Working With Creative Agency Secrets – A Goodbye Letter From Theo Martin

Theo ProfileAfter two great years, I’ve learnt more applicable skills and industry knowledge here at Creative Agency Secrets than all my time studying marketing put together. Rebecca has been a brilliant guide and I can’t thank her enough for helping me build my marketing skills to set me up for greater endeavours in the future. As of Friday this week (the day this post goes live!) I’ll have left the Creative Agency Secrets team to follow my dreams down in Wellington.

Creative Agency Secrets is a marketing agency at the cutting edge of marketing that sees employees using a wide array of marketing skills for a wide variety of clients from big to small, owner managed to corporate enterprises.

What I’ve learnt at Creative Agency Secrets

  • How to run, manage, and write content for blogs. Particularly in WordPress.
  • Creating and building effective landing pages.
  • Using and perfecting WordPress websites at an intermediate to advanced level.
  • Writing effective copy for a multitude of different campaigns, projects, brands and personas.
  • Advanced email marketing including building templates, crafting newsletters and email blasts, managing email campaigns and understanding multiple email platforms.
  • Quick set-up, understanding and use of multiple marketing tools and platforms as they appear.
  • Advanced social media establishment and management skills.

One thing that sets Creative Agency Secrets apart as a work environment for me is the opportunity to expand unique skills that you bring to the agency. Rebecca recognises those skills and builds marketing opportunities around them to better support her clients, which in turn help you develop them…

Unique personal skills I’ve had the opportunity to grow at Creative Agency Secrets

  • Improved researching.
  • Advanced digital and real world marketing.
  • Event coordination and management.
  • Broadcasting/ podcasting.
  • Graphic design.

I’ll miss working here!

My time here has eased me into a fun and vibrant working culture that puts emphasis on quality and hard work. I couldn’t have wished for a fish work experience and Rebecca has taken such good care of me. She’s also brilliant at picking team members so I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside a fun and loving team every step of the way (special mention to Jonathan Lewis!!).

I wish all the best for the future of Creative Agency Secrets!

Theo Martin, previous Account Manager

Want to find Theo again? Then email the Leaping-Tiger team! Or connect with Theodore Martin on Linked In.

Case study: email marketing drives sales for Space Saver

We take pride in our ability to create successful email marketing campaigns that deliver measurable results. We meticulously plan emails to be sent so each one is effective and engaging to the target audience. Here are two case studies:

The sports equipment brand

Space Saver Rowing Systems (SSRS) is a rowing boathouse equipment retailer. They recently launched a new product – The Wraptor Balance. We worked with them on a campaign that generated responses and resulted in sales.

The new product launch campaign

Gathering the right media for the product – The Wraptor Balance is an innovative tool best experienced before purchase. We can’t bring an experience through the internet but we can bring the experience to the reader with videos, photos and the offer of a free trial.

A landing page – Our next step was to create a landing page for the product on the SSRS website. We focused on clear messaging showing how the product was important to use for beginners and why it makes a difference.

We then created web buttons which led readers to the next step in the process: a trial or purchase. Landing pages are incredibly important to product launch campaigns as it is the one consistent place directing customers to an action. As long as you can lead a customer there you’ve got them interested.

A series of blog posts – We then went about scheduling several blog posts that were short and exciting while directing readers again to the Wraptor Balance landing page. This quickly achieved our goal to find interested prospects and get them invested in learning more about the product.

The email blast and its format – Emails are great if you already have a mailing list, which is the only catch.
We sent out 2 emails – the first being a lengthy description of the benefits of having a Wraptor Balance in a rowing club boatshed. The second was more focused with more emphasis on customer experiences through testimonials.

The results

The email campaign saw a whopping 40% open rate accompanied by 10% clicking through to links we included…

1

Over time we continued to generate small pockets of interest as well…as the graph below shows.

