As we close the books on 2023, we’re doing something a little different for the final Dispatch of the year.
You hear a lot from me and Ed in our marketing emails and articles. It’s rare that you hear from the rest of the RMDS team, but as our clients can tell you, our Client Services and DevOps staff are vital to Rainmaker Platform’s success.
For this edition of the Rainmaker Dispatch, we reached out to key personnel from those departments for their favorite Dispatch articles of 2023. Here’s a selection of the ones we agreed on as our top five of the year, and a few notes on why we think they’re important.
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Channels may change, but the fundamentals of persuasion don’t. You need a call-to-action (CTA) — and not just any old words will do. A CTA must be effective. This article walks you through the basics of crafting your own.
“Sign Up For My Newsletter Today” wasn’t just popular with the team … it was also popular with you. It’s one of our most-read posts this year.
Katy Barrilleaux, Vice President of Client Services: “Conversions matter! Our clients’ businesses run on conversions, so it’s important to know how to drive them. Good CTAs are key.”
Lucas Hillebrandt, DevOps Manager: “Learning how to convert is always good reading — essential if you want to be successful at digital marketing.”
Mobile Matters: 5 Keys to a Responsive Website
This was a favorite with our Client Services team; they work directly with clients who have Rainmaker Platform sites. These business owners want to make sure their audience can find and engage with their site. Mobile is essential for that. Over 60% of web traffic is mobile — and that number is only going up — so it’s critical to create websites that work for smart devices.
Blaise Kavai, Client Services/Technical Support Representative: “My favorite article of the year … comprehensive with a lot of illustration and very interactive. Sums up how to create a great mobile website.”
Katy: “Mobile browsing is top of mind and important for a lot of our clients. They know how much it matters for their sites. This gives them a road map to success.”
Turn Your Customers into Salespeople
This was a favorite for almost the whole team (and one of my favorites to write, I’ll confess). Smart businesspeople use word of mouth; social media is just word of mouth at scale. Harnessing that power can propel your business to new heights.
Lucas: “Great article for new business owners; having your customers ‘work’ for you is the best option, especially when you don’t have the money to pay for professional ads. People trust other people more than brands.”
Ed Bardwell, President: “Technology has shifted the power in decision-making back to friends and family — anyone but the brand. Long-term success requires the brand to encourage, create and nurture customer advocacy. Brands can market sales (promotions, advertising, incentives), but advocacy creates reproducible, ongoing and PROFITABLE relationships.”
Be Intentional With Your Content
This piece was built on several client conversations we were having at the time (some mentioned by name, some not). We did a Q&A with Stone Payton and Lee Kantor of Business RadioX, one of our Rainmaker Platform clients, on how to set up a podcast, and Stone said something that I thought applied to content in general.
“Our experience has been that when you design a show, it’s going to hit whatever you aim it at, so you better be real intentional … and think about why you’re doing a podcast.”
Ed: “There’s too much content out there trying to ‘overwhelm’ the market with AI, dynamic content, etc. and it ALL competes for attention. You have to cut through the noise. The only way to generate sustainable and reproducible engagement is having a purpose BEFORE you start. Build an intentional relationship with your best customer.”
Lucas: “Companies need to stop and think a little bit about their business actions and how they want people to think about them. Intentionality is key to generating results.”
Stop the Scroll
While many of the other pieces were popular with DevOps and Client Services, this one appealed specifically to the marketing side (me and Ed). It came from Amanda Natividad’s SparkToro piece on zero-click content, which got me thinking differently about social media strategy. Ed and I had a couple of conversations about it and those turned into this piece.
David: “Many industry watchdogs think that 2024 will be the year that social overtakes Google as the most important search channel. Bookmark this piece for the new year — we’ll reference it again.”
Ed: “You need a meaningful (on brand) method to stop content consumers from scrolling past. That means great creativity, solid, brand-specific copy, and a clear understanding of your content strategy. And true success requires that you stop them for the right reason. No one likes a bait and switch.”
See You in 2024!
Thanks for a great year. We hope you’re having a great holiday season. We’ll see you in 2024 — and in the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or anything you need a hand with, don’t hesitate to reach out. Just drop us a line, anytime.
Best Regards,
David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services