“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”

Vladimir Lenin supposedly said this about the Russian Revolution … but when I look back at 2025 for marketers, I can’t help but think the same thing.

2025 has been one of the most pivotal years in the history of digital marketing, if not all of marketing in general. We’ve seen seismic shifts in the way we find and consume information as an audience — as well as seeing many of the tools we used as marketers disappear, change and evolve.

Let’s take a look back at the three trends that shaped 2025.

AI Took Over

I was talking to a buddy of mine who works at a household name content marketing company recently. They’ve always relied heavily on Google and blog traffic. He told me ninety percent of their search engine referral traffic disappeared this year.

And they’re not alone.

Google’s aggressive expansion of AI Overviews in May put the nail in the coffin of SEO as a reliable referrer. The trend had already been occurring; this was part of the impetus behind the Google Web Creator Summit in 2024, where the Internet giant basically shrugged its shoulders at a number of small businesses dependent on search traffic and said “you’ll have to figure it out, I guess.” Both large and small businesses have seen massive losses in traffic since then, though small businesses have been disproportionately impacted.

Though strict AI search like Google’s AI Mode, SearchGPT and Perplexity are still small percentages of the overall pie, there’s been a huge drop in click-through driven by people not exploring past the overview. Adoption has been swift, and marketers are still working to figure out what the next big driver of organic referral traffic is … or if one will even exist.

Traffic and Conversions Decoupled

There is some good news — despite click-through and referrals falling off a cliff, conversions generally haven’t. People are still clicking, buying, downloading and signing up. It’s just less clear where that traffic is coming from. We’re also seeing a trend of “zero-click” content on social media outperforming content with links (even Seth Godin isn’t immune), which is shifting the focus to content that isn’t tied to referrals.

There are companies struggling, but most of them are the ones that over-indexed into SEO tricks instead of building a strong base of content across multiple channels.

The industry is still trying to figure out what’s driving this, but the undisputed truth is that brand is now front and center again. Instead of a clear, defined user journey, we’re seeing a messier and harder-to-track process where users dip in and out of the “funnel” before finally taking action. This makes brand visibility and TOMA (top of mind awareness) critical. Conversions might happen in areas you don’t expect, areas that don’t have easy attribution.

The Attention Economy Turned K-Shaped

You might have heard the term “K-shaped economy,” used to refer to an economy with increasing wealth inequality — the middle disappears as rich and poor diverge.

We’re seeing a K-shaped economy emerge for attention spans.

The growth of short-form video has been impossible to miss the last few years, with TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts exploding on the scene to take over our down time. But at the same time, video lengths on YouTube have started to creep back up. Smart TVs saturating the market means that there’s a larger percentage of the population that may passively watch something like they used to with TV, which is driving a trend towards longer videos (think hour-plus).

The old saw about attention spans getting shorter isn’t necessarily true either. People will still watch a deep dive on a subject, and there’s still an appetite for longer content. They just make decisions quicker on whether a piece of content is worth their time. Short content drives attention and gets people interested; long content keeps them invested.

2026: No End in Sight

Marketing changed a ton in 2025, and 2026 looks to be no different. These three trends look like they’ll continue to make major impacts next year. It’s a challenging time to be building your business online … but we’re here to help. Stay tuned to the Rainmaker Dispatch and we’ll keep you informed.

Thanks for reading the Dispatch this past year, and we’ll see you in 2026.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post Three Trends that Shaped 2025 appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

Greetings Rainmakers!

2025 changed everything for marketers. Old ways of reaching the audience have lost their effectiveness; though the channels may be the same, the way we use them is different. This year’s final Monthly Dispatch showcases how discoverability, engagement and action have changed over the past year.

I Ran an AI Misinformation Experiment. Every Marketer Should See the Results
How much should you trust AI information? Mateusz Makosiewicz of Ahrefs explains the results of his AI misinformation campaign — and how he was able to seed all the market-leading LLMs with a company that doesn’t even exist. Learn which sources these platforms trust, the value of specific over vague information, and more in this critical piece.

