Category: Email Marketing

Although many companies are warming up to social networking as an effective marketing tool, it’s important to remember that social networking is most powerful as a marketing tool when it is integrated with other marketing initiatives, such as email campaigns. People use social networking sites to pass along information and share with others, so it can be useful to set up your social networking profiles to “play nice” with your email campaigns to improve your results and overall marketing effectiveness.

Integration is Key
Integrating your social profiles with your email marketing initiatives can be as simple as including links to your Facebook business page or Twitter account in your email signature, or as sophisticated as using a “Share With Your Network” (SWYN) button in your email campaigns, allowing recipients to share your emails with others in their networks right from the message itself. Another option is to include special “share” links available from social networking sites (e.g., http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.yoursite.com/email.htm for Facebook) that lets users share your email message with their own contacts with just one mouse click.

One of the key benefits of integrating your social networking profiles with your email campaigns is that you give your email campaigns a chance to reach countless additional people that you may not have otherwise reached. The viral nature of social media means that when users find information that they like, they share it with the people in their own networks, who in turn share it with their contact lists, and so on. By integrating social media with email campaigns, you can make it easy for your recipients to propel your message out to their social network contacts, with the chance your message will travel even further from there.

Make It Two-Way
In addition to using email campaigns to promote your social media profiles, you can also give social network users the chance to opt-in to your email list as well. For instance, you can add your email signup box to your Facebook business page using FBML (Facebook Mark Up Language). Or, you could add a link to an email signup page on your web site to your profiles on LinkedIn or Twitter. The idea is to make it easy (and obvious) for people to join your mailing list and opt-in to receiving communication from your business on a regular basis.

Getting the Word Out
The content of your email campaigns can be re-used in your social media profiles, which is a great way to help your message find its way to new audiences. For instance, if you are sending out monthly coupons to your email list, why not add the coupons to your Facebook business page as well? Or you could use Twitter to announce the coupons at the beginning of the month (including a link to the coupons on your site), then send a Twitter reminder a few days before the coupons expire.

For business events, email and social media are both very effective for promotion, but are even more powerful when used together. For example, after sending out an event invitation via email to your list, you could post the information as an “Event” on both Facebook and LinkedIn, and use Twitter to broadcast a link back to the Events, or even include a link to more information, the event location or maps, or online registration form on your web site.

Social Media is Definitely Here to Stay
Whether you’re new to social media or you’re already using it as a marketing tool for your business, you can make your email campaigns work harder by integrating them with your social media profiles. Integration means that your marketing efforts can be centralized and shared; for example, making your Facebook business page “talk to” your Twitter account and your LinkedIn profile, as well as showing off your latest email coupon offers and e-newsletter articles.

By integrating your social networking profiles with your email marketing campaigns, you can take advantage of the viral nature of social media and potentially reach new, untapped customers and potential customers, and re-use your email messages across new channels. Combine the two, and you can make your online marketing even more effective than by using either channel on its own.

Headlines aren’t just for newspapers, of course. But they are typically the first thing that customers read in your ads, in your e-newsletter articles, on your web pages, and even in your emails. A headline that grabs attention can immediately engage customers and pique their interest – or it can be skimmed over and ignored as they move on to something else. But since headlines are responsible for up to 80% of a customer’s response, here are some ideas for writing headlines that boost those response rates and attract lots of attention from readers:

1. Give Tips, Hints, or Information – One of the best ways to grab attention is to use a list of tips or hints in your headline. The “top 10 ways to”, “tips to help you”, or “the best ideas for” are sure-fire ways to get attention from readers.
2. Use a How-To – Another tried-and-true attention grabber is using a “how-to” teaser in your headline. Customers love free advice or gaining new information, and “how-to” headlines are a great way to clue in your readers that you’re about to give them something they already want.
3. Ask a Question – Involve your customers immediately by asking a question in your headline. Make sure the question is relevant to both their interests and your products or services. Use a question that will make them curious enough to read what comes after the headline.
4. Make an Announcement – People love something new, so write your headline to announce something in a way they’ve not heard it before. Use words like “Introducing,” “New,” and “Announcing” as a way to generate excitement.
5. Point Out the Benefits – Let your customers know right away that your message will help them in some way, or fill a need that they have. Touch on the benefits in your headline, then provide the supporting detail in the content of your offer.

Writing powerful headlines can be the spark you need to capture your customers’ attention and compel them to keep reading your message. And once you get their attention, you have an opportunity to convince them with your content and motivate them to respond. If you can write effective headlines for your ads, articles, and web pages, you greatly improve the odds that your content will be noticed instead of neglected.

Imagine a low-cost e-marketing tool that your customers look forward to receiving, reminds them of who you are and what you do, supports your web site and search engine efforts, and has results that can be measured almost instantly.  Sound good to you?

I’m talking about an E-Newsletter, which is simply the best e-marketing tool that you’re not using.

What’s so great about E-Newsletters? Well for starters, businesses that regularly send E-Newsletters typically have higher customer retention rates, better name recognition, and gain a competitive advantage over businesses that do not regularly send E-Newsletters. 

