The fact is, content marketing takes time—it doesn’t work overnight.

Two years ago, we began an earnest effort to step up our social media game for RootedElm. We started creating memes featuring design and content tips, like the ones below, using Canva and posting them on multiple social channels. At first, we noticed an uptick in audience engagement that inspired us to stay the course. Later, however, that engagement fell flat and we had to experiment with different types of social posts, incorporating links to our blog and reposting content from other experts.

One tool we employed that helped significantly was creating a content calendar. We made it a priority to pre-schedule at least one social media post per day using Buffer, with the option to add in an additional social post if we created something new, or if something relevant came up. If we notice an increase in a specific post’s engagement, we repost it a little more frequently. Our goal is to make sure our social media posts are authentic, make sense and relevant to our audience and when applicable, personal. For example, thanking a vendor for an amazing customer experience we received.

The payoff has taken time, but it’s starting to happen.

This effort to repost what RootedElm has already put out there, along with creating new content for posting has, over time and with consistency, gained more feedback on our posts. It also helps that each of us take time to share the post by RootedElm to expand our audience.

Website engagement is up.

Over the past 28 days, our multi-session users are up 50.3% and our organic traffic is up 2.17% on our website. More importantly, our goal completions increased by a minimum of 10% and as shown below, our social acquisition is growing, with the greatest amount coming from Twitter and LinkedIn.

Of course, a successful social media plan doesn’t happen without a little work and a little help.

And of course, the most important thing is perseverance. Remember: just keep swimming!

So, what’s your social goal? Share on @rootedelm your plans to turn the social tide in your favor and how you stay motivated to just keep posting.

To dive deeper into the big blue sea of social media, here’s a blog post from Buffer: Social Media Engagement is the New Social Media Marketing: How To Do It Well

As a marketer, you know that you can’t just throw up some amazing graphics and expect people to understand your message. You need words. But which words? How many words? In what order? The answer can be found by asking a professional content writer.

I’m a content writer, but what does that really mean?

To start, it means I have a background specifically focused on honing the craft of writing well. My education and degree are in writing. My experience includes years of writing creative messages in every form–essays, billboards, radio and television commercials, print advertisements, blogs, brochures, websites, magazines, email marketing….and on and on.

It means that I approach every potential message with the goal to first learn everything I can about the subject matter. Sometimes the subject is root beer floats, sometimes it’s neurosurgery and sometimes it’s an inspiring young person who’s changing the world. After I learn everything I can about the subject, I turn it around and around in my brain and then it comes pouring back out through my fingertips, hopefully in a way that is more engaging and more understandable to the reader.

Sometimes the process is effortless–the creativity pours out on the page and the headline or email or blog post seems to write itself. And sometimes it’s more painful. My colleagues and I have mapped out the goals of the message, but the right words elude me. Or I have the right words but they aren’t coming together cohesively. That’s when I have to exercise my writing muscle; or follow my own advice to walk away and return to the process later, more refreshed. Either way, easy or difficult, in the end, the only thing that matters is creating a message that resonates.

My typical writing spot—weather permitting

But everyone writes….right?

What’s the value in hiring a professional content writer if I can just write it myself?

Every time you google something, every time you read an email from a company, every time you see a billboard on your drive home, someone put those words together on purpose. Of course, you can write your own content–we certainly encourage it and that’s why we continue to share writing tips on our blog. But when you hire a content writer, you are hiring an expert at putting words together “on purpose.”

Here are 3 more reasons it pays to hire a professional:

Experience: A professional content writer has years of experience in bringing together the right words, in the right way, to ensure a message is on target. Plus, we are also unusually creative!

It saves time: Whether you need to focus on other aspects of a project, or simply need to get something finished quickly in a crunch, an experienced content writer can execute creative, on-target messaging quickly.

Background: A content writer is immersed in content all day, every day. We read blogs about developing the best content and we have our finger on the pulse of what other companies and industries are putting out there, content-wise. So when you hire a professional content writer, you not only get writing expertise, you get all the hours and hours of background knowledge on content marketing that the average professional does not have time–or let’s face it, the desire– to track.