Stand Out in the Inbox
It’s critical for marketers to reach their audience through permission-based channels like email. But just getting to the inbox doesn’t matter if people don’t actually open the messages you’re sending. Our own David Brandon breaks down how you can stand out in the inbox with effective subject lines.

Americans’ Social Media Use 2025
One of the most trusted research organizations in the world has just released its latest report on social media use. In this piece, Jeffrey Gottfried and Eugenie Park of Pew Research break down social media use in the USA — ages, demographics, popular platforms and more.

The Pinball Customer Journey Has Replaced the Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel is a time-honored and useful model for how customers come to your business. But these days, there are so many touchpoints and potential ways to engage that the funnel model feels a little simplistic. Rand Fishkin of SparkToro makes the case for a new model: the pinball machine.

Traffic Is Down – Now What?
SEO used to be a surefire way to get traffic. Now it’s much more complex. With LLM search, AI overviews and other new technologies, many websites are finding their referral traffic is less reliable. How do you still get eyeballs on your content? Christine Skopec lays out some options in this Semrush article.

Google AI Mode Sends Traffic on 69% of Transactional Queries
Traffic for informational queries is down in Google AI Mode, but transactional queries are still performing well. Learn the details on how these vital queries are still making it to your site in this Search Engine Land piece from Frank Olivo.

Thanks for reading. And if you have any questions, comments or thoughts, feel free to reach out. Just drop us a line, anytime.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post A Look Back at 2025 appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

2025 has been a big year for Rainmaker Platform and our clients alike. We’ve had a lot of change and growth, both internally and in the platform. Because of that, we’ve been able to incorporate some updates that many of you have asked for … as well as new behind-the-scenes functionality, fixes and adjustments to make your quality of life better.

We started the year with version 3.4.10, and we’re finishing it with 3.6.1 — over the course of 2025, we’ve had 12 incremental updates and two major updates. It’s a good time right now to look back at the year and take stock of what’s been accomplished. Let’s review the significant Rainmaker Platform updates from 2025.

Major Updates This Year

Here are three of the most important platform changes we’ve made in 2025.

Podcasts

Our latest major update, version 3.6, brought a significant upgrade to our Podcasts feature. This is one of our biggest feature rebuilds ever.

Podcasts have become a bigger and bigger part of the content marketing mix, and over time it became obvious that our current feature needed to change. We added functionality, integrated with more podcasting platforms and built in more flexibility.

This new podcast technology includes:

• Expanded podcast analytics, including a variety of new reports and an easy-to-use dashboard widget.
• Integration with the Castos hosting platform.
• A more customizable player.
• Feeds for all major podcast networks.
• Private podcast functionality, to limit content access to an exclusive audience.

And more.

We’re very excited to have this up and running; we’ve already been in conversation with some of you on how it’s working and ways to make the tool even better. Please keep the feedback coming.

Administrative Email Deliverability

Spam restrictions around the email industry have tightened up. Many of the most popular free email providers, including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, banded together in early 2025 to introduce new internal processes meant to keep spam out of their users’ inboxes and protect deliverability. These requirements hit marketers hard, as not all email marketing tools were configured to comply with the new verification rules. Rainmail was fully compliant and didn’t require adjustments. But the Rainmaker Platform team rapidly deployed a new mail technology, FluentSMTP, to make sure there was no interruption in the sending of site administrative emails for our clients.

Technologies like DKIM, DMARC and SPF keep inboxes safe and clear of spam, but they can cause problems for people sending site admin emails with a “from” field that comes from a website and not the authoritative mail server. FluentSMTP authenticates these email addresses and keeps administrative emails flowing.

Payment Gateways

There were a couple of payment gateway updates this year. The first added options to existing solutions — the biggest change was an upgrade to the Braintree API. The upgrade gives immediate feedback on whether a payment through this processor was successful or not.

Later in the year, we added Google Pay and Apple Pay as payment options on Stripe for MemberPress transactions. These two payment platforms are among the most popular on the Internet, and many of you asked for this enhancement.

A Big Year for Rainmaker Platform

Our Client Services, DevOps and Marketing teams have been working together more closely than ever this year to make sure that your feedback is heard, taken into account and incorporated into Rainmaker Platform. Please continue to tell us what you need and want from us as the platform grows and evolves. We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks to all our clients; we appreciate you choosing us as your technology partner and making this a great 2025. Here’s to an even better 2026.

