How much should you spend on advertising your business? The price to promote your company can escalate quickly — newspaper ads, banners, radio spots, direct mail, online marketing, telemarketing. It all adds up. Here are the top four methods for setting an advertising budget used by the most successful independent businesses:

1. Fixed percentage of sales. There are two fixed percentage methods a business owner can use. A larger percentage of net sales or a smaller percentage of gross sales. 

Gross sales – Start with last year’s total gross sales or average sales for the past few years, then allocate a specific percentage of that figure for advertising. Most businesses set aside between 4% and 6% of annual revenues for advertising. So if your annual sales are $300,000 then spend $12,000 to $18,000 on advertising.

Net sales – Start with last year’s net sales profit after all expenses. We like this method better if you are going to use the fixed percentage method because it accounts for keeping your total spend in the black. We don’t like it when businesses go into debt to advertise their products or services. Most businesses set aside 10-12% of net sales profit for advertising. So if your annual profit is $150,000 then spend $15,000 to $18,000. When you find a happy place where Gross sales and net sales numbers intersect you have a good foundation for percentage based ad investment.

·        Pros: It’s easy to understand and be safe: Rather than predict the future, you’re dealing with a known amount. If you’re in a stable, predictable industry, this method is sound. This strategy keeps your budget in relation to sales volume — the very thing advertising is attempting to affect.

·        Cons: The budget is based on past performance. You may lose the opportunity to capitalize on shifts in the business climate or customer trends. This method also assumes that sales are directly related to advertising, which isn’t always the case. Numerous other factors affect sales. A pandemic might impact your business regardless of how much advertising you purchase. 

2. Comparable to the competition. Adopt the industry average for ad budgets for your company. Many trade associations and industry publications can provide the average amount or percentage companies spend on advertising. 

·        Pros: This is an easy approach for companies with predictable sales patterns.

·        Cons: It assumes that the industry average applies to all businesses in the marketplace. Companies may ignore local market forces — and miss opportunities to increase market share — if they stick rigidly to this figure rather than boost spending.

3. Objective and task-based. Begin by setting specific marketing objectives and deciding on the tasks required to meet those objectives. (Example: Increase out-of-state clients by 5% using online promotions.) Then determine your budget by estimating the costs of carrying out those tasks. You need the ability to identify cost per new client conversion. But if you can gather that information you can pinpoint what you need to invest to grow by specific margins. If you can’t afford to fund all your ideas, rank them and focus on the top few.

·        Pros: It’s an accurate method: It ties the use of funds directly to the tasks you want to accomplish. If properly executed, the advertising becomes an investment, not an expense. By spending whatever is needed, the company may grow at a faster rate.

·        Cons: If the advertising campaign flops, it can be pricey. You may not recoup costs on a bad promotion.

4. The maximum amount. Lots of fast-growing businesses put their faith in this strategy, which advocates setting aside just enough money to sustain the business — and your family — then spending the rest on advertising. 

·        Pros: Like most aggressive methods, it offers the reward of rapid growth.

·        Cons: It’s risky. Unless you have a solid reserve to operate your business, you may run it into the ground if your advertising fails. To make this stretch you will want a professional to help you plan this investment effectively. 

Whichever method you choose, planning your budget in advance is a must. If you’d like help in this area. Give Branding Iron a call today. 

It is time to turn your attention to creating a winning formula for sales success. Your sales performance in the New Year will hinge upon the strategic plan that you prepare, so it is critical to develop a systematic plan of attack. Below are 7 ways to jump start your sales in the new year!

1. Set your goals and incentivize yourself to attain them. 

Take some time to sit down and write down your specific goals for the year. One way to do this is to create a two column table. On the left hand side, list your professional goals. On the right hand side, list a reward or incentive that you will give to your team as you achieve each goal. Make sure that your goals are challenging, yet attainable.

2. Make proactive customer outreach your top New Year’s resolution. 

A proactive approach is one of the most underutilized elements of the marketing process. But you will need to go beyond simply stating this as your New Year’s resolution. Identify key steps that you will take to become more proactive in your approach. Examples may include distributing a client newsletter with helpful tips and using scheduling reminders to follow up with customers 10 days after each sale.

