Inside Campaigner

Sending Holiday Cheer – Are you Spreading the Love?

2009-11-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

According to American Express OPEN Small Business Holiday Monitor, nearly half of small business owners say they plan to give gifts to customers this holiday season. BusinessWeek’s Karen Klein interviewed Alice Bredin, founder and president of Cambridge (Mass.)-based marketing consultancy Bredin Business Information and an adviser to American Express OPEN.

In the interview, it was discussed that although many companies have suffered this year, small business owners know and understand where their priorities lie – making sure their customers are happy. This is why many small businesses will be offering gifts to their customers this year, rather than their employees.

Although good employees are definitely essential and important to a successful business – so are reoccurring, and happy customers, since they are the ones keeping up the revenue.

What are your plans for the holidays – will you be giving gifts to your employees and/or customers? Will you be including your gift offerings into your email campaigns; with coupons, promotions, etc.?

This Week’s Tips: Integrating Email with Social Media

2009-11-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

Tip #87
Use social media to your advantage!

While many people have started saying that popular social networks and social media tools are going to dominate email marketing, eventually making it non-existent, this is not the case – but that doesn’t meant you shouldn’t embrace them!

There are many ways to integrate social media with your email marketing campaigns. The first step is to become familiar with at least a couple of different social networking sites and realize the value that social marketing can have within your business.

Email marketing and social media go hand-in-hand, helping to enhance the online visibility and buzz for your brand, products and services – so embrace it!

Tip #88
Include content that is easy for your subscribers to share on social media sites

Make sure your email promotions and newsletter content is simple, direct and clear so your subscribers can easily pass it along on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Also, giving subscribers a reason to share special offers that can be passed along to friends is a great way to encourage your audience to help you get the word out.

Tip #89
Use Facebook as another publishing channel for your email newsletters

Start a Facebook page for your business. You can set up feeds on Facebook that will automatically update and publish your newsletters and email marketing promotions every time you put out a new issue. Along with just setting up feeds, make sure every email newsletter you send has a link directing subscribers to your Facebook page, providing your subscribers with another way to connect and stay in touch with you.

Correlating your email campaigns with Facebook also helps you get the word out to a broader audience, which will grow like your email list as you continue to build your base of Facebook 'friends' and 'fans.'

State of Small Business Online Marketing Survey, Part 2

2009-11-19T09:21:00.000-08:00

We just released part two of our State of Small Business Online Marketing Survey – Small Businesses Put Email Marketing to Work.

The survey was sponsored by Campaigner and conducted by industry analyst firm Hurwitz & Associates, gathering responses from 259 small business owners and focusing on North American small businesses with 1 to 20 employees.

This second report focuses on small business adoption, plans, use and requirements for email marketing solutions.

Here are some top level findings from the first report:

- 46% of small businesses use email marketing today;
- 36% plan to start using in the coming year;
- Both current users and those that plan to use email marketing view spam as the biggest barrier or potential barrier to successful email marketing.

Survey respondents cited the following as their top criteria for choosing an email marketing provider: Ease-of-use, quality of customer support, price.

You can download part one and two of the report by visiting this page: http://www.campaigner.com/lp/hurwitz.aspx

This Week’s Tips: Advantages of Video

2009-11-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tip #84
Advantages of video

Currently, people in general are watching more online videos and thus are more receptive to the idea of videos in email. Adding videos to your email campaign has many positive effects – like podcasts and graphics, videos add personality and visual appeal to your emails. To top it off, videos also add increased relevance and engagement.

Keep your videos short and to the point. The ideal maximum length for a video to run is 45 seconds.

Tip #85
Videos made easy

Making your own videos has the potential to be both time consuming and labor intensive if you don’t have the resources. The good news about integrating videos with your email marketing campaigns is that you don’t always have to come up with original content.

When in doubt, keep it simple. YouTube is a great resource for online videos. If you see something relevant on YouTube that relates to relevant themes or topics explored in your newsletters, go ahead and plug that link into your emails. It only takes a couple minutes and your subscribers will appreciate the added information and entertainment value.