Best Regards,

Ed Bardwell
President
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post State of the Platform: 2025 Rainmaker Platform Updates appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

Permission-based marketing is a critical part of your marketing mix — it’s one of the only channels where you still own your audience.

We’ve recently written about getting people to sign up and open the emails you send. But there’s one vital component without which none of the rest matters: will they do what you want?

I love fishing. I put effort into choosing the right bait, casting to the right location and getting the motion of the lure just right. None of that effort is worth anything if I can’t get the fish to bite. You don’t just want people opening and reading your emails — you need click-throughs.

Here are some tips to get more action from your emails.

Start Before The Inbox

The most important factor to a great click-through rate is the same as it is for anything else in marketing: audience.

If your email goes to the wrong person, you’re using the wrong lure. That fish ain’t gonna bite if he’s hunting bottom-feeding insects and you’re dragging a minnow-shaped popper across the surface. Segment your audience. Few audiences are too small for effective segmentation, and the tighter the connection between message and segment, the more likely you are to get a click-through.

Design for Understanding

One of the biggest things I’ve learned about fishing is how important it is to make the bait move realistically. The effectiveness of the lure is based on the presentation.

So it is with email.

Email design can either help or hinder your message. Research shows that click-through performance is all about the message; design elements should reinforce and support the message, not block comprehension. That’s why many marketers still use plain text, even though HTML emails have been standard for decades.

HTML-designed emails bring fonts, colors, images and emphases to the table which can help you get your message across. But they can also bring issues.

Fancy designs slow down load times and may not show your message until after your audience has clicked away. Design elements may show up badly in certain configurations like dark mode. Mobile email clients may break elements that work just fine on desktop.

Don’t assume that just because your email worked on one platform it works on all. Test it with a variety of platforms and clients. And when in doubt, plain text always works. The message is the key. Plain is better than broken.

Be Clear and Direct in Your Copy

Even after you’ve gotten a fish to bite, you’re not done. You have to set the hook and reel it in. And “setting the hook” for a click-through means being clear and direct.

There should be a singular purpose for every email you send; find it and articulate it. Not every email is a purchase or form submission. Tell the recipient what you want them to do and make it easy for them to do it.

Don’t beat around the bush. The average person receives over 100 emails per day; if you take too long to get to the point, the fish will shake the hook.

Finally, make sure the CTA stands out from the rest of the email. You can use a hyperlink or an HTML button — either one works. Just make sure it looks distinct. When in doubt, just add a hyperlink on its own line.

Land the Fish

You understand the importance of permission-based marketing. You’ve put all this effort into building your list and getting people to open your emails. Take the final step. Land the fish — drive click-throughs. Use these tips to turn fruitless fishing trips in the inbox into an abundant catch. And if you need a hand, don’t hesitate to reach out. Just drop us a line, anytime.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post Catch More Click-Throughs appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about email lately.

Dean Bokhari talked about the importance of email in our recent interview, and we’ve been covering email a lot in our last few Dispatches. While I was researching for those, I was struck by an article by Klaviyo that had some great recommendations for subject lines.

Subject lines are the most important part of your email. People focus on building lists, and that’s important — but what about actually getting people to READ your emails? Great open rates start with the subject line. 47% of email recipients open emails based on the subject line alone, regardless of teaser copy or sender; 69% will report emails as spam based on the subject line.

Great subject lines are critical for online marketing success. Here are a few tips to optimize yours.

Remember the Goal

As the Father of Advertising David Ogilvy once said, “The headline is the ‘ticket on the meat.’ Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.”

There’s a key insight in there related to subject lines: your subject line is designed to tell your audience that there’s something important to THEM.

Don’t go general; be specific.

Selling a Horse? Say “Horse for Sale”

You don’t always need to get cute with your subject lines. Sometimes it’s better to just say what’s on your mind.

As direct response copywriter Jay Abraham said, “Sometimes the best copy to sell a horse is ‘Horse for Sale.’” Creativity in a subject line is good, but be careful of a “bait and switch” — or not actually giving enough information for the person receiving the email to know what you’re talking about. Attention is important, but attention without relevance is empty.

