The Daily Carnage

The savvy marketer's hub for industry news, insights, resources, and culture.

Today’s Issue

SEO Didn’t Break 🔎

Issues

View All

4 Strategies For Increasing Customer Lifetime Value

JULY 16, 2023

People have certain expectations about the things they buy. The bare minimum goal for any business should be to meet customer expectations. After meeting expectations, the sky is the limit, and there are so many ways to continue delivering for those customers. LinkedIn Ads blog is covering the importance of repeat business with 4 strategies for increasing Customer Lifetime Value.

Qualify audiences more intelligently: A customer-focused approach to marketing is a great strategy if you can consistently identify who your potential customers are. But recurring customers may be a unique subset of your customer base that you can tap into further. Instead of just understanding prospective customers, try to understand prospective repeat customers. These are the customers who will increase your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Build long-term relationships with prospects and customers: Focusing on the short term might earn you some quick sales, but a short-term strategy won’t do as well a job at building a relationship with a customer. Acquiring new customers is tough as it is: why not make your job a bit easier and invest more in the relationships you have with current customers?

Continually engage after the sale: Like any relationship, some sort of presence must be maintained. You can still add value for customers without just presenting more products and services they can buy. Try sending resources showcasing how to get the most out of the products or services they’ve purchased, or invite them to a webinar that may help them discover new use cases that apply to their personal lives or businesses.

Prioritize CLV as a key performance indicator (KPI): Setting CLV as one of your business’s KPIs will help your long-term strategy, especially if you’re already measuring CLV. Elevating this kind of performance indicator to a measurement of business health and growth will help ensure you don’t lose sight of the future of your business.

Get the most out of your existing customer base and allow them to get the most out of you. Read on for a deeper dive into these 4 CLV-focused strategies.

Build a Sustainable Content Practice With This 5-Point Blueprint

JULY 12, 2023

Y’all know that captivating and delectable air that lingers right outside a bakery? It’s enough to stop us in our tracks and make us explore whatever baked goods are to blame. There’s nothing like freshly baked bread, cookies, muffins, you name it.

There’s a bit of truth to this regarding content as well. Sure, you can hit it out of the park with a piece of content that’ll serve you for years to come, but people want to see what’s hot out of the oven. What’s new often equates to what’s relevant to people. You undoubtedly recognize the importance of a good, consistent content strategy, so Content Marketing Institute is showing us how to build a sustainable content practice with this 5-point blueprint.

Make the business case to build and scale your content practice: You need a content champion. Whether it’s you or another member of your team, make sure someone is communicating the importance of content to leadership.
Build strong relationships with cross-functional teams and departmental partners: Collaboration can make for better content. Furthermore, you need to know how your work affects others, so make sure you consider what the content you’re working on will require of designers and developers among others.
Create a foundation of content frameworks, processes, and tools: Determine what tools and programs you’ll use to make sure your team is always on the same page at the same time. Also, do an audit of your existing content to find out what’s working and what’s not. Anything that clearly isn’t working might be worth revamping or even eliminating.
Right-size your team: Everybody has to start somewhere, and this often means a one-person team. However, as the value of a good content strategy is recognized, leadership will often want to increase or expand content which means you’ll have more on your plate; this means it’s time to grow your team.
Define success measures: These are success measures specific to your team. The purpose is for you to discover whether or not your current strategy is working for all parties involved.

Now you have the blueprint, so go out and get the buy-in you need to make your content happen.

Comparing UA vs. GA4 metrics: Key differences you need to know

JULY 11, 2023

Goodbyes aren’t always easy. Exceptions might include parting with a chatty airline passenger after a weary travel day or clocking out of work on a Friday afternoon. But difficult goodbyes are a universal human experience. And, speaking of universal goodbyes, we marketers recently bid a permanent adieu to Universal Analytics. Unless you were ahead of the curve, you might be scrambling to get a grasp of its successor, Google Analytics 4. So today Search Engine Land is comparing UA vs GA4 metrics and pointing out the key differences you need to know.

Fundamentally different data models

Where UA relied mostly on sessions and pageviews, GA4 centers its approach around events and parameters. At the end of the day, you’ll be looking at a bunch of numbers, but you may notice they don’t completely match up.

Sessions

For instance, UA and GA4 have a default session timeout of 30 minutes, but UA would restart a session at midnight and then create a new session once a UTM promo code is clicked. This would result in an overinflated session count in UA, so keep that in mind as you look at session counts in GA4.

Conversions

Whether you agree with it or not, GA4 counts a conversion every time a conversion event occurs. This means that someone clicking “click to call” twice in a row will count as two conversions – even within the same session. In contrast, UA would have recorded one conversion event.

Rethinking our web performance metrics

Bounce Rate

Registering a low bounce rate as good and a high bounce rate as bad is a bit too black and white for GA4. Just because a user visits and leaves your page quickly doesn’t mean they didn’t find what they were looking for. Because of this, GA4 has done away with bounce rate as a stand-alone metric.