When including a link back to YouTube – or any online site - it is always a good practice to attribute the content back to the original source, so your readers know where it originated.

Tip #86
Video ideas

If you decide to channel your inner Steven Spielberg or contract with a professional, below are a few suggested topics that would be effective through video.

First and foremost, make sure you include a play button on the video image or just below it so your readers are aware that you want them to view a video.

Product Demo: what better way to show your subscribers why your product is so great!? You can show them exactly what it does, how to use it, and why they need it!

Reviews: ask happy customers if they’re willing to review your products or services on film for your newsletters. You can even create a regular series or plan them around promotional events.

Call to Action: Include a call to action in your video - such as visiting your website or buying a certain product or service.

With all of these approaches, you can easily embed the video or add links into your email marketing campaigns.

Visit Campaigner today at “All About eMail Virtual Conference & Expo”

2009-11-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

Benefit from a series of informative conference sessions, about email security, B-to-B email marketing best practices, deliverability and more! Click here for the full conference agenda.

Examine email marketing solutions and network with other industry experts. As an attendee you will be able to:
- Chat live with exhibitors and attendees throughout the event;
- Exchange virtual business cards;
- Collect valuable data from the resource center and exhibit booths (whitepapers, case studies, product literature, etc.).

Visit our booth online - members of the Campaigner Sales Team will be available to chat and answer attendee questions all day!

What: All About eMail Virtual Conference & Expo
When: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET
Location: Your Computer - It's Virtual!

Register for FREE!
http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=163024&s=1&k=8422B87A4525B074B2D1F3DBA1868AD7&partnerref=Platnium_AAeM_Campaigner

This Week’s Tips: How to use Podcasts

2009-11-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

Tip #82
Include podcasts

If you don’t already know, podcasts are downloadable, audio or video recordings – which you create - that can be listened to on a computer. Podcasts can be integrated easily into any email campaign and are a great way to show your personality to your customers – as well as letting them know that you are a thought leader in your space. Podcasts help convey who you are and what you know as well as giving subscribers a chance to identify with you as a person.

Like signing your name at the end of each email or including a blurb about your personal life, podcasts make your customers realize that there’s an actual person behind these emails, which can help you strengthen customer relationships. Stronger customer connections can also build customer loyalty to both your brand and your products.

Tip #83
More uses for Podcasts

Including podcasts in your email marketing campaign is a creative way to keep your customers informed on upcoming promotions or new products. They allow you to expand on certain points in your email message and add extra emphasis and detail that you might not have included in your email.

To better engage your customers, try adding a call to action both in your newsletter and reinforcing it again in your podcast. This can be as simple as urging customers to click on a certain link in your newsletter or giving them an email-exclusive promotional code.

Social Media Marketing: It’s a Must Have

2009-11-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

I know we have discussed incorporating social media into your email campaigns in previous posts, but are you still saying: What the heck is social media marketing? Well, if so Sean Connors from the Times-Standard wrote a nice article explaining why small business owners need to jump on the bandwagon and use social marketing to promote their businesses.

I’m not saying – and neither is he – that it is now the sole way to promote your business. But, 1. it’s free and 2. more and more people are connected via social network sites.

While you’re at it – have your email and social marketing campaigns take advantage of each other! Use your email newsletters to promote your social marketing campaigns, and likewise.

Have a blog? Put a link to your blog in your email newsletters. Also, make sure you have a sign-up page for your newsletters on your blog – or any other social networking site your business is linked to.

Do you think social media marketing is a must have when it comes to promoting your business?

101 Tips for Small Business October Podcast

2009-11-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

We’ve recorded a short podcast reviewing the tips released in October as part of our 101 Tips for Getting Started with Email Marketing campaign. The tips released in October begin with discussing how to enhance your campaign performance with SEO and then move on to how to get customers involved.

Listening to the podcast, you’ll hear about specific tips such as how to use email marketing and SEO together and the benefits of asking customers for their input.

Listen to our October tips podcast to find out more!

Growing small businesses are using more online marketing tools

2009-11-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Did you know that 82 percent of small businesses that currently use or plan to use email marketing expect revenue growth in 2009? How about the fact that despite the recession that we’re starting to come out of, the majority of small businesses have a fair-to-positive economic outlook for 2009 and the coming year?