ProTip: Don’t rely on preheader or preview copy to clarify if your subject line doesn’t state the purpose of the email … not all mailboxes will show everything.

(Don’t) Say the Name

A lot of email marketing authorities still say personalizing subject lines and body copy is better than leaving your copy general. This may no longer be the case. In GetResponse’s 2024 survey of 4.4 billion emails, non-personalized emails showed higher engagement than personalized, a trend that’s held true for a few years. Granted, this is a broad study; individual use cases and industries may be different. But putting a name in the subject line is no longer a clear win.

Personalization is meant to make your reader feel connected to the sender. It’s been used so much that it may do the opposite. Any marketing tactic overused becomes stale. Look at these advertisements from 100 years ago; they feel trite and dated. That’s because we used the language in these ads so much that many of the words lost their power. They ring false.

Putting the recipient’s name in the subject line can still work, but apply it judiciously — don’t think of it as the default.

Stay Out of the Spam Filter

Some words and phrases trigger spam filters. There are no hard and fast rules, but be careful to avoid subject lines with:

• Excessive punctuation (multiple exclamation points or question marks in a row)
• Promotional language like “free,” “win now,” “money-back guarantee”
• “Click here”

Most filters will assess based on both the terms in the subject line and the body of the email; generally speaking, don’t over-use promotional expressions throughout your email, including subject line, preheader and body.

“You Had Me At Hello”

At the climax of the movie Jerry Maguire, Jerry flies home to win back his estranged wife. He shows up to find her at a meeting of a women’s support group and gives an impassioned speech … but she tells him, “You had me at hello.”

If your subject line doesn’t “have them at hello,” use these tips to sharpen it and make sure you’re getting through. And if you need a hand, don’t hesitate to reach out — just drop us a line, anytime.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post Stand Out in the Inbox appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

We’re continuing our Dispatch Discussions series with Dean Bokhari, author and digital entrepreneur. Our series is focused on the challenges, problems and strategies that our clients face and how they’re approaching them. Dean is a longtime client who runs several successful digital businesses, including two Rainmaker Platform sites, and this discussion showcases the importance of his websites and owned channels for building and keeping your business as well as growing your business offline.

We talked about a lot of different things in the discussion — the whole conversation ran long, but we’ve distilled the highlights. Hear Dean’s thoughts about:

• AI’s rise and what it’s doing to businesses like Dean’s
• The website as a home base for any business
• How platforms don’t have your best interests in mind
• Creating an ecosystem around free content
• How to get and hold attention with a newsletter

And much more!

Watch our conversation here, and find Dean at deanbokhari.com, getflashnotes.com, gentsjourney.co, and 125method.com.

We want to hear from you how you’re using the platform, what your business is all about, and how you’re navigating the choppy waters of online marketing right now. Please reach out if you’re interested in being featured … we’d love to hear from you.

The post Dispatch Discussions: Dean Bokhari, Author and Digital Entrepreneur appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

Greetings Rainmakers!

There’s one thing this year has made very clear: traditional sources of traffic are not working the same way they used to. Marketers are working on new ways of getting attention, but in the meantime, they have to capitalize on what traffic they still get.

In this month’s Dispatch, we’re taking a look at how you can still get a message across to your audience. Asking for permission, platforming internal creators, building brand differentiation … there are a lot of ways to still succeed. Learn from the best here:

HubSpot’s 2025 State of Newsletters Report
Newsletters have been a foundational piece of content marketing since the very beginning. Audience preferences are changing, though, and smart marketers are adjusting the way they use this powerful tool to reach people. Make sure you’re up to date with HubSpot’s 2025 report from Alana Chinn.

A Voice That Stands Out In a Crowd
Digital marketing today is like shouting at your audience in a crowded room … but they’re a lot more likely to hear you if they already recognize your voice. Learn how engaging your audience with permission-based channels creates a connection that cuts through the noise.

When Everyone Has AI How Does Anyone Stand Out? Top B2B Marketing Skills to Differentiate
AI has made content at scale accessible to everyone. Now that basic content can be generated easily, how do you stand out? Lee Odden interviews a number of high-level marketers to get their opinions for TopRank Marketing.

