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Tomorrow is National Chip and Dip Day, Reader! Tortilla chips and salsa, potato chips and blue cheese dip, corn chips and chili dip… dinner is solved 😃! 

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for referral marketing

• Turning 🖱️ traffic into 🛍️ customers

• ☑️ Meta Verified fees

• YouTube 🔁 Remix a Remix

• 📣 Additional industry news from YouTube

Want to get more referrals for your business? There's no one perfect referral strategy, but you can make referrals a normal part of doing business with you. With the right plan, you can turn more of those happy customers into active referral generators.

3 Keys to Unlocking More Marketing Referrals

Create a referral offer that incentivizes clients to refer you. This could be a direct offer ("If you refer someone, I'll give you X"), an implied offer (a gift that encourages them to talk about you), or a tangible offer (a gift certificate they can share).

Create a referral champions program. Most businesses have a core group of clients who already love referring them. Create a special program to appreciate and encourage these "champions." Give them exclusive content, events, and perks. Bring them together to network and invite them to contribute as advisors or peer teachers.

Build a strategic partner network of non-competing businesses that serve your target market. They can potentially refer many more people than a single client could. Share how you help clients and ask how to best introduce them to yours.

Today's tip is inspired by John Jantsch, a featured presenter in the Social Media Marketing Society.

Imagine Your Ideal Marketing Strategy

With over 100 high-quality workshops, the Social Media Marketing Society can help you build a better marketing plan. And with 2 new workshops each month, the Society helps make sure your strategy is always current. 

“Marketing is constantly changing and evolving. Trying to keep up on everything new and the best way of doing stuff was really hard to do before the Society,” said member Tom Mills.

See why more than 1,000 marketers trust the Society as their single source of marketing training. 

Yes, I want to improve my marketing.

How to Create Landing Pages to Convert Social Traffic 

Are you driving traffic to your website but not seeing enough conversions? The problem may lie with your landing pages.

Apply this seven-step landing page blueprint to create web pages that connect with visitors and persuade them to take action. Remember, it's not about cramming in information, but rather making a strong case for why your offer is uniquely valuable.

1: Craft a Compelling Hero Section

The hero section is the first thing visitors see, so it needs to capture attention and communicate your value proposition within five seconds. Include these elements:

• A big, bold headline that promises a desired outcome

• A subheadline that provides clarity on how you deliver that outcome  

• A prominent call-to-action button with specific text like "Schedule Your No-Cost Consultation"

• Three bullet points highlighting positive outcomes or benefits

• A relevant image showing a successful customer or result

2: Clearly Define the Problem and Solution 

In this section, plainly state the problem your target customer faces. Agitate that problem by providing three examples of what it looks like in their life. Then, transition to presenting your solution. 

This helps visitors see that you understand their struggles and have a proven way to solve them. It builds trust and primes them for your offer.

3: Highlight the Key Benefits

While features describe what your product or service includes, benefits explain how those features improve the customer's life. Focus on benefits in this section. Choose your top three benefits and display them in a three-column layout with a short title, one-sentence description, and icon or image for each. Keep the copy customer-focused and aspirational.

4: Provide Social Proof With Testimonials

Testimonials help overcome skepticism by showing that your solution has worked for others. Curate your three strongest testimonials that speak to key objections or paint a before-and-after story. To get great testimonials, schedule a short interview and ask customers about their challenges, experiences, and results. Then, edit their responses into concise yet impactful quotes.

5: List Out the Features

After focusing on benefits, it's time to lay out the features as a list of 10–20 items. For each feature, write a short description of how it leads to a benefit. This list gives visitors the specifics they need to feel confident the product or service delivers what's promised. Aim to keep the list skimmable rather than an overwhelming block of text.

6: Reinforce Possible Outcomes

Near the end of the page, include a short section that reminds visitors of the potential positive and negative outcomes. What will their life look like if they take action versus if they don't? This helps them envision the stakes involved in the decision. You're not trying to be manipulative, just honest about how your solution could impact them for better or worse.

7: Address Frequent Objections

End the page with a brief FAQ section that addresses 3–6 common questions or doubts potential customers usually have. This acts like a salesperson handling objections. Focus on big-picture questions that could stop someone from converting and save nitty-gritty questions for a separate FAQ page, chat feature, or contact info.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Wes McDowell.

🗞 Meta Verified Fees: Meta Platforms has proposed reducing its monthly subscription fee for ad-free Facebook and Instagram services in Europe from 9.99 euros to 5.99 euros for a single account and 4 euros for additional accounts. Source: Reuters

🗞 YouTube Retention Analysis: The platform confirmed it is testing three new filters for analyzing video retention: subscribers and non-subscribers, new and returning viewers, and organic and paid traffic. Source: YouTube Liaison

🗞 New YouTube Features: YouTube introduced two new features. Jump Ahead is a premium-only experiment in the United States that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and user-watch behavior data to identify the best point for viewers to skip ahead when double-tapping on an eligible video segment. This feature will also be available to creators while watching their own videos, even if they don't have YouTube Premium. Remix a Remix allows creators to remix previously remixed Shorts using sound cut, collab, or green screen, enabling them to use parts of those Shorts in their own creations. Source: YouTube

Did You Know?

In 1853, Cornelius Vanderbilt returned fried potatoes to the chef because they were too thick. The disgruntled chef, George Speck Crum, sent back potatoes sliced as thin as possible and fried to a crisp. And just like that, the modern potato chip was born out of a prank.