That’s what Campaigner found out from our 2009 State of Small Business Online Marketing Survey. Campaigner sponsored the online survey conducted by Hurwitz & Associates, gathering responses from 259 small business owners. The survey investigates how North American small businesses with 1 to 20 employees are succeeding today, and how they are adapting their marketing plans and budgets to compete more effectively.

Take a look for yourself to learn more about the marketing tools that are helping small businesses succeed even during a challenging economy.

The first report – Small Business Marketing Health Check – is free and available for download at
www.campaigner.com/lp/hurwitz.aspx

This Week’s Tips: Use Multimedia

2009-11-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

Tip #79
Use multimedia

Let’s face it… we all like to be entertained. Using multimedia in your emails makes for a more engaging and exciting customer experience – it truly takes your emails to the next level of marketing. Multimedia allows you to express your brand in more than just words. You can use video or audio to enhance your message and engage your audience with dynamic and interactive email marketing campaigns.

Tip #80
Use multimedia with purpose

While multimedia can be fun, engaging and effective, make sure you use multimedia with purpose and not simply just because you can. You’re most likely segmenting and targeting your lists now. Your customers have come to expect relevant, timely emails, so your video content should follow suit. Multimedia can be informational, entertaining, or both – but most importantly it’s best to make sure it’s relevant to your audience.

One thing to keep in mind is to always offer both plain text and basic HTML formats in order to accommodate your mobile users. While multimedia takes your emails to the next level, you want to avoid alienating any subscribers in the process.

Tip #81
Use graphics!

When it comes to HTML email newsletters, it’s great to use graphics! It’s eye catching and adds personality to your email. You can use a captivating or amusing photo, or be straightforward with something that directly relates to your content. Free photo websites, such as stockvault.net provide quick and easy access to thousands of web images you can use. You can even gear your images to accompany major holidays, birthdays and special events. Wherever you access images and graphics online, just make sure you follow the copyright regulations and restrictions that should be listed on the site. Graphics provide that little extra oomph to add a lot of visual appeal.

When using graphics, one thing to keep in mind is to use alt text tags for people who have their images turned off by default. This way your subscribers know there is a graphic in the email.

Give holiday shoppers what they want this season - bargains

2009-10-30T15:21:00.001-07:00

I recently ready an article in MarketingProfs that detailed a recent survey, NRF’s 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. According to the survey, US consumers plan to spend about $682.74 this holiday season, which is a big 3.2% drop from last year’s average spending of about $705. When the NRF began tracking the retail industry sales in 1992, numbers increased steadily each year for the last ten years. 2008 was the first time the NRF saw a decline in sales and, with the current economy, 2009 seems to be no exception.

But what can you do to ensure you capitalize on the money people are spending? Start with your email marketing campaign. There’s a lot of great information in the survey, but one thing that really stuck out was that holiday shoppers indicated sales and price discounts or every day low prices will be the most important factor in deciding where to shop.

Give consumers what they want – sales! Make sure your holiday discounts are clearly visible in both the subject and body of your message. Emphasize your promotions throughout the newsletter, providing details and links back to your website. You can even show your email subscribers how much you appreciate them by offering special discounts only available to them. You’re subscribers will no doubt respond positively, giving you the gift of ROI this season!

What promotions have you had success with lately?

This Week’s Tips: Getting Customers Involved Cont’d

2009-10-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Tip # 75

Feature customers in your newsletters

Provide a special section in every newsletter you send that includes a customer perspective or profile – you could have a ‘Featured Customer’ or ‘Customer Spotlight.’ section. Customer Q&A’s are another option, which will give your customers the chance to talk about how you, your technology or business helps them grow their business. That way you get to demonstrate your value while giving your customers the chance to get some exposure for themselves.