Creator Marketing in a Zero‑Click World
Referral traffic from search engines is down because of GEO and tightening privacy rules. Every click you get is more important now … so how do you make the most of the traffic you’re getting? For Drip, Laura Gee breaks down how to use permission-based creator email marketing to engage your audience and drive intentional traffic.

How to Turn Your Internal Experts Into Search Entities
You have experts within your organization whose expertise could raise your profile and drive traffic to your site. But how do you make them visible to search engines? Stephanie Walden lays out the path to turning your experts into search entities for Contently.

AI Search Isn’t the End of SEO
The rapid rise of AI search has upended SEO. From “SEO is dead” to “AI will never replace traditional search,” there are a lot of opinions, myths and suppositions floating around. Danny Goodwin goes through each of these major ideas for Search Engine Land and explains which of them are — or are not — true.

Thanks for reading. And if you have any questions, comments or thoughts, feel free to reach out. Just drop us a line, anytime.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post Make Your Traffic Work For You appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

It’s been a very hectic month for us here at RMDS.

We’ve developed some powerful technology, and we’re excited to share the new features and updates to old ones. And we’re also finalizing one more major roll-out before the end of the year. Talking to many of you, we know everyone’s making plans for the end of the year and preparing for 2026. Let’s finish on a high note.

Rainmaker Platform Versions 3.5.4 and 3.5.5

In the past month, we released versions 3.5.4 and 3.5.5 for Rainmaker Platform. These are major updates that added extra functionality to the platform.

Version 3.5.4 added a MemberPress NavTools integration. This gives you custom tabs for exclusive resources, personalized dashboards and more that you can use to add value to your memberships.

In version 3.5.5 we integrated user purchase journeys. Transaction events now allow you to track your user journeys with MemberPress and WooCommerce integration in Google Analytics 4.

We have a third major update right around the corner — we’ve completely revamped Rainmaker Platform’s podcasting capabilities. We’re currently in testing with a few clients, and the update should be coming later this month.

For more information, see the Rainmaker Platform changelog.

The Rainmaker Platform Tools You Aren’t Using

A few months ago, we audited our Rainmaker Platform sites to look at which features were most and least popular with our clients. Many of you are using features like WooCommerce, MemberPress and LearnDash, but there are a number of options that only a few of our clients are using.

Anyone who’s ever opened an old toolbox knows that when it comes time to clean it out, you’re going to run into some useful stuff at the bottom that would make your work a lot easier. You pull out that old pair of pliers and say “Huh! I was looking for that. Could have used that last Wednesday.”

Don’t let that be the case with your website. Let’s take a look at some of the features that might have fallen through the cracks and what you might be missing out on.

To get started, mouse over the Settings gear menu at the top right of your Rainmaker Platform Dashboard and click Features.

Then choose the Add-Ons tab.

This is where you can find the five features we’re going to look at today. To turn these on, check the box next to the feature, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the blue Save button.

ShortPixel

We know site speed is a concern for many of our clients, and there are multiple features on Rainmaker Platform that help. One of them is the image optimizer ShortPixel.

Un-optimized images may be 4 to 5 times or more the size they need to be to display correctly on your site. Modern smartphones often take images that are well over a megabyte, and illustrations can be large as well. To put that in perspective, if you remember floppy disks, most modern smartphone photos wouldn’t even fit on a floppy disk.

The more data you send when your website loads, the longer it takes. Even if you’ve resized the image on the page via code, your site is still sending all the image data to the browser. Slow image loads make people impatient, sometimes even leading to them leaving your site. And site load times impact search engine rankings too.

ShortPixel runs in the background to optimize your images for you. It compresses and changes the format of images to remove bloat and make your site load faster. If you’re worried about site speed, this is one of the features you should be most interested in.

Autoptimize

Images make a significant impact on your site speed, but there are other factors as well. Autoptimize looks at each page and removes the digital assets that aren’t needed on that page.

Unused scripts, code and CSS together make up what we call page bloat. Bloat slows down a web page without any benefit to the user experience. This code exists for a reason; much of it is general and applies to the whole site so everything displays correctly, but it isn’t necessary for every page and can often be safely removed or not run.

