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Mistake #01: Not having a clear goal in mind

When it comes to marketing, you need to have a clear goal in mind. What are you trying to achieve? More website visitors? More leads? More customers? Without a specific goal, it’s challenging to know what tactics or strategies will work best for your business.

Mistake #02: Not defining your target audience

You also need to know your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? If you don’t understand your target market well, it won’t be easy to create content or design campaigns that resonate with them.

Mistake #03: Focusing on the wrong metrics

Metrics are important, but you need to focus on the right ones. If you’re only tracking website visitors or leads generated, you’re missing out on other valuable data points. What about customers acquired? Revenue generated? Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)? Chances are, there are other metrics that are more important to your business than just website visits or leads.

Mistake #04: Not having a content strategy

Content is one of the essential elements of your marketing mix, but it’s also one of the easiest things to mess up. If you don’t have a content strategy, you’ll likely produce low-quality content that doesn’t help you achieve your goals. And if you publish new content without promoting it, you’re wasting your time and money.

To create a content strategy, start by defining your audience, understanding their needs, and figuring out what type of content will help you address those needs. Then, develop a publishing schedule and ensure you have the resources (writers, designers, etc.) to produce high-quality content.

Mistake #05: Not promoting your contents

Producing content without promoting them is a waste of time and money. You need to ensure you’re promoting your content through social media, email marketing, and other channels.

The most crucial thing is to have a clear goal in mind when starting your marketing campaign. Many people don’t know what their target audience is, or they think that everybody should be interested in their content, but this isn’t true for every business. Once you figure out who your customer base is and what they want to read about, it will become easier to plan an effective strategy with measurable results. This way, you can stay on track and not get distracted by other metrics like likes or shares, which may seem more appealing at first glance but won’t help grow your business over time. It might look difficult now, but trust us; once you start thinking about these basics before launching any marketing campaign, you’ll have a higher customer conversion.

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What is mobile optimization?

Mobile optimization is the process of making a website user-friendly when accessed by mobile devices. This creates a user experience tailored to a specific device type. Mobile optimization alters website content for ease of use and accessibility and improves rankings on search engine results pages (SERP).

The goal of mobile optimization is for site visitors to easily navigate and convert on all device types, enjoying a seamless experience no matter what device they are using.

Mobile optimization makes websites easier to navigate on mobile devices by increasing the size of fonts and buttons and eliminating unnecessary elements that slow down the site. Mobile optimized sites need to be scannable so that users can get the information they need on their small screens. When creating a website, organizations often choose website builder software that makes mobile optimization easier. 

Benefits of mobile optimization

There are many benefits of mobile optimization. When companies make their websites mobile-friendly, they open their doors to a broader audience. Here are some key benefits of mobile optimization: 

• Reach mobile users: Mobile users make up a large percentage of online searches and e-commerce sales. More searches are performed on mobile than desktop, and a significant percentage of emails are opened on mobile devices. In fact, 59% of millennials primarily use smartphones to check email, and 67% of Generation Z scans their inbox using mobile devices. Mobile optimization is a way for companies to reach and convert those users. 
• Mobile optimization improves SERP rankings: For better SERP rankings, Google recommends websites be mobile optimized, either through a responsive site design or a separate mobile site. 
• Improved user experience: Mobile users need a mobile-friendly user experience. If the site isn’t optimized as such, these users will bounce. Mobile optimization enhances the user experience, increases average time on site, and often results in more conversions. 

Basic elements of mobile optimization

Mobile optimization involves multiple elements that, when combined, create a user-friendly mobile browsing experience. Here are the basic elements that make up a mobile-optimized user experience:

• Load time: Mobile devices require rapid loading times, which is why these web pages tend to be smaller in size. 

• Native mobile experience: Proper mobile optimization creates a native mobile experience using adaptive design to change the website content based on screen size. 

• Image optimization: Since reducing file size is crucial for speed on mobile devices, image optimization involves reducing the image size and using image compression to remove unnecessary metadata. 

• Page design: Mobile sites have even less time to snag visitors’ attention. Mobile pages must be designed to solve the user’s problem as quickly as possible. This means CTAs must be above the fold. 