3. Create a mentor program. 

A mentor program is a great solution for organizations that are seeking to add talented new members representatives to their team. Even if you operate as an independent, you can energize your performance by mentoring an intern or assistant. You may end up hiring the person you are mentoring and far exceeding your new goals.

4. Take advantage of training and personal development opportunities. 

“I am either getting better or worse. Nothing stays the same.” It is imperative that we are constantly learning and growing. Achieving your goals in an increasingly competitive environment will be difficult if you do not stay on top of the latest cutting-edge techniques and products. Make sure that you actively participate in any continuing education opportunities and take advantage of free training opportunities or seminars in your area.

5. Identify and target emerging markets for your industry. 

Tapping into under-served markets is a great way to grow your sales.

6. Keep a watchful eye on other successful sales professionals in your industry. 

You can monitor your competition through involvement in industry associations and events. Remember, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! In many cases there may be opportunities to partner and further develop your skills and sales. Surround yourself with successful people.

7. Survey existing customers to find out your strengths and weaknesses. 

Your ability to increase your revenue depends upon your ability to capitalize on your strengths and address your weaknesses. Obtaining customer feedback is the best way to assess your performance and can be achieved by distributing a short questionnaire. Be sure to ask customers what you can do to improve the customer experience. Let them know that both positive and constructive feedback will be warmly received. If they had a positive experience, this can also be a great time to ask for testimonials or referrals.

BONUS TIP: The start of the New Year is an exciting time to unveil a new product, program or service. Use online marketing to start building anticipation as early as possible so your customers will be interested in exploring a purchase as soon as it is available.

By incorporating these specific strategies into your business plan, you will position yourself to have a fabulous year. Let’s connect! We can help game plan and build a strategy to help you set and reach goals you never knew you could achieve. 

How to prioritize clients during uncertain times

Customers for life

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided countless lessons in customer service. Many companies have risen to the challenge of this “new normal” by prioritizing clients, while others have crumbled, generating bad reviews and anger on social media.

One thing has become clear: during uncertain times, companies need to care for their customers — and ideally go above and beyond to do it.

Particularly in times of crisis, a customer’s interaction with a company can trigger an immediate and lingering effect on his or her sense of trust and loyalty. If you have yet to prioritize your client care and the experience provided, here are some ideas to consider.

Dedicate more time to customer service

When something disrupts your day-to-day life or your business operations, your customers will have questions. For example, if you operate a hotel and a hurricane is heading toward your area, your phone will likely start ringing with customers requesting cancellations or rescheduling their stays. The customer service you provide can be the difference between retaining these customers for better times or losing them during the crisis.

35% of customers have canceled their service or stopped shopping with a brand because of long wait times. Customers have reported yelling to customer service employees, complaining on social media and even crying when talking to representatives.

To prioritize clients, you need to increase your customer service bandwidth

This could mean getting another phone line or moving an employee from the floor to the customer care department. You should also hold an emergency customer care training to catch up employees on how to handle the developing situation while staying on brand and keeping the client at the forefront.

Make sure your rules and policies prioritize clients

Most companies develop policies to protect their finances and prevent customers from taking advantage of them. These policies may need to be evaluated under special circumstances. If you want to retain customers in the long run, you may need to make exceptions to your rules now.

For example, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Ticketmaster quietly changed its policies so it only issued refunds for cancellations, not for rescheduled or indefinitely postponed events where people wanted their money back. This is an example of what not to do. The move frustrated customers who needed refunds (many of whom had unexpectedly lost their jobs) and felt they were cheated by the company.

United, however, has prioritized clients in making policy changes. United has eliminated all ticket change fees for domestic flights through the end of the year. Scott Kirby, United CEO, told USA Today:

“Following previous tough times, airlines made difficult decisions to survive, sometimes at the expense of customer service. United Airlines won’t be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis. Instead, we’re taking a completely different approach — and looking at new ways to serve our customers better.”

Your customers will appreciate short-term policy changes meant to help them — not you. Not to mention, any short-term losses will pay off in long-term customer loyalty.

Leverage partnerships within the community

Instead of closing your doors during uncertain times like a pandemic, look to your local business community. How can you collaborate to prioritize client needs, even if you aren’t operating on a full staff?

As a business owner, you need to build a strong network of partners to get referrals and grow your brand. The value of this will last long past the challenge you’re facing now. Make sure your customers are taken care of by asking for support when you need it.