In addition, sometimes the instructions in the scripts may not be in an efficient order. Think of it like a list of tasks in your house; there’s an efficient way to do those tasks so you’re not constantly going back and forth to the kitchen or the garage. Autoptimize helps organize scripts so they run effectively. Take a look at this feature if you want to optimize the speed of your site.

Easy Testimonials

Word of mouth is the oldest and most effective marketing, and testimonials are a way to harness that power on your own website. Testimonials drive engagement and create interest in your brand. Other people’s words create social proof — proof that other people like your brand, which can create a big barrier to competition and sway undecided people to your side.

Easy Testimonials makes it simple to put that information on your site. With this feature enabled, you can add testimonials to your site with an easy-to-use widget.

Rich Snippets

One of the important keys to proper optimization is “schema data.” Schema data helps search engines display things like products, events, people, recipes, videos, articles, etc. correctly in the search or snippet box. Without this information, Google may be able to pick up the type of content you have on your site, but schema data ensures that it knows exactly how to categorize each content type. Properly constructed snippets are important for AI search too.

Rich Snippets is a tool that helps you add schema data to your content. This is particularly helpful for content types that can show up in other Google content areas, like Google Shopping or Google News. Use this to make your content more visible and machine-readable.

Popup Maker

There’s a reason you still see popups on many websites: they work. A good popup can keep people from bouncing without signing up for a newsletter or nudge them to buy items from a shopping cart that would otherwise be abandoned.

Popup Maker is a flexible, easy-to-use tool that allows you to create your own popups on your Rainmaker Platform site. Use this to capture email addresses, stop bounces and create stickiness for your audience.

Dig Deeper In the Toolbox

Rainmaker Platform is overflowing with features you can use to optimize your website. It’s easy to overlook something. Dig a little deeper in the toolbox and take a second look at some of the tools you might be overlooking to make your site more effective. And if you need a hand, we’re here to help; just drop us a line, anytime

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post State of the Platform: Dig Deeper in the Toolbox appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

We talk a lot about the importance of permission-based marketing — reaching someone’s inbox gets you past the gatekeepers that govern social media and search with priorities that may not align with yours. It’s a much more powerful connection than a passing thumb flick on a phone screen.

But to get permission, you need to build a relationship your audience values. No one’s going to give you an email address or a phone number unless you make it worth their while.

How do you create value that drives permission?

Create Value that Drives Permission

To get people to give you their information, you have to give them a good reason.

That reason can take many forms, but these are the most common:

Information

The subscription newsletter is one of the most common incentives that drives permission. It provides value through the information you send.

For most brands, the best information to share in a newsletter is:

• News: Share what’s happening in your field; people will want to hear it. Collating that news into a brief summary can also be of value. Examples: Bloomberg, Morning Brew, New York Times.
• Studies and data: You can approach this either with your own data or through the collection of other people’s. Examples: Search Engine Land, SparkToro, Neil Patel Digital.
• Analysis: Data makes more sense when it’s interpreted; if people value your viewpoint, your analysis will be valuable to them. Examples: The Atlantic, Nate Silver (and many other Substack users).

Tools

Creating something that people can use is a powerful incentive to generate permission. Calculators, planners … and now, with AI agents, it’s easier than ever to put together useful tools that will attract attention.

• Calculators and text generators: These are often searched for and, if highly useful, shared among colleagues. You need a use case that helps users understand a complex idea, simplify a frequent or mundane task or replace a traditional “non-digital” tool. Examples: Kevin Kos’s cocktail juice calculator, EatThisMuch food planner, BDOW Kickass Headline Generator.
• Collated collections of other resources: One of the most popular tools is a “filing cabinet” of useful resources curated for you. Examples: Swipe File (for marketing/advertising inspiration), Lookastic outfit builder.
• Quizzes and wizards: These tools give insights or guidance on personal, professional or qualitative queries and offer detailed reports for people who want to get in-depth information on that topic. Examples: GoNext travel advisor, Stitch Fix personal style quiz, 16Personalities MBTI quiz.

