5 Posts NOT to share on Facebook
1. “Today I woke up and had Breakfast :-)”
While small daily routines may have been of interest to you, your 150+ friends may not be interested to have that come up on their feed. Chances are they had breakfast too…
2. Negative comments about work
You may have had a bad day, but unless you plan on quitting your job tomorrow, you may want to avoid posting negative comments about your boss or work online. Remember online means its out there, and its easy for it to get back to your employer (or should we say ex-employer)
3. Be cautious of “Party hard” pictures
We all like to post pictures of the good times we had, but remember Facebook is your reputation online and unless you want that to be an image of how you are portrayed, you may want to hold back those pictures of you doing body shots on spring break.
4. Countdown to your vacation
While you might be excited about your upcoming vacation and happy to brag about it online, you may want to be careful about posting that your away. Criminals look at these as opportunities to take advantage of an empty home. This came to light with sites such as robme.com which posted statuses of people who have publicly posted online that they are away from their homes.
5. Relationship dramas
We all do it. Get upset about our relationships and post all about it on facebook, but unless you plan on severing ties with that person forever, you may want to be selective in the words you use. If (when) that relationship is back to normal, you can’t take back the post that everyone has seen.
What are your tips for what not to share on Facebook? Let me know and together we will expand the list.
Email Marketing – Be timely, relevant and well designed
Email is an important marketing tool. I am among the demographic that opens up their email in the morning, and throughout the day. I subscribe to multiple e-newsletters, and use it as my communication tool to keep in touch with friends and business connections. With that in mind, I get tons of email and only the ones that are relevant and timely get through the noise and get my attention. For me, the most important dynamics of an email that resonate are those that are relevant, timely and well designed.
Relevancy
I appreciate emails that are personalized. Companies such as Kraft have included my name within the design, making it feel like the email is just for me. Its also about providing content that I would find useful. Shoppers Drug Mart sends emails about specific products I have purchased already that have Optimum points or special offers to purchase again. Its these relevant emails that peak my interest and make me more likely to click on the email to learn more, as I am more confident my destination will be of interest. As mentioned by SilverPop “ in today’s customer-driven world, highly relevant, individualized messages are what drive buyers to engage with marketing emails(1) ”
Timely
As they say, it’s about being in the “right place, at the right time”. Receiving an email that is timely, such as Super Bowl recipes a couple days before Super Bowl make me likely to read now as opposed to later.
Another example is an email I received from Home Depot a couple weeks ago the same day there was a snowstorm, which had content related winter products and included the weather and temperature in the email. Emails such as this make me more likely to click while its top of mind, and to ensure I don’t miss a window of opportunity for content.
Well Designed
Email design is about more than just aesthetics. To be well designed needs to ensure important information is available to your audience, and includes best practices such as key product information and calls to action above the fold, as well as responsive design. Ensuring I can have an optimal experience on both my desktop computer and mobile phone is key. Emails that are not responsive become frustrating when viewed on a mobile device. While it may include nice imagery, unfortunately one is less likely to struggle to view the content and take action.
Today’s email markets need to design with mobile top of mind. Accordingly to Campaign Monitor, over 53% of emails are opened on mobile devices(2). Which makes it increasingly important to have emails that are designed to provide a good user experience on all devices, especially mobile.
When designing for email, keep in mind traditional design rules don’t apply. Like all marketing tactics, think about the medium, the user and how you want them to interact – then design accordingly.
1. (2014, June 10). Silverpop Study Reveals Relevancy Key to Engaging Customers through Email. Retrieved from http://www.silverpop.com/About/News/Press-Release-Listing/2014/study-reveals-relevancy-key-to-engaging-through-email/
2. Ferguson, S. (2016, January 4). 5 email practices for the new year. Retrieved from https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2016/01/email-marketing-best-practices-for-the-new-year/