The do’s and don’ts of an email advertising campaign strategy
If you’ve had a website for any length of time, you know that an email advertising campaign is one of the most cost effective advertising methods. However, email advertising strategies require some finesse. Too many website owners us a much too heavy handed approach, which usually results in a greatly reduced ROI, as well as reduced credibility and lots of subscribers canceling. Worst of all, an angry audience may start tagging your emails as spam, before they cancel their subscription. This is not the way to succeed. Here we present some common, but plentifully practiced, email advertising techniques that you should avoid, as well as tips on making your email marketing campaign a winning proposition.
Here’s a prime example of what you don’t want to do. I once subscribed to a travel writer’s newsletter which I ran across in another newsletter’s feature article. I clicked through and found a few items of interest, so I signed up for their newsletter. First of all, I soon discovered this website sent a ‘newsletter’ on almost a daily basis, which was far more than I cared to receive.
Then, I started receiving additional emails from this site, telling a story of how so and so just returned from a trip to Costa Rica, writing a story accompanied by the photos they took on their trip and promptly selling it to a travel magazine. The story was but a couple of paragraphs, which was not especially interesting or informative and a thinly disguised lead-in to the sales pitch that followed. The gist of it was that for a mere $3000, I could attend their next workshop and learn all the tricks of the trade.
After a week or two of perusing the newsletter, it became obvious that they had no information of value. A short editor’s note, telling me what she’d been doing that day, was always followed by a long and pushy sales pitch. I canceled. This is the epitome of bad email advertising. Don’t take this approach. It’s a loser.
Now let’s take a look at how to construct an email advertising campaign that does your website traffic and income good. You know the value of an e-newsletter, but as mentioned earlier, the successful email marketing campaign requires finesse. Just as on your website, your newsletter demands quality content. If you don’t provide information your readers can use to increase their knowledge, or which is simply entertaining, you’re fighting an uphill battle. A single, quality feature article in every issue is a great start to building a loyal readership, some of whom will forward it to a friend, perhaps resulting in a new subscriber and potential customer.
When doing email advertising within a newsletter format, your ads should not comprise more than 10% of the total content. This translates to about 2-3 ads per issue. If you have a particularly outstanding offer, you might put it up front. For example: ‘This week I ran across an amazing deal that I wanted to pass on …’ Then tell them why. Use a review style and keep it short and sweet.
If you use the ’special offer’ approach, use it judiciously and don’t overdo it. It’s got to be truly special, time dependent and worthy of sending in a separate email. If the offer doesn’t meet this criteria, your credibility will suffer. Readers won’t even open these after a while.
One effective email advertising technique is to intersperse ads within freebies and resources at the end of your newsletter. You make this section a regular part of every newsletter, under a title such as ‘Freebies, top picks and resources’.
Follow these do’s and don’ts of email advertising and see if you’re not well rewarded!
email blogs using feeds
Email Follow Up
There are very few companies right now that don’t have a website. Frankly, it’s hard to find a person right now without a website, never mind a company, yet with all this information passing in the ether there are still plenty of us that really don’t understand how these things work, or should work. More or less everyone has an email address of some sort or another, be it work or using your boyfriends or from your own site, we can all get in touch through it. Question is, though, just how effective is it?
Email as a tool is great for everyone, its practically free (depending on where you are in the world) and it does indeed draw attention to itself, and yet so many sales organizations or companies complain that it’s not as effective as they thought it would be. A simple solution to this is to ensure that contact is maintained. It really is not enough to simply receive the email, go “Great” and ignore it. If I’m looking for more info on the Wotzit your shilling, then I want more info. You do this with an email follow up.
These can be things as simple as a “Thank You, we’ll be in touch” to a detailed email describing exactly the information that you wanted to know about. Those emails you receive from Comcast or whoever when you’ve paid your bill? A follow up. The email you receive when you put in a Request for service online with any company worth their salt, that’s a follow up, folks.
Why is it important to have a follow up? If your me, you like to know that your info has being received, or that your problem has (at the very least) been received. This is the basis of follow up emails. If your a small project, then it may be possible for you to issue these on a one time basis, that is, to address each individual email as it comes in, and reply accordingly. More so now companies use automatic email follow up, simply to let people know that Yes, we got your enquiry/problem/complaint etc.. It’s an incredibly cost effective way of putting to the clients that you care, and that you will attend to it.
As a sales tool it second to none, because the company that asks me 2 months after buying anything, Is all ok with you? – that’s the company I’ll recommend to others, and buy from again.
How does Email Marketing Work?
Email marketing is a type of direct marketing strategy that is used to communicate fundraising or commercial messages. Many companies have a direct mailing campaign and gather email addresses from its shoppers, supporters, or constituents. In the last presidential election every candidate had an email marketing campaign.