Access to Premium Content

Almost every Substack or Patreon account works on this model — users get access to some content publicly, but the real juicy stuff is behind some type of signup. Think behind-the-scenes unfiltered access, deep dives and exclusive interviews. Examples: Good Mythical Morning, How to Drink, Ed Zitron, Smosh.

Exclusive Offers

These include coupons and other limited-time offers. They often work well with local businesses building an SMS (text) list — “buy one get one” on a restaurant menu item or “10% off your next haircut” are models that are regularly used to get permission. Be aware that these are best used in conjunction with other incentives … if these are the ONLY value, they can cause a “coupon cycle” where people only engage when you offer deals. Examples: Chili’s, Supercuts.

Value Creates Willing Permission

Permission to market to your audience is powerful. It builds engagement and creates a connection that no other form of marketing can. But to get permission, you have to give value — real value. Use these methods to showcase your value and create your own permission-based list. And if you need a hand, don’t hesitate to reach out. Just drop us a line, anytime.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

The post Give Value, Get Permission appeared first on Rainmaker Digital.

I hate crowds.

I recently attended a convention and was overwhelmed by the amount of sensory input — too many people, too much noise. And it got me thinking:

This is how people feel when they log onto the Internet now.

Audiences are tuning out from too much input — feeds full of useless fluff, brands lined up like carnival barkers trying to grab attention. Trying to market to them feels like standing in the middle of a convention crowd trying to connect with a stranger.

But what about a friend?

On the convention floor, I didn’t have any problem finding my buddy Nathan; I recognized his voice. Digital marketing is the same. You want your brand to be the one that cuts through the noise … and to do that, you need to engage your audience.

The Power of Permission

Email and text (SMS) marketing are two of our favorite tools for engagement marketing. Why? They require permission.

Permission-based channels are great engagement tools. First, they represent a foundation for the relationship. Your audience has already said that they want to hear from you. It’s like having a friend … your brand already stands out above the digital noise because the relationship is there.

Competition is lower, too. As crowded as text and email inboxes are, they’re not as crowded as social media feeds. You might be going up against 100 other emails, but your audience probably sees 100 posts in 5 minutes of thumb scrolling. You’re more likely to get seen.

And finally, emails and texts are often checked with intention. When someone checks their emails or their texts, they’re doing so to see if there’s anything important. You have a higher chance of being judged important enough to engage with if you’re in their inbox.

Keeping Attention

If you want to be a recognizable voice, it takes more than just grabbing attention. Don’t use cheap tricks; tricks will work against you. You’re building a relationship, not chasing a one-off sale.

Here are three keys to keeping attention through permission-based marketing.

1: Create content that makes your audience the star

Make members of your audience feel special and involved. Taylor Swift is unusually good at this. She used to invite select groups of fans to private listening parties for new albums in her living room and bake cookies for them — those fans would then talk about their experience to Taylor’s audience. Be like Taylor Swift. Center your experience on the audience and step back; they’ll bring you into the spotlight.

2: Build a sense of community and belonging

There’s a farmer’s market near me that absolutely crushes their engagement with email and text. Sure, they talk about their specials and what new produce they have. But they also do a lot of storytelling about the community. This local farm’s tractor broke down but they’re here selling produce; buy it so they have money for parts. This vendor lives right around the corner and her grandkids are going to Guthrie Schools. When everyone believes in the relationship, there’s a glue beyond just the exchange of money for goods or services.

3: Create opportunities for two-way connection

Ask for feedback and share it with your community. Game developer Bungie does this regularly with its email list for the game Destiny 2, offering choices between multiple cosmetic sets to add to the game, polling its user base and sharing the feedback it gets. The community always feels HEARD, even if the feedback isn’t always applied the way they’d like. Customers are more likely to become partners if they feel that the company listens and respects their input.

Don’t Be One More Voice in the Crowd

Digital marketing can feel like shouting to someone in a crowded convention hall. To make sure you can get attention, become friends first so they recognize your voice. Build engagement through permission-based marketing and they’ll find you in the crowd. And if you need a hand, we’re here to help. Just drop us a line, anytime.

Best Regards,

David Brandon
Copywriter
Rainmaker Digital Services

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