Posts Tagged ‘email marketing’
Breaking E-Mail Marketing News: CAN-SPAM Act Update
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
The Federal Trade Commission announced in a press release today that it will soon be publishing clarifications to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. The following topics are to be addressed:
(1) an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender.
(2) the definition of “sender” was modified to make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single e-mail message is responsible for complying with the Act’s opt-out requirements.
(3) a “sender” of commercial e-mail can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox established under United States Postal Service regulations to satisfy the Act’s requirement that a commercial e-mail display a “valid physical postal address.”
(4) a definition of the term “person” was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM’s obligations are not limited to natural persons.
Keep your eyes peeled for it. The good news is that if you are already conducting an ethical email marketing campaign, these specifications should not affect you one way or another. If not, you may want to revise your strategy. For some guidance, check out Keeping Your E-Mail Campaigns Legal .
Tags: CAN-SPAM, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, law, legal, legislation, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, news, Rebecca Button
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How to Compel People to Open and Read Your Marketing Emails
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Anyone with an email address knows how overwhelming and annoying all those junk emails can be. Sifting through an inbox and trying to decide what’s click worthy and what’s junk has become an annoying daily chore. It’s no wonder that click rates are down - consumers have grown tired of the same old subject lines and have become programmed over time to delete, delete, delete.
But, don’t worry; email marketing doesn’t have to be pointless. When done right it can truly be effective. It’s getting your emails to stand out from the sea of junk that’s the seemingly tough part. Incorporating some of these tips into your next email campaign can help to increase both your click rate and your response rate:
Use a branded “from” name - Your marketing email’s from name should reflect your company or brand name, not the message contained within the email. If you want people to read your emails, then you’ll need to get them to trust you - and that means giving them a straightforward answer as to who is sending the email. Even tags like Specials, Weekly Tips, or Discounts added to the from name will make most recipients think twice about opening your emails.
Include a call to action in the “subject” line - If you want people to open your emails, you’ll need to give them a reason to. Some of the most successful email campaigns contain a powerful and tantalizing offer or teaser in their subject line. For instance: “50% off and free shipping - one day only!” or “Kids titanium bike - $59 and it ships free!” Give people a reason to act; don’t expect a “10% off all housewares” subject line to get anyone excited.
Use a “time is of the essence” strategy - Hyping up a big discount in your email’s subject line is one thing, but unless you give people a reason to react now, you could be missing out on a huge percentage of clicks. A tantalizing subject line may very well grab someone’s attention, but if it doesn’t require an immediate response it might end up being buried in a sea of other emails - inevitably to be forgotten about. So, before or after your call to action, give readers a reason to click. Something like “3-day sale”, “24-hour sale”, “One-day only”, etc.
Don’t over punctuate in the subject line - Punctuation can be a good thing in subject lines - especially exclamation points and question marks. But don’t go crazy. An overly-punctuated subject line is a red flag to most spam folders, meaning your readers will never end up seeing your message. So, try to keep an “at most” limit of three punctuation marks per subject line.
Inside the email: get to the point, quick - Okay, if you’ve followed all the above tips and are lucky enough to have someone click open your email, what now? Email readers make decisions very quickly on whether or not they close and delete and email. In order to give your message a fighting chance, you need it to be short and concise. Give readers more information about the teaser in your subject line and then give them the opportunity to click onto your website.
Email marketing is abused so much, each and every day, that inboxes are jam-packed with worthless scam emails. In order to make your emails stand out, you need to be upfront and honest about who you are and what you have to offer your readers.
Tags: advice, Carrie Hinkel, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, tips
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How to Write Effective Email Newsletters
Friday, March 28th, 2008
Visit any company website, and more than likely you’ll see that they offer an option to sign up for their company newsletter. The reason so many companies have a newsletter, as well as the option to sign up for one, is that they are excellent and cost-effective marketing tools. Not only can you get the latest news about your company across to literally thousands of people, the very fact that it’s an opt-in email newsletter means that your news is going out to prospects that are already interested in your products and services.
However, a newsletter is only as effective as the content that’s in it, whether it’s via email or more traditional print media. Therefore it’s important to know what needs to go in your email newsletter, and what you can leave out.
Content is King
Everyone’s heard the saying “content is king”, and this is particularly true for any written communication. Without the right news and content, your email newsletter will probably join countless others in the recipient’s email trash folder. Therefore you need to make sure that you’re getting across information that’s both relevant to the recipient(s), as well as promoting your company in as effective a manner as possible. Some of the best content to provide in an email newsletter includes:
* Tips and advice are excellent and are usually universally acknowledged as being an important part of any email newsletter’s success. Offering free yet expert advice is always welcome and your customers will be more likely to trust and use you for their needs.
* Interactive newsletters are also becoming extremely popular, not to mention highly effective at getting your message across. You could have a poll, or an “Insert Your Question Here” box or something similar. If people feel like they’re involved, again they’ll be more likely to come to you for your service or products.
* Offer your opinion on something that’s relevant to both you and your subscribers’ interests or industry. It may be discussing how the latest government by-laws will affect business, or how the economy can learn from other areas. It can be about almost anything you like - but for maximum impact, make sure you’re knowledgeable on the subject, and that it’s topical.
Once you have the content, your email newsletter will flow much more naturally and offer you a better chance of success. However, although content is extremely important, you need to make sure you present it properly as well. This is where list segmentation can help.