The first step in developing a campaign is to create a database of thousands even millions of users. Once the database is created, they must be imported into an eBlast provider, such as ConstantContact, FuseMail, VerticalResponse, or Campaigner. Each service offers unique pricing plans and features that are different.
The next step is to design your email marketing documents. Each eBlast should use the same style and template. You can have a number of different eBlast templates. Examples of the various eBlasts include product launches, scheduled newsletters (i.e. weekly, monthly, and quarterly), tour schedules, letters from the CEO, etc. Each blast can be targeted to a specific demographic within your database. For example, if your band is touring in California, send the eBlast only to those who have California addresses.
Certain aspects of your campaign need to be decided before production. Having an eBlast schedule is important, and determining how often you will send out newsletters. The issue of what is too much is a common debate in the realm of email marketing. Users who feel they are bombarded will remove themselves from your list, while users who do not receive enough updates will forget about your product or service.
Never send more than one or two messages per week to the same person. The key is to use targeted demographics. Do not send a 75 year old man a press release about your new fat burner miracle pill. Collecting demographics is fairly easy, and you should make note of each users relative age and location. It all depends on the services and products you provide.
Depending on the size of your company and financial restraints you can hire third parties to execute your entire email marketing campaign. Once everything is setup it is quite easy to maintain, and requires little technical knowledge. You can even send eBlasts for free using your own email provider. If you are sending more than one type of eBlast or when your mailing list reaches in excess of 300 people it is time to consider a managed solution.
Services such as ConstantContact can ensure you are receiving an investment from your email marketing efforts. For example, they can tell you how many people open the message, click on links, visit your Web site, or even buy your product after reading the message. They also tell you how many delete the message, and how often your eBlasts are placed in junk email folders.
You also must decide as per what format to send your messages in, HTML or plain text. Services such as ConstantContact can decide, based on ISP, what format to send the message in. It also allows users to select their own preference.
Popularity: 1% [?]
The do’s and don’ts of an email advertising campaign strategy
If you’ve had a website for any length of time, you know that an email advertising campaign is one of the most cost effective advertising methods. However, email advertising strategies require some finesse. Too many website owners us a much too heavy handed approach, which usually results in a greatly reduced ROI, as well as reduced credibility and lots of subscribers canceling. Worst of all, an angry audience may start tagging your emails as spam, before they cancel their subscription. This is not the way to succeed. Here we present some common, but plentifully practiced, email advertising techniques that you should avoid, as well as tips on making your email marketing campaign a winning proposition.
Here’s a prime example of what you don’t want to do. I once subscribed to a travel writer’s newsletter which I ran across in another newsletter’s feature article. I clicked through and found a few items of interest, so I signed up for their newsletter. First of all, I soon discovered this website sent a ‘newsletter’ on almost a daily basis, which was far more than I cared to receive.
Then, I started receiving additional emails from this site, telling a story of how so and so just returned from a trip to Costa Rica, writing a story accompanied by the photos they took on their trip and promptly selling it to a travel magazine. The story was but a couple of paragraphs, which was not especially interesting or informative and a thinly disguised lead-in to the sales pitch that followed. The gist of it was that for a mere $3000, I could attend their next workshop and learn all the tricks of the trade.
After a week or two of perusing the newsletter, it became obvious that they had no information of value. A short editor’s note, telling me what she’d been doing that day, was always followed by a long and pushy sales pitch. I canceled. This is the epitome of bad email advertising. Don’t take this approach. It’s a loser.
Now let’s take a look at how to construct an email advertising campaign that does your website traffic and income good. You know the value of an e-newsletter, but as mentioned earlier, the successful email marketing campaign requires finesse. Just as on your website, your newsletter demands quality content. If you don’t provide information your readers can use to increase their knowledge, or which is simply entertaining, you’re fighting an uphill battle. A single, quality feature article in every issue is a great start to building a loyal readership, some of whom will forward it to a friend, perhaps resulting in a new subscriber and potential customer.
When doing email advertising within a newsletter format, your ads should not comprise more than 10% of the total content. This translates to about 2-3 ads per issue. If you have a particularly outstanding offer, you might put it up front. For example: ‘This week I ran across an amazing deal that I wanted to pass on …’ Then tell them why. Use a review style and keep it short and sweet.
If you use the ’special offer’ approach, use it judiciously and don’t overdo it. It’s got to be truly special, time dependent and worthy of sending in a separate email. If the offer doesn’t meet this criteria, your credibility will suffer. Readers won’t even open these after a while.
One effective email advertising technique is to intersperse ads within freebies and resources at the end of your newsletter. You make this section a regular part of every newsletter, under a title such as ‘Freebies, top picks and resources’.
