EMAIL MARKETING

RELEVANCY

 

 

 

“Untargeted email programs increase costs by as much as 3.6 times the cost of targeted programs,” per the Relevancy Group in 2010. Yet email marketers struggle to be relevant. According to eMarketer, “44% of marketers surveyed believe the biggest challenge in email is providing relevant content.” Delivering your email campaign to the right person, with the right message, at the right time is critical to your overall email marketing success. So how does one successfully create relevancy in their email marketing program?

Applying the Right Metrics

How can you elevate the value of your communications, reference a recipient’s purchase history or preference profile? Your success lies within your filed data and your ability to segment. Leveraging a sophisticated segmentation tool against strong customer field data will enable you to serve timely and pointed lifecycle campaigns based on a subscriber’s affinity and purchase behavior. Take the time to plan and build an integrated application programming interface (API) between your e-commerce platform and your email service provider (ESP) – this strategy will assemble incremental revenue streams via endless segmentation opportunities.

Timing

Timing is critical when ensuring relevance. Think back to your subscriber segments. If you created a segment of customers that have purchased shampoo in the past 30-45 days, an appropriate campaign would include a discount off of their next shampoo purchase, or a buy one get one free combo for shampoo and conditioner. Sending a campaign that speaks to their purchase behavior and preferences, as well as creating campaigns that are sent at the most appropriate time, will yield a stronger ROI.

 

How Important is Mobile? IBM has a Mobile Development Strategy

IBM is working to give developers the tools to create cross-platform apps for the major native frameworks as well as the mobile web. Here is what IBM is offering for their mobile technology:

Application Management - gives central control for developers over their mobile applications and management.

Location Based Security - Security support expanded to include location based and authication  features.

Hybrid Enablement Framework - building cross-platform mobile applications with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The IBM Mobile Technology Preview is utilizing the PhoneGap open source framework as a means to quickly deliver hybrid capabilities. Other hybrid approaches exist and may be used in addition to, or instead of, PhoneGap in future technology preview deliveries.

Notifications - A RESTful notification service and a client side notification library enables enterprise logic to post notifications to one or more target devices.

Application Server Runtime - The WebSphere Liberty Profile of the WebSphere Application Server 8.5 Alpha is provided as an application server runtime environment to run the server side samples and services.

 IBM believes that every 15 years or so there is a generational information technology shift and that mobile will be this new generation shift.

 For more information please visit : A Deep Look At IBM's Mobile Technology

EMAIL MARKETING

DESIGN IMPACT

 

 

Seeking ways to boost your click-through and conversion rates? The design of your email templates may have more impact than you realize. If you are creating an all image html campaign, chances are many of your subscribers may not see it. A 2010 MarketingSherpa survey found that “only 33 percent of those surveyed have images turned on by default in their email client.” Thus, consider using a reasonable text to image ratio. Text is every email marketer’s friend, always pepper text elements throughout your email templates. In addition, have you experimented with your call to action, footer components, header height or even dynamic content use? If not, you should. Your campaign will only be as successful as you allow it to be.

Experiment with your design to see what engages your subscribers.

In the previous post I mentioned that Mobile Recruiting is a potentially good opportunity for Mobile Marketers and Employers to explorer. How about Mobile Advertising?

Mobile advertising is close to a tipping point, and is becoming a big budget for advertisers. Businesses are starting to think about Mobile Advertising as a strategy. Instead of being a one time deal, Mobile advertising has become to businesses, yearly contracts.

Mobile Trends

• Mobile and social or "Mocial" - People know mobile and social are very powerful. it's about finding information and sharing.
• Intersection of mobile and retail or "Metail" - Going from getting people into stores to figuring out and affecting what goes on inside the store. This is good because it greases the wheels of converting people inside the store to purchasing.
• Rich media - The question here is how to adapt ads to how people use mobile devices: take advantage of swiping motions and so forth.