Mobile optimization best practices

Websites can be mobile optimized to varying degrees. The more mobile-optimized a website is, the better the customer experience will be. The following mobile optimization best practices are key to creating a user experience that is easy for customers to navigate: 

• Optimize videos: Videos must be optimized to be compatible with mobile devices.
• Make content scrollable: Users should be able to scroll through website content rather than clicking through the navigation bar.
• Use responsive templates, even for email marketing: Templates must be responsive so that content is viewable on mobile devices.
• Write short, scannable paragraphs: Mobile users are often on-the-go, meaning they need scannable content that can be consumed easily and quickly. 
• Consider intent: Think about what mobile users need when visiting a mobile site and put that information at the forefront. For restaurants, this might include a menu, online ordering features, or a map.
• Utilize accelerated mobile pages for faster mobile browsing: Part of mobile optimization is decreasing page size for faster loading times. Accelerated mobile pages help companies achieve faster mobile browsing. 
• Test using Google’s mobile-friendly tool: Companies can use this tool to grade how mobile-friendly their site is. Employees should also test the site on mobile devices to provide real-time feedback and enhanced mobile reporting. 
• Create mobile-specific popups that are easy to close: Popups with tiny buttons are especially annoying for mobile users, as they’re often difficult to close. Companies should create mobile-specific popups with large, easy-to-press buttons. The CTAs on these popups should also be tailored to the mobile experience. 

Mobile optimization vs. mobile-friendly

Mobile optimized web pages alter the size of features, (like navigation buttons and images,) and reformat content to be easily accessible via mobile devices. 

Mobile-friendly websites alter the size of a webpage’s dimensions to make the page viewable on mobile devices. However, these pages are not optimized specifically for mobile and aren’t as conducive to mobile conversions as mobile-optimized pages. 

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Brand Wings, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, released its Email Campaign Builder as part of its sales enablement platform. The new feature is designed to help sales reps send highly personalized, brand-compliant emails to their contacts and receive campaign performance analytics.

Specific features of the Email Campaign Builder include the ability to:

• Build a template that automatically loads the brand’s correct logo and other digital assets, including brand guidelines;
• Customize email content within the template;
• Maintain multiple versions of the same campaign; and
• View real-time analytics about the effectiveness of the email campaign, such as clicks, downloads, bounces or unsubscribe actions.

“While there are many email marketing software platforms in the market, one feature that most lack is brand control,” said Jason Kammes, Chief Revenue Officer of Brand Wings, in a statement. “Those other programs allow users to upload nearly any logo, image or digital asset into the email template, regardless of whether those assets are brand compliant. Brand Wings, with its Email Campaign Builder feature, solves those problems for brands.”

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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Panther Scholarship Club members who visit the office in the UNI-Dome will be greeted by UNI Athletics’ newest hire, Adam Fraher.

Fraher has been hired as the athletic development coordinator to assist in the coordination of all aspects of the Panther Scholarship Club and PSC annual fund drive. 

“We are excited to add Adam to our team,” said Nathaniel Smith, director of athletics annual giving and tickets. “He is extremely creative and passionate about UNI Athletics and our student-athletes. He is very personable, and I look forward to him interacting with our supporters and fans to grow the Panther Scholarship Club.”

PSC will look to Fraher to develop promotional, informational and training materials and execute events and meetings and implement new fundraising methods. He will oversee the  processing of donations and related paperwork and coordinate volunteer training and serve as a front-line fundraiser for the Panther Scholarship Club.

Fraher is a recent graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor of Arts in marketing management and a recreation, tourism and nonprofit leadership minor. He worked as an intern in UNI Athletics’ marketing department managing licensing efforts and the university’s logos and intellectual rights. 

He has helped UNI coordinate email marketing and promotions to students, ticket holders and single-game buyers while creating game day experiences for basketball, soccer, wrestling, volleyball and football. 

Fraher also has experience in the banking industry and helped raise more than $60,000 while conducting a group project to raise money for the Urbandale Booster Club. 
 

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Former General Manager of Rentals.com, Nishant Phadnis will lead product development of RentPath’s multifamily marketing solutions and oversee renter experience across rent.com, Apartmentguide and Rentals.com.

ATLANTA, Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — RentPath (www.rentpath.com), a Redfin company, and leading marketing technology and services platform for the rental industry, announced the appointment of Nishant Phadnis as Chief Product Officer. Phadnis steps into the role with ten years as an accomplished leader at RentPath as former General Manager of Rentals.com.

RentPath Logo

Former General Manager of Rentals.com will lead product development and oversee renter experience.

