Leitrim Business Network

From Enterprise Ireland.

Email marketing (part 2): hitting the target

There are two essential parts of any email marketing campaign: high-quality content, and people to read it. One without the other will never lead to success. In part one, we looked at content issues. But now that you have a relevant, targeted email ready to send, what’s the next step?

Building a list

Before you begin your email marketing campaign, it is essential that you have a good quality database of customers or potential sales leads who will - hopefully - read your marketing material. There are several ways to entice people to sign up for email newsletters or other regular corporate communications:

1. Let people sign up through your company’s website (if you have one). Put a ’subscribe’ box on each page in a prominent location, but take care it doesn’t dominate or ruin the look of your site - the top corner or in a sidebar are good places to consider. Chances are that people who are visiting your website are already interested in what you have you say; they may just need that little extra push to hand over their email address.

2. Ask at the point of sale. If you’re selling goods and services online, you can ask your customers if they wish to sign up for further communications as they complete the check-out process, or in a follow-up invoice email. Customers may be interested in hearing about special offers, new products or the latest developments in your particular sector - all you have to do is ask.

3. Offer an incentive. Sometimes, a little encouragement can work wonders. Competitions, free gifts, and discount vouchers contained in an email can be enough to attract new sign-ups. They can also encourage repeat sales, thus building and cementing customer relationships.

4. Encourage them to forward on the newsletter. Viral marketing is a powerful tool. Consumers are more likely to read an email forwarded to them by a trusted contact. Make sure to include a ‘forward to a friend’ link, as well as a ’subscribe’ link, in each newsletter.

There are a few other key issues to keep in mind when building your subscriber list:

* Make the sign-up process as painless as possible. Don’t make it too complicated to sign up for the newsletter. Get the information you need, such as interests and demographics, without being overly intrusive - no one wants to go through pages of questions just to get marketing material.

* Make privacy a major issue. Privacy is a concern for many users. Your customers need to know that you won’t pass on their email address to a third party without permission. Have a clear privacy policy on your site that lets your subscribers know what you will and won’t do with their confidential information.

* Make it easy to unsubscribe. Should a customer decide they no longer wish to receive communications from you, unsubscribing should be as easy as the initial sign up process. Otherwise there is a chance of getting a bad reputation or of being labelled a spammer.

Sending it out

Once you have your list and you’ve decided on the content of the newsletter, you’re almost ready to send out your communication. While it’s possible to simply use your current email client to do a mailout, it’s recommended that you invest in some kind of software package to create and manage your newsletter.

There are plenty of email marketing software providers out there, but it’s worth looking for one with a decent reputation; ask existing marketers for recommendations, or check out the company’s testimonial page to see what other clients are saying, and research the companies who are backing the software provider.

Some providers offer a free trial before committing yourself - a good way to test the service to ensure it fits your needs. For example, will it allow automatic scheduled delivery? Will it personalise content to each reader? Will it track reader behaviour?

Tracking is an important part of email marketing. If users are not opening mails, marketers need to know so they can alter or target the content differently. Most email marketing software will include the ability to generate a report from the email shot, but it is worth double-checking how extensive this reporting is.

The other option is to hand over your newsletter over entirely to a professional, if you can afford to do so. They can manage your campaign from start to finish and track responses on your behalf.

Once your email marketing campaign is up and running, you must keep the standard of the content sufficiently high in order to keep subscribers interested. Then all you need to do is track your campaign to keep an eye on its success, and you’ll be well on your way to reaping the rewards of a well managed, well thought out email strategy.

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 10.5 million experienced professionals. LinkedIn helps you be more effective in your daily work and opens doors to opportunities by helping you develop and manage your network of business…

Leitrim Business Network uses LinkedIn to allow members to keep their own profiles up to date. It also encourages networking through ‘connections‘.

Join LinkedIn and get your business network working for you. Invite business contacts you know well, then use your network to find former colleagues and classmates, find a job, hire through referrals, and develop business relationships.

Traffic stats for January in PDF format

The ‘Improve Through Change’ Conference went very well yesterday with over 100 people in attendance.

I will post some photos here shortly.

From Enterprise Ireland.

Email marketing is, for most businesses, a relatively new medium. While some companies were early adopters, there are still those who lag behind when it comes to introducing this method of marketing, some through fear, others through the misapprehension that it is of no use to their business. But the truth is, there are very few businesses that would not benefit from email marketing in some way.

First of all, it is important to clarify what exactly email marketing encompasses. Any kind of communication by email with customers and potential clients can be classed as email marketing, but in general the term refers to specific communications such as newsletters, special offers and promotions that are sent via email.

It can be used to build on existing relationships or to generate new sales leads and entice clients by showcasing your products and services. “Part of this communication is retaining your customers and helping them to make the most of products and services,” says email marketing specialist denise cox (see interview elsewhere in this issue). “You are showing them you are keen to take care of your customers.”

Return on investment

In today’s business environment, getting and - more importantly - retaining your customers’ attention can be difficult. With spam email on the rise and concerns about privacy rife, it can be tricky to not only get your customers to read the marketing material you send out, but also to convince them to hand over their email addresses in the first place.

Recent figures from Jupiter Research in the US indicated that the spend on email marketing is set to increase dramatically, from USD1.2 billion last year to USD2.1 billion in 2012. In Europe, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which includes email marketing figures as part of general online advertising spend, estimates that online advertising investment within the IAB network in Europe during 2007 could have reached as high as EUR11.5 billion. This is a rise from EUR8 billion in 2006.

