Online Marketing Articles Worth Reading #5

There are five key areas to consider as you’re marketing your business online, and I’ve selected from recent marketing articles to share the best one in each category with you:

1. Blogging: We’ve all heard about the KISS method (“Keep it simple, stupid!”), and simplicity is indeed usually the best course to follow. Did you know that you can also keep things simple with your blogging? Rather than letting yourself get overwhelmed with your blogging, check out these 7 ways to make blogging more complicated than it needs to be from Search Engine Journal – and avoid them!
2. Content Marketing: “Your target market is not the same as anyone who could conceivably buy your product.” That’s my favorite line from this great post at the Content Marketing Institute. Some marketers and small business owners try to be all things to all people, and believe that anyone who could use their product or service is in their target market. Not true! Learn more about why you should focus on the niches for content marketing riches.
3. Search Engine Optimization:  SEO can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. The best SEO involves a few key areas: having a good technical foundation, good keywords, proper optimization on each page, great content, good use of social media, and back links to your site. In my post on search engine optimization tips you can use, I share five actionable tips in each of those areas that you can implement starting today.  
   
4. Social Media: What are the best times to post on social media? Should you update your business Facebook page on weekends? Is it better to tweet in the morning or in the afternoon? These are important questions to answer if you want to use your time on social media effectively. This great infographic from Entrepreneur.com shows you the best and worst times to post to social media.
5. Websites: Your website should be helping you to meet your business goals. You know this. But how do you actually do it? Simple: you track what works and what doesn’t so that you can make adjustments as necessary. With your website, this means that you need to use Google Analytics. Small Biz Trends has provided a good tutorial on how to use Google Analytics to tell where your web traffic comes from. 
   

Were these marketing articles helpful or interesting for you? Let me know with a comment!

Source; http://www.ccmarketingonline.com

5 Social Media Predictions for 2014

One of my favorite things to do this time of year -- in addition to spending the holidays with friends and family -- is to look back on the year that was and also look ahead to what the New Year holds in store.

When it comes to the state of social media, the past year could be summed up in a few words: real-time marketing, content, video and mobile. In a space that's continuously changing and technology that's advancing quickly, it can be a challenge to know where you should be spending your social-media efforts.

Understanding what's ahead can help overcome these frustrations. Here are my top five predictions for where we're heading in social media in 2014:

1. Look for a shift toward visual storytelling through short-form video. 
On my Inside Social Media podcast, we talk a lot about telling the story of your business through social media. It started toward the end of this year, but a shift toward short, concise videos that tell a deeper story than pictures will only become more important in 2014.

Platforms like Twitter's Vine app and Instagram's 15-second video make it incredibly easy to create and share this short-form content so take the time to not only understand how to use these platforms but also how users consume content on them.

Related: How to Maximize LinkedIn for Your Business

2. Businesses will embrace the 'fandom.' 
I hadn't heard much of this term before I had Tom Fishman, MTV's vice president of content marketing and fan engagement, on the podcast. Fandom is essentially the sub-culture of raving fans that exist within your overall customer base. These are the fans that are going to do a lot of your marketing for you, the ones who will promote your brand to other people.

In the New Year, I think businesses will make a bigger effort to identify and embrace the fandom. Connecting with and giving these fans the tools to help them spread the word about your business will go a long way.

3. Google+ will continue to grow in size and importance. 
Google said that Google+ now has 300 million monthly active users. To put this in perspective, Facebook and Twitter have about 1.2 billion and 232 million monthly active users respectively. Not only has Google+ become a popular social platform but its integration with Google search results and Google Authorship makes it a no-brainer in 2014.

This means that being active on Google+, even a little bit, should improve the search engine optimization (SEO) for your business. Google+ is only going to become more mainstream in the New Year.

Related: 5 Steps to Beef Up Engagement on Twitter

4. There will be a bigger focus on context. 
We've all heard the cry that businesses need to focus on creating more content and that "content is king." And, for the most part, I think businesses have started to embrace content marketing. But for 2014, I think the need to put out more content will become less important, in favor of focusing on and creating content that's contextually relevant to the social channels you're using.