Tip # 76

Build customer pride and loyalty through charitable giving

Businesses large and small like to find ways to contribute to their communities or special causes, especially around the holiday season. Email marketing can be a great way to communicate your charitable giving plans and programs to your community of customers, associates and investors – and invite them to join you. They can help by joining you to donate to a specific organization or cause, or you can pledge to match their donation. You can also encourage them to ‘forward to a friend,’ helping to support the charitable effort and widening your circle of influence. You can provide regular email updates on goals to reach, noting progress along the way. It’s a great way to show your customers that you care and to build customer pride, loyalty and good community feelings associated with your brand.

Tip # 77

Offer them an interesting article, tips or more valuable information via a downloadable PDF

Sometimes it is difficult to get all the information you want to provide to your subscribers into one email newsletter. This may be because you don’t want to fatigue your readers with too much content.

However, if you have valuable content, offer a PDF in the form of a downloadable link (attachments are often caught in spam filters) in your email campaigns. This way you aren’t adding length to your newsletter. And who wouldn’t want more content about something they are interested in?

With a downloadable link, you will also be able to track the downloads - seeing who is interested in the information. Using these metrics will help you know what kinds of content to provide in future email campaigns.

Tip # 78

Promote special events through your email campaigns

Although most people use their email marketing campaigns to promote different aspects of their business – products, services, valuable information – another way to expand your campaigns is to promote events. Your email campaigns are a great way to promote events you are either going to or hosting – and a way to invite your customers to come along!

Use your email newsletter to explain what the event is about. Then send reminders closer to the event – so the date and time of your event doesn’t slip out of mind.

This is a great way to get your customers involved, all the while building stronger relationships with them.

Don’t forget a call to action

2009-10-23T13:15:00.001-07:00

One sure-fire way to increase ROI is to include a call to action in your email newsletters. Sure, the simple fact of having a newsletter is great – it keeps your customers informed and up-to-date on the latest company news and promotions – but how are you keeping your customers engaged? That’s where a call to action comes into play.

Chris Crum of SmallBusinessNewz.com wrote an article about the effectiveness of an SMS call to action for advertisements on TV. This specific type of call to action seemed to work for TV because of the convenience level. For email marketing, the easiest and most effective call to action is in a link!

So what are you waiting for?! Prompt your readers to click on a link in your newsletter, or sign up for a contest and keep them engaged with a call to action!

What calls to action have worked for you?

This Week’s Tips: Get Customers Involved

2009-10-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tip # 72
Emphasize the forward to a friend button

Yes, the “Forward to a Friend” button is on every one of your email campaigns. However, are you making sure your subscribers know about it? Let them know how much you appreciate them, and also let them know that if they like your content – someone they know might too. Ask them to forward it to someone who they think would also enjoy your content/offers!

Tip #73
Ask questions and ask for advice

One of the best ways to keep a conversation going is to ask questions! Every good question deserves an answer. Try asking your subscribers different questions around the subject of your email. It may take a couple tries to get responses, but the right question will definitely keep the conversation going.

It will also build a stronger relationship with your subscriber – they’ll see your personality, curiosity and your commitment to getting things right.

Aside from asking questions, use your email newsletters as a survey tool for gathering advice and customer feedback. Let your customers know that you are listening to them by telling them what you’ve learned – and what you plan to do to continuously improve your campaigns. There is no better way to improve your email campaigns than listening to your subscribers’ advice. What do THEY want to hear about? What issues are top of mind for them? What can YOU do to improve their experience while reading your newsletters?

If you use their advice, you will likely see a boost in your metrics and you will have happy subscribers to boot!

Tip #74
Promote a contest through your newsletters

Having a contest is a great way to get your customers involved with your business! Use your email marketing campaigns to promote your contests by sending daily, weekly, or monthly updates and reminders. Promoting your contests through your newsletter will keep your contest top-of-mind, especially if your subscribers aren’t visiting your site or store often.

Contests are a fun and easy way to engage customers with you and your business. They are also a good way to get them to remember you – especially if you are creative!

People keep saying ‘email is dead,’ but it’s thriving and stronger than ever

2009-10-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

A recent Wall Street Journal article declaring that email’s reign as the king of communications was over and social media has taken its place sparked a wave of controversy on the Web. Critiques of the article appeared on Slashdot, in Mediapost’s Email Insider and SmallBusinessNewz.com, just to name a few online outlets. Most of the responses countered Vascellaro’s view. Granted, I’m biased – but I agree that she’s missing the point.