2

As a result of the campaign Space Saver Rowing Systems has provided 15 clubs with a trial of the Wraptor Balance with 3 confirmed sales to date (and more on the way).

The business consultant

Nick Muller runs a leadership program called Coaching for Change. This is a 4 session training program run over a 6 month period that teaches leaders how to bring change about and lead small businesses to success.

He embarked on an email campaign using our services with the hope of boosting attendance to his program, and we delivered. 9 emails across a 4 week period were sent to two separate email lists which brought him a handful of new signups to his high price coaching course. Each email was unique. The first was an introductory message; the second email followed the first but was a lot shorter and used as a reminder. The final one in the series split our lists between those who had clicked on a prior email and those who hadn’t. For those who hadn’t we focused on the email title more than the content. For those who had clicked on a prior email we focused on convincing them to make contact.

3

From the graph above it’s plain to see we maintained consistent email open rates around the 30% mark for each of the 9 emails. Normal campaign opening rates are often around 20%, with more successful campaigns reaching 30-40% (yes, that’s us!). Sending the 3rd email out to people who hadn’t clicked on a previous email worked well with a maintained 30% open rate also. This means, as a result of sending that extra email, we expanded the reach of the campaign.

4

This graph (above) shows the click rates of links within the emails we sent. It once again proves how effective our repeat emails were. The stats suggest that with our third email we managed to convince those who hasn’t opened an email before to both open the email and click a link.

Creating campaigns that count

Our email campaigns consistently demonstrate our attention to detail and planning. By isolating how to get in touch with our the target markets of our clients, crafting the right message and adapting that message based on the recipients’ actions we can create an effective email marketing campaign.

 

Get more out of your email campaigns:

Contact us

for a Skype or email conversation and start your planning as early as possible.

 

Free training: What can we do to improve our Search Rankings?

The Blogging Concentrated team are coming to New Zealand in May from 1st to 9th 2015.  Creative Agency Secrets are their hosts and we are running one-day training events in Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch for you to learn about how to make your business website effective as a marketing and sales tool.

Ahead of the visit, we organised 3 free training sessions for you to gauge the quality of training and to get you excited and signed up for the NZ events.

The first was yesterday – and here’s the recording for you to listen and share SEO Improving your Search Rankings.

SEO improving search rankings

Join us for the event in your city:

Each link page shows you the curriculum, the venue, the times and the amazing food you’ll be eating (only joking about the food – but it is amazing).

Join us for the next free advance taster event on April 13th on The Business Mindset of Blogging.  Sign up by clicking the “YES” I will watch button.

 

Are you the CEO of your business website?

Yes I’m asking you if you drive business success from your website?

Is someone in charge of making your firm’s website successful?  Making the websitedeliver business goals?  It doesn’t matter if you’re self-employed or work for a giant corporation, if you have a website we will teach you how to drive proactive success with Blogging Concentrated education.

Announcing the Blogging Concentrated New Zealand Tour

Running to five dates, we are bringing the US founders of Blogging Concentrated, Dan Morris and Rachel Martin, to NZ so we can get ahead learning how to become the CEO of our websites and drive business success.

Five dates, Four Cities, Two Leaders and One YOU.

Join us in Auckland on May 1, May 3; Wellington on May 6th; Nelson on May 7th and Christchurch on May 9th for the best, practical website marketing execution training available.

What will I learn?

Websites are the modern marketer’s best tool to build new revenue streams and grow audience engagement.  This training comes from the leading edge of best practice with two international practitioners sharing their up to date knowledge.

Learn specific techniques that will deliver outcomes including:

  • Audience engagement with clusters marketing
  • Persuasion and action techniques
  • How to tell a story
  • Using data dashboards to improve conversions
  • The copywriting words that create engagement
  • How to use custom sidebars to optimise your adverts
  • A YouTube strategy to keep viewers on your videos
  • And more….
Watch the 4 minute video Dan and Rachel recorded about the NZ sessions 
Everything taught in the sessions is based on real-world learning and used daily in Dan and Rachel’s own business websites.  They know these techniques work.
You will be learning practical solutions from knowledgeable technicians.

