BlueSky Creative, Inc.

On Saturday, April 15, approximately 1.2 million people watched live on You Tube as April the giraffe gave birth to her calf at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York. That was in addition to the 750,000 who watched the much-anticipated birth live on Facebook. However, viewers have been tuned in long before the actual birth. In February, Animal Adventure Park began running a streaming video of April so fans could follow the maternal progression. According to experts, entrepreneurs can learn a few pointers from the success that April’s pregnancy and birth have generated. The fear of missing out (FOMO) or being the last to know something are reasons that social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become so popular. It’s even contributed to the popularity of email and texting. In April’s case, viewers were able to check on her any time of the day. “The longer this goes on, the more vested individuals will become,” says Tor Constantino in “3 Powerful Marketing Element

    You may be surprised to know that it is email—not social media—that remains the most powerful marketing instrument of the 21st century. The Direct Marketing Association claims that for every one dollar invested in email marketing, a return of $38 will be seen. In “5 Email Marketing Tweaks to Double Your Business Revenue,” John Stevens says that “research shows that email is responsible for driving 25.1 percent of all Black Friday sales in 2015, compared to just 1.6 percent of sales from social media.” The following are a few ways that email marketing can be utilized to help your business.   Use email to cross-sell and upsell. In 2015, cross-selling was worth $37.45 million to Amazon. According to Stevens, “Amazon’s recommendation engine is one of the most effective cross-selling systems in the world” and email is the main ingredient in that engine.     Follow up on the “abandoned cart”  A surprisingly high number of people—68.