How to Set up a Successful Seasonal Marketing Campaign

The holiday season is almost here. And whatever your product, industry, or target market is, this is a great time to create a holiday marketing campaign. This is not only to show your existing customers your appreciation but to capture new leads and turn them into customers.

Since ‘tis the season to give and share, we’ve prepared this step-by-step guide to help you to create effective seasonal marketing campaigns. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Determine the goals of your campaign

Before you start working on your campaign you need to determine what you want to achieve and the outcomes of your campaign. 

Your campaign’s goal should be specific, measurable, and within a specific time-frame. It should be relevant to the audience and the services and products you’ll be focused on. 

Most probably the goal of your campaign would be to get as many sales as possible. However, don’t forget to make your seasonal campaign more personal. Share some festive mood and cheers to build customer relationships and raise brand awareness.

Step 2: Define your target audience

It’s very important to gather as much information as possible about the people you’re trying to reach. So, to be able to create a smart campaign plan with relevant content and promotions, try to answer the following question about your audience beforehand:

  • Which social media channels do my customers prefer? 
  • Are they using a specific device?
  • What’s the time that attracts the most engagement?

Make sure your campaign refers to all segments of your audience. That is, both new and existing customers. Otherwise, you might consider creating two different campaigns to keep all segments of your audience happy.

Here’s an extra tip: If you want to know more about buyer personas and how to create campaigns for specific personas of the hosting industry, we recommend you our free buyer personas template.

Step 3: Create an offer

One of the most important steps to create a campaign is to understand what products and services will fall under your campaign offer. Your offer should speak directly to the needs of your customers. Try to pick up the most relevant product and services for this purpose, which makes the most sense for your earlier chosen audience.

There are many different tactics when it comes to deciding on products and services that you should discount: products you should discount, the most important to be effective honest, and clear with your customers:  

  • Discount everything equally.
  • Generate exclusive offers on your best sellers.
  • Promote lesser-known or older products.
  • Bundle another product or service.

It’s also a good idea to check your competition. Find out what kind of offer they have, what includes, and what their positioning is. This information will help you to create the most unique offer and stand out from the competition.

Step 4: Create a landing page

Once your offer is ready, you should decide where on your website to place it. We suggest two ways: 

  • Place the discount banner directly on the product page.
  • Create a dedicated landing page – click here for extra tips on how to create a successful landing page.

Step 5: Communicate your promotion

Offer – checked. Landing page – rolling. It’s time to give your campaign the boost it needs. So, to communicate your offers, choose the right channels for potential customers. Unfortunately, not all marketing channels can apply to everyone. Especially those of the web hosting industry. That’s why you’ll need to consider some points:

  • Make sure you know how big your existing audience is.
  • Decide if your promotion is for an existing audience, to attract new customers or both. 
  • Keep clear your existing marketing channels.
  • Know the budget you are ready to spend.
  • Adapt your website to your offers.

And some traditional but very useful indeed channels:

Email Marketing

It’s more likely that you already have a list of customers who might be interested in your offer. Or a list of customers who already bought your products. Or of the ones who sign up for your blog. Well, once you review your database you can create a list of the specific group of customers to whom your offer is relevant. And don’t forget to check the GDPR allowance before sending the campaign.  

Blog 

Another way to make your offer visible and add some SEO benefits to your website is to create a relevant blog post. Don’t forget to include a visual CTA (call-to-action), which will redirect to your campaign landing page or to the page you place the offer.

Social Media 

Social media is a great tool to reach new audiences by using popular industry hashtags or to engage with your existing customers, your community. It’s very important to analyze which social media channels your existing customers prefer and where you can get new ones. When it comes to web hosting or software industries, we recommend Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

The most effective way to join ongoing conversations in relevant Facebook and LinkedIn groups to offer up your products/services and talk about your new campaigns. Check here to find out more about social media tips for web hosters.

Step 6: Campaign metrics

The final, and probably the most important, step is monitoring your campaign’s behavior and engagement. It’s time to determine if we reach the goals that were set before we launched the campaign. Analyzing your campaign’s performance helps us to understand what works and what doesn’t, which tactics work better than others, and what to keep the same or change for the next time.

With that said, thank you for your attention and for reading this guide. You can drop us a line below if you’d like to share your experience with seasonal marketing campaigns with us. We wish you profitable campaigns 🙂

Tips for Creating an Effective Landing Page

Tips for Creating an Effective Landing Page - Plesk

Landing pages are an important component of a company’s inbound marketing strategy. At Plesk, we encourage our partners to create a landing page whenever they launch a campaign with us. A good landing page can help increase conversions and turn visitors into leads. For a landing page to be effective, it needs persuasive language, a solid layout and smart copy.

But before you begin creating your masterpiece, it’s vital to know what your goals are. Do you want to sell a product or service? Are you looking for visitors to attend a webinar or event? What do you want your visitors to do when they reach your landing page?

Once you have a clear goal, you’re ready to set up your landing page. So what are some of the essential elements of a landing page? Let’s get into these below.

1) Let’s Begin with the Layout

Your landing page layout should be clean and precise. It should work towards achieving the goal you set out earlier. Let’s take a look at the layout example below, which will work well with most products and services.

Let's Begin with the Layout - Tips for Creating an Effective Landing Page - Plesk

The important components in this landing page layout are:

  • Some room for an attractive header.
  • A section to introduce your main product or service.
  • An area where your main call to action resides.
  • Space for features and benefits of your product or service.
  • Any other information you want to provide.
  • A section for contact details or a support form.