Blogging Concentrated Testimonials

“I think you are going to revolutionize the way I write posts – the Adsense lecture was phenomenal. We will be contacting you with more specific questions e.g. How on earth do we get the CPM per post spreadsheet – and everything else, once we decompress what we’ve learned.”  R Miller

“You know when you go to a conference and you sit through sessions that simply regurgitate stuff you already know?  Yeah, I hate that, which is why I’m so excited about being at Blogging Concentrated Atlanta, Dan R Morris and Rachel Martin have put together a ton of original content that is not just informative but actionable.  When they come to your town you should definitely sign up and go.”  Simon Salt

“Stay in front of your audience was worth the price of the conference ticket! Wow!” Penny Woodin Rogers

“@DanRMorris 16 minutes in and mind exploding with actions already!” Amie Flowerday

“Hi Dan,  Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the valuable information you and Rachel gave us this weekend.  You can not put any price on what we learned, and I am forever in debt to you both!”  Emily Luscombe

Want to pay less for the event?

The Blogging Concentrated business has 2 parts – training events and BC Prime, a subscriber community who buy training and advice by monthly subscription.  If you’re curious about the depth of knowledge these guys bring to training events – read the BC Prime page – note the huge quantity of 2014 Release Archives – impressive, eh?  6 – 10 new pieces of educational content per month…

Choose BC Prime when you book your ticket and pay less – but GET MORE.

Ready to become the CEO of your website?
Join us by booking your ticket

button register

There are two prices, one for BC Prime members and one for the public.
Avoid limp education, buzz phrases and marketing hype.  Concentrate on workable, practical solutions that you can implement immediately on your website.
You know where to come!

 

Entrepreneurs digital marketing extra content

Huge thanks to Amaka Gessler for inviting me to the Entrepreneur Networking with a Twist Meetup last night.  I promised to share my slides and have also pulled together a listof all the other material I shared.  Here’s Amaka’s notes from the talk.

Rebecca Caroe Speech Slides

As promised, here are my slides and links to additional material we discussed on the night.

Digital tools for marketers

Machine reading testers for your keywords
  • Open Calais Viewer 
  • Alchemi API – Language viewer test
Facebook comment integration – Facebook Developers comments plugin
NextScripts SNAP WordPress Plugin  allows automation for sharing and distribution
FeedBlitz.com is the RSS to email service I use to automate the blog posts into newsletters. Get in touch if you want a FeedBlitz Discount Code
Unroll me is the email app that allows you to see all your subscribed newsletters and RSS feeds in one place and also mass unsubscribe.

Expert Digital Marketing Bloggers who will upskill you

Expert media analysis and commentary from Thomas Baekdal – there are free and paid for articles – it’s worth the annual fee to subscribe.  E.g. Why print rarely translates to digit.
Avinask Kaushik’s blog Occams Razor is all about Google analytics I recommend you subscribe to get it by email – and his book Web Analytics 2.0 – buy a copy.
You must learn how to use Google Analytics skilfully.
We discussed how to track website visitors’ flow through your site and also how to find out the click stream that led them to your site.  Here’s how to uncover more insight.
Google Analytics visitor flow
  • sidebar menu: Behavior: Behavior Flow
Also look at Multi Channel Funnels (MCF) and the different steps people take before they convert on your website.
  • sidebar menu: Conversions: Multi-Channel Funnels: Top Conversion Paths – see attached
Behavior Flow in Google Analytics

Behavior Flow in Google Analytics

Top Conversion Paths in Google Analytics

Top Conversion Paths in Google Analytics

New discovery regarding Google PageRank

Why Google PageRank may differ

The other day we noticed that one of our client’s Google PageRank suddenly dropped. The reason we noticed that was because we did a search on CheckPageRank to see how their website matched up. With a quick search on the Google FAQ page we found out that the reason to the major drop was that Google PageRank only updates a few times a year, and on that particular occasion something must have happened (such as their tracking code going haywire).

