Category: Affiliate Marketing Tips

COVID-19 US business information hub

We have compiled a list of official online resources designed to help our US partners navigate the dilemmas they may face amid the coronavirus crisis.

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted businesses across the country. In response to the pandemic, the US government has initiated a wide array of measures designed to support businesses of every shape and size.   

To help our advertiser, agency and affiliate partners navigate these initiatives and to find the right assistance and guidance for them, we have collated a selection of the most relevant online resources below. Featuring a mix of official government information, links to relevant industry bodies and authoritative legal advice, we hope this helps you find the support your business needs right now.   

US Government Response to Coronavirus 

The main page providing a summary of the US government’s response so far to the coronavirus. This includes more information and links to everything from health updates from the CDC, latest official information from the White House’s COVID-19 taskforce, and guidance for employees and employers on aid being offered by the state. 

Visit page >  

IRS Coronavirus Hub 

In addition to delaying the filing of federal tax returns until July 15, the IRS has established a special section on its website focused on steps to help taxpayers, businesses and others affected by the coronavirus.   

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US Treasury and IRS Employee Retention Credit Scheme 

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have launched the Employee Retention Credit to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll. The refundable tax credit is worth 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19. For more information on this initiative and to find out how to qualify for it please see the link below. 

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US Treasury’s Paycheck Protection Program 

The Treasury’s program is designed to support small businesses in America as well as those that are self-employed. For more details on the program, including information on applying for funding visit the overview page below. 

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Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM): Coronavirus Response 

EXIM has created a dedicated coronavirus page to provide support to the US exporting community during the crisis. This includes a variety of fact sheets on a series of financing programs that the bank is currently pulling together for such businesses.  

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US Small Business Administration (SBA): COVID-19 Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources 

The SBA provides a comprehensive page of support and resources for small businesses struggling in the current climate. The link below includes individual explanations of their own Express Bridge Loans and Debt Relief initiative as well as the government’s Paycheck Protection Program and its Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). 

Visit page >   

SBA: Find Local Business Assistance  

The SBA’s online directory of free counseling and assistance across the United States may be a useful resource for businesses looking for more specific local help at this time. 

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US Department of Labor: Information on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)  

The DOL’s FFCRA has been launched to help combat COVID-19 by reimbursing American private employers that have fewer than 500 employees with tax credits for the cost of providing employees with paid leave taken for specified reasons related to COVID-19. For more guidance around the act and how employers can access it, click the link below. 

Visit page >   

US Federal Reserve COVID-19 Updates 

For information from the US central bank on its latest policies and measures regarding coronavirus, including the status of business lending and credit please view the page below. 

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USA.gov Telephone Helpline 

USA.gov’s agents can help you locate information on federal agencies, programs, benefits, services, and more. If they can’t answer your question directly, they will direct you to the government agency that can. The USA.gov telephone line is available between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM ET, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.

Call them toll-free at 1-844-USA-GOV1 (1-844-872-4681). Wait times may be long. 

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USA.gov Live Chat 

USA.gov also offers a live web chat service from Monday – Friday: 08:00 AM – 08:00 PM Eastern Time (except federal holidays). 

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National Retail Federation: Coronavirus Resources for Retailers 

The NRF is the largest retail trade association in the world and has published a variety of coronavirus-related resources to support businesses that are publicly available and constantly updated. As well as offering a useful summary of the relevant provisions made for retailers in the CARES Act, the NRF hub provides explanations of other relevant support initiatives and also has a retail jobs board for those workers that may have been made unemployed recently because of the current crisis.  

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IAB: US Trade Body for Digital Advertising  

The Internet Advertising Bureau has covered the early impact of coronavirus on the digital ad industry and is worth visiting for more updates on the likely implications of the pandemic on the industry. 

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Performance Marketing Association 

The trade body for the US affiliate industry is the PMA. Visit their site for any updates, analysis or news related to the channel and its potential impact from the pandemic.  

Visit page >  

Davis & Gilbert Coronavirus Resource Center

Davis & Gilbert is considered one of the most experienced law firms specializing in advice and support for businesses operating in the marketing and advertising industry. The PMA’s own general counsel, Gary Kibel, is also a partner at the firm. D&G has put together a Coronavirus Resource Center on their site designed to help aid businesses amid the challenges they may be facing right now.  