ABOUT CHRISTINA

Christina Noll is a content marketing specialist with 20 years experience telling stories about brands, products, companies—and most importantly, people—through creative and engaging email marketing, content marketing and strategic content planning. You can find her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Content Marketing World is an educational event attended by the leading content marketers in the world. The keynote speakers are the best of the best and have the resumes to show for it, too. This year, I was most looking forward to hearing three speakers in particular because of what I’ve learned through their podcasts, online training and personal experience as a co-op member. Jay Acunzo, Robert Rose and Eric Hess with REI did not disappoint!

Attending conferences can be overwhelming and even daunting, but when you’re with 4,000 Content Marketers, everyone has an interesting story to tell, and there is an open, honest and friendly vibe. Because the information shared is vast, I took the advice of Joe Pulizzi, founder of CMI, and made a takeaway list from each specific session I attended, along with a to-do list of what I can accomplish quickly.  It also helped to tweet my thoughts on the sessions in real time. In case you weren’t able to follow along, I’ve captured some of my favorites below. I welcome and look forward to any questions you may have to explore.

We talk a lot about content development as a component of email marketing—subject lines, previews, headlines and calls to action all require creativity and strong writing skills. But what about when you need to provide a longer form of content? Whether you’re developing a blog post, an informational sheet or re-designing your website, you need a plan to develop solid long form content.

Start With An Outline:

It may sound like something your 5th-grade teacher would say, but in my 20+ years of professional writing, I’ve found the key to great long form content starts with your outline. Here are five steps to creating an outline that will lend itself to filling with great content:

Write down your goals for the content.

For example, if you are creating a website page about your pie baking shop, your goals might include: explaining the types of pie you bake, increasing customer interest in a specific type of pie (Apple, of course!), letting customers know how to contact you, providing helpful insight to new and existing pie aficionados. These goals will form the main components for your outline (and for a website, this is essentially your site map).

Fill in the details under each stated goal.

What are the components, descriptions, and information needed under each section? In our pie baking website example, under “Types of Pie,” you would add a list of the pies offered and provide a brief description of each. Under “Apple Pie,” you might provide a brief history of how apple pie became an American classic. Under “Helpful Insight,” you might provide recipes so that followers can bake a favorite pie at home.

Now you start to write!

It may seem daunting but writing long form content is just expanding on the mini descriptors you already have written in your outline. Once you’ve gotten down all the information you want to include, shape the content into readable paragraphs. At this point, you may decide you want to move things around or combine pieces.

Add headlines and subheads.

These should form naturally from your goal descriptors (outline headers) for the content, although it may take a little creative messaging. For example, you might change the outline header, “Types of Pie,” into the subhead, “A Pie for Every Taste” and you might change your outline header, “Apple Pie,” to the subhead, “A Piece of Pie History.”

Refine your draft.

Now that you have a workable first draft, with headlines, subheads and some content that addresses each of your content goals, go back and re-read your draft. Edit the content for readability and to better fit your purpose. Ask for input from another colleague—they may be able to point out where your intentions are unclear. Refine and revise until the content clearly meets your original goals.

Writing long form content is a bit like working a jigsaw puzzle—you’ll know when the pieces fit best and you’ll feel a sense of satisfaction at bringing it all together to form a clear picture. Need more help? We have years of experience in content marketing and are always ready to help outline, draft or edit your content. Simply contact us and we will be in touch shortly.

Sometimes the answer to one person’s question can help the next person and so on. Consider this a FAQ of email marketing. We’ll post actual questions from our customers, along with the expert solutions so you can tuck them away in case you run into the same issue later.

Ok, so apparently for some of the templates in Campaign Monitor they’ve hardcoded fallback fonts to be changed from the settings section. So since the hardcoded fallback was serif for when Merriweather was chosen, changing to Helvetica in the text block wasn’t changing the font-stack except for adding Helvetica to the front of the code.

I fixed it by going to the settings for the template and changed the Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 and Normal Text to Helvetica and it changed the font stacks accordingly. I’ve also alerted Campaign Monitor to the issue with this template (and potentially others as well).

First, provide the relevant information. Example: “Bird by bird, or step by step, intentional email design = better design.”

Add a strong call to action: Example: “See how a template helps:”

Next, include your link to additional information, such as a blog post, article, or web page. Example: “https://rootedelm.com/blog/intentional-email-design”

Tip: use the url shortener in your social media management tool (Buffer, Hootsuite, etc.) to shorten the link and save on valuable character length

Then, add a hashtag to help your audience find and share your post. Example: “#emailmktgdesign”

Finally, add an image.  We use a friendly app called Canva to create the social media images for RootedELM.