What many of the email naysayers miss is email’s value as a cost-effective way for businesses to stay in touch with customers and build long lasting and profitable relationships. Social media like blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook can also play an important role, but there’s no reason for businesses to choose one over the other. The most effective marketing programs use an integrated approach and provide customers with choices.

And there’s no denying the ample studies showing that the majority of consumers still prefer email marketing communications from businesses and brands they know. Just scan the Inside Campaigner blog and many other small business blogs and marketing news sites and you’ll find all kinds of email marketing success stories.

What to take from all of this? Keep up with your email marketing and don’t be afraid to try other tools and technologies like blogs, Twitter, social networking sites and member communities.

You can even check out the Campaigner Community that we recently launched to help small businesses, entrepreneurs, and marketers network and share email marketing and business growth tips.

Click here and come see what Campaigner Community is all about!
http://community.campaigner.com/

Email and Search: Like Yin and Yang

2009-10-08T11:54:00.001-07:00

I recently read an article on ADOTAS by Blaine Mathieu called Email Yin and Search Yang: A Symbiotic Relationship that provided a very good explanation as to why search engine marketing and email marketing should not be thought of as two separate tactics, instead be thought of as going hand-in-hand.

Blaine explains that search can boost email campaigns when potential customers type in specific keywords, driving them to a landing page that directs visitors to a sign-up box for your newsletter.

Likewise, email marketing helps your SEO campaigns by being automatically optimized for the web – the use of widgets, links to your website, Facebook or Twitter pages, etc. spread your campaigns to a broader audience, increasing your search results.

It’s important to think about how you can leverage all your marketing campaigns in order to produce the best results all around.

Is Search the Yin and Search the Yang in your campaigns?

Are you in control of your relationships?

2009-10-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Do you feel like you’re in control of the customer relationship? In today’s economy - and arguably into the future - control may not be on the side of the small business owner. In fact Jim Blasingame, the influential small business expert, puts it right out there when he says ‘The Force is with the customer.’ He argues that control over dissemination of information, which once was in the hands of sales and marketing, has shifted - thanks to the Internet and other new media tools and outlets - to the consumer.

Email marketing can help you retain control over your messages and build a strong relationship with customers. Email encourages dialog between your customers and your brand - and lets customers you care about their interests.

How do you use email to control your message and build customer relationships?

This Week’s Tips: More Bang for Your Buck

2009-10-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Tip #69
Bolster email marketing results with program-specific landing pages

Create landing pages for every email campaign. This tactic takes time but pays dividends by making it easier to see who’s responding, how quickly and which messages or keywords are working.

Embed a relevant keyword in the program page URL
Consider issuing a press release that uses keywords to increase visibility and SEO rankings
Include links to content assets on your website
Track results daily and adjust

Tip #70
Repurpose email content into a blog for a SEO visibility boost

Never orphan content. Create a virtuous circle by repurposing content from your email marketing campaigns into blog copy, as website copy, as point-of-purchase pamphlets or promotions, even as press releases which can be distributed using free sites.

Ensure you have sufficient keyword density. A range between five and 20 percent is good.
Place keywords in multiple locations: title text, headers, subject line, URLs, top of the page, middle and bottom.
Vary treatment: use bold and italic fonts to draw attention.

Tip #71
Surround text links with relevant keywords

Inserting text links into your email will bring customers and prospects to your site; amplify this effect by surrounding text links with relevant keywords.

Cross-link to relevant content within your site. If you notice one page gets more traffic than others, analyze which keywords are driving the traffic and sprinkle them through the content on other pages. Keep the whole site performing!

This Week’s Tips: SEO for Better Results

2009-10-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Tip #66
It’s not an either/or - coordinate SEO and Email Marketing for best results

Search engine optimization (SEO) may seem like a luxury a small business can’t afford, but its importance in driving consistent traffic to your website - or bricks-and-mortar store - is indisputable. Email’s strength - building deep relationships with customers - complements SEO and uses the power of the Web to connect buyer intent, message relevance, email frequency and conversion rates.