What is Google PageRank?

In short words, it is a tool that calculates the importance of a webpage based on things like how many links the webpage has pointing back to the page. PageRank is the number that Google assign to the website and the websites with higher PageRank numbers are more likely to end up on the top of Google search results. The rank is scored our of 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being reserved for the likes of Google, Facebook and YouTube.

Updating Your PageRank

With some further research we found out that you can automate updating of your website’s Google PageRank by adding a Google PageRank Button/Icon to it. These add-ins are more trustworthy and frequently updated than relying on Google PageRank alone to find and rate you..

How do I apply for the Google PageRank Button/Icon

You can easily get the Google PageRank Button/Icon here and insert it into you website. If you’re just looking to see your current PageRank though you can enter your website domain name in the white box and click generate, with the details appearing below.

We did a quick search on how our website is ranked and you can see the result: 

 

CAS PageRank

 

 

 

 

Writing a price change email for Event Marketing

Occasionally I receive the PERFECT message – well-written, timely and full of lessons to copy and adapt.  Copyblogger Media is running an event and…. well you work out why you think they needed to write this message.

Use the same paragraph topics if you need to use a similar tactic to fill your event with paying punters.

Subject line: Authority Rainmaker price drop!

We’ve dropped the price of Authority Rainmaker registration from $1,295 to $795 for a limited time. Head over now and grab your spot:http://authorityrainmaker.com

Still here?

Then perhaps you want to know why …Last year we sold out the event months in advance because we were limited to 400 people. We also had to make the ticket price somewhat expensive, because we didn’t want to skimp on anything – food, parties, the audio/visual experience, and so on.

This year things are different in two key ways.

And this is allowing us to lower our ticket prices and get this party truly rocking.

First of all, this year we sold sponsorships. Thanks to the generosity of cool companies like Moz, AWeber, Feedblitz, TopRank Online Marketing, and our Legend Sponsor, Spears Marketing, expenses have been drastically reduced. We had no idea that we would get such an enthusiastic response from our friends in the digital marketing community!

Secondly, we’re in a much larger venue that is turning out to cost us less than the 400-seat venue we had last year. Working with the team at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House has been amazing, and it’s a real treat to have such a magnificent venue without being charged an arm and a leg.

In short, if we would have known earlier how well things would go on the expenses front, we would have sold tickets at a much lower rate so no one was excluded by the high ticket price. We don’t produce this event to maximize profit … we do it to enhance the strength of our community.But it’s not too late to adjust. So we’ve lowered the registration rate to $795. We even issued partial refunds to anyone who paid more than $795!

Cool, right? The event is shaping up to be even better than our high expectations. And now it costs you less to experience it. Check out the details, but remember, the price won’t stay this low forever:http://authorityrainmaker.com

See you soon …

Brian Clark

Founder and CEO

Copyblogger Media

website slider

Business Websites should not use a slider carousel

We’ve been researching  sliders on website home pages for a client.  His designer has come up with two website layouts and one includes a slider.

website slider

Image credit graphicsfuel.com

My instincts say “don’t do it”  but I need justification.  My search shows up four great articles – note most of them recommend alternatives and all of them say that sliders are OK in some circumstances.  Many of the alternatives still have motion and some incorporate sliders in different positions on the page.

Make your own mind up.

Call us if you’d like a chat and how to make your website work harder to achieve your business marketing goals.

Business & Marketing Tip: Following up with leads and relationships

A mutually beneficial client winning strategy

Marketing education is a big part of our overall new business strategy. At Creative Agency Secrets we strive to find ways to connect with our potential clients and be a part of their marketing success whether they work with us or not. We hold complimentary marketing management and idea calls, host free marketing seminars, create appraisals for websites and so on. But what makes it all work is our ability to follow up with the people we meet and educate. It’s one of our core lead generation and client winning strategies, and it could work for your business as well.

