Using Triggered Messages to Advance Effectiveness and Efficiency David Daniels | March 26, 2012 | 0 Comments inShare31 A retailer case study on triggered messaging. The production process of sending an email marketing message out is predictable, typically following the same process each time a mailing is put together. The benefit of triggered messaging is that the marketer can build a program once, tie that offer or message to specific customer behaviors, and let the automation take over. I recently spoke at All About Email Live where ESP Listrak and footwear retailer The PSNE Group presented the benefits of implementing triggered messages. The PSNE Group implemented a welcome series of emails to both improve inbox placement and engagement and accelerate the sales cycle. Abandon cart messages. With some testing and tinkering, these programs can add immediate bottom line value to your program. Until next time, David
Grow Your Email List (and Your Influence) Growing your e-mail list is undoubtedly the best asset for community building. It is a proven method for reaching prospective clients and cultivating good relationships with customers. It has also been proven to have the highest Return on Investment (ROI) across online marketing channels. When email list-building is used in tandem with social media and search engines optimization techniques, it becomes even very effective. Email lists are a lot more effective than social media. Converting social media traffic to e-mail lists is very important since it helps you to target your sales. Here’s how: Quick Response (QR) codes The best way to build an e-mail list using local traffic is by using QR codes to print materials. Make use of Social Media Facebook – It is a common misconception that one needs to create a landing page to get email opt-ins from Facebook. Google+ – You can also promote your e-mail program on your Google+ page.
5 Ways to Sell Your Email Program to the C-Suite Simms Jenkins | February 9, 2012 | 0 Comments inShare24 You must pitch your email marketing program properly to win support from senior management. I'm having a lot of interesting conversations with clients and prospective ones excited about being on the verge of something big. However, digital marketers often feel they won't be able to make "the leap" - and not because of execution, customer adoption, or anything related to their core brand and its strategic benefits. Here are some practical ways to get buy-in from the C-suite: 1. 2. Change this with inviting all of marketing (or in a smaller company, the entire team) to listen to what the email program has achieved and where it is going. 3. 4. 5. Project that "our email program will contribute $2 million more in revenue (or whatever business metric you can estimate) by leveraging new tactics that correlate to changing consumer habits." Remember, you often can't improve on many fronts if your program doesn't get broader visibility.
List Building with Social Media, How to Grow Your Email List Do you want to grow your email list? Wondering how social media can help you grow a list of prospects? To learn how to grow your email list with social media, I interview Amy Porterfield for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing. The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting). In this episode, I interview Amy Porterfield, co-author of Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies. Amy shares how Facebook marketing has helped grow her email list. Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below! Listen Now Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Blackberry. Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show. List Building With Social Media Amy’s list-building story
6 Steps to Effective Email Testing Mike Hotz | February 8, 2012 | 0 Comments inShare97 Establishing a test regimen is the key to unlocking higher open, click, and conversion rates. Email marketers list testing as one of their top priorities year after year. However, most do no testing at all. Testing is not a short-term silver bullet that will solve all your problems. Marketers who test effectively to achieve significantly higher open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates are disciplined to run A/B split tests in every email campaign and committed to making changes in their program that make a difference. In this column, I will explore six steps to effectively test your email marketing campaigns. Step 1: Ask a Question What are you hoping to achieve? A series of small steps can be easy to test and analyze. Have more people open my messages.Have more people click through to the engine.Reengage with historically inactive people.Have people click on a specific area, topic, or action.Drive more conversions.