Brands should start asking themselves, "How are people using a particular social channel?" and "What makes a channel unique?" Then they will create contextually relevant content based on that insight.

5. More businesses will get into paid advertising.
I don't think it's a secret that your Facebook fans are seeing less and less of your content. The recent changes to Facebook's News Feed algorithm -- the one that decides what people see and don't see in their News Feed -- has further limited the reach of most organic posts.

With so many brands using Facebook to market their business, paid advertising will need to be a critical part of their social strategy if they want their content seen by more of their fans.

In addition, Twitter is beefing up its paid advertising options with products like the recently announced "tailored audiences." Look for more ad products from Twitter as it creates ways to make more money now that it's a public company. If you're serious about reaching your tribe on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, paid ads will need to be part of your plan in 2014.

Source; http://www.reuters.com

Online Marketing Articles Worth Reading #4

 Every week I pull together the marketing articles that are really worth your time to read and share them with you to help you keep up with the latest tips and trends.

There are five key areas to consider as you’re marketing your business online, and I’ve selected from recent marketing articles to share the best one in each category with you:

1. Blogging: When you’re blogging, it’s easy to overlook a simple but important step that you can take to optimize your posts. Interlinking your blog posts – linking from one of your posts to your other posts – is good for both users and search engines. It helps users to discover more content on your site, and it helps create more backlinks for the search engines. Learn more from Problogger about why interlinking your posts is a must.
2. Content Marketing: Content marketing is critical for marketing online, yet it’s easier said than done. How do you know you’re developing the right content for your audience? How can you engage your audience through the content you develop? This Content Marketing Institute post can help you answer these questions by looking at the two criteria for great content.
3. Search Engine Optimization:  SEO can be intimidating for small business owners. Yet, it doesn’t have to be. Search Engine Journal provides three tips for small businesses to achieve SEO success: build one quality backlink at a time, create content that serves your audience, and focus on the niches that your competitors have overlooked. Good tips!
   
4. Social Media: Nobody likes people who lack good etiquette. Think about the last time you encountered someone who talked with their mouth full or neglected to say, “thank you” – not pleasant, right? Online, there are proper etiquette guidelines to follow as well. Hubspot has put together a handy marketer’s guide to social media etiquette that is worth checking out (my favorite is the one about not liking your own Facebook updates!).
   
5. Websites: After you’ve done all the work to create a great website and start blogging, you need to make sure that your website is helping you to meet your business goals. An important part of this is involves moving website visitors into your sales funnel, often by making sure that you can keep in touch with them. Email newsletters are a great way to do this, and Business 2 Community provides five tips for building your email database. 
   

Were these marketing articles helpful or interesting for you? Let me know with a comment!

Online Marketing Articles Worth Reading #3

There are five key areas to consider as you’re marketing your business online, and I’ve selected from recent marketing articles to share the best one in each category with you:

1. Blogging: Blog marketing is not easy. You need to consistently come up with good ideas and position your blog properly to attract attention in your niche. If your blog is rather lackluster, here are some tips on revitalizing your blog.
2. Content Marketing: As more businesses embrace content marketing, it is becoming increasingly competitive. To be successful with this as a marketing strategy, you’ll need to implement practices to beat the competition.
3. Search Engine Optimization:  Wouldn’t it be so simple if SEO was something that could be quickly checked off a list and be done with easily? However, the reality is that good SEO takes a long time.
   
4. Social Media: One of the common challenges for marketers using social media is not getting burned out, especially when you spend all day on social media networks. If you can relate to this, then these tips can help you to avoid social media burnout.
   
5. Websites: Yes, you know you need a website, but not just any website will help your business. Learn about the 8 must-have components of a great website.
   

Were these marketing articles helpful or interesting for you? Let me know with a comment!

