Charles Mazzini, CEO and founder of Hyperlinks Media, Inducted Into Forbes Agency Council

Charles Mazzini, CEO and founder of Hyperlinks Media, Inducted Into Forbes Agency Council

Charles Mazzini, CEO of digital marketing agency Hyperlinks Media, was recently nominated for and accepted into the Forbes Agency Council. The Forbes Councils is an invitation-only organization for successful executives and entrepreneurs. Selected carefully and thoughtfully, Charles Mazzini is highly deserving of the invitation.Charles Mazzini inducted into Forbes Councils

Forbes Agency Council 

Forbes was searching for a solution that would reinvent the trading-business-cards and seemingly superficial relationship industry. After years of speaking and interviewing top professionals, the Forbes Councils were created. The Forbes Councils are a place for extraordinary business owners and leaders to interact with people and use resources that will help them grow professionally and personally. With an abundance of Industry and Local Councils, members have access to communities that are tailored to their industry or region. This allows them to connect with leaders best positioned to help them thrive. Members also receive various benefits that help save time and money, as well as a platform on CommunityVoice where they can amplify their voices and exchange ideas.Forbes Agency Council Official member badge.

Courtesy Forbes Agency Council

Hyperlinks Media – A Digital Marketing Agency 

Charles founded Hyperlinks Media, in 1998. Having studied digital marketing for over 15 years, he is an expert in the field and is a vital element to Hyperlinks Media’s success. Charles is constantly learning to stay up to date with the latest trends so his agency can provide the best solutions to his clients and produce the best ROI. Strong core values of honesty, integrity and treating each client with the utmost respect while working diligently for their online success are the foundations of Hyperlinks Media.

Hyperlinks Media’s Nonprofit Program – MISSION: MORE!

Recently, Charles partnered with C12 Group, a Christian peer advisory group. In doing so, he has discovered new ways to give back to the community. He created a Nonprofit Program which works with nonprofit organizations to help them succeed online. One of the many ways the Nonprofit Program is assisting these organizations is by offering Google Ad Grant with no application or setup fees. The Google Ad Grant is an in-kind donation of $10,000 per month for Nonprofits to utilize Google Search Ads to increase awareness, drive donations, and recruit volunteers. Since the creation of the program, Charles and Hyperlinks Media have helped many Nonprofits receive and maintain their Google Ad Grant.Get to the Water Sports Apparel Brand

Courtesy Get to the Water

Get to the Water – Sports Apparel 

A lover of water, Charles is also CEO and founder of Get To The Water, a watersports apparel brand. Charles created and recently celebrated the first Get To The Water DAY, a National Holiday that promotes water clean-up. Get To The Water and its cause are a few more reasons that make Charles so deserving of the invitation. The Forbes Councils recruit and invite members not just on the “basis of success but the diversity of perspective and willingness to give as much as they gain.” Charles’ efforts to keep the environment healthy by cleaning beaches, rivers, and lakes prove his willingness to give back.

We are excited and thrilled for Charles and his Forbes Agency Council membership. He is incredibly deserving of this award and we could think of no one better to receive such a high honor.

 

What Does UBER Have That Your Business Doesn’t?

What Does UBER Have That Your Business Doesn’t?

A killer email marketing campaign.

You open your email inbox to be met with a flood of pitches and campaigns. So what causes you to click on one? Furthermore, what causes you to actually read an email newsletter? There’s a special sauce to these distinguished emails that makes them stand out among the sea of worthless newsletters.

A well-crafted email marketing campaign begins with an eye-catching subject line that allows the readers to know how you’re about to blow their minds (AKA add value to their lives). You must remember, just like you, your readers are flooded with way too many email newsletters every day. It is essential to stand out.

In addition to snagging your audience’s attention from the get-go, email marketing campaigns must be written in such a way that cleverly constructs the main purpose of your email. I highly suggest you invest in a content specialist to help you build your content marketing campaign via emails.

While it is certainly possible to launch a successful email marketing campaign on your own, content specialists know where to place certain calls-to-action, how to use short-form copy to captivate an audience, and they know how to properly edit your copy so your brand can present a clean and professional image.

Tons of big brands use email marketing to keep their audience engaged, share company news and leverage opportunities to generate new business, because they know it works—but for whatever reason, small businesses seem to shy away from this economical marketing tactic.