Views vs. Data Streams

We like to pick and choose what we see based on what is important to us. This is why creating Views was so beneficial. In GA4, Views are now Data Streams, and this now offers the ability to analyze web and app data.

There’s never a dull moment in the marketing world, so keep your skills sharp. Dive into the rest of the article for more key differences between UA and its successor.

11 Crawlability Problems & How to Fix Them

JULY 10, 2023

With the exception of Halloween, a spooky-looking house isn’t the most inviting place. You may be picturing a tall, rusted wrought iron gate with a “BEWARE” sign in front of a decrepit Victorian manor riddled with cobwebs. While looks may be deceiving, we’re going to stay far away.

You want content on your website to be as inviting as possible so people will find it and benefit from it. It’s crucial that before visitors can find you, search engines must be able to crawl through your site and do the same. SEMrush is showing us 11 crawlability problems and how to fix them so you can tear down those cobwebs and spruce up your site to help search engines lead visitors right to your front door.

Pages Blocked in Robots.txt: This is where search engines look to see which pages they can and can’t crawl. Check your robots.txt file to ensure that you’re not blocking them from accessing your website. Replace “disallow” directives with “allow” to grant access.
Nofollow links: The “nofollow” tag () tells search engines not to crawl specific links. Check your site for these links and remove the tag if it’s not necessary.
Bad Site Architecture: Put simply, organization is key. Improving your site architecture involves organizing pages in a logical hierarchy with internal links. This will help crawlers easily access all pages.
Lack of Internal Links: Check to ensure you don’t have pages with no internal links pointing to them. A page without any links pointing to it is like an uncharted island – it’s isolated from the rest of the site and there’s no clear path to get there.
“Noindex Tags”: Google treats “noindex” tags ()as it does “nofollow” tags, so leaving these tags on pages you want the crawler to access will render your page off-limits to the crawler.

If you’ve noticed pages of yours aren’t showing up in Google when you’re trying to earn a top-ranking SERP position, these issues may be to blame. SEMrush lists another 6 potential problems your pages may be facing, so read on and stay diligent.

Unraveling Threads: The Latest Social Media Platform

JULY 9, 2023

It’s so easy to feel that social media has peaked. We have a variety of apps and sites, and we can see last year’s promises disappearing in the rearview mirror. But there’s a new kid on the block, and this kid has quite the reputation. It can be challenging to see what the future will hold for us as digital marketers, but we’re experts in adaptability within the digital landscape, so we’re ready to welcome the new kid. ClickThrough Marketing is taking us through what Threads means for marketers so you can stay on top of your game.

Threads and Digital Marketing

Threads is no nimble startup trying to operate in Twitter’s shadow; it’s Meta’s opportunity to overtake Twitter as the biggest name in micro-blogging. If you’ve built up your brand on Instagram, then you’re off to a good start since those same followers will be waiting for you automatically on Threads. Don’t take this audience for granted; keep them engaged.

Threads and Content Marketing

For starters, Threads has a 500-character limit – larger than Twitter’s. Furthermore, Threads is part of the “Fediverse”, which uses the ActivityPub Protocol to share content between different platforms and services. (Fingers crossed for tight integration with WordPress.)

Threads and SEO

Interaction and discussion are at the heart of Twitter. When looking for a feed with the latest SEO best practices, you can jump into the conversation to learn from and debate fellow experts. But many have turned away from Twitter and are looking for a new place to take their thoughts and thumbs, and it looks like that place is Threads. Plus, the increased character count will allow users to express themselves in greater detail.

Threads is live now, but there’s still no shortage of speculation about what role it will play amongst other tech giants. We’re all eager to learn new ways we can leverage this platform for our marketing strategies, so keep reading for more ideas of what is to come.

How to Combat SERP Volatility

JULY 5, 2023

It’s a long way from the top when you’ve secured that sweet, sweet number-one position on the search engine results pages. You must be doing something right to get there; it doesn’t just happen on its own. So why do SERPs sometimes change so quickly when you’re following every rule and tried-and-true trick you can think of? Moz has an answer for us today as they cover how to combat SERP volatility.

With each method of combatting SERP volatility, there’s often an associated root cause. Let’s look at some of the reasons you may experience volatility.

Reason 1: Mixed search intent, SERP variety

We all do our best to meet users where they are on their journey, so knowing the intent of a user allows us to craft a more relevant message. Sometimes, a query may have multiple different intentions, and the search engine doesn’t know which is most accurate.

Solution: When the search engine can’t identify the intent, specify the intent with your own keywords within the content. Perhaps your content needed this clarification to begin with, but it could also be that the intent behind a user’s search today is vastly different that what it would have been 6 months ago.

Reason 2: High keyword difficulty

Some keywords are just more competitive than others, so fluctuations in rankings are easy to understand.

Solution: Assess how recently your keyword competitors have refreshed their content. This may just be a reminder that it’s time for you to revisit the content in question.

Reason 3: High market competition

Content is king and everyone is after the throne. A new competitor may enter the ring, or an existing competitor may refine their existing strategy and begin churning out tons of new content.

