my product? Hopefully, you took
their advice into account earlier in the process, but if not, now’s the time to take it seriously!
You’ll also want to survey your audience to see what you can do better next time. One of the
best ways to do this is to send out a simple survey to those who were on your waitlist, but who
didn’t buy.
You can ask them questions like:
• What would make this product better?
• Was price a factor in your decision not to buy this product?
• What questions did you have about the product that I didn’t answer in my emails?
• How likely are you to buy this product the next time it’s offered? (if you’re doing an open/
close launch).
Final Thoughts
And that’s it! A simple, 7-step process for launching your digital product. This process will take
you through the month before your launch to the week after, ensuring you know exactly what to
do, each step of the way!
Want a checklist you can download to make sure you’re not forgetting anything? I’ve got
you covered!
Are you ready to launch your digital product?

by Olga Rabo
7 Great Instagram Scheduling Tools
for 2019
7GreatInstagramSchedulingToolsfor2019
L
et’s face it: Instagram requires a lot of work. To succeed, you’re expected to live and
breathe the platform 24/7.
But what if I told you about tools that don’t require a 24/7 commitment but make it seem like
you operate the account all day and night.
Ever since Instagram opened its API to developers in its marketing partner program, third-party
apps allow you to schedule Instagram posts. Let’s go through seven of them.

Before you begin
To use Instagram direct publishing tools, you need to know a couple things.
First, you must activate a business profile on Instagram. A verified business can access useful
features – analytics, advertising opportunities, and, of course, a chance to let third-party apps
publish your content.
Second, remember not all content is created equal – therefore, not all content can be scheduled
the same way. Due to the limitations with Instagram’s new API, the scheduling tools publish
only those posts (images and videos) with Instagram’s acceptable aspect ratio. (An aspect ratio
describes the ratio between width and height [e.g., 4:5], and can be converted into a numerical
value by dividing width by height [4/5 = 0.8].)
If your content fails to fit the dimension criteria, its automated scheduled post will include a
reminder to fix it. (Traditional square Instagram images [1:1] can be automatically published
as normal.)
1. Iconosquare
The pioneer of Instagram analytics, Iconosquare offers an automatic scheduler with extra add-
ons such as an integrated media library (to store your content), a social media calendar (to
remind you of days like National Pizza Day), and the best time to post feature, which has yellow
stars showing the most optimal time to post to get maximum engagement.
Iconosquare allows you to automate both single-image posts and videos.

Another great feature that Iconosquare offers is cropping. You can edit images (within the
permissible aspect ratio) as you upload them into the scheduler, which can be a truly time-
saving hack.
Pricing: Starting at $29/month

2. Later
Later’s scheduler is amazing. It’s simple to use: Drag any media from your library into the
publishing calendar – the scheduler window pops up immediately. You can write a caption, tag
other accounts, geolocate your post, and take advantage of the built-in hashtag suggestions
(available for premium plans).
Type in a hashtag and
Later comes up with a list
of 25 related hashtags to
tick and insert into your
caption. The hashtags
are high volume, but you
likely can find some useful
long(er)-tail hashtags.
Pricing: Free to $49/month
3. Buffer
If you use the social network account manager Buffer and aren’t looking for an advanced
Instagram scheduler, it doesn’t have any add-ons, but it’s easy to use.
Set up your Buffer account for direct scheduling on Instagram and queue your content as you
always do for another social media account. Buffer publishes it at the indicated time without any
reminders or notifications.
Pricing: Free to $399/mo

4. Zoho Social
Zoho’s direct Instagram scheduler is as straightforward as Buffer’s: clean design, easy-to-
use functionality.
What makes Zoho
different from Buffer is
the integrated calendar
on the right, which gives
a clearer date overview. In
addition, Zoho allows you
to quickly switch between
multiple Instagram
accounts, which is useful
for agencies that manage
several brand profiles.
Pricing: $8.33/month to
$125/month
5. Sendible
Sendible is another great tool that allows you to schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram,
avoiding the path of constant reminders and notifications. As of January, Sendible supports
direct video publishing for Instagram (up to 100 megabytes). The tool also lets you publish to a
large selection of other social media networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Pricing: $24/month to
$274/month

6. Planoly
Known for its sleek and elegant design, Planoly has a sleek and elegant Instagram scheduler.
Add new media to its calendar from your computer, click on the media in the calendar, and the
scheduling window appears automatically. Insert the caption, tag users and geotag locations,
and make sure to enable the auto-post feature in the scheduler.
Pricing: Free to $199/month
7. Sprout Social
Directly publish images or videos on Instagram by using
Sprout’s compose window, where you simply choose
whether you want to publish your content now, queue
it for later, schedule it manually, or save as a draft:
Pricing: From $99/month to $249/month

2019-08 Digital Marketing Tools - August 2019

2019-08 Digital Marketing Tools - August 2019

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