Today, I want to show you some of the best email marketing campaigns from big brands, in hopes that they inspire you to begin marketing your business via emails. We can help you construct campaigns that garner leads and generate sales—let’s get started today! In the meantime, here are five brands that got it right.

The Skimm: Short & Sweet Email Marketing

The Skimm has captivated my mornings since 2015, but the brand was founded in 2012 as an idea between friends. The email is a daily newsletter that focuses on delivering popular news to subscribers in a clever (and often downright hilarious) way.

How did they get it right? The beauty is in the simplicity of this email. I literally get my news digest in less than 5 minutes, and there are no fancy gimmicks. The brand uses catchy puns and punchy one-liners to deliver the news of the day.

The real shining star content aspect of The Skimm’s email marketing campaign is the personalization, added care and engagement the brand has with its subscriber base. The team celebrates your Skimm’versaries (milestones for how long you have been a subscriber) and your birthday. It truly feels like you are receiving an email from a good friend, and that’s why this brand has an incredibly loyal fan base. Check out the email I got from The Skimm this morning:

Learn email marketing campaign tactics from The Skimm.

Uber: Simple & Promotional Email Marketing

Uber’s emails are far from fancy, but they are tasteful. They use a simple format, marketing that is tried and true, and personalization. You will notice that some of the best email marketing campaigns use personal touches to appeal to their subscriber base—because it works. I love how Uber gets straight to the point in their welcome email. They congratulated me on my first Uber ride, and then they took it a step further by personalizing the message to my location. The email was personally “signed” by the Dallas-Fort Worth Community Manager, Nicole, which humanizes the brand. This is critical.

Uber took it a step further by giving little ole me a personal promo code to give to my friends and family that is mutually beneficial—personal codes are everything. It really makes people feel important, and the ego is a major driver in consumer decision making.

Apart from the crafty welcome email, Uber keeps it simple. They alert their subscriber base to new promotions, and they provide amazing summaries of your rides, with a detailed map of where you were picked up and dropped off, a breakdown of the charges, and a snapshot of your Uber driver. Take a look at my welcome email and one of my ride summaries below.

UBER's email marketing campaign is better than yours. Here's what you can learn.

Borrow email marketing campaigns tips and tricks from UBER's excellently executed campaigns.

DoorDash: The Power of Email Marketing Personalization

I’m low-key starving right now so this email I received from DoorDash has me salivating. I’m a DoorDash addict. It’s the easiest thing in the world to order food and have it delivered straight to your door. But let’s get real, that gets so pricey.

So how is DoorDash ingenious with their email marketing campaigns? They will often send me these email newsletters offering a $0 delivery charge for a handful of certain restaurants. And it gets me almost. every. time.

It’s always the same. They send me some gorgeous imagery that makes me want to stuff my face, then they show me a slew of restaurants that I can have delivered to my front door by a smiling driver, FOR FREE. Sold.

They personalize these choices based on my location and order history, and from personal experience I can tell you that they hit the nail on the head every time. Take a look at my most recent email from DoorDash.

DoorDash's email marketing campaign has me drooling at your desk. Learn how you can get customers engaged and invested with email marketing tactics borrowed from the pros.

Madewell: Catchy Subject Lines, Great Imagery

Madewell is an American clothing company (with J. Crew being its parent company) that is incredibly good at taking all of my money via their email campaigns. I’m serious. I can manage to stay away from their website, but the email campaigns get me every time. Here’s why:

They understand their audience (those street smarts are terrible for my wallet!).

First of all, they leverage the ego of their audience by calling me a Madewell Insider and offering me free shipping and returns. I’m already hooked and feeling like the GOAT.

Side note: Do you notice how I am writing about this email as if it was sent to me and only me? That’s incredible marketing at work. I thought about going back and rewording it, but I felt there was no better way for you to see excellent email marketing in action, as well as the effect it has on the consumer.

Next, Madewell goes on to offer me a deal of some sort that is set apart from the rest of the email, giving me an easy call-to-action with “SHOP NOW.”  Then, they offer great imagery and a hashtag suggestion, which will boost social interaction. *This is so good I could cry, y’all.* Take a look at this email in action below:

 

Madewell's email marketing campaign targets their core customer in captivating ways.

 

InVision App: Freebies, Content Overload

InVision’s weekly roundup of their standout blog posts are a gold mine—you can get sucked into this email for hours, as it’s chock-full of incredible content and information that is a perfect fit for the brand’s core customer.

