Thursday, April 22, 2010
12 Email Marketing Tips For a Small Business
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Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of advertising for small businesses. In order to be successful on the internet and maximise the benefits of the internet, a small business needs to implement a result driven marketing strategy on the internet. The real benefits of the internet can be realised only if a business is able to use the internet to market its products and services.
Email marketing is one of the most effective and fastest growing marketing channels. One of the first steps in a successful email marketing campaign is to build an email distribution list of potential customers. A business can build an email list from a variety of sources including its website.
Managing a substantially large email marketing campaign will require a well planned strategy and may involve the services of a professional marketing company. If you do not have a large email list then it can be purchased easily from a direct marketing company that specialises in email list management. A business can also collect email addresses from potential customers via a newsletter registration form on the website.
Following are some 12 email marketing tips for a small business:
1. Start building an email marketing list of customers
If you do not have an email marketing list you can start building one now. Whether you have a small or a large client base, you can start by first including your existing customers on your email marketing list which you can build upon with time. A small business can start an email marketing campaign from a relatively small list which can expand with time. As new enquiries are received, the list can be expanded. It is a common practice to purchase targeted email list from a professional marketing company.
2. Email registration on your website
Offering customer with a way to register via your website is probably one of the easiest ways to build your own email list. A registration form can be added to your website with ease. The placement of the email registration feature on your website is important and has an impact t on conversion rates. It should be placed on a prominent place on the website. If your website uses a content management system then most likely the newsletter registration feature will be built in.
3. Start a Marketing Newsletter
Sending newsletters to your customers is one of the most effective email marketing techniques. You can start a newsletter on a topic related to our industry. The newsletter can be weekly, monthly or even quarterly. A newsletter provides an excellent opportunity to communicate with your customers on regular basis. You can use the newsletter to subsequently market your own products or services.
4. Improve awareness of your email marketing list
You can take some simple steps to increase the popularity of your email marketing newsletters and growing your email list. Creating a quality marketing email or newsletter requires time and effort so it is best sent out to as many people as possible.
Following are some simple methods to improve awareness about your marketing newsletter or email list and encourage people to register:
o Include a link to register for emails in all email correspondence.
o Include information about your email newsletter in invoices, purchase orders and other company documents.
o Include email registration link in a prominent place on your website and blog.
o Let your team know to inform customers about your marketing newsletter at every opportunity they get.
o Create an incentive to subscribe to your email or company newsletter e.g. discount coupons or prize draws.
5. Follow data protection act
It is vital that you respect customer's privacy and take all steps necessary to protect customer data collected by your email marketing campaigns. You should not share information without prior consent from the customer. Your email marketing list should be opt in. When customers register their email address they are agreeing to receive marketing emails from you. If you purchase opt-in email marketing lists, you should do so from reliable sources only.
6. Send quality marketing emails
Nothing can be worse fro your branding than sending out a poorly designed marketing email to customers. You should research the content of your marketing email and plan your marketing campaign in advance. The content of the marketing email should be well researched and offer value to customers. It is OK to promote your products and business in your emails but you should try and offer a variety of information. A well balanced email is more likely to succeed than a purely promotional email. If the email you send is full of self promotion and does not offer real value then customers are likely to un-subscribe or opt-out form receiving emails in future. Focus on quality over quantity.
7. Select an appropriate subject for the marketing email
A good subject for the marketing email plays a vital role in deciding how many emails are opened and read by customers. It is important to choose the subject of the email with careful thought and consideration.
8. Design and Layout:
You should plan the structure of the email with care. The layout should be clutter free and easy to read. The design should be clean and minimalist. Use images carefully. Any images used should be optimised for fast loading time. The design should reflect your brand. You should also Include your logo and contact information.
9. Clean-up your email marketing list from time to time:
If you are maintaining your own email list then you should perform basic list maintenance tasks periodically. Any un-subscribed user should be removed from the list immediately. Similarly all old or not working email addresses should be removed. It is better to categorise your list in to different categories so you can pan your emails and send specific information to specific groups. At the same time any new contacts should be added so they are not left out in the next email you send out.
10. Test your marketing campaigns
Whether you send out regular emails or send then less frequently, it is vital that you test your email marketing campaign properly before you send them out. A spell check should be performed. Any links in the email should be checked to see if they are not broken. A good technique is to send a copy to yourself first.