Your finished product should look something like this:

Even if your social media message contains all the necessary elements, it might still get lost in the fray. But ensuring it contains the above elements, along with re-posting to achieve frequency, can help ensure your message is heard.

RESOURCES:

• MarketingProfs: Which Types of Facebook Posts Get the Most Likes, Comments, and Shares? [Infographic]

• Content Marketing Institute: 58 Social Media Tips for Content Marketing

RELATED CONTENT:

There’s an App for That

In the email marketing world, there is nothing greater than when an email campaign hits the sweet spot. As a consumer of Lilly Pulitzer clothing, I am aware that they hold a massive final sale in July. What I wasn’t aware of is they do the same thing in January! Thanks to a perfectly executed email campaign, now I do. Over three days I received eight unifying emails as part of the same “After Party Sale” campaign which caused me to spend a small fortune. Because Lilly only goes on sale twice a year, when you have two teenage girls that love their Lilly…you stock up!

The first email came in the night before the “After Party Sale” (below left). Somehow I missed it but the second email (below right) with the subject line: Just released sale styles have landed! sure caught my attention.  I did just what the email said to do: “Freak Out!” After a brief wait in the online line for my turn to shop –  I was glued to lillypulitzer.com for the next hour (well maybe a little more), but luckily it was toward the end of the day! I sent my oldest daughter a text to call me immediately when she was free. She was in her study hour and wanted to know what was so urgent; My reply was “the Lilly sale is going on now!”  She had the same response I did and headed to the Lilly website, sending me her favorite choices. Needless to say, her friends just rolled their eyes at her when she told them what was going on. By now, my shopping cart was full of beautiful dresses for upcoming formals, spring break and graduation and I had to make a decision fast on what I was going to purchase. I had already lost out on two perfect dresses as they were selling fast!  Now do you understand the havoc?  Back to email marketing.

After feeling success with combing the Lilly website, I made my purchase. My girls were excited and so was I because this time, I was able to purchase a few items for myself. The excitement was contagious, and during a project call, I informed Christina Noll of the sale and she also jumped right on the website and was able to purchase a few items as well. I went to tweet my findings and discovered others were in a frenzy just like myself. An entire community of Lilly aficionados were on a mission to get these great deals! This led to me following @LillyPulitzer now on Twitter and Facebook, so I could be even more a part of this community.  I even found a resale community on Facebook to sell our gently used items now.

But here’s where the story gets juicier. That evening just before nine, I received the email below (on the left) with the subject line: What?! New styles added to SALE, which caused me to go back and make another purchase! Twelve hours later another email came with the subject line: Just dropped: new to SALE with even more sale items added to the website. Then the countdown began two hours later with: Don’t miss out! Sale ends soon.

Lilly had done it right. Each of the emails had animation, rotating photos of the new items that had been added (shown below) to peak my interest even more. The voice and tone used in the copy matched just what I was saying to myself in my head. My attention span was in their hands for two days now. I had emailed, tweeted and posted the sale to my friends and colleagues. I had spread the word and so had others. The campaign was a huge success.

The next morning Lilly sent one last email just in case I wasn’t done shopping. This was sent just before 11 am with the subject line: Don’t miss out! Sale ends soon…And finally the following evening, I received this animated Thank You email with photos of other shoppers showing their excitement.  This had the best subject line yet to sum up the experience: What. A. Wild. Ride.

When my purchases did arrive in the Lilly signature pink palm packages, I opened to find a note saying “You Have the Best Taste. You Ordered….”

I received my final email asking to review one of my purchases. This is a campaign that is all too often missed by companies, but probably one of the most important and easy ways to obtain feedback directly from your customer. Well done Lilly Pulitzer! I’ll see you in July.

In Anne Lamott’s bestselling book Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life she recounts a story of how her brother, aged ten at the time, struggled to complete a report on birds he had put off until the last minute. Her father consoled him by explaining that the task would only get done by taking it, “Bird by bird.”

Sometimes, when we look at our list of emails that need to go out, it can feel overwhelming. But we, too, need to remember to take it “Bird by bird,” or one step at a time. When you design your email intentionally, without rushing, you produce a better email–one that is ultimately engaging to your audience and renders correctly for viewing on all types of devices.