Online Marketing Articles Worth Reading #2

It’s hard to keep up with all of the marketing articles that are out there, isn’t it? I find myself reading a lot of articles every week about online marketing, social media, content marketing, and more. Every week I pull together the marketing articles that are really worth your time to read and share them with you to help you keep up with the latest tips and trends.

There are five key areas to consider as you’re marketing your business online, and I’ve selected from recent marketing articles to share the best one in each category with you:

1. Blogging:  Are you stuck trying to come up with ideas for your next blog post? It can be a challenge sometimes to continually think of new things to write about, right? Fortunately, there’s a great source of blog content that you can tap into quite easily.
2. Content Marketing: Marketing your business online today requires providing good content for your readers – on an ongoing basis. It’s not something that you can just check off on a list and think that you’re done with it! To get the most out of it, you need to remember that content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
3. Search Engine Optimization: The world of SEO has been changing. As Google has updated its algorithm in recent years, many common tricks and techniques have fallen by the wayside. Learn about SEO techniques that actually work now.
4. Social Media: You’re on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Wouldn’t it be great to know if your efforts are actually paying off? Though there is no firm industry standard, there are ways for you to measure the impact & ROI of your social media strategies.
   
5. Websites: As a small business owner, imagine what it would mean to lose your website or even to have it down for a few days. Find out about WordPress security and your role in keeping your site secure. This is a must-read for anyone with a WordPress website.             Source; online-marketing-articles-worth-reading-

Was this helpful or interesting for you? Let me know with a comment!

Online Marketing Articles Worth Reading #1

It’s hard to keep up with all of the marketing articles that are out there, isn’t it? I find myself reading a lot of articles every week about online marketing, social media, content marketing, and more. I’ll be pulling together the best of what I find every week, which will hopefully help you to keep up with the latest tips and trends without getting overwhelmed!

Here are the five key areas I'll be concentrating on and you need to consider when marketing your business online:

1. Blogging: We are all drawn to stories. We also know that the best marketing involves telling a story. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. How exactly can you tell your story on your blog? Try telling your business story, one blog at a time.
2. Content Marketing: You’ve heard of it (right?). It’s one of the most important trends in online marketing right now. Learn more about what it is and why it’s important.
3. Search Engine Optimization: Keeping up with this ever-changing field can be tough. Wouldn’t it be great to have some industry leaders tell you exactly what you need to know? Forbes asked just that question. You can find the answers in what every leader needs to know about SEO.
4. Social Media: Wouldn’t it be great to know that your social media efforts were being implemented effectively? Yes, you can do things ad hoc but why not take the time to do a bit of planning? These 6 steps to a small business social media strategy can help.
5. Websites: If you’re using WordPress for your website, you can take advantage of some great plugins to help with security, SEO, and more. However, with tons of plugins to choose from, how do you know which ones will be the best to use? This guide to essential WordPress plugins is a good place to start. 

Source; online-marketing-articles

Internet marketing strategies for a small business

  

Online business industry is booming like never before. All small or large businesses are competing hard to reach to the best position in the global online market. The best way to climb the ladder is to get displayed in the search result of all big and giant search engines. Millions of people hit the search engine to get the required details and prefers to go with first or second listed links displayed in the search result. This is where the proficient SEO comes in.

Now what is SEO? SEO is acronym for Search Engine Optimization and has list of services to make the website outstand in search results. SEO is methodology which contains tactics and techniques used to increase website traffic indeed to get targeted traffic. SEO is the powerful web marketing technique using which companies can achieve higher ranks through which they can appear on the top of the search result. SEO technique helps search engines to find highest ranking websites and as a result website gets amplified visibility in web presence which drives more traffic resulting in more target audience or you can say more potential customers.

Great sales require great business promotion in market. SEO works exactly what is needed to promote business as most of the people relay on search engines to look for suggestion.