Visit page >  

NOLO: COVID-19 – The Law and Your Legal Rights  

NOLO is one of the web’s leading legal websites and provides advice and guidance to consumers and small businesses for their everyday legal and business questions. Its comprehensive legal encyclopedia now hosts a detailed guide on COVID-19 and the various legal measures that have been implemented by the US state in response to the outbreak.  

Visit page >  

If you find there are other useful online guides and sources that are missing from the above page, please comment below with your own recommendations.  

For more information on COVID-19, please visit our information hub where we bring you the latest news from the Awin Group, as well as links to network insights and useful pointers, alongside wider updates. 

The post COVID-19 US business information hub appeared first on ShareASale Blog.

If Emails are White Noise, You’re Doing Them Wrong

You know that feeling when Facebook tells you it’s your friend’s birthday half an hour after you’ve already written on their wall? It’s pretty annoying to get pointless notifications, isn’t it? But it also leaves you feeling that they should already know you have. It ends up looking like a much more basic approach than it should be

And that’s a problem with a lot of communication. You can gather all the data and automation in the world, but if you don’t add any human thought to it, then it underwhelms and loses its value to the customer. Which is a shame for emails in particular, where the size of the prize is potentially huge (the median email marketing ROI is 122% according to eMarketer)

The “white noise” in your inbox is the underwhelming, wallpaper emails that you probably get with frequency but that don’t do anything to convince you to interact with them or the brand that sends them. Bland is not where you want your brand to be. So, here are five ways you can bring a bit of colour and timbre to your emails – particularly during an unprecedented surge in internet use (up 30% according to Vodafone):

1. Don’t invest more money – invest more time

Moneysupermarket is a great example of a brand which has spent much more time thinking about its communications, sent fewer emails in response, and got better results. It’s not always about investing more in an email programme, just investing more time in thinking about and planning it.

2. Start with the effect you want to have

One of the ways brand emails slip into the realms of white noise is by following a very linear path with emails: “we’ve got new products – let’s tell the world about them”.

Or they might spend too much time looking at a plan for a year in one go, filling slots, and end up scrapping around for content: “what can we send this segment at the end of October?”

The starting point actually needs to be “what do we want customers or potential customers to think, feel or do at the end of the year? And what effect do we want it to have on our business?” A monetary effect is an obvious one, but objectives can also include brand-building. 

3. Not every brand could (or should) be like Amazon

Amazon are undeniably big email communicators (in the US, Amazon owns a massive 30% market share in e-commerce according to Vero. I’m not saying Amazon has got their strategy wrong, but not every brand is Amazon.

Not every business has that level of data around their customers, what they browse for, what they buy. And not every brand has the breadth of products they can cross-sell effectively.

If the sole goal is to keep going until a customer buys, then Amazon’s strategy is working. But the power of the Amazon approach is often reminding people they need to buy something else from Amazon, rather than the product in the email. Think about your customer journey and if you’re not Amazon, don’t use theirs as a blueprint.

4. Try the pub test

Keep your eyes on the prize. Each time, there should be a value exchange for the customer or prospect. What are you asking them to do, and what’s in it for them? If in doubt, think about the pub test. You’re talking to your mate over a pint (in the good old days when we could!) – you ask him to give you his email address and tell him all the cool sh*t he’ll get if he does. Would that convince him?

There’s a lot more to email than a quick lever to pull in the quest to sell more. Even if sales are your key objective, blanket “white noise” emails will do more harm in the long run, than good.

5. CRM in the time of COVID-19

As I’m writing this, the world has gone into lockdown for who knows how long and the one thing people can’t do is be targeted for a quick buck. The doors are now closed. But CRM (and especially email) provides the perfect channel for continuing to communicate with your audience. To do this effectively, however, understanding all that I’ve talked about above is vital. You have to understand the role you would normally play in a customer’s life and then transition that away from sales and into authentic value.

I believe this will make us all better at understanding how people really perceive our brands, enabling us to communicate with them on a more human level once things go back to ‘normal’.

The post If Emails are White Noise, You’re Doing Them Wrong appeared first on PerformanceIN.