Solution: While you can only publish so much content, any waves of new content affecting the SERPs can be analyzed and help you determine what people want to see. When you see your competitor’s content performing well, they’ve made your job easier by identifying topics for your next piece of content.

The key is not to panic during the inevitable temporary SERP results fluctuations but to identify longer-term trends to combat. Read on to identify more causes and solutions to dropping SERP rankings.

The Power of Professional Email Signatures

JULY 4, 2023

A first impression is hard to shake. And while you can’t always control every detail of a first interaction, there’s a lot you can do to leave a positive imprint in someone’s mind. As an extension of your brand, every impression matters, and every detail makes a difference. Today, G2 is breaking down the power of professional email signatures.

Step 1: Include the crucial information in your signature

What’s the purpose of the email you’re sending? Is it your initial outreach? A follow up perhaps? It’s good practice to provide multiple contact options, but keep it succinct and relevant to your email.

Step 2: Design your email signature to represent your brand in the best way

Arrange the elements in a structured and readable manner, starting with your name and job title, followed by contacts and important links. Follow your brand style guide and ensure your signature does your brand justice.

Step 3: Avoid common mistakes that prevent you from emphasizing important things

Consider the number of links in your signature. Too many might come off as spammy; keep it neat. If you’re a sucker for a good quote at the end of an email, just make sure the quote supports whatever action you want your reader to take.

Step 4: Create an HTML email signature for email clients

Popular email clients like Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and Yahoo all allow you to create signatures within the client, so take advantage of this capability if you haven’t already.

Step 5: Try an email signature generator

Automation to the rescue! If you’re stuck or just need some fresh ideas, a generator is a great route. It may not knock it out of the park, but you may be only a few small tweaks away from what you need.

Keep reading for some examples that you can use to create or refine your email signature.

How to take Better Breaks (and actually take them)

JULY 2, 2023

How many breaks do you take throughout your workday? We’re not talking about those 5-minute bathroom breaks where you catch up on a few Instagram stories or open up your email to read yours truly (we appreciate you, but please wash your hands on the way out 😉)

No, we’re talking about a little Y-O-U time – free from any screens and without any interaction with whatever work you’re momentarily stepping away from. That’s the sweet stuff, and This Too Shall Grow makes a compelling case as to why you need real breaks and how to properly take them.

Back-to-Back & Back Again

We understand that sometimes Zoom marathons wiggle their way onto your calendar leaving you no time in between meetings. According to research from the Microsoft Human Factors Lab, these breakless meeting sessions create a perfect snowball effect of stress. However, when test subjects took 10-minute meditation breaks between Zoom meetings, their brains had a chance to reset and there was no compounding stress.

So how do we ensure we take proper breaks?

This depends on you, but the better you know your own habits, the better you can devise a plan that works for you. Here are just a few ideas:

The Pomodoro technique: Determine a length of time after which you will take a short break. For example, you can do 50 minutes of work and take a 10-minute break to get some fresh air and stretch your legs.
Practice meta-awareness: Mindfulness does wonders. Digging into your current mental state to determine what your mind needs may be your key to knowing when to give yourself a break – no clocks needed.
Commit and block time: Respect your calendar. Just as you would commit to a team meeting you were added to, commit to a 5-minute recharge you allocate for yourself.

The important thing is to take the time to break away from the task at hand and really leave it all behind you – even just for a few minutes. There’s plenty more to uncover from This Too Shall Grow, so be sure to check it out. (And if you’re still in the bathroom on your break, again, please wash your hands. Thx.)

What is Customer Journey Analytics?

JUNE 28, 2023

You know the feeling when you walk into a room for a specific purpose, but the moment you breach the doorway, you can’t remember what the heck you were doing? Sometimes we tend to get lost even on the simplest of journeys.

Your customers often take paths fraught with obstacles in order to find your brand and your products and services. Knowing and anticipating these obstacles will help you to ensure your customers never lose their way on their journey to your business. Hubspot has some tips to get you started on understanding your customer journey.

Outline a customer journey map. This should include an overview of everything a customer will experience on their journey: the buying process, user actions, emotions, pain points, and solutions.
Identify the right analytics tools. There are a number of tools you can use to monitor customer actions across your site and the various channels that lead to your site. You likely have some in your arsenal already, but Hubspot has some recommendations to get you started.
Collect your data. You earned it! The focus here is on user data (info specific to the user), and interaction data (info about a user’s interaction with your products and services.
Analyze data. Now you have all the pieces to the puzzle and it’s time to put them together to see the big picture. This is where you’ll get to see which obstacles are turning customers away so you can clear a better path for customers moving forward.
Update customer journey map. Back to the drawing board! You didn’t think your job was done yet, did you? You know better than that (you’re a digital marketer after all). Insert your findings into your journey map to reflect a more realistic process.
Use customer journey analytics to test new strategies. With a few previous pain points eliminated, things ought to move a bit smoother. Craft an enticing abandoned cart email or decrease the steps needed for a customer to create an account.