Search engines crawls the web and fetch website data (mostly text available on the website) through which it gets an idea about what the website is all about. Search Engines not only crawls the website but also performs the activities like indexing, processing, calculating relevancy, and retrieving of data to deliver search result.

Google or other search engines change their algorithm and strategies every now and then so it is essential to update website according to required changes to stay ahead in the race. Best SEO services are the answer for this. SEO companies provide different SEO services for search engine optimization in order to be in the pace.

There are different Internet marketing company strategies available which can help to achieve good position in the online market. Website content writing is very significant part of internet marketing. Content Marketing includes Articles, blogs, training videos, and podcasts. Web content needs to be appropriate and should be rich with required information otherwise low quality content can harm the brand value. Website content is something which creates gives first impression to the prospective customers so it has to be up to the mark and appropriate.

Another vital internet marketing strategy is Social Media Marketing. Social media marketing is being present on the social networking websites and participating actively with informative and interesting media posting.  So it works on the human nature of trusting the recommendation received from the person you know. Search engine optimization considers number of shares received by that content but large number of followers does not guarantee you number of customers. In order to gain the benefit of social media marketing one need to interact with the fans by replying to blogs or comments, allowing people to ask questions or even complains. Also it is very essential to address this interaction in professional manner.

The online internet marketing companies can help the businesses looking to get exposure in global market to accomplish their goals through different SEO services and internet marketing strategies available. It is essential for every online marketing company to know all the perfect details regarding the company for whom they are going to develop the SEO Services or other internet marketing strategies. Also they need to understand clients marketing strategies, business objective, target audience, goals and importantly their requirement.

Evince Development, a SEO Company USA, provides the preeminent and accurate SEO Services to reach to the global market. It is an online internet marketing company and provides excellent SEO Services and internet marketing strategies to attract more people to your website which leads to more customers for your business, and also enhances branding of your company.

Source; internet-marketing strategies for a small business

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LinkedIn: Check Out Who’s Emailing You on iPhone

Imagine you get an email from someone you’ve never met before. It’s about an attractive business proposition, but is it legit? Ordinarily you might spend some time hunting around online to learn more about the sender.

But now, LinkedIn says its new app LinkedIn Intro can do all that for you…and more.

Figure Out Who You’re Talking To

First, you can immediately put a name to a face. LinkedIn Intro places the name, photo and brief information from a sender’s LinkedIn profile near the top of the email. It will even tell you where they work.

This allows you to quickly distinguish between emails. You can see at a glance whether this is a legitimate contact from a likely business connection or spam to be discarded.

Second, tapping the bar at the top of the email quickly gives you even more information about the sender. You’ll see his or her past and present occupations, education and mutual connections, for example.

It’s everything you’ll need to craft a more informed response, and make a better impression.

Here’s a quick video overview:

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Rahul Vohra, co-founder of Rapportive, an email company LinkedIn acquired last year, says his team built the new app after coming to work at the professional networking site.

In a recent post on the Official LinkedIn Blog, Vohra explains the motivation for creating the app:

The growth of mobile email is simply staggering. Four years ago, less than 4% of emails were read on mobile. Today, half of all emails are read on a mobile device.

Availability

The LinkedIn Intro app is available in English to users all over the world as a freedownload. You’ll need to enter your phone number at the LinkedIn Intro page.

LinkedIn says the app will support Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail and iCloud. But so far, it’s only available in the Apple Mail app for iPhone.

Basically, if you want to find out who’s emailing you on your iPhone, LinkedIn Intro looks like a good tool.

Online Marketing Articles Worth Reading #14

It’s hard to keep up with all of the information about marketing online that’s available out there, isn’t it?

I find myself regularly reading a lot of marketing articles about SEO, social media, content marketing, and more. Every week, I pull together the articles that are really worth your time to read. Keep up with the latest tips and trends by checking out the articles below!

Blogging: Writing a blog post is far from a science, but wouldn’t it be helpful to have a formula that could result in the perfect blog post? Lucky for us, Rachel Sprung of Hubspot has done just that. In this helpful, step-by-step article, she guides us through the 9 simple things that every great blog post needs.

