Learn how to create content that converts!
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Q&A:

How many hours a week should we expect to spend on e-marketing?
​Marketing can be a full-time job, hands down. That’s why it can be tough if it isn't your sole responsibility! At a minimum, try to spend 30 minutes a day checking on your email statistics and making tweaks to emails that are not performing well. We would also recommend sitting down quarterly and planning out a content strategy. Like we walked through today, think of a piece of content you could leverage as a lead magnet and break it up into smaller blogs. So you might spend a few hours developing that, but once you are done, you have your content for the quarter! Then space out the release of the blogs and try to add some simple non-writing, list-style blogs in between.

How often should emails be going out in a nurturing campaign?
​This can depend, like a lot of email marketing specifics, on your audience. We typically see a monthly frequency being used by our clients. However, if a lead is new, you want to reach out more frequently in the beginning when their interest is potentially the highest. For a nurturing campaign, try 2 emails a week apart, then send 2 weeks after that, then spread them out monthly.

Do you have any other examples of great subject lines?
​Yes! Here is an awesome blog on the topic and here is a help article from our Help Deck as well.

I always thought personalizing a subject line looked more spammy?
​At BenchmarkONE, we found personalizing the subject line performed well for us. But with that said, each business and industry is different! Try using personalization in the subject line and watch how the emails perform. If you aren’t getting the open rates you’d expect, try removing it going forward. Testing your templates is the best way to know how your audience engages with you.

Do you guys have services to assist with creating emails or campaigns?
​We would be happy to help! When you're logged into BenchmarkONE, head to Account Settings > Services to check out everything we offer. If you need extended help outside of what we offer, be sure to check out our Certified Partners.

What type of business is blogging good for? Or, are there certain kinds of businesses that can get away without blogging?
​Blogging has the potential to be great for all businesses. If you have a website, we encourage you to also try having a blog. You cannot simply post a blog and hope that people read it, though. There will be some work on how you can distribute that content. For more help with that, check out our Content Distribution Checklist. Your main goals for having a blog should be to increase your search rankings and cement you as a resource center for leads, prospects and customers.

How often do you recommend writing blogs?
​The more you blog the more quickly you’ll see success! On the BenchmarkONE website, we’ve seen enormous gains by switching our strategy from posting once a week to once a day. So if you’re only blogging once a month, see if you can move the needle by posting twice a month or once a week. We suggest trying to post consistently so you build your resource center and leads and prospects can rely on updates. If you are able to produce an E-Book and then break it into logical sections, you may have a good 6-7 blog posts there! This could set you up for at least 3 months if you post twice a month. Or, consider outsourcing your blog content if you don't have time to produce your own.

Should I ever ask someone to take a demo at the end of the blog? Or should I only offer other content?
​You can absolutely do that, just don't do it every time! Your goal should be to educate, so try to always offer up more content. But, on pieces that would appeal to someone who is further down the funnel, in that ready to buy stage, a 'Buy Now' or 'Take a Demo' call-to-action is appropriate. We have a really great Content Grid resource that goes over what pieces are applicable for different stages in our pipeline, so check it out!

What about linking to social media?
​Yes, definitely link to social media! You can add your links at the top or bottom of your emails, maybe even in your signature block. And like we mentioned in the webinar, include social sharing buttons on your blog posts so your readers can easily share your content. Giving prospects and customers a quick, easy way to connect with you on social media will help grow your audience. Just make sure those social links don’t overshadow your main call-to-action.

Could you provide some recommendations on how to attract new customers to your lead magnet?

Sure! Here are a few recommendations:

These resources are great. Could you let me know where more of your resources are located?
​Thank you! We agree – our marketing team does a stellar job! Check out all of our resources here.