I’ve been quietly waiting for the right moment to introduce myself to you, Gentle Reader. I’m Mina, the owner and operator of this humble blog. I started my blog six years ago, and it’s slowly been climbing the Alexa rankings ever since. I’ve been featured in several media outlets, including Forbes, the Huffington Post, and The New York Times. My articles have been translated into several foreign languages and picked up by hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide. I’ve got a best-selling book, Pretty Women Principles, and a weekly podcast, The MinaCast, that I’ve been featured on, and so much more.
On the surface, it would appear that my blog has been a resounding success; however, I’ve been quietly waiting for the right moment to introduce myself to you, Gentle Reader. You see, I’ve been quietly waiting for the right moment to break the biggest news to you. You see, Gentle Reader, I’m a bit of a workaholic. In addition to my blog, I’m a full-time English teacher and a part-time assistant football coach for my alma mater, Syracuse University. I also volunteer for several nonprofit organizations in my community, including the American Red Cross and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeastern New York. As you might imagine, I don’t get a lot of free time, so you’ll excuse me if I seem less-than-gushy on Twitter. The point is, I’ve been quietly waiting for the right moment to break the biggest news to you because, well, you deserve to know.
What Is AWeber?
I want to give you some context as to why I’m telling you this important news. AWeber is an email marketing software company that was founded in Denmark in 2002 and launched in the United States a few years later. Back in 2012, the company had 250,000 subscribers and grew to 500,000 a year later. As of April 2021, AWeber has 2.2 million subscribers across 165 countries and an additional 500,000 uniques every month. To put that number into perspective, that’s more than double the amount of subscribers that MailChimp had at the time.
What Is Email Marketing?
Put simply, email marketing is the process of getting something to an audience via email. Typically, marketers measure the success of their email marketing efforts by looking at three numbers: opens, clicks, and conversions. An open is when an email is successfully delivered to the inbox. A click is when an email is successfully clicked on by the reader. And a conversion is when the reader takes an action (typically, but not necessarily, purchasing a product) that results from the email marketing campaign. Email marketing is also one of the most effective and affordable marketing channels out there.
Why Should You Care About AWeber Subscribers?
If you’ve been paying attention to my blog, you know that I’m always preaching about the power of the hybrid model. That is, you can’t just grab a few isolated, standalone platforms and expect to succeed as a digital marketer. You need to maintain a platform that serves as a hub for all your online activities, including email marketing. AWeber is one such platform, connecting over 2 million subscribers to over 45 different digital marketing tools that you can use to grow your email list, launch marketing campaigns, and track their success. If you’re serious about digital marketing, you need to consider AWeber.
If you’re curious about my take on AWeber, check out my blog post from last year. In it, I share my top tips for creating a successful email marketing strategy.
So, What’s Next?
To answer your question, Gentle Reader, what’s next? I’m going to teach you a skill set that will help you understand how to be a better, more in-demand digital marketer. Which, as we’ve established, is you. Because you’re reading this, I assume that you’re interested in being a better marketer. Or, at least, you know you could use some extra help.
What Is Digital Marketing?
When you think about traditional marketing, you probably think about buying ads in magazines or on websites to promote a product or service. However, this is only a small part of digital marketing. Essentially, digital marketing is using digital tools to research and analyze the behavior of potential customers in order to find the best way to reach them.
Why Digital Marketing?
The answer to this question lies in your community. In my case, I’m doing my graduate studies at Syracuse University, and most of my fellow graduate students are majoring in business administration, marketing, or media communications. These are the people who will grow to become the decision makers in your industry. People like you, Gentle Reader. People who read my blog, subscribe to my newsletter, and attend my live events, all of whom play a role in making my blog and my advice so valuable.
In other words, I’m teaching you to become the best possible marketer you can be because someone out there needs your help. And it might just be me.
The Learning Curve
Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that digital marketing is easy. Or even straightforward. Especially when you’re just starting out. It’s a constantly evolving field, and you need to keep up with the latest trends and technologies if you want to succeed as a digital marketer. Luckily for you, I’m happy to announce that as part of my digital marketing master’s program at Syracuse University, I’ve got you covered on this front. Along with several other important details, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the world of digital marketing from some of the best in the industry.
First and foremost, you’ll need a course curriculum. This is simply a collection of textbooks and educational materials that I’ve curated from some of the best in the industry. In addition to this, your professors will teach you important digital marketing techniques through interactive lessons and quizzes.
The Industry Trendsetter
Over the past few years, we’ve seen traditional magazines and newspapers slowly die out due to the rise of digital natives and millennials. The truth is, nobody likes to read long articles about products and services that they’re not interested in or know about. For example, I don’t typically read fashion magazines because I’m not particularly attracted to beautiful clothing. However, if I was looking for a new pair of shoes, I’d probably head to a fashion magazine’s website to look at their in-depth reviews. The same thing goes for most other industries, including finance, real estate, and lifestyle.
Millennials are known for being highly influenced by celebrities and social media stars. So much so that in 2020, nearly 40% of millennials surveyed said that they got most of their news from social media platforms. When celebrities and influencers promote a product or service, that’s typically what millennials find most attractive about that brand or product.
It’s no wonder, then, that so many brands and businesses are finding ways to work with influencers and celebrities to gain more popularity and engagement. One example of this would be TikTok. As you might imagine, TikTok is the popular video platform used by millennials and Gen Z. What’s amazing about this platform is how much it’s evolved and changed the world of online video in such a short period of time. Not to mention its influence on millennials, who have shown an interest in marketing via video as early as 2016.
One of the things that makes my blog special is that I try to teach you not only what you need to know, but also what you should know. Because of this, one of the best things that you can do for yourself as a beginner is to educate yourself about the world of digital marketing. Specifically, you should learn about video, podcasting, SEO, and various other important topics.
These are just a few of the things that you’ll learn from my advanced course in digital marketing at Syracuse University. However, even with all this valuable information, you’ll still need to put in the work to become a successful digital marketer. Just like any other skill or profession, becoming a successful marketer takes time and dedicated learning.
The Different Tools
Speaking of time and commitment, let’s not forget about the time that you need to spend mastering each tool. Especially since some of them are rather complex, learning them can take several hours per day, if not more. Luckily for you, I’m going to introduce you to several useful tools that can help you get started with your digital marketing efforts. With AWeber, you not only get the software, but you get access to a 45-person help desk, ensuring that you get one-on-one support whenever you need it.