Reference; online marketing articles worth reading

Internet Marketing for Small Businesses

Using social media is no longer an option–it’s practically a requirement for small businesses who want to connect with their customers. While the tools change almost daily, the goal stays the same: interact with customers and create trust. If you’re late to the bandwagon (or just want the latest), start here.

Social Media

We now know that not every age group uses social media the same, and it’s important to know where your target market falls. For example, the 35-44 year old span uses Facebook and Twitter the most, while teens have twice as many social friends as this group. Knowing that the average social network user is 37 years old can be helpful when planning your social media marketing strategy. Roy Morejon

Does your business even need a website anymore?  Many say that a solid Facebook Page can serve the purpose of a static website, with better results. The key is to keep it interesting and continually expand your network. And where you might push your product on your website, a hard sell is less well-received on a Facebook Page. Small Business CEO

Despite the flurry of social media contests, they may not be as effective as marketers want to believe. Giving away something for free makes it difficult to target the people that enter, and simply having someone Like your Facebook wall or retweet a message isn’t all that valuable, says Social Times. People who enter social media contests aren’t likely to stick around after the contest is over, so think it through the next time you want to give away an iPad to get more customers. Social Times

Managing Your Reputation Online

Your reputation is no longer in your own hands; it’s now in the hands of your customers. And if they’re not happy, there are dozens of places they can complain about you. The key is to monitor and manage what’s being said about you online, and remain transparent in your response. What not to do? Don’t argue with your customer, and don’t fake positive reviews of your business. The New York Times

When you do get a bad review online, take appropriate steps to address the issue. First, contact the customer and see if you can amend the situation one on one. Then, apologize, remembering that the customer is never more right than when they’ve publicly blasted you. A free product or gift card can go a long way to soothe ruffled feathers. Next, ask the customer to repost a revised review, considering the efforts you’ve made toward amending the situation. Small Business CEO

SEO Best Practices

Even if you’re a newbie to search engine optimization, you should still use analytics to better understand where traffic to your site is coming from. Free tools like Google Analytics go a long way in telling you what pages people like, how much traffic you’re getting, and what keywords draw in the most visitors. Analytics should be a part of your overall internet marketing strategy, as you can see which tools are working the best. Get Places

Are your keywords outdated? If so, you’re missing out on higher rankings on search engine results. Freshening up your keywords to what’s being searched for now can go a long way to put you in Google’s favor. Use your analytics (see above) to make sure your new keywords are getting the traffic you want. SEO Chat

Where Google+ Will Fall

With so many social media users and business owners still on the fence about Google+, many ask how Google will weigh search results using its social site. Will Google give higher priority to content produced through Google+? If so, it’s sure to lose users faster than Google Buzz or Wave. After such social failures, Google would do well to tread lightly. Social Media Explorer

Despite the question of whether Google will turn to a despot with the adoption of Google+, Chris Brogan says to jump on the bandwagon anyway. By connecting with others on the platform, small businesses can expand their networks, even if Google+ isn’t quite ready to roll out business profiles. Entrepreneur

Conclusion

When David Meerman Scott wrote his book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, in 2007, social media was innovative. If you were using it, you were light years ahead of the competition. Now, the gap is closing, with more companies using social tools to market.But small businesses are still behind, with around half not using social media at all. It’s not clear why so many are reluctant to get social, but Scott provides some tips for getting started. The key, he says, is sharing valuable content and avoiding hype. Focus instead on how your products can help others. Entrepreneur

http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/08/internet-marketing-small-businesses.html

Advertising on the Internet is Now Simplified with New eBook “Directory of Ezines 2.0”

The No-Cost eBook from PromosBox is an Excellent Resource For Internet Marketers and Business Owners to Use When Looking for the Best and Safest Places to Promote Companies

PromosBox, a company that specializes in business to business advertising, recently announced the launch of its new eBook, “Directory of Ezines 2.0.” The 44-page eBook, which originally cost $47, is now available for download at no charge.

