In today’s web clinic, our analysts will discuss their most valuable lessons learned from four of 2009’s most suprising experiments. Not to be outdone, here on the blog we’re sharing four of our favorite posts from around the blogosphere. These posts offer quick takeaways you can put to use before the year is out:
- Five Grammatical Errors that Make You Look Dumb – I’m a writer, so of course the inimitable Copyblogger leads the list. But this post is really for you, the non-writing marketer. These tips won’t make you the James Joyce of marketing, but they’ll keep you out of trouble for when you don’t have a professional writer around. And you won’t even have to worry about learning to use snooty writer words like “inimitable.”
- Lead Generation Poll shows converting leads-to-sales pipeline is biggest frustration – Of course, the best writing in the world is useless if it only brings in leads that don’t produce. Our colleague, B2B pro Brian Carroll, shows you how to create closed-loop feeback huddles with your sales team to ensure that the leads you send down the pipeline have a better chance coming out green.
- Top 10 Subject Line Words That Get Opens – Maybe all these words won’t be news to you, but if they help your free newsletter bring in an additional sale or two, this could be a great holiday season. Party! (couldn’t work that one into a sentence). As the above poorly worded sentences show, there is more to writing successful subject lines than just throwing in a few commonly used words. However, at the very least this list may give you some new ideas to test.
- Call To Action Buttons: Does Size Matter? – In the end, it all comes down to that big click. And to find out what moves your customers most, you have to test. Linda Bustos offers some great tips to keep in mind as you optimize your call to action. Follow her advice, and hopefully you’ll be rewarded with many clicks this holiday season.
BONUS: After looking back at 2009, I couldn’t help but wonder what marketers predicted was going to happen this year. Personally, I’m still waiting for the chance to buy a flying car, so I always take these lists with a grain of salt. But it sure is fun to look back at looking ahead… The Big List of 2009 Marketing Predictions.
These are some great lists. Thanks for posting them!