Get on the phone early and often

Clients want to hear from you. In a March 2020 survey from 4A’s, 43% of respondents said it’s reassuring to hear from brands they know and trust. Another 40% said they want to hear how brands are responding to the pandemic.

Sometimes prioritizing clients simply requires your team to pick up the phone and have a conversation. During an uncertain time, like the pandemic, build this into your or your client care’s weekly routine. If you have a large set of clients, set a certain amount of calls for each team member to make each week until you reach everyone.

The time it takes to pick up the phone and call is well worth the long-term benefits of clients that feel heard and reassured.

Communicate with your customers

Client care is ever-evolving, but during a crisis, there’s only one thing that matters: prioritizing your clients’ needs ahead of your own. Talk with them directly. Update policies in a way that benefits them. Put more people on your customer care staff if needed.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to start here.

If you’ve been struggling during the pandemic, now is still a good time to prioritize clients and connect with them. Showing that you’re in this with them will benefit your business for years to come.

7 Aspects Where Consumer Habits Changed Most

1. Life at Home: There has been a huge surge in online consumption of all media.
   • In-home on demand consumption increased 44% during COVID-19. — Edison
   • 84% of consumers want brands to focus advertising on how products and services can help people cope. — Edelman
   • 53% of consumers reported a smart device or speaker helped influence a purchase decision in the last 3 months

2. Shopping: E-Commerce Is Exploding
   • $200B was spent online in Q2 2020 — DigitalCommerce360
   • E-commerce is expected to grow 20% in 2021 — IBM
   • Messaging Is More Important Than Ever Learning: The Home Classroom

3. Learning from Home
   • Moms planning to purchase half or more of their kids’ school supplies online went from 4% in 2019 to 16% in 2020. — Field Agent
   • Radio and digital audio reaches 91% of Teens monthly.
   • With in home learning, trust is more critical than ever.
   • Broadcast is more trustworthy than social media. The data found only 11% of Americans say they trust information they see on social media. If your Brand require a high level of trust for a purchase it may need more than social marketing.

4. Play and Entertainment – The digital shift             
   • Smart speaker listening in Q2 was up +43% for the year. —Edison
   • 70 % of consumers have enjoyed either a paid or free live streamed concert or event during the pandemic.
   • Broadcast Radio Drives Search

5. Health & Wellness – Growth of e-Pharmacies, e-doctors & fitness on demand
   • Online searches for telemedicine increased 9x during the pandemic. — McKinsey
   • 80% of Americans planning to make self-care a bigger focus post-pandemic. — Harris Poll
   • Broadcast has proven to increase search lift as much as 128% over organic search volume.

6. Travel & Mobility – Increase of domestic tourism in drive in markets
   • Driving Is Back – Personal vehicle usage and ownership is accelerating due to COVID-19. — Cars.com
   • Driving requests from Apple Maps have been up +38% in Q3 from pre-COVID levels.  — Apple Maps
   • Accelerating Shift To Personal Vehicles – 57% of people who purchased a car in the last 6 months said it was due to COVID.

7. Working From Home – Remote work and digital shift
   • Pre-pandemic, peak media hours were typically limited to before employees clocked in and after they clocked out, depending on the medium. With the elimination of a commute and the full array of their preferred platforms available, working from home provides consumers two elements vital to increasing consumption: time and choice.

• That means more windows of opportunity for content creators and advertisers alike to reach audiences outside of the traditional primetime, as well as potential new, creative ways to engage with consumers.

If you need help planning your new revised marketing plan to incorporate these new paradigm shifts, call Branding Iron today. 

Get in front of new audiences with organic and paid content.

Use this guide to optimize organic content and push paid content to reach new customers. 

Small business owners should be using both organic and paid content on Facebook to increase reach and get in front of new audiences. Posting organic content is an important tool to spread positive word-of-mouth, increase engagement, and drive brand awareness. Posting paid content is an important lever for small businesses to use to increase their exposure, reach a wider, targeted audience, and get new customers. Using both together is the best way to give your Facebook a boost to engage with your loyal fans and get in front of new audiences.

Organic Content – Get your Facebook posting strategy in order

First, it’s essential that you build up your presence on Facebook before boosting any content in order to get the most for your money. Consider the following questions:

• Are you posting regularly on your Facebook page?
• Are the majority of your followers liking, sharing, and commenting on your posts?
• Are you doing anything to increase your number of followers?