Written by Charlie Page, a well-respected and experienced marketing mentor, “Directory of Ezines 2.0” has become available at a time when times are tough in the advertising industry. Many marketers, advertisers, and businesspeople have questions that require answers provided by professionals. However, it can be extremely expensive to hire a professional for consulting purposes.

“Directory of Ezines 2.0” contains a wide variety of information that Internet marketers can use to locate convenient and safe places to promote their businesses. According to an article located on the website, “Directory of Ezines 2.0” teaches the reader how to blast their ad to 200,000 people for under $50, find the right ezines for their offers, submit articles for maximum exposure, find Joint Venture partners who will mail on their behalf, and work one-on-one with Charlie Page Directory of Ezines 2.0.

Professionals who are members of Directory of Ezines can receive Page’s consulting services at no cost, as well. Page offers personalized help that is tailored to his client’s needs. He is popular in the advertising industry and is available to help the members of Directory of Ezines at any time.

“If you need help making it online, especially if you are not where you want to be right now, then this just might be the thing that puts you over the top,” said a client in his Directory of Ezines review. “I know that personalized help from my mentors helped me get to where I am today.”

Individuals interested in learning more about PromosBox and Directory of Ezines Advertising Service can visit the company’s website for more information http://promosbox.com./

Questions You Need to Consider Before Retweeting Anything on Twitter

What you tweet says a lot about you. And so do your retweets. You can either use Twitter's retweet button or you can repost someone else's message by including "RT" at the beginning with the person or organization's Twitter handle.

But you should consider certain things before blindly retweeting something. Are you passing on helpful or harmful content? Whatever you retweet, it's important to get it right, especially if you use Twitter to network, attract customers or build your business.

Take for example Linda Sobeh Ali, the former Palestinian envoy to Canada, who was relieved of her duties after retweeting a link to a YouTube video that was racially offensive. Ali claims she didn't watch the video before retweeting it, but that didn't matter to her employer.

Here are questions to help you determine whether or not it's a smart idea to retweet something:

Related: 3 Annoying Social-Media Mistakes Businesses Need to Avoid

Am I aware of (and okay with) all of the content behind the tweet I'm about to retweet?
Often people don't fully read the articles, completely view the videos or even glance at the images they retweet. This is just as potentially problematic as forwarding an email you've never read.

If you don't have time to preview and digest the information you're retweeting, don't bother retweeting it. You could open yourself up to a world of hurt -- and your Twitter followers to offensive content -- like Ali and countless others have. The general rule here is to only retweet information that you are convinced is appropriate and not out of alignment with your personal, professional and company ideals.

Will this retweet hurt my image or my company's image? 
Ask yourself if you would send the tweet you're about to retweet. If not, it's probably not a good idea to retweet it. Go with your gut feeling and steer clear of retweet foot-in-mouth tweets about sensitive topics that could be interpreted as offensive by your followers -- especially your current and potential customers and business partners. When in doubt, leave it out.

Retweeting content that could be deemed derogatory or disrespectful -- even in the slightest -- can be a surefire way to weaken your personal and professional brand value. Instead, stick to retweeting safe, neutral and positive tweets that are relevant to your followers and add value to their lives.

Related: What Twitter's New Scheduled Tweets Mean for Marketing Your Business

For example, if you run a children's educational toy company, it would be poor form to retweet content that's not strictly family-friendly. Instead, you'd want to retweet useful content that helps solve common child-rearing challenges. This might include retweets of links to videos that highlight quality family activities and children's craft ideas.

Relevant, carefully targeted retweets will likely deepen your connection to your target market, which could lead to retweets of your retweet and consequently potentially boost your brand exposure and sales.

Can I undo a retweet I might regret later? 
If you retweet something you later wish you hadn't, the good news is that you can remove it from your timeline.