The newsletter is mobile-friendly and downright beautiful (would you expect anything less from this brand?), and they even offer freebies every week, which is excellent for engagement.

The brand does an incredible job of placing a call-to-action after each piece of text content, which ups the engagement with subscribers as well. The consistency throughout makes it a beautiful newsletter to scroll through, and the call-to-actions aren’t simply “read more now,” but rather complement, and add substance and intrigue to the blog content for which they are assigned. Check out InVision’s email newsletter below:

InVision's email marketing campaign features a slew of great content. Learn email marketing tricks from the pros!

We’ve showed you how the top dogs do it. Now are you ready to leverage email marketing to appeal to your target audience and grow your business? Let’s do this.

 

 

If You Want Business Growth, Choose Your People Wisely

If You Want Business Growth, Choose Your People Wisely

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the ONWARD Summit in New York City, hosted by our partner, Yext. We gathered among peers at the Conrad New York hotel and networked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and I walked away with an enlightenment — an awakening of sorts — about my business and future growth.

As I sat with my team on Monday morning, pouring out every ounce of what I learned and sharing my vision for our company’s future, I knew I also wanted to share some of these insights with you, our loyal customers. I hope my synopsis of this panel featuring incredible business leaders energizes you to move full-steam ahead with your own business, and I want you to know that our company is here to help you do that and support your digital growth each step of the way.

Hyperlinks Media is one of Houston’s leading digital marketing and custom website design agencies, so you may expect my key summit takeaways to be centrally focused on the development and technologies of these core aspects, but they were not. My enlightenment came in hearing from Brian Halligan, Co-founder and CEO of HubSpot, and Howard Lerman, Founder and CEO of Yext, among many other industry thought leaders.

 

The Creation of a Great Team

We have all heard the age-old adage of a company only being as strong as its weakest link, and while cliche, that could not be more true. If you want to propel your business into an ever-evolving — yet always upward — trajectory, it starts with choosing the right people for your business. Passion is greater than pedigree here, and I have found that to be true in my years of business.

You must focus on building a team of employees who want to succeed and see your company grow, not just during the quarterly meetings or the occasional team building activity, but every day. You must cultivate a culture of success by discussing growth opportunities and the desire to succeed day in and day out.

So how do you know if you have these employees on your team? One of the key aspects of these special employees is the holistic view of their role within the company. For example, someone who is always willing to step into an area that may not be a part of their core role, but has the company’s vision in their heart and a desire to do what it takes for the betterment of the business.

It is essential to build your company culture around this mindset, because in the end, that is how you grow. High-employee turnover is a business killer, and if you are experiencing these obstacles, it can be time to reexamine why you’re not retaining talent.

Are you valuing your top tier employees? Many of the top business people in the world have often claimed that in order to grow, you must focus on your people. What can you do to ensure you’re retaining your top talent and cultivating growth? I’d love to hear from you about how you’re creating a team to propel your company into the future, and I’m happy to share areas we are building upon here at Hyperlinks Media:

  • Team-building events to enhance our relationships
  • Competitive achievement goals
  • Encouragement of health and well-being
  • Quarterly lunch meetings to discuss the business
  • Inclusivity on business happenings and partnerships for growth

These are just a few of the steps I am taking as a business owner to enhance our company culture and retain my top talent. Areas you could focus on could include employee salary and benefits, growth initiatives and even team-based activities — the opportunities are endless to show you want to invest in your people.

In the words of  famed author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R. Covey,

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

To summarize, yes, your people are the key to expansive growth, however even the best people will leave a company if they do not feel they are being treated well, are not valued for what they are worth, or see no evidence of career growth.

Richard Branson has said, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”

And that is how you invest in great people to help you grow your great business.

Speakers of many background gathered at ONWARD in New York City to speak to eager audiences.

Never, Ever Give Up

When aforementioned Halligan and Lerman spoke to the eager crowd of business leaders, there was a commonality in both of their stories — struggle. And a lot of it.

Lerman experienced years of struggle in building Yext, and there were many times when he became discouraged by the high amount of output and little progress. I told my team that every business owner feels this way at one point or another, and while people are the distinguishing factor between great and mediocre businesses, the will and determination of business owners to grow and succeed will set the tone for everyone.