If you’re not using SEO yet and aren’t sure where to start, take heart - you don’t need to bring in an SEO expert to begin to benefit from search. Here are a few pointers:

Identify your audience(s). Know who is on the other side of the conversation in advance. Speak to your audience in everything you do online, using the words and phrases most familiar to them.
Think in keywords. SEO is driven primarily by key words and phrases that are most relevant to your target audience(s).
Start small but be strategic. Choose a topic or promotion and begin to plan a campaign. Look at competitors’ sites and see what they are promoting, read industry news and then create content - for both email and web - that references what’s hot.
Explore free tools. Look at Google Webmaster Central for advice and use Google Analytics. You can pay for other services, and they are valuable once you’ve increased your SEO sophistication, but ‘free’ is a great place to start!
Make it easy for people receiving your email to find your website by inserting the same keywords in headlines, title tags, URLs and promotional copy
Include links to your email newsletter prominently on the home page of your website - and check frequently for broken links.
Install analytics on your web site and monitor results - and your traffic logs - frequently. See who you are reaching and identify the content that most interests them.

Tip #67
Start SEO and email campaign planning with keyword research

Keywords are signals of buyer intent, so it’s a vital first step to do keyword research and use keywords in your email creative that align your marketing messages across media and channels. Keyword research isn’t something you do once - it’s an iterative process that will help you hone the messages you use in all communications.

Many keyword research tools are available. An obvious place to start research is Google. Google’s keyword tool can help you mine keywords that match the messages on your website.
Look at search frequency and keyword cost, and triangulate on your unique selling proposition to come up with your top 25 or 50 keywords.
Check your competitors to see which keywords they are using and then evaluate which ones express your competitive advantages in terms that will resonate with your customers.

Tip #68
Choose lower-cost keywords at first

SEO mistakes can be costly, even if you’re not using pay-per-click advertising, because using the wrong keywords will direct customers and prospects away from you. Limit the damage early by avoiding the top-ranked or most competitive keywords or phrases; instead choose lower-ranked words or phrases and test, test, test! As your SEO rankings climb, you can be more selective and use higher-ranked keywords.

This Week’s Tips: Get the Most from Your Reports

2009-09-29T07:13:00.001-07:00

Tip #63
Use report data to remove dead contacts

Stop sending emails to addresses that are no longer valid. People often have multiple email accounts – and for whatever reason your subscriber might decide to drop one or more of their accounts. (Remember, Google, Yahoo, etc. offer free email accounts, so no one is breaking the bank if they decide to get a different email address) Get rid of dead contacts and make room for new ones.

Think those contacts are going to rise from the dead and somehow respond to your campaign? Think again! Keeping your list updated is vital to a campaigns success.

Tip #64
Track the growth of your email list

Watch your list grow! Use your reports to view your email list growth by source - website sign-up, forwarded emails, etc. You can also see who has forwarded an email to a friend, when a new contact joins your email list and who is opting out of your email list.

This is all important information to pay attention to – it shows how valuable your subscribers feel your newsletter is. The more people are signing-up and forwarding – the more you can be certain that you are providing them with valuable information!

Tip #65
Set Goals – Use your Reports and Metrics to your Advantage

Now that you are aware of how your can use your campaign reports. Set goals for yourself so you are constantly improving your campaigns.

Wish your click-through rate was better? Keep trying! Sometimes it can be as easy as trying to place links in different spots in your campaign’s body. However, you’ll never find out what works best until you try.

Don’t give up! Keep an eye on your reports to reach all your email marketing goals.

101 Tips for Small Business September Podcast

2009-09-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

We recently created a podcast reviewing tips released in September as part of our 101 Tips for Getting Started with Email Marketing Campaign. The podcast discusses how to coordinate SEO and email marketing to produce better campaign results.

In the podcast you’ll learn how to enhance your campaign by formatting for mobile, integrating with CRM and utilizing your metrics and reports. Tips in September also discussed integrating customer contact information, sending both HTML and Text emails and merging CRM and email contacts for better targeting and segmentation.