To learn more about Mobile Advertising trends and an interview with Alexandre Mars you can to http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-with-alexandre-mars-head-of-mobile-at-publicis-groupe-2011-11 .

Many job seekers are looking for jobs by using their mobile phones. Employers are lacking the knowledge to reach these job seekers. Nearly 20% of job seekers are using their smart phones to look for job opportunities but only 7% of employers have a mobile version of their career website and only about 3% have mobile job apps.

What are job seekers using their smart phones for:

• Search for Jobs
• Receive job alerts
• Track application status
• Check calendar with career based events
• Read about recruiting process
• Tips and hints
• Apply for jobs

Employers are planning to get into the game as well. 75% of employers stated they were planning to have either a job app or mobile career website by September 2012.

For more information and comments visit http://mashable.com/2011/11/13/mobile-recruiting/ .

Mobile / Smart Phones recruiting is a good opportunity for mobile marketers as well as for employers to explore.

Local Web Marketing

Internet Marketing is critical for local businesses. By 2015 SMB will spend 70% of its budget on digital and online media and only 30% on traditional advertising. This is a forecast by U.S. SMB.

Local Searched Based Advertising

Most people (85%) search on search engines or online services before they making a purchasing decision. It is important that small businesses position themselves where potential prospects are looking. Business owners can enhance their local profiles by upgrading their listings on these sites.

Google now offers Adwords Express specifically created to help local businesses wanting additional exposure. Google is the main source of traffic for websites but there are others which can compliment a web marketing strategy. Local.com reaches more than 20 Million consumers a month. There are many other options like SuperMedia, CitySearch, and YellowPages.com. These directory based sites provide small businesses a cost-effective  way to gain exposure.

Daily Deal Promotions

Daily Deals sites have risen in popularity with the bad economy and consumers are accepting it with open arms. Hotwise survey shows that 85% of consumers are satisfied with their deal purchases and would go back for more and would return to the business which they bought the deal for. Social commerce sites also have a great way to provide exposure and track ROI. Another advantage is that the social commerce company only gets paid if the deal is a success. An example of social commerce site is group-coup.com.

Social Advertising

Social Media provides businesses with a large audience (Facebook has over 750 Million active users). These users are active and participate and businesses can advertise in these social media sites. You can view our Facebook articles here: Facebook. 

There are many options for small businesses to capitalize on the Web but it is important to advertise in websites with high volume of traffic.

EMAIL MARKETING

LIST GROWTH

 

 

 List growth is crucial to the success of your email marketing campaign. If your list has been the same over the past year, it’s past the time to grow your opt-in list. It’s also important to emphasize the word “opt-in” when discussing list growth. By growing your list organically are important because there will be a higher retention rate, more engaged audience, more profitability and a strong and stable sender reputation. Usually, if someone has requested to receive emails from you, they are much more likely to interact with your email campaigns and ultimately convert.

Below are several crucial fundamentals to follow when growing your email opt-in list:

Easy to Find Opt-In

Visitors to your website should not have to search your site to sign up for your email marketing efforts. Place your subscribe banner on your homepage and within your universal navigation bar so customers can find it easily. Your email subscribe banner should have prime home page real estate rights, it deserves it. Don’t hide it deep within pages of content, requiring the visitor to dig to locate it. Offering your subscription in a highly trafficked area will enable you to further engage an audience you may have previously been missing.

Make It Easy to Join

The easier it is for subscribers to join, the more likely they will. So, limit the form fields required to join your email program. Requesting multiple fields, including preferences, may cause a significant amount of form abandonment. Instead, get what you need to begin the dialogue and collect additional information over time through pointed drip campaigns or a smart “manage preferences” call to action.

The Right Call to Action

“Subscribe” and “Register,” while often used, can denote an additional commitment from the subscriber. Consider a “Join Now” or “Sign-Up” on your homepage or other areas where you promote your opt-in to increase conversions. Smarter wording can result in more sign-ups for your email marketing campaign.