11. Measure the performance of your Email Marketing campaigns
It is important to measure the success or failure of your email marketing campaigns. There are many ways to monitor the performance. The ultimate measure of success is the number of enquiries you receive as a direct result of your marketing emails. Statistics related to your campaign can provide a useful insight. Most email marketing software will allow you to monitor deliver rate, response rate, click rate and so on. You can find out how many emails were delivered, how many were opened and even how many links in the email were clicked. You can use this information to judge the effectiveness of each email that is sent and to plan and improvise on future campaigns.
12. Call to action
An effective marketing email should encourage users to take an action. Including a call to action statement in your marketing emails can improve the chances of conversion. A call to action can be anything from a request for more information to a link to buy a product.
The Internet marketing blog discusses email marketing techniques and other ways and to market your website.
K.Singh is a Technology Consultant for Web Design Company, Kronik Media. Kronik Media specialise in bespoke web design, Ecommerce, Joomla and Search engine optimisation.
Article Source: K Singh
Labels: 12 email marketing tips, business, marketing tips, small business, tips for a small
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Monday, April 19, 2010
Email Marketing... Still King of the Internet
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What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is, as the name suggests, the use of email in marketing communications. Marketing via email is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. It is also referred to by similar terms known as: bulk emailing, mass emailing, email advertising, email promotions, email ad campaigns, emailing service, email ad promotions, web emailing, e-mailing, e-mail marketing, opt-in emailing, opt-in emailing, email list management, email web advertising, direct email marketing, email marketing solution, bulk email marketing software, email marketing campaign, email promotion internet marketing, email management, email data management.
Email marketing is one of the most successful methods of marketing ever developed. By far it is one of the most effective and inexpensive methods of advertising available to you. If you have an email marketing strategy and if that strategy works then mail marketing is very affordable and effective. Because email is much cheaper than most other forms of communication it ranks high in popularity. This form of marketing lets you deliver your message to your potential market (unlike a website, where the people have to come to your message).
Email marketing has proven very successful for those who do it right. Often it is reported as second only to search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic. Emailing is routinely used as a way to advertise a product, company, or an opportunity. The underlying concept with sending emails to your market is all about relationship building. Email marketing is about developing a relationship with your recipients and building of trust. But be aware, if they feel you are misusing or abusing that relationship they will not hesitate to report you as a spammer.
Software
Apart from cost of email marketing software and Internet connection there is not any other substantial cost that a marketer has to bear to execute a successful email marketing campaign. With the help of email marketing software, even individuals doing business from home are improving their marketing communications and adding new business. Using email marketing software is a very inexpensive and effective way to create email marketing campaigns that are professional quality. Utilizing email software is a great way to contact your site visitors again and again with information about your products and services. Customization with the help of email software enables you to address your consumer by their first name in the subject line. Many email marketing software applications allow you to pre-schedule the mail delivery date and time and send it automatically, so that you don't miss out. Many bulk email marketing software services track the number of users that have responded by opening your mail or replying to your email. Keep in mind though, before using email software or doing any bulk email marketing, make sure you comply with all spam regulations and the rules of your own web host.
Make sure you use reliable and well-recognized email management software. One of the most powerful and highly recommended sources for web based emailing software that will help you automate your email marketing efforts is the Constant Contact email management system. It may sound daunting at first for those who do not use computers too much, but let me tell you from experience, it takes only a few hours to learn how to use the software and only a few minutes to create new emails to send out in bulk.
Email Marketing is Still King of the Internet
Email marketing is the perfect medium to pick up where other marketing leaves off. Email marketing is still very popular because sending email is much cheaper than most other forms of communication. It is an extremely cost effective way of reaching your potential market. Since email marketing is one of the most successful means of advertising ever developed, you should be using it. As you may already know, it costs a lot more to acquire a new customer then it does to keep an existing one, and email marketing is your secret weapon in your marketing toolbox when it comes to
customer retention.
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Article Source: Kevin T. Smith
Labels: email marketing, king of the internet, still king, the internet
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Friday, April 16, 2010
Mastering Email Marketing
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Affiliate marketers depend upon having their marketing emails opened, read, and acted upon. Unless those three things happen, the affiliate marketer will pretty much be out of the affiliate marketing business.
If you are formatted your email correctly and it is readable in all email programs, then you just need to be certain that you have done everything possible to encourage the recipients to:
Open the email: The subject line is one of the two determining factors of whether an email is in fact opened or sent unopened and unread to the deleted mail file of the recipient. The first factor is who the email is from. Since the recipient opted into your list, it is fair to assume that they want to get email from you. The second factor is the subject line.
Most autoresponders allow 50 character long subject lines. Only the first 25 or less have any real value. You must use those 25 words to entice the recipient into opening the email to see what you have to say.