What following up does for your business

Staying connected develops relationships between you and your prospective clients or friends. This means you build up a network of people who can use your services, direct you to new clients and endorse your work.

Here’s a case study of a sports equipment online retailer we manage marketing activities for called Space Saver Rowing Systems. The client was so impressed with our work that when their manufacturer started looking for marketing assistance, the client directed them to us.

In another example, we worked with Zeald website designers to host a free marketing event. From that connection we gained several new clients, among them – European Auto Spares. We followed up with them individually after the event.

We’ve got loads of these stories and all because we helped our contacts in their endeavours and kept up communications with them.  In short, following up with people can net you leads and create a healthy flow of revenue for your business.

relationships casKeep the relationship flowing: the different ways we follow up

Meeting summaries for prospective clients – summaries are quite common, usually in the form of a dreary PDF or bullet-pointed word document. Along with that, we like to include anecdotes or a friendly sentence relating to something new we learned about the prospective client from that meeting. This gives those who joined the meeting more reason to read the email and even better, a reason to reply. To the right an example of a regular email following up a business meeting.

Something that we love to include in these that makes all the difference, is a link to one of our helpful blog posts or free eBooks. We look for a related topic in the email, then link a keyword or two and mention it may help. For example, if the email pertains to construction an email campaign, we might link to our cold emails eBook!

Newsletters – if you run a regular newsletter about your personal or company activities, invite your contacts to it. Make sure first that they’ll get something out of your blog posts and focus on explaining that to them. Newsletters don’t only inform, they help keep you and your business in the minds of others. This can make the difference between whether or not they think of you when new work arises. For an example, sign up to our newsletter list and see what you learn.

Related business – categorise your past clients and business friends by business type. This lets you update contacts in different industries on related updates to your activities or information you find.  To make the most of this, as soon as you form a new business relationship you should create a related industry update alert via a tool like Google Alerts. This way you’re following the industries most related to your activities and the alerts remind you that you have a connection to that industry. Then you can report any exciting news you find straight to them.

Us? Well, we’ve created our subcontracted services listing for exactly this reason. It’s an activity we do whereby we list all the work we can’t do or isn’t related to our services, and those listings get picked up by other businesses with the right set of skills for the job. It’s a fairly simple information sharing activity but with huge potential impact. As a result, people loves connecting with us.

Follow themif you keep up to date with the activities of your contacts you can provide more relevant input or updates. This is another exercise making sure you keep your follow ups linked to you with context as opposed to random email drops asking them how they are.

Daily tasks for this would include reading LinkedIn status updates. Weekly or monthly tasks include reading your contacts’ newsletters. One way we keep up with our industries and clients is by setting Google Alerts searching for company names. We also set an event on our Google Calendar that has a list of company websites and blogs to read up on in the description.

In Summary

Be diligent and consistent when you’re following up with people. Sometimes they are busy or skip emails, life gets in the way. Keep trying while not being too aggressive and you’ll grow on the minds of your clients and leads. Change up your approach to be more informative if a friendly nature doesn’t catch their eye. For example, you could direct them to tools or blog posts that will directly improve their way of business or provide them with a new opportunity. We posted up several examples of catch up emails and following leads through email that we’ve written previously to help you on your way.

Many of these ways to follow up with contacts can fit into your day to day activities, especially if you’re a marketing agency like us. If you spot yourself working on something that could help out some of your business contacts, send them an email and keep up to date. But more importantly – keep your business in their minds, and leading with a positive impression.

 


The blue icons opposite are part of our 8-Step New Business Development Methodology.  6 Create Opportunities icon5 Relationship Development icon

Click each icon to find more blog articles on the topic – educate yourself in modern marketing