As CPO, Phadnis will lead product development and oversee the renter experience for rent.com, Apartment Guide, and Rentals.com. He will also lead the continued innovation of RentPath’s data-driven marketing solutions for multifamily owners and operators.

“We are thrilled to have Nishant step into this role, bringing his experience as a dynamic and driven leader on the Rentals.com team and an intellectual curiosity that pushes us to continually innovate,” said Jon Ziglar, RentPath CEO. “With Nishant at the helm, we’re excited to amplify our mission to deliver data-driven solutions that help property managers fill vacancies and renters to find a place to call home.”

Since joining RentPath in 2012, Phadnis has contributed to the company’s extensive growth and served in various influential roles including Chief of Staff to the CEO, Director of Strategy and Corporate Development, and Finance Manager. During his time as GM of Rentals.com, he successfully led a cross-functional team across product development, marketing, sales, operations, and finance, greatly expanding the capabilities of the Rentals.com platform to include screening, online applications and rental payments.

“I am extremely excited to build on the momentum that RentPath has achieved over its long heritage of being the preferred destination for both renters and property managers, now leading this new evolution of the business,” said Phadnis of his new role. “Having been with RentPath for nearly a decade, I have seen first-hand the challenges both sides of this marketplace have, and the endless opportunity for technology to solve and remove friction across the journey of finding or listing a rental home.”

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Prior to RentPath, Phadnis also spent five years at GE, where he held management positions within business development (M&A) and finance. During his tenure, he evaluated the state of readiness for mergers and acquisitions around resource planning, data collection, strategy and risk. Additionally, he led on-site integrations for several companies with a total enterprise value of $11 billion, both domestic and international.

Phadnis is a graduate of GE’s Financial Management Leadership Program, and also graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from the University at Albany where he received his degree in Accounting and Business Management.

About RentPath

RentPath is the only marketing and automation platform that engages prospective residents through the entire renter journey, maximizing leads and occupancies with unparalleled ROI. Through its broad network of rental listing sites including rent.com, ApartmentGuide.com and Rentals.com, RentPath connects property owners and managers with over 10 million high-intent, in-market renters per month. In addition, the RentPath platform powers a full suite of best-in-class digital marketing solutions across search advertising, social media, email marketing, web chat, resident communication, reputation management and more. RentPath’s holistic solutions simplify the rental search experience for renters while driving occupancies and efficiencies for property managers and owners. RentPath is a Redfin Company.

Matt Doris
Vice President, B2B Marketing
mdoris@rentpath.com

Cision

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SOURCE RentPath

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If you feel as if your site is not everything that it could be then you are not alone. There are so many things you can do to take it to the next level, and if you follow this guide then you will soon find that it’s easier than ever to make the most out of what you have.

Build an email list

Email works so well, purely because your customers are choosing to opt-in. They want to hear more from you as opposed to just being targeted by a number of paid promotions. You also have full control over your email list, but you don’t over your social media platforms.

If you want to know what the best email strategy is then you need to try and work with email lists.

Pop-ups work incredibly well if you have an online store. If you need to ensure that they do not get annoying then it is possible for you to trigger them when a customer spends a set amount of time on your website.  

If your computer is slow then this will make it hard for you to test things like this before you go live, but there are options you can try to resolve this. Read more here.

Implement a marketing strategy

The next step would be to try and build an email list as part of your marketing strategy.

You could easily choose to send the same newsletter to every subscriber that you have but truth be told, this is not the best way for you to make the most out of your list.  

That information is not at all relevant to your entire audience. If you want to do something about this then you need to try and segment your audience according to their actions.

You need to look at the products that they have bought from you in the past and you also need to look at their preferences when it comes to email promotions.

It is very easy for you to implement these promotions through your email provider.  When you segment your subscriber list, you can then choose to send newsletters and promotions that are relevant to everyone.

Use scarcity to your advantage

Nothing makes someone want to buy a product more than scarcity.

If an item seems to be available but in limited supply or if you know that it is going to be available for a short time only, then your visitors will be far more likely to buy from you. This is because they cannot be sure if the items are going to be available now, or at all later on down the road.

Try and upsell to your customers

Online stores that get upsells tend to increase their revenue by up to 70%.

If you are yet to implement this tactic then you are missing out. This is especially the case when you look at the fact that it is five times easier to sell to existing customers when compared to new ones.