However, there is still a perception that email marketing is cheap and cheerful, requiring very little investment for a good return - a perception that has done the medium a dis-service, according to denise cox. The truth is that while email marketing can be relatively inexpensive in terms of the amount of money you spend for the level of exposure in such a short space of time, investing the correct amount of cash in your email marketing programme could mean the difference between a campaign that sinks without a trace and one that has a significant impact.

For example, having experts target your campaign, word your messages or implement e-newsletter software can take the weight off your shoulders and ensure you have the expertise needed to avoid elementary mistakes.

This is not spam

One of the biggest obstacles to the success of email marketing is spam filtering software. Businesses need to tread carefully when they are compiling their email lists. Getting permission from the intended target is not only a legal requirement when it comes to marketing to consumers, but it’s also good business practice and can help build trust in your company and brand as a whole. (See the next issue for more on the various ways to build up your database.)

Other ways to help ensure you don’t fall foul of spam filters include never using attachments when sending email marketing messages, and avoiding traditionally “spammy” subject lines. (For more information on how to avoid being tagged as a spammer see Issue 186.)

Relevant and targeted

To ensure you make an impression on your customers’ inboxes, denise cox says that all email communications need to be relevant, targeted and timely. Knowing your market and your customer profile will go a long way towards helping to satisfy these requirements.

This message is echoed by Keelan Cunningham, managing director of web content firm Red Sky. He says that businesses should include “useful content… something that’s of interest and of use to the recipient” in their email correspondence. “There’s little point in a business emailing their customers and telling them how wonderful the business is and how many awards you’ve won. No one really cares that much.”

With business-to-consumer marketing, the targets of your campaign usually indicate their interest by signing up for your newsletter or special offers in the first place. But if you have nothing interesting to say, the customer may decide the email is not relevant and delete it. If a customer has signed up for special offers, ensure that your communications always include these. Similarly, if they expect to hear company and industry news and announcements, your marketing effort should tackle this.

“Decide why you are sending the email and what action you want the recipient to do upon receiving it. It seems obvious but you’d be surprised how many marketing emails are purposeless,” says Cunningham.

Content matters

On the web, attention spans are short, so it’s important to get your message across quickly and in a way that appeals to your customer demographic. Writing for your audience is a vital consideration. There is little point in having a great database that reaches all your customers if the message is lost among badly written content.

An email aimed at teenagers should be written using different language to one aimed at business people, while some messages - such as special offers - can lend themselves to a more visually appealing email. (For more on speaking your customers’ language see Issue 199.) You can also personalise emails to a certain extent, using the information you have gathered with your customers’ permission, but be careful not to overdo it or you may trigger privacy concerns.

To ensure that you stay up-to-date with your customers’ changing interests and requirements, you can periodically ’survey’ them to find out their current needs and if they are still interested in receiving emails.

Timely reminders

Timing is also all-important. Send messages too often and your customers will end up viewing them as spam. Fail to correspond often enough and you risk dropping off your customers’ radar.

The exact timing of emails depends on each individual business and the-life cycle of its products, along with customers’ purchasing life-cycles. For example, an insurance firm might only contact its customers at certain times of the year in order to sell specific products - i.e. when they are up for renewal - but regular email newsletters containing special offers and new products could be a way to generate new business from an existing customer.

For those new to email marketing, calling in the experts may be the best option. “Get professional help and use automated software packages to send and measure the results,” says Cunningham. “Also, make sure you have the resources internally to take ownership of it.”

In the next issue, we’ll take a look at how to compile an email database, what software is available for email marketers and how to measure a campaign’s success.

Some Leitrim Blogs

McGovern Organic Wines

Cannaboe Confectionery

Rebecca Hillman

Reverb Studios

Webforge

Wedding Stationery Ireland

Living Architecture Centre

Leitrim Business Network

Please email me or leave a comment if I have left you out.

The Living Architecture Centre is an online school of sustainable house design and construction operated by Peter Cowman.

Local IT company Reverb Studios has a useful blog. Well worth checking out.

Examples:

• Test your Broadband or Internet Speed
• Add a Discussion Forum to your site
• Get links into your Website
• Searching the Internet

By Surya Yalamanchili of LinkedIn

1. Add Job Details to Your Profile

Just listing job titles doesn’t do you justice. Descriptions of roles, responsibilities, and accomplishments will dramatically improve your appearance in search results as well as present a fuller picture of who you are.

2. Add Education to Your Profile

Finding opportunities, answers, candidates and researching your market is a lot easier when your fellow school alums can find you.

3. Choose Your Vanity URL

(www.linkedin.com/in/yourname)

Add it to your business card, website, email signature, etc.

4. Import Your Address Book

Let us do all the work – in seconds you can see who in your address book is already on LinkedIn and connect with them.

5. Install the Outlook Toolbar

Effortlessly manage your network from your toolbar: get suggestions on who to invite based on email frequency, one-click invitations, update your Outlook contacts, and much more.

6. Find Answers to Hard Questions

Posting on LinkedIn Answers reaches both your connections and the broader LinkedIn network. Your network is a smart group of people–someone will know!

7. Read News About Your Company

Read what your colleagues are reading – the 2 or 3 things you NEED to know about every day. Keep your resolution to stay informed on the latest news, while increasing your efficiency!

8. Enable Your Public Profile

Places your LinkedIn profile in web search results so that the professional image you earned is presented to the world.

Let me know if you are interested in Car Pooling on to conference on Thursday.