Follow these do’s and don’ts of email advertising and see if you’re not well rewarded!
email blogs using feeds
Popularity: 1% [?]
The do’s and don’ts of an email advertising campaign strategy
If you’ve had a website for any length of time, you know that an email advertising campaign is one of the most cost effective advertising methods. However, email advertising strategies require some finesse. Too many website owners us a much too heavy handed approach, which usually results in a greatly reduced ROI, as well as reduced credibility and lots of subscribers canceling. Worst of all, an angry audience may start tagging your emails as spam, before they cancel their subscription. This is not the way to succeed. Here we present some common, but plentifully practiced, email advertising techniques that you should avoid, as well as tips on making your email marketing campaign a winning proposition.
Here’s a prime example of what you don’t want to do. I once subscribed to a travel writer’s newsletter which I ran across in another newsletter’s feature article. I clicked through and found a few items of interest, so I signed up for their newsletter. First of all, I soon discovered this website sent a ‘newsletter’ on almost a daily basis, which was far more than I cared to receive.
Then, I started receiving additional emails from this site, telling a story of how so and so just returned from a trip to Costa Rica, writing a story accompanied by the photos they took on their trip and promptly selling it to a travel magazine. The story was but a couple of paragraphs, which was not especially interesting or informative and a thinly disguised lead-in to the sales pitch that followed. The gist of it was that for a mere $3000, I could attend their next workshop and learn all the tricks of the trade.
After a week or two of perusing the newsletter, it became obvious that they had no information of value. A short editor’s note, telling me what she’d been doing that day, was always followed by a long and pushy sales pitch. I canceled. This is the epitome of bad email advertising. Don’t take this approach. It’s a loser.
Now let’s take a look at how to construct an email advertising campaign that does your website traffic and income good. You know the value of an e-newsletter, but as mentioned earlier, the successful email marketing campaign requires finesse. Just as on your website, your newsletter demands quality content. If you don’t provide information your readers can use to increase their knowledge, or which is simply entertaining, you’re fighting an uphill battle. A single, quality feature article in every issue is a great start to building a loyal readership, some of whom will forward it to a friend, perhaps resulting in a new subscriber and potential customer.
When doing email advertising within a newsletter format, your ads should not comprise more than 10% of the total content. This translates to about 2-3 ads per issue. If you have a particularly outstanding offer, you might put it up front. For example: ‘This week I ran across an amazing deal that I wanted to pass on …’ Then tell them why. Use a review style and keep it short and sweet.
If you use the ’special offer’ approach, use it judiciously and don’t overdo it. It’s got to be truly special, time dependent and worthy of sending in a separate email. If the offer doesn’t meet this criteria, your credibility will suffer. Readers won’t even open these after a while.
One effective email advertising technique is to intersperse ads within freebies and resources at the end of your newsletter. You make this section a regular part of every newsletter, under a title such as ‘Freebies, top picks and resources’.
Follow these do’s and don’ts of email advertising and see if you’re not well rewarded!
email blogs using feeds
Email Follow Up
There are very few companies right now that don’t have a website. Frankly, it’s hard to find a person right now without a website, never mind a company, yet with all this information passing in the ether there are still plenty of us that really don’t understand how these things work, or should work. More or less everyone has an email address of some sort or another, be it work or using your boyfriends or from your own site, we can all get in touch through it. Question is, though, just how effective is it?
Email as a tool is great for everyone, its practically free (depending on where you are in the world) and it does indeed draw attention to itself, and yet so many sales organizations or companies complain that it’s not as effective as they thought it would be. A simple solution to this is to ensure that contact is maintained. It really is not enough to simply receive the email, go “Great” and ignore it. If I’m looking for more info on the Wotzit your shilling, then I want more info. You do this with an email follow up.
These can be things as simple as a “Thank You, we’ll be in touch” to a detailed email describing exactly the information that you wanted to know about. Those emails you receive from Comcast or whoever when you’ve paid your bill? A follow up. The email you receive when you put in a Request for service online with any company worth their salt, that’s a follow up, folks.
Why is it important to have a follow up? If your me, you like to know that your info has being received, or that your problem has (at the very least) been received. This is the basis of follow up emails. If your a small project, then it may be possible for you to issue these on a one time basis, that is, to address each individual email as it comes in, and reply accordingly. More so now companies use automatic email follow up, simply to let people know that Yes, we got your enquiry/problem/complaint etc.. It’s an incredibly cost effective way of putting to the clients that you care, and that you will attend to it.
As a sales tool it second to none, because the company that asks me 2 months after buying anything, Is all ok with you? – that’s the company I’ll recommend to others, and buy from again.
Popularity: 1% [?]