1-604-288-2938Archive for the ‘Email Marketing’ Category
5 Common Mistakes in Email Marketing
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Email Marketing is often referred as reliable and one of the initial marketing strategies that emerged online, however not everybody has it down pat, yet. Here are some common email marketing mistakes that are extremely easy to fix!
- Not hiding your subscribers’ emails in the “To” field
To address privacy concerns, hide your subscribers’ emails. Have emails listed under BCC and not CC. This applies to any other email communication, and not just newsletters. - Not having a link to an online version of your newsletter
Having an online version of your newsletter and including the link make it easier for subscribers to reference and share it later. - Not having a “subscribe” link in the newsletter
Emailing is one of the top mediums through which information travels and links are shared. In the case your newsletter is forwarded, include a subscribe link for all potential readers. - Not having an “UNsubscribe” link in the email (it’s a must!)
Again, for privacy and security reasons, subscribers must have the option to opt in and out. These little details help maintain trust and transparency of your online business. - Not providing links to your Social Media (connect!)
Social Media is a rivalling force for information sharing and news diffusion. Some subscribers would rather share and find more information via Social Media. Big Social Media to include are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Linkedin. Plus, you have another traffic source for your other online assets.
Correcting these common Email Marketing mistakes encourages communication and puts the user experience at the top of the list. The reader should feel comfortable and have no difficulty sharing or finding information.
Let us know how your Email Marketing is going!
What do you think the future holds for Email Marketing?
Need more help setting up and optimizing your Email Marketing? Give us a shout!
~ Love, Danielle
Tags: Email Marketing, vancouver email marketing
Posted in Email Marketing | No Comments »
My Top 5 Favourite E-Newsletters
Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Email marketing preferences vary between industries and target markets, so it is difficult to determine the “best” e-newsletter. Here are some e-newsletters that I, personally, love and think they use great tactics, that can work in your next email campaign, too.
- Adweek Breaking News
Adweek’s Breaking News emails work like alerts. Although they may come every other day or even twice a day, the emails are usually only two sentences and are great for people who want to stay in the know. By allowing readers to opt-in, it helps Adweek further segment their email list.
- Yelp
I also read Yelp’s weekly newsletters. They are concise, include relevant links, and list the top restaurants, events, stores, etc. in an easy-to-read post. With the increasing amount emails we receive every morning, it is nice to have a good summary. - Good Magazine: The Daily Good
Another daily email update. This one works because it is also short and sweet (everything you need to know is in that email), and includes a novel topic that captures your attention. Content is key! - Mashable
This daily email can be a bit hefty and very text based; full articles are included in the body of the email. It works for an audience that wants a lot of information in one place without having to click away. - The Cool Hunter: cNews
This is one of my fun little emails I like to read to brighten my day. Well, actually cNews comes about every month. It features their top picks with great visuals and design making it an engaging user experience.
Most of these e-newsletters seem to come almost daily. You may think this might verge on being overwhelming, but the thing is to know your market, provide different options, and if they are frequent, keep the emails short. Email content and timing changes depending on whether it’s recreational, business, a summary, or urgent news.
What are your favourite e-newsletters?
Do you think Email Marketing is being slowly replaced by Social Media?
Do you prefer email to Facebook or Twitter?
Tell us in the comments, we’d LOVE to know.
Let us know if you need help changing up or creating a new email marketing campaign.
Tags: Email Marketing, integrated marketing
Posted in Email Marketing | No Comments »
Email Marketing 101
Monday, October 5th, 2009
Email Marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing solutions that can help you to gain new business and to retain your existing clients. An effective email marketing campaign that is…
How to create an effective email marketing campaign?
In my first post about email marketing I will go over the real basic stuff. I will write more in details in my future posts, so stay tuned.
Always, always, always think about the audience you are writing for.
I know, this sounds like an obvious statement, but I see so many poorly written emails nowadays, and it makes me wonder – “did this marketer even read the copy before sending it out?”
In my early days of writing for email, I remember, reading the copy out loud before even submitting it for HTML production. Yes, it took me longer to process all the newsletters and email blasts, but it was a great email-bootcamp for me. This little “trick” helped me to look at the copy from “outside.” It made me think WHY exactly my audience would possibly want to read this email up till the end, what the main messaging was, and if my call-to-action was strong enough to even make it clear for my reader what to do next.
During one of my last conferences I attended, someone pointed out that today’s marketers are so concentrated on being persuasive that they forget that it’s even more important to be CLEAR. I think this should be the number one goal for all marketers – to be clear.
One of the biggest challenges when writing for email is that you have as little as 6 seconds before your reader will either close your email, and forget about it, or keep reading, making notes for the future actions. Use these 6 seconds wisely!
In the ideal world we, as marketers, would include all frilly bluh bluhs about our business/services, and customers would read the copy and do what we want them to do. But, in reality – customers are like cats – they would do something for you (e.g. click that ‘visit our site’ button), ONLY if there is something in it for THEM. Keep this in mind.
Remember, as much as we all would love it to be an ideal email world out there, it’s not. We have to be short and sweet in our writing, so save the frilly stuff for your website, or a blog. Keep email clean and neat, so customers see your main point right away (remember? Only 6 seconds!).
To sum it up (in no particular order):
1) short but sweet (keep your copy short and straight to the point)
2) call-to-action (include your main call-to-action within the first paragraph)
3) customers = cats (if you are giving out a 50% bonus on a purchase of over $50 then write your sentence like this: Get your 50% bonus today, when you spend $50 in our e-store. NOT like this: Spend $50 in our e-store and get a 50% bonus. Feel the difference?).
4) drive traffic to your website (always include links to your website)
5) clean and neat (don’t worry about minor details, concentrate on a bigger picture, don’t spend too much time on that banner or a shiny little button at the end of email, remember – content is king)
In one of my next posts I will talk more about what exactly I mean by ‘clean and neat’, how to optimize your email template space, what the proper layout should be to keep the main stuff ‘above the fold’, subject lines etc. So, stay tuned for more!
Happy Marketing!
Posted in Email Marketing | No Comments »