Email Research: Top 3 tactics to grow your list Growing your email list has benefits beyond the obvious increase in size. For example, new subscribers are often more active than older ones. They just signed up for your emails and want to click and open them. For this reason (and many others) you should always strive to grow your email list. Growing your database can seem daunting, though, with the number of tactics at your disposal. The Most Effective Tactic: Registration during purchase More than 90% of email marketers say adding an opt-in request to the purchase process is at least “somewhat effective” at growing email lists. Digging deeper in the Benchmark Report, we find this tactic was only the sixth-most used among the 10 listed. Professional or financial services: 31%Software and software as a service: 28%Education or healthcare: 26% Most Effective Tactic #2: Online events (webinars, etc.) Offering content or something else of value is a common way to build an email list. Most Effective Tactic #3: Website registration page
10 Simply Awesome Examples of Email Marketing If you're reading this, you probably have an email address (or two, or three ...). In fact, you've probably been sending and receiving emails for years, and you've definitely received some questionable deliveries in your inbox. Whether they were unexpected, uninformative, or had a subject line tHaT wAs fOrmAtTeD liKe tHiS, we bet you didn't hesitate to direct them towards the trash, right? While email has managed to stand the test of time, many marketers have failed to update their strategies since its inception. So to ensure you're sending modern emails that warrant some of your recipients' precious time and attention, we've compiled a list of effective email examples to inspire your next campaign. And for help creating effective email marketing campaigns of your own, download our free guide here. 1) PayPal There are a couple things we love about this email example from PayPal. 2) ModCloth Great companies are always evolving, and your customers expect to experience change. 3) Tory Burch
Best blogs about growing your mail list Why List Segmentation Matters in Email Marketing By now, most marketers understand the importance of email to their overall marketing strategy and recognize that it's not dying in the wake of other emerging marketing tactics like social media. But while most marketers realize that email is here to stay, unfortunately, that doesn't exactly mean certain email marketing best practices have caught on. Segmentation is one such best practices. Segmenting your communications can improve your email marketing campaigns by leaps and bounds (read on -- we have the data to prove it!). Luckily, marketers are at least starting to realize the importance of segmentation in their email communications. So if you aren't slicing and dicing your email database into various segments and tailoring the content in your emails to those individual groups of contacts, we think you could use some convincing. Your Buyers Aren't All the Same Think about it. If you haven't already, determine who your various segments of target customers are. See Frantic Fred?
9 Ways to Integrate Email and Social Media Marketing Are you wondering how to add social media to your email communications? Email and social media marketing go together like Batman and Robin. They both can be effective on their own; however, when combined, their (super) powers can save the city and exceed your marketing goals. Is Email Dead? In this article I’ll show you how to combine email marketing with your social media efforts. In a recent StrongMail survey, “More than two-thirds of business leaders (68%) say they plan to integrate social media with their email marketing efforts in 2012″ (as reported by MarketingProfs on December 12, 2011). As a guy who lives, breathes, eats and sometimes dreams email marketing, I was thrilled to see email getting some mainstream love. You may be thinking, “Hey, isn’t email dead?” Think again. This blog post and infographic on the value of email by SmarterTools will quickly dispel the “email is dead” myth. Need one more proof point that email is not dead? Why Does Integration Matter? #4: Provide Incentive
Sales - Four Tips for Generating Leads With Email "Email is still the most effective marketing technique," writes Bill Rice at the Better Closer blog. "It's easy to automate and highly efficient at bringing in qualified new leads." But a successful email program doesn't just happen. You must convince prospects to open your message, read it, and take action. To hit each of those goals, Rice has advice like this: Start with an appealing subject line. Get right to the point. Add value to your pitch. Include a single, clear call to action. → end article previewRead the Full Article Membership is required to access this how-to marketing article ... don't worry though, it's FREE!
25 Things Email Marketers Must Avoid in 2012 Simms Jenkins | January 26, 2012 | 2 Comments With the first few weeks in 2012 in the history book, some of us may have already fallen back into bad habits or the email hamster routine that allows for little else other than tactical management of the next email campaign (and there is always, the next email campaign). Others may have big strategic initiatives and a laundry list of plans to evaluate for 2012. Getting them done is hard. Ignoring them is easy. My recommendation: Have a list for big picture initiatives and blocking-and-tackling measures. Little to no exposure to the C-suite. What is on your list in 2012 and do you have any tips and practices that worked in 2011 that ensured a more successful program? Simms Jenkins is CEO of BrightWave Marketing , North America's leading email marketing focused digital agency. Additionally, Jenkins is the creator of EmailStatCenter.com and SocialStatCenter.com, the leading authorities on email and social media metrics.
13 Things to Check Before Hitting 'Send' on Your Next Marketing Email Raise your hand if you've ever sent out a marketing email , only to realize after clicking 'send' that your email's main call-to-action contained a broken link. What a waste, right? And talk about embarrassment ... Now how many of you did I actually get to raise your hand? Yes, silly mistakes happen -- more easily than you might think. To avoid email marketing embarrassment -- and the poor results that accompany it -- print out this checklist, pin it to your cubicle, and consult it every time you're reviewing an email test send. 13 Things to Look Out for in Your Email Test Sends 1) Broken Links The mishap we mentioned in our intro scenario is probably one of marketers' biggest nightmares, especially when lead generation is the goal of an email send. 2) Forgotten Links A close second to the dreaded broken link is the forgotten one. 3) Broken Social Media Sharing Buttons While we're talking about social media buttons, let's discuss how easy it is to break those little buggers.