The answer to all of these questions should be, “yes,” before you begin boosting content. This is true because when you boost content, your post will reach people who don’t currently like or follow your page. Once they see your boosted content, they might navigate to your page to take a look at your other content. If these new visitors come to your page, you’ll want to make sure it’s telling your story in a way that’s both engaging and compelling. That way, they’ll be able to understand what your business is all about. And, they’ll be more likely to give your business a visit. By keeping your business’ Facebook Page full of exciting, organic content, you will be able to attract new customers, build relationships with your existing customer base, and stay top-of-mind with customers in your local area — and beyond.

Paid Content – Kick off your paid media strategy

The easiest way to advertise on Facebook is with boosted posts. What is a “boosted post”? A boosted post is a post on your Facebook Page’s timeline that you can put money behind in order to get it in front of a targeted audience. Using boosted posts is an excellent way to reach new people who are likely interested in your business but aren’t currently your fans on Facebook. When you boost a post, you have the potential to reach more people and entice current fans and potential new customers to visit your business.

Note: This is different than creating a Facebook Ad. While boosting a post is still considered an ad, Facebook ads are created through Ads Manager and have more customization options.

• What should I boost?
  • Events, specials, discounts, or promotions.
• What should I include?
  • Great photos, videos, or graphics.
• What should I do next?
  • Set goals for the results you want.

You can choose to boost your posts, or in other words, turn organic content into paid content, to reach both a wide and targeted audience and attract new customers.

Choose the post you will boost wisely: Think about high-quality content you’d like to feature in your boosted post. Typically, a good post to boost is for an event, special, discount, or promotion. If you’re putting money behind a post, it should look great. You’ll need a high-quality photo, video, or graphic.

Note: Any post you use to boost on Facebook should be less than 20% text. And, it’s important to keep your caption short and sweet. Facebook users have a lot of content to scroll through on their timelines. Make your content exciting enough for them to pause and click through to your page to find out more.

• Pro Tip: Before you boost content, publish your post on Facebook and give it some time to get some organic reach and engagement. Boosted posts tend to perform better if they have first earned organic engagement.

Set goals for the results you want It’s important before you boost a post to understand who you’re trying to reach and why.

• Are you putting money behind this post to bring more customers into your business?
• Is this a campaign for brand awareness?
• Are you looking to gain more followers?

Once you nail down what you’re trying to achieve by boosting a post, that will help inform your copy, the audience you’re trying to target, and how long you want to run the campaign.

Target your ideal audience

The next step is to get your post in front of the right audience — a.k.a as many of your ideal customers as possible. Boosting a post will ensure that your post reaches potential customers outside of your current network (who don’t currently follow you) and more of the right people in your community. So, think about exactly who you’re trying to reach. You can target by age, gender, location, and much more!

Don’t overdo it

Don’t inundate your audience with paid campaigns. People inside and outside your network don’t want to be overwhelmed with salesy content. Even 1-2 boosted posts a month can create successful results.

Track results

To review the performance of your boosted posts, go to your Business page on Facebook. Here, you can see the extent of the reach of your post, any meaningful actions (link clicks, video views, etc.) on the part of potential new fans and customers, and money spent. With these insights, you can strategize. Facebook’s data can help you analyze what worked and what didn’t so you can go confidently into your next campaign.

Managing both organic and paid content well is difficult. We have a team of experts that will handle the professional design and content strategy for you to maximize your reach, target more potential new customers, and entice them to visit your business.

Engage your customers like never before with Branding Iron. We help businesses elevate their online presence on the platforms that matter most to consumers. Keeping up with your social media, reviews, and online customer service is a full-time job. We’re the team that does it all, so our customers can focus on their business.

Request a free social media assessment below or, give us a call: 979-571-9919  

FREE ASSESSMENT

Let us do it for you! Is it time to give your Facebook a boost?

As you prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Week, we recommend giving your online sales funnel some attention. Without a proper sales funnel you can drive all the traffic in the world to your website but it will not convert to tangible business. Based on your customer’s interactions with your store, you can create pathways to help you drive more revenue. You can build journeys for key events for your business, including:

•            Abandoned cart

•            Post-purchase

•            Abandoned browse

•            Site visit

•            New email signup

Here’s a walkthrough of how you can incorporate some effective email tools to make actionable change on your website. Select a starting point to kick off your customer’s journey and add rules and actions that dictate which paths they’ll take and what messages you’ll deliver to them. In this example, we’ve created a post-purchase journey to drive repeat purchases among customers that buy specific products. 