Upsells are also very easy to do if you know the steps to take when implementing them on your site. Why not take advantage of this today and see how many more sales you could make?

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A vulnerability in Uber’s email system allows just about anyone to send emails on behalf of Uber.

The researcher who discovered this flaw warns this vulnerability can be abused by threat actors to email 57 million Uber users and drivers whose information was leaked in the 2016 data breach.

Uber seems to be aware of the flaw but has not fixed it for now.

‘Your Uber is arriving now’

Security researcher and bug bounty hunter Seif Elsallamy discovered a flaw in Uber’s systems that enables anyone to send emails on behalf of Uber.

These emails, sent from Uber’s servers, would appear legitimate to an email provider (because technically they are) and make it past any spam filters.

Imagine getting a message from Uber stating, ‘Your Uber is arriving now,’ or ‘Your Thursday morning trip with Uber’—when you never made those trips.

In a demonstration, Elsallamy sent me the following email message that, without a doubt, appeared to have come from Uber and landed right in my inbox, not junk:

PoC email sent to BleepingComputer from Uber’s servers

The email form sent to BleepingComputer by the researcher urges the Uber customer to provide their credit card information.

On clicking ‘Confirm,’ the form submits the text fields to a test site set up by the researcher.

Note, however, the message did have a clear disclaimer towards the bottom stating, “this is a security vulnerability Proof of Concept,” and was sent to BleepingComputer with prior permission.

PoC disclaimer in the email sent to BleepingComputer from Uber

On New Year’s Eve of 2021, the researcher responsibly reported the vulnerability to Uber via their HackerOne bug bounty program.

However, his report was rejected for being “out-of-scope” on the erroneous assumption that exploitation of the technical flaw itself required some form of social engineering:

Uber rejects researcher’s report concluding that it requires social engineering (Twitter) 

It seems this isn’t the first time that Uber has dismissed this particular flaw either.

Bug bounty hunters Soufiane el Habti and Shiva Maharaj claim they had previously reported the issue to Uber without success [1, 2, 3].

57 million Uber customers and drivers at risk

Contrary to what one may believe, this isn’t a simple case of email spoofing used by threat actors to craft phishing emails.

In fact, the email sent by the researcher “from Uber” to BleepingComputer passed both DKIM and DMARC security checks, according to email headers seen by us.

Email sent “from Uber” passes DKIM and DMARC security checks (BleepingComputer)

The researcher’s email was sent via SendGrid, an email marketing and customer communications platform used by leading companies.

But, Elsallamy tells BleepingComputer that it is an exposed endpoint on Uber’s servers responsible for the flaw and allows anyone to craft an email on behalf of Uber.

The vulnerability is “an HTML injection in one of Uber’s email endpoints,” says Elsallamy, drawing comparison to a similar flaw discovered in 2019 on Meta’s (Facebook’s) servers by pen-tester Youssef Sammouda.

In Meta’s case, the endpoint looked identical to:

https://legal.tapprd.thefacebook.com/tapprd/Portal/ShowWorkFlow/AnonymousEmbed/XXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Understandably, for security reasons, the researcher did not disclose the vulnerable Uber endpoint.

He questioned Uber, “Bring your [calculator] and tell me what would be the result if this vulnerability has been used with the 57 million email [addresses that leaked] from the last data breach?”

“If you know the result then tell your employees in the bug bounty triage team.”

Elsallamy is referring to Uber’s 2016 data breach that exposed the personal information of 57 million Uber customers and drivers.

For this mishap, UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) had fined Uber £385,000, along with the data protection authority in the Netherlands (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) fining the company €600.000.

By exploiting this unpatched vulnerability, adversaries can potentially send targeted phishing scams to millions of Uber users previously affected by the breach.

When asked what could Uber do to remediate the flaw, the researcher advises:

“They need to sanitize the users’ input in the vulnerable undisclosed form. Since the HTML is being rendered, they might use a security encoding library to do HTML entity encoding so any HTML appears as text,” Elsallamy told BleepingComputer.

BleepingComputer reached out to Uber well in advance of publishing but has not heard back at this time.

Uber users, staff, drivers, and associates should watch out for any phishing emails sent from Uber that appear to be legitimate as exploitation of this flaw by threat actors remains a possibility.

Update 11:55 AM: Added reference to the same flaw having been reported in 2015/16 and March 2021 but dismissed.

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