Our struggles determine our success. Halligan also experienced immense struggle in trying to grow HubSpot, but he never gave up and neither did his people.

What kind of attitude are you displaying at the office? If it is one of restlessness and constant disappointment, you may be interrupting the synergy of your best employees. However, if you choose to adapt and overcome, you will show resilience to your team and be rewarded.

You can power through difficult times with preparation. With the foundation laid due to hiring great people, you will be able to show perseverance through the storms of small business ownership. One day, your company will expand to a new capacity, and you will be glad you did not give up.

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange was bustling with activity during the 2017 Yext ONWARD Summit.

Focus on What You Do Well

A key takeaway from this summit was the simple fact that you should not be trying to do everything in your business. For Hyperlinks Media, we are really great at custom web design and search engine optimization. So, moving forward we will be focusing more heavily on these areas than ever before. This may mean we drop a few service offerings off our menu, and that is 100% acceptable.

Our business focuses on digital marketing, but within that realm are endless marketing techniques and options. If we were to have a hand in each one of these areas of expertise, we would be a “jack of all trades, but master of none” kind of business, and that would be unacceptable. We are leaders and masters in what we do best, and we can deliver the absolute best to our customer base by focusing on what we do well.

As a business owner, it can be easy to get caught up in trying to evolve digitally and offer new services, but I would encourage you not to bite off more than you can chew. Focus on what your company does really well and continually improve. Professional development for your employees is one great way to make sure that you are on top of the pulse of your industry. Encourage them to learn more about your industry and become experts in their own right, and it will pay off for your business.

In conclusion, the Yext ONWARD Summit was a business-changing, moving and shaking kind of experience. I took a lot away from this event, and I hope my experience can enhance your business in some way — be it making a small dent or a big impact. And as always, the growth of Hyperlinks Media would not be possible without our loyal customers, so I thank each and every one of you for entrusting us with your digital brand presence — we won’t let you down. Cheers!

Charles Mazzini, President of Hyperlinks Media, stands in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

 

Simplifying the System: Hyperlinks Media Develops Lead Tracking Portal

Simplifying the System: Hyperlinks Media Develops Lead Tracking Portal

Here at Hyperlinks Media, we pride ourselves on being innovators. Game-changers. Movers and shakers. So, when our clients came to CEO Charles Mazzini looking for a simpler way to track and view their leads, we sprung into action. We’re on a mission to help our clients see exactly how they reap the benefits of their marketing budgets without the excess data analytics.

We’re disrupting the world of complicated analytics with our new lead tracking portal, LeadEdge. This fresh and simplistic platform allows clients to gain key insights into the value of their digital marketing campaigns, such as SEO and Google AdWords, through viewing captured leads, as opposed to analytic report data that many business owners don’t have the time to decipher.

LeadEdge currently allows for lead tracking through calls, conversions and form completions, but stay tuned, as we’re expanding these offerings to include social media and email marketing leads in the near future.

Friendly User Interface
Using data imported through Google Analytics, LeadEdge is inherently simplistic, with a dashboard that first spotlights phone and form completion leads. The amount of leads acquired are displayed in brightly colored numerals, with a percentage shown below. The monetary lead value is also displayed on the dashboard, giving our clients a fully-transparent view of their marketing campaign.

leadedge2

Small Details, Big Picture
The phone leads are further qualified through a call log, which analyzes call length and further categorizes the leads as quality, good or possible using call length data. The form completion leads are also displayed within the dashboard, with the data from each form readily and easily accessible to the client.

Quick Traffic Stats
In a modern format that is true to our forward-thinking brand, two brightly-colored pie graphs serve to simplify site traffic statistics. In the first graph, traffic is qualified by type and in the second, by the device used to access the site–desktop, mobile or tablet. The site traffic is further reported by device type with average session times and bounce rates.

The AdWords summary page within the LeadEdge portal gives clients an at-a-glance view of the payoff for their AdWords investment. It displays clicks and conversions numerically, as well as the traffic and conversions in graph format.

This portal is well-aligned with the future of our company as we enhance our digital marketing offerings to best serve the needs of our rapidly growing client base.

Are you tired of analyzing complicated reports? Our wonderful clients have access to our new LeadEdge portal and will never have to stare at data analytics again. Contact Hyperlinks Media today and let’s see how we can help your business succeed in the digital future.