One way to facilitate the process is by creating a template, such as the one used by Hyde Park Jewelers in the three examples below. This template started from a custom HTML email campaign that tracked good results, and the digital marketing team liked the layout. Jason Meeker, Strategic Partner for RootedELM, took his custom design and converted it into a Campaign Monitor template. Jason continues to work with the Hyde Park Jeweler’s internal designer each week on coding and design recommendations. Since then, Hyde Park Jewelers has been able to save time on design and editing because their designer uses the layout specs to create the design assets and messaging.

Once your template is in place, take each email you create and put it through the checklist:

• • Determine the CTA: why are you sending the email and what action do you want your viewer to take?

• • Customize your template: each email should be unique with a variation of assets and content.

• • Test for rendering: just because your email looks good on your screen doesn’t mean it will look good in your customer’s inbox.

• • Test links: double check they work the way they should and link to the right URL.

• • Conduct an A/B split test: subject line, time of day or asset placement  – which version received the most engagement? Send to your remaining audience.

• • Monitor results: is the template still producing the results you need? Tweak before your next scheduled send.

If you’ve been following RootedELM on Facebook, Twitter or received our email newsletter, you’ve probably noticed our Email Design Tips each Tuesday, and our Content Marketing Tips each Thursday. After talking to our audience, we discovered the bite-size information is just what they needed to keep them up to speed on the latest best practices, but give them the option to take a deeper dive through a supporting blog post.

Although these may look like they are crafted by a graphic design expert, believe it or not, they are so easy to make that even the graphically challenged, like myself, can make clean, eye-catching graphic in no time at all! The trick is using an app like Canva to create your masterpieces.

We started using Canva to create the banners for our blog posts, but quickly branched out to using them for social media posts and even proposals. I admit to being slightly intimidated the first time, but I quickly learned how easy and intuitive the process is, and can now make a image for social media posts in less than 15 minutes. No joke!

Here’s how it works:

• Sign up for a Canva account. There are free and paid versions. We chose a modest paid subscription to Canva for Work that allows us to share our designs as a team and upload our own logos for use.

• At the top you can choose to create whatever you need: a poster, blog graphic, presentation, etc. For social media posts choose, “social media.”

• On the left hand side, you have options for changing the layout, background, text and adding additional elements. Start by choosing one of the free or low cost layouts. I almost always find a free layout I like for my project.

• Next, click on the supplied text boxes and simply type in your own message. You can also delete the text boxes you don’t want or add your own new ones. At the top of your project, you’ll see pull down options where you can change the font, size and even line spacing of your text.

• Using the tabs to your left, you can also add elements including shapes, photos and graphics. You can use the toolbar at the top of your project to change the colors of the background and any elements you apply.

• When you are happy with your design, simply save and download as a jpg, png or pdf file. You can also share your design with others via email by clicking the share button at the top. I do this after every creation so I can gather feedback from my team members before I post to social media.

Viola! Just like that you’ve created an eye-catching graphic that you can use on all your social media channels.

Remember, when you post to social media, use this order:
content + link to resource/blog + #hashtag + graphic

Have questions? Give us a call! We consider ourselves old pros at this point (wink, wink) and we’d be happy to walk you through your first design. You can also learn more here.

Some of the best creative comes out during the holidays. In the spirit of the season, our team has pulled together a few emails we’ve admired over the past few weeks.

Below – Nordstrom Rack: The “Love, Nordstrom” campaign theme reminds me of warm feelings of a friendly Christmas Card. Each of their email campaigns have been colorful, eye-catching with clear call to action buttons. The theme is extended throughout the website for a cohesive online shopping experience.

Below – JCrew: When I opened this one morning it immediately drew me in because it made me feel like I was getting an exclusive scoop on a deal. The enticing graphic design featuring the bold bird kept this email simple, yet effective in conveying the message.

Below – Target: As a content writer, I’m drawn to any kind of clever play on words in the subject line.  This one from Target caught my eye, and even though I was not in the market for family pajamas, convinced me to click open. Subject Line: Our 50% off pajama sale ends in one sleep.

Below –  MOO: Moo is one of our favorite brands to follow. The content in this email is oh so original and let’s say spicy! The email design is clean, crisp and functional.

Well….that’s a wrap! Which one was your favorite? Our eyes will stay peeled for even more exceptional campaigns. Please send us any good, or even bad campaigns, that cross your inbox.

Happy Holidays!