Welcome New Subscribers

Thank and welcome new subscribers immediately with a Welcome email highlighting the big wins of your email program. Build a robust Welcome series that touches new subscribers consistently by bringing your brand to life with personal triggers geared towards building a strong relationship with each new subscriber.

 

EMAIL MARKETING

BASICS

 

Subject Lines

Why is it that we may spend a long time in writing persuasive content and creating an engaging design, but forget that the first thing subscribers see is the subject line? It is truly the only introduction subscribers see in an email marketing campaign. Take the time and effort to create a truly relevant, engaging subject line that entices subscribers to open. For instance, if you are going to promote a percentage discount or free shipping, it’s critical to communicate the offer to your subscribers immediately. It’s surprising how many companies miss the mark on clearly stating the offer within. For example, if you want to promote free shipping on a $25 or more purchase, the subject line that is going to initiate the subscriber to open is “Free shipping on $25 or more”, not “Preview our Fall Inventory.”

If you are in the B2B marketing world, it’s equally as critical to engage your subscribers by using a compelling subject line. Promoting new features, services or products may be very appealing to B2B subscribers who yearn to learn more about your offering. For instance, if you are a uniform company who works with hospitals and have new offerings within your uniform lines, a persuasive subject line may be “Orders Available Now for our New uniforms” versus “Follow up Regarding New Linens.” The previous subject line creates urgency as well as reinforces the new line.

Alt Tags

Many email marketers continue to ignore Alt Tags because they do not understand their usefulness. Alt Tags are actually one of the easiest email elements to leverage when optimizing templates, yet this brilliant element continues to be excluded from most marketers’ html. First, lets define an Alt Tag. An alt tag is the text content that appears when a subscriber’s email client doesn’t render images. For those online retailers who create their html as image slices (and there are plenty of you out there), be certain to include the alt tags. By using this simple email tool it can persuade subscribers to open and click an email with a savvy text call to action without a single image displayed. As more and more email clients, or more importantly subscribers, trend towards turning off images, it’s important to use alt tags in every email template. Take the time to create strong calls to action via alt tags. Instead of saying “picture of white scrubs” for the alt tag consider the offer that you are promoting and include it within the alt tag. For example, “25% off your next uniform purchase,” will engage the recipient and urge them to download images to learn more about your promotional offer. Even if you have a good balance of text to images, it’s still worth the additional effort to include alt tags in your email messages.

Pre-Header Text

Pre-header text is valuable real estate that many email marketers don’t take advantage of. They tend to use it as a web version for those having rendering issues. Pre-header Text can be used to Think of this email element as pre-content that can advertise your promotional offers, new products, product features or services. So instead of using the standard “If you are having difficulty viewing this email, click here” leverage this prime real estate to promote a strong call to action linking directly to the highlighted offer:

• Save Now During our Pre-Winter Sale, 20% Off
• Going Back to School Sale, Limited Time Offer, Order Now

 A pre-header provides subscribers with immediate gratification without having to download a single image.

Look for our next Blog on the 7 Email Marketing Strategies on “List Growth”.

 

 

EMAIL MARKETING

STRATEGIES

 There is always room for improving on an email marketing campaign. Competition is always fierce and in a tough economy you should never settle for good enough. Beginning with this blog we will cover seven areas in email marketing most commonly in need of revitalization.

The success of an email campaign can be measured by a variety of key performance indicators: open ratio, click through ratio, conversion ratio, sales, unsubscribe ratio, etc. The success of email marketing is achieved by your business objectives as well as overall customer engagement.

These seven email marketing strategies and tactics outlined below will assist you in maximizing your email marketing Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS):

1. The Basics
2. List Growth
3. Design Impact
4. Relevancy
5. Interactive Elements
6. Analytics
7. Automation

 We will cover each one of these over the next seven blogs. These strategies will help you improve your email marketing campaign.

 

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