              Step #1: Multiple starting points

With multiple starting points you can bring in customers who have bought specific products from your store into one journey that introduces them to other items that they may be interested in.

              Step #2: Delayed communication

Set up a delay. We recommend one week so that you’re re-engaging the customer while your business is top of mind, while not inundating them with emails immediately after they purchase.

              Step #3:  Tag every customer to a category

Tag this customer based on past purchase product category so you can send them targeted emails when you add new products or discounts to this category.

              Step #4: Branching points

Add a branching point to deliver a message to customers based on whether or not they have purchased the new item you want to promote. If they haven’t purchased this item, send them the product follow up email using an existing template or create a new one. Branching points help you send relevant emails to the right customers. By sending messages based on interactions, you’re showing customers that your brand really gets them.

When the holiday season arrives, your team will be busy prioritizing the operational side of your business. Install systems in place now that allow you to focus on the areas of your business that need your attention during the busy holiday season. Let digital systems do the customer outreach for you. Set up custom journeys today so you can stay laser-focused when it counts.

Get started by calling Branding Iron Management today for help creating the customer journey. 

This year, there’s a good chance your sales and marketing budget got turned upside down with the pandemic and its impact on your marketing and prospecting efforts. If you’re like most businesses, dollars were shifted or re-allocated to help drive growth in an uncertain time.

As we head into the last quarter of the year, you may have some unused dollars that could help aid your 2020 efforts, or even give you a head start on 2021. There’s also a chance you’ve had to do more with less than ever before.

Branding Iron is here to help. We understand we have the flexibility to stretch those budget dollars in the most effective way possible. Don’t play whack-a-mole with your ad budget. Be certain the investments you are making will get true return. Actual leads, and measurable conversion.

Whether you need assistance with your sales, data or marketing efforts, we have the right solution for you. Call us to learn about our end of the year opportunities that have been created by the changing marketplace.

The upcoming holiday season is expected to bring an increase in traffic online. In fact, holiday e-commerce sales are estimated to grow by 25% to 35% year-over-year. We know that driving strong conversion rates is sure to be top-of-mind for many online businesses this year, so we’ve got a few tips to help you turn window shoppers into paying customers. 

Tip #1: Consider removing shipping fees as a barrier to purchase.

Did you know that some research shows 77% of shoppers have abandoned a purchase due to unsatisfactory shipping options? Your shipping fees and policies should be clearly displayed on product pages so customers aren’t surprised by their total at the point of sale. And if you’re looking for ways to increase conversions, consider offering free shipping sitewide for a limited time or for orders that reach a certain threshold.

Tip #2: Incentivize transactions with compelling promotions.

Offer additional benefits based on how much customers spend in your online store. For example, you might give customers 15% off all orders over $100 or offer limited-time, buy one get one free deals on certain products.

Tip #3: Pricing and savings should be clear and easy to understand.

Make it easy for customers to see the value in their purchase so they’re motivated to buy right away. Use strikethrough pricing to make your promo price clear, and display total savings to help drive any on-the-fence shopper toward conversion.

Tip #4: Leverage abandoned cart automations so you don’t miss a sales opportunity.

When you connect your store to your CRM, you have access to several sales-driving automations. One study shows that, on average, 69% of customers abandon their shopping carts before checking out, but, you can recapture lost sales with an email series that reminds folks what they’ve left behind and encourages them to come back to your site to complete their purchase.

Tip #5: Add credibility to your products with ratings, reviews, and testimonials.

Studies have shown that the purchase likelihood of a product with 5 reviews is 270% greater than the purchase likelihood of a product with no reviews. With  product follow-up automation emails, it’s easy to collect feedback and reviews from customers after they make a purchase. Set them up now to make sure holiday shoppers know how much other folks like your products.

Tip #6: Make it easy for your customers to communicate with you. 

Simplicity is key here. Consider offering live chat or email support options so your customers will always be able to get timely, helpful assistance if they have any questions or concerns.