Personalize the email in the subject line. Your autoreponder will allow you to do this. "John, you can save money and get a free gift!" is much more effective than just, "You can save money and get a free gift!" So first, personalize your subject line.
The word, "free" has been maligned but do not believe everything you hear. People like free. Everybody likes free....poor people, middle class people and maybe especially rich people.
There are other words that have proven to be effective in subject lines as well. Ease or easy, magic or magical, are some of them. You must use some mystery and some tease in your subject line, in order to get the recipients to open them.
Read the email: Once the recipient has been convinced to open the marketing email from you, the next trick is to get them to read what you have to say. The problem is that most computer users do not in fact READ anything. They SCAN. So it is up to you to get them to actually slow down and really read what you have to say.
The email must be interesting. If you can start with a story....and I'm not talking about a novel...I am talking about a two line story, you can get their attention. "Bill thought of himself as a loser until he tried our product." This is a story.
You must include bullet points in order to make your marketing email easy to read. You do not ever want to include large blocks of text. Short simple bulleted points that list the advantages that your product can provide will make it easy for the recipients to see the important facts as a glance.
Act on the email: Once you have convinced the recipients to open and read your marketing email, the next step is to get them to actually act on your suggestions you have made, (i.e. buy what you are selling).
The first thing you need to do is to make the link for ordering your product or service easy to see. Remember to never word-wrap links. All email programs don't deliver email with word wrapped links. All the recipient will see is the word...the link will not be included.
The second thing to do is to either make the offer for a specific limited time (midnight on Thursday, November 30th) and not just say "limited time" or to limit the offer to a specific number of people (this offer is limited to the first 200 applicants) and not just limited space is available.
Common Mistakes People Make when Writing Promo Emails:
There are at least as many ways to do a promotional email wrong as there are ways to get it right. One of the first mistakes that affiliate marketers make when writing their promo emails is that they...
Lose sight of the objective: The ONLY objective of a marketing email is to sell the product or service that you are promoting to the members of your opt-in list. Every word of the email needs to be directed at realizing that one objective.
See their list as email addresses: An opt-in list is much more than a list of names and email addresses. It is a list of people! Real, live, human people are what make up your opt-in list. You must market your product or service to humans and not email addresses.
Fail to provide themselves with the right tools for the job: If you are painting a room, you need paintbrushes, paint rollers, drop cloths, etc. If you are send promotional emails, you need the right tools for the job, as well.
Use weak and ineffective subject lines: Most auto responders allow you to use up to 50 characters in a subject line. The first 25 of those characters are what stands between the marketer and an email that actually opened and read. (The second 25 should be left on the table.) If marketing emails are deleted without being read, they are totally useless. Writing powerful, attention-getting subject lines that inspire recipients to open your marketing emails is an ability that needs to be developed to a high degree of expertise.
Effective subject lines are short, to the point, have a tease quality and never promise more than what will be delivered in the attached marketing email.
Use all capital letters: The use of all capital letters in any kind of email is the equivalent of shouting or yelling at a person that you are having a real world conversation with. It is rude and completely unproductive. Do not yell at the members of your opt-in list. All capital letters do not draw attention nor convey excitement.
Use a lot of exclamation points: One exclamation point at the end of a sentence means that the sentence is an exclamatory one. Multiple exclamation points at the end of a sentence are another form of yelling and they do not denote added excitement. They are taking up valuable space in your marketing email and maybe even irritating the recipients.
Never use bullet points: It is a known fact that people do not read marketing emails word for word. People scan marketing emails. Marketing emails need to be easy to SCAN. The use of bullet points makes it easy for recipients to easily identify the important information that is contained in the email. You should always use bullet points for the main points that you are making in your marketing email.
Make their emails too long: Marketing emails should be short. They shouldn't have a scroll bar and they should only be 300 to 400 words long. They should never contain large blocks of text. It will not be read.
Fail to use the P.S. line effectively: The P.S. line(s) of a marketing email appear last but they are as important as the first word of a marketing email. The P.S. line needs to be used to hit the most important aspect of the email again or as a tease for an upcoming email.
Email marketing is a critical element for any successful internet marketing. Take time to learn these specific tips and they will pay you back 100 fold!
Article Source: PJ Germain
If you are formatted your email correctly and it is readable in all email programs, then you just need to be certain that you have done everything possible to encourage the recipients to:
Open the email: The subject line is one of the two determining factors of whether an email is in fact opened or sent unopened and unread to the deleted mail file of the recipient. The first factor is who the email is from. Since the recipient opted into your list, it is fair to assume that they want to get email from you. The second factor is the subject line.