Let’s tackle each of these components in more detail.

2) Use Compelling Imagery

A common place to add images on landing pages is in the header. Attractive and compelling images will help grab your visitors’ attention. As Napoleon himself said, “Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu’un long discours.” Translation: A good sketch is better than a long speech.

So, en avant my friends, to the next component!

3) Words, Words, Words

Words are a powerful ally for any landing page. Use headlines to present your most important message. Use subheadings to add information that adds value to your message. Headlines should be clear, concise and catchy, though it isn’t always easy to catch the 3 Cs. You can focus on the C that works best for your product or service.

And while we’re on the subject, it’s imperative that you apply the 3 Cs to any other copy you want to add to your landing page. Remember what Napoleon said? You don’t want to have your visitors bounce because of long speeches.

Additionally, the offer on your landing page should mirror offers you’re using in your ads. Consistency assures visitors that they’ve reached the right place.

4) Call to Action

The call to action (CTA) button is one of the key elements of a landing page. The aim of a CTA is to get visitors to perform an action, such as complete a sale or join a trial. Persuasive conversion words are your friends here. But there is one vital strategy to consider before you color your landing page with CTA buttons. Use CTAs sparingly. Wordy and too many CTAs will most likely overwhelm your visitors.

5) Call Out Your Best Features

Introduce your visitors to the best features your product or service offers. You can add this information in a separate section on the landing page if you prefer. Make sure that the focus of your copy is on the user and not you, the company. How can the product help your customer? Does it make your customer’s life easier in some way? Highlight the benefits your product or service offers. But keep it simple, keep it short.

Pro tip #1: Use pictures and videos to help users understand your product better.

Pro tip #2: Use customer testimonials. These help build trust and confidence in your product.

6) Point Users to Next Steps

The best way to do this is by having contact and support forms. A contact form gives visitors a place to go with their questions. It also shows that you are there to help them. However, do remember that you want to give visitors as few actions to complete as possible. So make sure that your forms don’t have too many fields or ask for too much information.

So, if you’re still reading up to this point, know that you now have the building blocks for a pretty good landing page.

And if you’re a Plesk Partner in need of more guidance on the topic, please contact your Account Manager. You can also take a look at other resources from our blog for setting up a WordPress website or using social media to boost your site traffic.

But if you’re a weary Internet traveler who stumbled upon this page and liked reading it, let us know in the comments below.

Simple Tips on Social Media For Web Hosting

Social Media Tips For Web Hosting Industry

Social media is one of the most accessible ways to engage with your target audience and build your online presence. It’s also one of the most cost-effective ways to market and promote your business and brand. The hosting industry is no exception – however, it is very specific. Therefore, you have to be careful when choosing the right social media channel for your business. To help you out, here are our top social media tips for web hosting.

To select the right social platform to focus on, you’ll need to find out where your followers are. If you don’t have any social media presence yet, check where your customers are more likely to be. Where do they get information about similar services and products? And where will they probably advertise their own services? From our experience, the best channels for hosters to reach out to their audiences are Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook.

Why Use Social Media for Your Web Hosting Business?

1. Making a Good Impression

Firstly, your potential customers will search for some feedback about your services and end up on your social media pages. They will most probably ask some sales-related questions. You can take the opportunity to answer these frequently asked questions even if your salesperson is not around. Communication during the sales process gives a potential client an idea of what they can expect from your support afterwards. So be sure to make a good first impression.

2. Support and Problem-solving

Similarly, you can offer ‘support’ through your social media questions by communicating and redirecting complaints and questions accordingly. You should keep the comments you received and their replies as a public record of your commitment to your customers. Proof that that you pay attention to and solve their problems. Often it will be them checking on a pre-existing issue, verifying that they haven’t actually been ignored.

3. Encourage Brand Positivity

Our advice is to give questions priority when you spend time on your web hosting social media marketing efforts. Because customers who voice problems on social are also the ones more likely to publicly sing your praises. By showing interest and communicating honestly, you can turn an unhappy client into a brand ambassador.

4. Advertising

Social media should be part of your go-to market strategy. After, you launch a new product or service, you should Facebook post or tweet about it to inform your customers. Not just of your product but of the benefits they may get. Social media is a tool to leverage your original content, solidify your brand awareness, as well as to obtain more visibility.

How to Use Social Media for Web Hosting: Tips

1. Set a Social Media Intention

What are your goals for using social media for your web hosting business? Do you wish to boost sales? Awareness? Build a reputation? Maybe you want to acquire new customer leads or keep your existing ones happy. Setting up a clear long-term intention helps you establish why you’re doing it for more effectiveness.

2. Create a Proper Social Media Calendar

Content is king. And as we mentioned earlier, social media platforms are great boosters for your original content. This is why you should optimize all your marketing materials, content and posts for your social channels, adjusting where necessary to meet your audience’s expectations.

3. Build Communities Around Your Brand

You can do this by asking for feedback and reactions on social media, then replying in a timely manner. We recommend you read and comment on other web hosting forums and blogs too – to show your presence. Or maybe even share that content on your channels with your own added point of view. Not only to boost your community’s efforts and create awareness, but also to potentially start a positive conversation.

This is what we do at Plesk. Because our partners are the core of our business and industry, we make sure to highlight their efforts on a regular basis. Show your partners the support they deserve and send the message that you can all succeed on a larger level.