Every time someone visits your online store, you’ve got an opportunity to turn them into a paying customer. With the right strategy in place, you can create a shopping experience that drives conversions.

Know someone who would benefit from these tips? Share it with them so they can subscribe.  

How many times have you heard one of your potential clients say “I didn’t even know you were here!”

Video is not just a powerful marketing tool, it’s the powerful marketing tool. People have been saying that video is the future of marketing for years. Until now it’s been a cost prohibitive option for most businesses. That’s changed.

Most people will watch a video before they will read a page of web content about your product. Many people search for video explanations before they read articles about a given topic of interest.

42% of businesses are still not currently taking advantage of video marketing. If you add video to your marketing mix it will help you stand out above a crowded marketplace.

74% of internet traffic was video in 2019.

VIDEO GETS RESULTS.

Now down to the good stuff…

In our experience, there are 5 main ways to increase your brand awareness with video; and they work best when you use them all together.

1. Know your Audience

What are they interested in? What kind of language do they use? What kind of imagery will resonate with them? When creating video you want to start with your audience in mind.

2. Be Original

Every day people watch hundreds of millions of hours of video on YouTube alone. The competition is rife. So it’s important to make your videos original.

Original is Attention-Grabbing. Memorable. Shareable.

Before considering what is original, let’s take a look at what is completely unoriginal. You’ve all heard and see it. “We have the best customer service”, “…the cleanest facility”, “…the most ________…” Insert the same old same every body in your business says. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH…

You have to sell the sizzle. The simple fact is if you don’t have good customer service, if you don’t have a clean facility, if you don’t offer a quality product you won’t make it in business very long. What’s the real reason someone buys from you… understand that first. Then build original messages that speak to that need.

3. Be short and to the point

In case you didn’t already know, people are busy! In this fast-paced world, no one can spare more than a few minutes to learn about your brand. The recent rise in technology has reduced attention spans and made instant gratification a must.  So it’s super important that you get to the point! To create a clear and concise message in your video, you should highlight a few key points about your business – 1 02 is good, 3 or 4 is sometimes more than enough. Do not overwhelm the viewer and they will watch your video until the end, seeing that all-important call to action.

4. Promote Like Crazy

There is a common rule among marketers. It’s called the 80/20 rule and it refers to content creation and promotion. The criteria is as follows: Spend 20% of your time creating content. 80% promoting content.

Yep, that’s right. All of the blood, sweat, tears and most important, money you put into creating your video is only worth 20% of the overall effort.

To make sure you are seen by your ideal customers you need to promote across as many different platforms as you can: Social Media, SEM, YouTube, Email and so on. The more platforms, the better.

5. Optimize for Different Devices

Last, but by no means least, you need to consider the devices people will be watching your video on. Video traffic accounted for 65% of total mobile data traffic in 2019, but the consumption of video has nearly doubled during the pandemic.

Think about your video content with the mobile viewer in mind. For example, people viewing on mobile devices could be on the move. With this in mind, you need to make sure that the website your call to action sends viewers to is also responsive.

Thinking of getting your own video?

Check out our website here for more information and video examples.

Building a strong email list is an important part of your marketing solutions and most important to your Black Friday and holiday season preparations. Here are a few expert tips to help you increase your email list size—and increase your sales potential.

Tip #1: Turn social media followers into email subscribers.

Your social followers should be a part of your email audience to expand your reach this holiday season. Use your social posts to direct people to a landing page where they can opt-in to your emails.

Tip #2: Capture site visitor information.

If you do not have one already, you should also add a pop-up form for placement on the homepage of your website and collect email addresses of site visitors so you can market to them throughout the holiday season.

Tip #3: Create a new subscriber discount.

Entice customers to opt into your email list by offering an incentive to new subscribers—like 10% off their next purchase or free shipping. You can promote the offer across your marketing channels and on your website to help you generate leads.

Tip #4: Import a list of your current customers.

If you already have an e-commerce platform, don’t forget to import your database into your dip campaign. When you sync your store and bring your customer data, you’ll be able to generate more robust insights about your existing customers. Then, you can use those insights to inform strategies that will help you gain new customers.

Taking action to grow your email list and starting communications prior to the holiday season will help you build stronger relationships with both new and existing customers. This can lead to higher email open rates—and more conversions, too. For more help on how to maximize your email campaigns contact Branding Iron Management.