To do so, simply click on the Retweeted feature within the Tweet. If you did a manual "RT," simply delete the tweet like you would any other tweet -- just cross your fingers no one noticed it.

Remember, if you retweet something controversial or unseemly, even unknowingly, it could instantly damage your personal and professional reputation, perhaps beyond repair. Retweet wisely

Reference; http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229632 

7 Tips to Make Your Email Marketing More Mobile-Friendly

Unless you've been burying your head in the sand the past few years, you may have missed the news about mobile. The "mobile first" revolution has arrived. And it's here to stay.

To boot, some 145 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (a 60.8 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in August, up 3 percent since May, according to the August 2013 comScore report. Translation: Nearly two out of every three Americans own a smartphone.

Now consider that email is the top activity on smartphones -- ahead of browsing and even Facebook -- and you have a huge opportunity to reach people with your email marketing messages via the devices they are using most often.

However, email marketing hasn't totally caught up with the mobile revolution. The majority of emails are still not optimized for mobile viewing and interaction. Buttons are small. Subscribers are forced to enlarge the screen and move things around to see the email. It's just clunky.

But there is hope. The future is now for mobile-friendly email marketing. Here are seven tips to ensure your next email campaign is optimized for a mobile device.

1. Earn subscribers' trust. 
When it comes to mobile, who the email is from becomes that much more important. What's the first thing you see when scanning your inbox? Yup. The "From Name." If subscribers don't recognize who the email is from or don't trust the sender, they are less likely to open the message.

If they don't open your email, the rest of these tips don't even matter. Earning that trust starts well before the first email. It also is not limited to email. Trust can be earned or lost on social media, offline and through other more traditional channels.

Related: How to Write Better Email Subject Lines

2. Really think about the subject line.
Along with the From Name, the subject line is critical. While your audience may not know who you are, a compelling and creative -- or a direct and descriptive -- subject line can be the difference between an open and a delete or ignore.

3. Don't forget about the preheader. 
Sometimes called the snippet text, the preheader is the text that's above the header image. On smartphones especially, it's the first bit of text that's viewable.

Instead of something boring like, "To view this email in you browser …" try putting some unique text there. Test clickable calls to action. Maybe even try using some humor.

4. Ensure your call to action is big and obvious. 
This is an important step, and not just for mobile-optimized emails. Make sure your call to action is big, bold and obvious.

When it comes to smartphones, real estate is at a premium. Subscribers will not search for your call to action. And sometimes smaller links are more difficult to click on, especially depending on the size of a person's fingers.

Your call to action has to be in their faces. Make it clear, big and simple to click.

Related: 4 Ways to Get Customers to Open Your Emails

5. Consider responsive email design (RED). 
Ensuring the user experience is optimized regardless of platform and device is not a new concept on the web. But creating responsive-designed emails is something that is just starting to pick up steam.

This is becoming more important as more people own smartphones and use email as their main "app." Creating a responsive-designed email template is not technically easy to do, but it's something your email service provider or marketing automation vendor should be able to assist you with.

6. Include images. 
The majority of email clients on a smart phone -- including the iPhone's native Mail app -- have images enabled by default. Sure, a person can go into the settings and turn them off, but most people don't take this extra step.

So with images on by default, it's important that you think about what imagery you're using in your email marketing messages. Whether your audience is B2B or B2C is irrelevant. Images matter.

So instead of just dropping a random image into your email, consider using something that's linked to the content. Put in a fun image, a different image and an eye-catching image.

7. Be aware of unsubscribe placement. 
I believe strongly marketers should learn the love the unsubscribe button. But with mobile devices, it's important to consider where your unsubscribe link is in relation to other links in your email. Too often I've seen the unsubscribe link placed dangerously close to the main call to action. One wrong move and a loyal subscriber has opted out.

Above all, the best advice when it comes to ensuring your emails get opened on a smartphone is to test -- test all of the tips mentioned above. After all, your audience is not my audience. Best practices are those that are best for your subscribers.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229618