Constant Contact
Most small businesses saw somewhat of a return to “normal” activity this year, which was a welcome relief after the challenges they’ve dealt with in recent years. Consumer spending remained high through the first half of the year and summer travel picked up. However, small businesses in America are still facing a variety of obstacles on a daily basis — many of which are outside of what they can control. Meanwhile, consumers are facing their own challenges, rewriting everything from where they communicate to when they shop. Our second annual Small Business Now Report explores where these challenges are having the biggest impact, and it delivers insights small businesses can use to build stronger customer relationships, finish 2022 on a positive note, and prime themselves for a successful year in 2023. Here’s what we discovered: Recession fears are mounting, but consumers aren’t running away from small businesses Inflation has been
Imagine it’s Thursday, December 1st, 2022. Giving Tuesday has come and gone. You’ve participated in a global day of giving, raised some impressive funds, and gained valuable learnings to apply to the next year. Nicely done! Now it’s time to create a Giving Tuesday thank you campaign that turns the holiday into a launching pad for record-breaking year-end donations. To build on your Giving Tuesday momentum, you need to plan your thoughtful follow-ups in advance. Make sure you’re saying these three things to your supporters once the big day is in the books: 1. Thank you You absolutely cannot overlook the importance of expressing gratitude to your donors. Thanking them for their Giving Tuesday gift reinforces that their donation matters and increases their investment in your organization. The most effective thank-you emails are simple, straightforward, and above all, authentic. Strong Women Strong Girls expresses their gratitude in a couple of
It’s a well-known fact that real estate slows and grows according to the season. Things heat up in the spring, sales hit their peak during the summer, and then rapidly fall as winter approaches. This pattern makes it easy to plan ahead, but it can also spark complacency, which is evident as Thanksgiving draws near. Anticipating the holiday season and accompanying slowdown, some agents reduce their outreach efforts and approach to Thanksgiving real estate transactions. It’s easy to feel discouraged by seasonal trends, but that doesn’t mean you should give up during the cooler months. Thanksgiving real estate success stories are possible — these victories simply require a change in strategy. The benefits of Thanksgiving real estate marketing Each real estate season comes with unique opportunities and challenges. As Thanksgiving draws near, real estate professionals are more aware of the difficulties that lie ahead. This negative focus can prevent you
You need to get people excited about the good your nonprofit organization does for the community. SMS for nonprofits can help you do just that. With nonprofit text messaging, you can instantly alert your donors and volunteers about new initiatives and activities that your organization has planned. This keeps your nonprofit relevant and at the forefront of the minds of everyone who signs up to receive your messages. From coordinating volunteers and soliciting donations to throwing successful events, SMS marketing for nonprofits all boils down to how you get your message across. Text marketing for nonprofits SMS is an acronym that stands for “short message service” and is synonymous with text messaging. Text marketing for nonprofits capitalizes on the high open rates and speediness associated with SMS to benefit the organization’s marketing efforts. Can nonprofits send text messages? Nonprofits can send text messages, and it’s much easier for them to do so
If you run a nonprofit, you’re probably already familiar with Giving Tuesday. If not, it’s a national day of giving that’s celebrated each year on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s similar to days like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, except rather than shopping at their favorite businesses, people have the chance to make donations to the organizations and causes that are important to them. Is Giving Tuesday really worth it for my nonprofit? As a former nonprofit communications director, I know it can feel like Giving Tuesday is really noisy and crowded and that it’s better to put your focus on planning your end-of-year (EOY) campaign. But I promise, Giving Tuesday is worth your time and effort. The truth is, Giving Tuesday gets bigger every year. In 2021, Giving Tuesday generated over $2.7 billion in donations from over 35 million participants. If you’re worried about managing
This year, Cyber Monday sales are expected to top $11 billion in sales. And small businesses stand to rake in some major Cyber Monday revenue if they can put together a compelling offer and effectively promote it with an email series. Not sure how to take advantage of all that spending? You’ve come to the right place! In this article, I’ll help you get prepared to send a sales-generating Cyber Monday email, and I’ll share some real Cyber Monday email examples to help inspire your campaign. When is Cyber Monday 2022? Cyber Monday falls each year on the Monday after Thanksgiving. This year, Cyber Monday is on November 28, 2022. How to create a great Cyber Monday email campaign Before we dive into how to create a great Cyber Monday email, I want to take a moment for you to consider doing an email series rather than a single email. Why a
In the United States, holiday shopping is good for business. On average people spend $843.4 billion during the holiday season. And Cyber Monday (Nov. 28th) has become a popular holiday kickoff for ecommerce. This year it’s expected to top $11 billion in sales. Hosting giveaways throughout the weekend or even earlier in November is a successful strategy to capture these shoppers and draw them into your ecommerce store. The trick is to choose your resources carefully and to be specific about the giveaway parameters like location and timing. Use these Thanksgiving giveaway ideas to jump-start your promotion strategy and draw business to your site. Why you should host a Thanksgiving giveaway Interactive marketing is memorable. It helps generate leads and gets more engagement than traditional social media posts and other content. This type of marketing is aimed at building relationships with customers rather than simply trying to get them to
Black Friday is when the holiday insanity truly begins. But with that shopping frenzy comes an incredible opportunity for your small business to drum up a lot of holiday sales. In fact, in 2021, people spent a record $886.7 billion on Black Friday, up over 14 percent compared to 2020! To take advantage of one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year, you want to plan your Black Friday email campaign ahead of time, and rather than wait for the day to arrive, you should start sending emails early. Once your customers know to expect your email on Black Friday, you can use your next email to present a unique offer, and then make sure the best deals go to your best customers. We’ll show you how. Read on for our tips to make this your most successful Black Friday email campaign yet, along with templates and real-life examples
To start your business off on the right foot, be SMART about your goals. My marketing agency was doomed from the start. At least that’s what I thought in 2010. I had no clear direction or confidence, and I nearly gave up on my dreams of owning a small business. That was until my wife, Linda, taught me how to use SMART goals. I remember sitting at my desk in the living room of our one-bedroom apartment, head in my hands, as I tried to figure out how I was going to make this work. I got a tap on the shoulder and turned to see Linda with what looked like an arts and crafts project. “Here!” she said as she thrust the items into my hands, “I want you to hang this chalkboard up on the wall and write down how many clients and how much you want to
The holiday season is a crucial time for fundraising because 31% of annual giving happens in December, but it’s also a time when your audience is most overwhelmed by sales and nonprofit messaging. And while everyone else is planning their holiday meals and gift-buying strategies, you’re looking at your accounts and wondering if you’re going to have enough money and resources to keep the doors open next year. To make sure you have enough, you need to find a way to connect with potential donors quickly and inspire them to make their donations now — instead of waiting until the end of the year. You can do that by leveraging Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday. Thanksgiving is the perfect time for gratitude messaging — people are in a giving mind-frame, and you can incorporate the Giving Tuesday program into your campaign. Elements of a great Thanksgiving appeals message To craft an