Listen in and start receiving the benefits of enhancing your campaign today!

Reward your customers with online coupons!

2009-09-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

Recently, internetnews.com published a short article about Yahoo launching a site that promoted online coupons, deals and exclusive promotions. After reading the article, I thought about how email marketing can be used as a great way for businesses to reward customers with such offers. Almost a “Thank You for Subscribing” type of deal.

I would love to know if you offer coupons in your email campaigns and, if so, what types of deals do you offer to subscribers?

This Week’s Tips: The Power of Reports

2009-09-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Tip# 60
Always check your reports

Think of checking your reports as important as checking the expiration date of food that’s been sitting in the back of your refrigerator. You would pour a cup of that milk before checking the expiration date, wouldn’t you?

Sounds simple, but reports are often overlooked. Make sure you take the time to look over your reports – they’re full of valuable information that you are vital to the success of your future campaigns.

Tip# 61
Use your reports to compare campaigns

Reports give you the bounce rate, open rate and click-through rate of each campaign. Do a side-by–side comparison of your campaigns to learn what worked and what didn’t. Use this information to your advantage!

Tip# 62
Use the data in your reports to improve and customize campaigns

Use your data to make your next campaign stronger than the one before. You can even create a new email list based on data captured from a specific email campaign. If a special offer triggered a lot of click-throughs, you can make sure to use a similar one again.

Also, once you see what your subscribers responded to, you can segment your list to target future campaigns to the specific interests of specific individuals.

Even the big guys make mistakes – check and double check before you hit send

2009-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

I recently came across a post on MarketingProfs about an email from Nikon that – inadvertently or not – came off as a bait-and-switch or really a bait-and-nothing!

In the email, when the recipient clicked on the link for the special offer mentioned in the subject line, he was sent to a landing page completely unrelated to the offer. There was no information about the special offer or even the product on the landing page. Even the form on the landing page didn’t work. With this email, Nikon lost a prime opportunity to make a sale and strengthen a relationship with an existing customer. It’s interesting that even a big company like Nikon can make mistakes in their email marketing campaigns.

So the lesson learned here is that no matter what size business you are - before you hit send, always take a final look at your email communications from a customer's perspective and make sure what you're saying, offering or asking your customers to do in terms of call-to-action comes through clearly. It is vital to be simple, direct and clear in all of your email communications - starting with the subject line and carrying that clarity throughout the body of the email.

How well do you check your emails before you send them? Is information on what you're offering clear and easy to access?

This Week’s Tips: More on Contact Management

2009-09-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

Tip# 57
Maintain CRM and email lists to ensure deliverability

Collecting contact information and scheduling a campaign is only half the battle - the real test of marketing success is deliverability. Make sure your email reaches the right recipient by maintaining your email lists and CRM data.

Don’t be reported as a spammer - send campaigns only to those on your lists who have opted in.
Let customers know how often to expect email - and don’t step up frequency unexpectedly.
Include an opt-out mechanism with every campaign.

Tip# 58
Purchased email lists - do they belong in your CRM and email databases?

It’s tempting to buy lists but in keeping with best practices, this is not something we recommend.

Generally speaking, data you collect is more valuable than purchased lists, because you’ve established a relationship with the contact by inviting them to share their contact information.
Most purchased lists are valid only for a set number of mailings.
If you do purchase a list, make sure the campaign includes several opportunities to opt-in - and check campaign analytics to see which ones work best.

Tip# 59
Managing subscriptions - and unsubscribes

Keep on top of subscriptions and unsubscribes to maintain the value of your email lists, and cross-check that information with data in your CRM system.

Make it easy for customers to opt-out and you’re less likely to alienate them - and they may be more willing to sign up at a later date.
Follow CAN-SPAM directives by removing opt-outs from your list within 10 days.
Monitor open rates - if they’re declining, you may see a drop in subscribers. Tweak copy or subject lines, or re-evaluate your list segmentation.
Learn the difference between a hard bounce, soft bounce, and a suppression list.
Cross-check CRM lists and suppression lists to make sure your sales channel and marketing efforts aren’t in conflict.