Momentous News: Keep in the Know

• LinkedIn now has collaborative articles that use "AI-powered conversation starters" to spark discussions among experts on the platform.

• TikTok Series: A new way for creators to monetize their content not involving ads.

• The Reels Play incentive scheme by Meta is being discontinued.

• Microsoft’s Bing reaches 100 million daily active users with it’s new chatbot.

• Refreshed interface for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.

Marketing personalization is driving massive growth this year... but where do you start?

A recent McKinsey study found that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions.

Some quick examples ⏱️

• Using a customer's real name in an email subject line.

• Reminder emails to prospects who haven't cleared their cart or haven't visited lately.

• Tailor-made discount codes that feature the prospect's name.

• "Welcome back" messages on a website's homepage.

• "Thank you" offers and deals to loyal, repeat customers.

1. Create a Personalized Funnel ⏳

Marketing automation tools can help track customer engagement and gather insights into their needs and pain points.

Our goal is different automated email workflows with relevant content for each audience segment.

We then funnel optimized content to prospects repeatedly over a set period of time. Based on the interactions of the user, we automatically trigger additional content.

This allows small marketing teams or one person businesses to guide prospects through the entire sales journey without spending precious time.

Personalized customer experiences are no longer optional, but achievable with the right marketing automation tools. Let us at Smooth help you with this.

2. Next gen Lead gen. 🔬

Start by surveying customers to find out what they want to know and where they hang out.

This feedback is free and priceless. It will save you (I’m not kidding) hundreds of hours of trial and error content.

Now use that information to write a plan for content creation that is both educational and not promotional.

Now define success.

With the efforts and money you are putting forward, what is your expected result. We call these key performance indicators.

Just starting? Google Workspace is where you need to be.

Google Workspace is a great tool for new businesses.

It is hands down, the best software you can spend money on when starting out.

For $12/month/user you can have:

• Secure file storage and sharing.

• Comprehensive, on-brand email (like [email protected]).

• Landing page through Google Sites (Not the best editor on the market… but it is included.)

• Google Meet for your important sales calls.

• and much more.

Just thought I’d discuss this today. Nothing hurts me more than seeing an established small business with an @aol.com or @gmail.com address. Scared to set this up yourself? Smooth has setup countless Workspace tenants.

Industry Innovating Women

Women that need to be in your social media feed.

Rachel Tobac - Cybersecurity.

A successful cyber attack can lead to significant financial losses, damage to a company's reputation, and legal repercussions. Rachel keeps me informed on the latest threats. Rachel is the CEO of Social Proof Security which makes training users on their role in Cybersecurity of their workplace, “Fast, Catchy, and Fun.” Rachel extends that feeling into her Twitter feed.

Watch Rachel show the dangers of having your personal information online. (This is wildly well put together, entertaining, and informational).

Lauren Labeled - FB & TikTok Creative Agency

I started following Lauren Labeled after I needed to figure out “What worked” on TikTok. Well, I stopped searching after scrolling through their Twitter for hours.

They specialize, or sorry, perfect UGC ads. If you don’t know what UGC ads are, see their tweet below to see an example. You’ve seen hundreds or thousands of them by now.

See the services they offer ➡️

Naomi West - Email Consultant

First off, Naomi, if you’re reading this, I hope I have done some justice to what I have learned from just your Twitter with the formatting of this newsletter.

Naomi, provides a consistent stream of information on improving your email marketing. She presents this information in a super casual way that feels natural and makes digesting really enjoyable. Her simple Chrome extension Email Characters makes sure that your email subject lines are fully visible to users on various platforms.

At the top of the newsletter, we talked about personalized marketing. Naomi highlights a really great example of this from Reductress.