So why are small businesses seemingly hesitant about sending E-Newsletters to their customers and prospects?  It could be that they lack the staff (or confidence) to write articles, or maybe the time commitment required to make E-Newsletters a regular marketing activity seems too big.  Although these are valid concerns, they are small in comparison to the benefits gained by implementing this highly successful e-marketing tool.  To help your business take advantage of this invaluable web strategy, try these tips:

1. If you’re not comfortable writing your own articles, try using free, syndicated articles from sources such as www.goarticles.com or www.ezinearticles.com (two sites where Biz Talk articles are syndicated as well).  All you have to do is include the author’s resource info at the end of the article, and you can reprint it in your E-Newsletter at no cost.  You can search for articles by subject, title, or author to find articles that would be valuable and interesting to your own readers.
2. Include a section in your E-Newsletter that highlights your company’s value proposition or showcases something special about your business.  Change this section each month to include a special offer or announcement.
3. Add each E-Newsletter issue to your web site, and make sure you include links with good anchor text back to the other pages on your site.  Consider creating a newsletter archive or adding each issue to your “What’s New” page.|
4. Avoid using your E-Newsletter as a sales pitch. Instead, focus on providing your readers with useful information that reinforces a positive image of your company and helps establish you as an expert in your industry.
5. Be consistent in sending out each issue.  Sending E-Newsletters sporadically can cause a disconnect with your customers and may instead only remind them that they haven’t received an E-Newsletter from you in a long time.  Put your E-Newsletter on your marketing schedule and then stick to it.

After your E-Newsletter has been sent out, be sure to review the results of your campaign in the stats tracking section of your listserv service.  Take note of which topics receive clicks, and which topics don’t seem to generate much interest from your readers.  After several months of watching your stats, you will probably see patterns emerge that can help you fine-tune your E-Newsletter content to better match your readers’ needs and interests.

So in building a strong web strategy for your small business, don’t forget to include E-Newsletters as a way to reach your customers and prospects on a regular basis with a welcome addition to their inboxes.

If you’re like most people, you are probably inundated with email messages filling up your inbox all day long. As a small business, you also probably know that sending out email marketing campaigns is one of the most effective, inexpensive marketing methods available today. So what’s the secret to getting your e-mail campaigns to stand out in the inboxes of your customers and prospects?

There are three key components to any email campaign, and knowing what they are and how to use them can really improve your results. The three components are:

1. The “from” name. This is the most important component recipients use to decide whether they will open an email message or not. If they don’t recognize the “from” name, chances are the message will be deleted or marked as sp@m. Make sure that recipients can recognize your company or product in the “from” name so that they feel confident about reading the email message.
2. The subject line. A good subject line can spark interest and motivate a recipient to open the message immediately. Too often the subject line is an after thought and created at the last minute, often right before the campaign is launched. The subject line should be written as part of the campaign to ensure it is compelling and introduces the email appropriately. Try to keep the subject line short and specific; typically around 50 characters. Long subject lines can be truncated when displayed in an inbox, and typically do not perform as well as short subject lines.
3. The preview pane. In addition to the “from” name and the subject line, most users can also see the top portion of the email in the preview pane of their email utility. The size of the preview can vary among different email services and settings, but users can usually see the beginning of the email even without clicking on anything. Take advantage of this feature by making your e-campaigns attention-grabbing and attractive, even with the images turned off. Also, keep the most important information above the fold so recipients can immediately see your offer even if they don’t scroll through the rest of the message.

Email marketing is quickly becoming a standard part of small business marketing, but it can be successful only when recipients are motivated to read the content of the message. By using these three components effectively, you can help your e-campaign stand out in the crowd of messages that arrive in your customers’ inbox every day.

No matter what you call it – economic slow down, one-state recession, troubled economy – you’ve probably noticed that business is a little sluggish for many companies today. No doubt times are tough, especially here in Michigan, and that has prompted lots of small businesses to tighten up their spending and budgets to compensate for the change in revenue. It makes perfect sense, of course, but the challenge for many companies comes when deciding which expenses to cut back on, and by how much.

When business slows down, it’s tempting to cut back on marketing and advertising activities since these are often considered to be non-essential expenses. But if your sales have slowed down, that’s precisely the time when you should turn up the marketing on your business to help bring in new customers and jump start your sales again!

So before you make any drastic cuts to your marketing spending, consider implementing some marketing activities that have a low cost but have a high ROI. Specifically, I’m talking about good ‘ol email marketing!

Ready, Aim, Send
Email marketing is a reliable, proven marketing strategy that’s inexpensive to implement, especially compared with more traditional activities like print ads and direct mail. It is also a more targeted strategy than other conventional methods, enabling you to deliver a specifically focused message directly to the customers and prospects that you want to reach. For instance, if you were to segment your e-mail recipient list into categories, you could then tailor your email message to fit the needs of the recipients in each category. So unlike a print ad that is published for a broad audience, an email campaign can be aimed directly at your target audience.

Tracking Results
Email campaigns are also highly measurable, making it easy to track the effectiveness of each campaign. After sending out an e-campaign, the campaign stats can reveal all sorts of useful information, such as the number of recipients who opened the email, how many emails “bounced” or were not delivered (and why), which links the recipients clicked on, the number of opt-ins/opt-outs, how many times the email was forwarded to a friend, etc. By analyzing this data, you can tell if your message prompted a response (such as clicking on a link or visiting a web site), or if your message was even delivered in the first place!

Weathering the Storm
When times are tough, it pays to be smart about your marketing choices. Cutting back on pricey marketing activities is fine, as long as you don’t give up on your overall marketing goals. Marketing’s purpose is to help generate sales and boost your bottom line, which may be even more important if your revenue has slowed down. To help ride it out, try implementing marketing activities that will get the job done, but will do it for less money – like email marketing.