Most autoresponders allow 50 character long subject lines. Only the first 25 or less have any real value. You must use those 25 words to entice the recipient into opening the email to see what you have to say.
Personalize the email in the subject line. Your autoreponder will allow you to do this. "John, you can save money and get a free gift!" is much more effective than just, "You can save money and get a free gift!" So first, personalize your subject line.
The word, "free" has been maligned but do not believe everything you hear. People like free. Everybody likes free....poor people, middle class people and maybe especially rich people.
There are other words that have proven to be effective in subject lines as well. Ease or easy, magic or magical, are some of them. You must use some mystery and some tease in your subject line, in order to get the recipients to open them.
Read the email: Once the recipient has been convinced to open the marketing email from you, the next trick is to get them to read what you have to say. The problem is that most computer users do not in fact READ anything. They SCAN. So it is up to you to get them to actually slow down and really read what you have to say.
The email must be interesting. If you can start with a story....and I'm not talking about a novel...I am talking about a two line story, you can get their attention. "Bill thought of himself as a loser until he tried our product." This is a story.
You must include bullet points in order to make your marketing email easy to read. You do not ever want to include large blocks of text. Short simple bulleted points that list the advantages that your product can provide will make it easy for the recipients to see the important facts as a glance.
Act on the email: Once you have convinced the recipients to open and read your marketing email, the next step is to get them to actually act on your suggestions you have made, (i.e. buy what you are selling).
The first thing you need to do is to make the link for ordering your product or service easy to see. Remember to never word-wrap links. All email programs don't deliver email with word wrapped links. All the recipient will see is the word...the link will not be included.
The second thing to do is to either make the offer for a specific limited time (midnight on Thursday, November 30th) and not just say "limited time" or to limit the offer to a specific number of people (this offer is limited to the first 200 applicants) and not just limited space is available.
Common Mistakes People Make when Writing Promo Emails:
There are at least as many ways to do a promotional email wrong as there are ways to get it right. One of the first mistakes that affiliate marketers make when writing their promo emails is that they...
Lose sight of the objective: The ONLY objective of a marketing email is to sell the product or service that you are promoting to the members of your opt-in list. Every word of the email needs to be directed at realizing that one objective.
See their list as email addresses: An opt-in list is much more than a list of names and email addresses. It is a list of people! Real, live, human people are what make up your opt-in list. You must market your product or service to humans and not email addresses.
Fail to provide themselves with the right tools for the job: If you are painting a room, you need paintbrushes, paint rollers, drop cloths, etc. If you are send promotional emails, you need the right tools for the job, as well.
Use weak and ineffective subject lines: Most auto responders allow you to use up to 50 characters in a subject line. The first 25 of those characters are what stands between the marketer and an email that actually opened and read. (The second 25 should be left on the table.) If marketing emails are deleted without being read, they are totally useless. Writing powerful, attention-getting subject lines that inspire recipients to open your marketing emails is an ability that needs to be developed to a high degree of expertise.
Effective subject lines are short, to the point, have a tease quality and never promise more than what will be delivered in the attached marketing email.
Use all capital letters: The use of all capital letters in any kind of email is the equivalent of shouting or yelling at a person that you are having a real world conversation with. It is rude and completely unproductive. Do not yell at the members of your opt-in list. All capital letters do not draw attention nor convey excitement.
Use a lot of exclamation points: One exclamation point at the end of a sentence means that the sentence is an exclamatory one. Multiple exclamation points at the end of a sentence are another form of yelling and they do not denote added excitement. They are taking up valuable space in your marketing email and maybe even irritating the recipients.
Never use bullet points: It is a known fact that people do not read marketing emails word for word. People scan marketing emails. Marketing emails need to be easy to SCAN. The use of bullet points makes it easy for recipients to easily identify the important information that is contained in the email. You should always use bullet points for the main points that you are making in your marketing email.
Make their emails too long: Marketing emails should be short. They shouldn't have a scroll bar and they should only be 300 to 400 words long. They should never contain large blocks of text. It will not be read.
Fail to use the P.S. line effectively: The P.S. line(s) of a marketing email appear last but they are as important as the first word of a marketing email. The P.S. line needs to be used to hit the most important aspect of the email again or as a tease for an upcoming email.
Email marketing is a critical element for any successful internet marketing. Take time to learn these specific tips and they will pay you back 100 fold!
Article Source: PJ Germain
Labels: email, email marketing, marketing, mastering email
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