By only sending out relevant information to the right readers, you can soon set up different databases of customers that you can target with timely email newsletters. Not only will this save you time in creating your newsletter, it will ensure that you don’t get looked upon as a Spam emailer, making sure that your email newsletters will have a far better chance of being read.
Tags: danny brown, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, email newsletters, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, onlnie marketing
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Advice on Email Appending
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
While many consider email appending the underbelly of electronic marketing, others are convinced it’s a legitimate way of doing business. So, what exactly is email appending? It’s the process of combining two databases of customer information. One database the company owns; however, it lacks the customers’ email addresses. The other database comes from an append vendor, and it contains those customers’ missing email addresses.
There are two types of email lists that an append vendor can offer: opt-in and opt-out. An opt-in list means that all of the customers have responded to an opt-in email and have agreed to be on the business’ marketing list. On the other hand, an opt-out list means that everyone on that list did not respond to the initial opt-in request email. These people chose to either ignore or delete the email, or perhaps it is an old email address. Obviously, opt-in email addresses are more useful, as the customer is 1) responsive and 2) willing to join your list. For that reason, opt-ins will usually cost between $2.00 and $4.00 per address. Opt-outs, because of the customers’ unresponsiveness and non-interest, can usually be purchased for $.05 to $.20 per address.
The Pros and Cons of email appending
The good thing about email appending is that an opt-in list can fill in the missing blanks to your customer database. If done right, email campaigns to customers can lead to increased sales and frequent customer visits to your website. Having an append vendor help to complete your list could be the start to a healthy list that continues to grow, month after month.
The not-so-good-thing about email appending is the opt-out list. It’s important to remember that just because someone didn’t opt-out doesn’t mean they wanted to opt-in. Using an opt-out list means you are using email addresses without the recipients’ permission. If anyone decides to report your company for violation of the CAN-SPAM act, you will never be able to prove that they opted into your list or that you have their permission to email them.
Aside from spamming, opt-out lists are often completely useless; many believe that the absolute best you can hope for is a 2% response rate. However, chances are you may never get a single response from any of these unresponsive customers.
It’s very possible that you may also jeopardize future relationships with your customers. If your once-happy-with-your-company customers find that you are "spamming" them, they may not only complain, they may decide to never visit your website again. While some people just delete unwanted emails, others take notice and offense to the fact that a company they purchased from is now using their private information without permission, and for their own use. They may wonder if you are selling the information to third parties, and feel taken advantage of. It will be difficult, or impossible, to win those once-loyal customers back.
You may be wondering if email appending is even worth it. Many companies have learned the hard way to stay away from them entirely, while others swear they are worthwhile. An opt-in list may be useful as one-time method to completing your database, but from then on it would be best to build and grow your list on your own.
Tags: advice, Carrie Hinkel, E-Commerce and E-Business, email appending, email marketing, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, tips
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5 Tips for Increasing Your Email Newsletter Opt-In Rate
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
You want to increase the email distribution of your email newsletter. Being front and center for potential clients or customers is your goal for increasing your bottom line, and what better way to do that but to be in their inbox when they are ready to make a purchase. But how do you do that?
While you are eager to get going on creating a website that will hopefully boost your visitors and email newsletter opt-in rate, below are some suggestions on how to improve your opt-in rates.
1. Offer something for free, such as special report, e-book, e-zine, etc. This entices the visitor to sign up-they are receiving something free, while you receive their email address for further communication. Putting a testimonial on your invite page will help to obtain the email sign ups.
2. Describe the “What’s-in-it-for-me”. Another way to obtain emails for your list is by using language that will capture the reader. Most people are just skimming through text when they read. Describing the benefits of signing up for your email newsletter will help to capture the visitor. People want to know what they will receive, not thinking how it will impact your business.
3. A little personalization goes a long way. You may want to consider asking the visitor for their first name, in addition to their primary email address. This will allow you to personalize the information you send out to them, which will make it seem less like spam and more like a benefit they are receiving. Be careful, however, not to ask for too much information on your email sign up form. The more information you ask for (beyond name and email address), the less likely visitors will be to sign up.
4. Make sign up as easy as possible. During the design phase, it is important to make the boxes and buttons to click on very clear, such as the sign up and submit buttons. If they are not obvious and a visitor has to hunt around for it, you will have potentially lost a client or customer. Also, if you have too many steps in the sign up process, you may lose these potential clients or customers. They are not usually going to back up or return to sign up for a newsletter after they have already left the site. Make it easy for them and you will receive their information.
5. Include your privacy policy. This will put most people at ease knowing that their information will not be sold or be given away to other companies who will send them spam emails.
By implementing these easy tips, your email sign up lists will increase substantially in addition to increasing the number of visitors to your site.
Tags: E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, larry Slusser, Marketing Your Business, newsletters, online marketing, opt-in rates
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Determining How Much Email Marketing is Too Much
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
As an online business owner, you have to market your site and let your customers and prospects know all about what you have to offer if you want to succeed. You probably have an area on your site for visitors to sign up for mailings and special deals, and you no doubt collect their email information when they order something from your site.
Whether you’re just starting to use email to market your business, or are considering expanding your email marketing efforts, here are some tips to help you determine how much you should be sending and how often.
How Much Email Is Too Much? How Will I Know?
While there no set rules about how much email to send, there are some guidelines that can be applied. There are also some key indicators from your customers and site’s visitors browsing and buying patterns you can glean. The real question you need to ask is, “how often would I want to be contacted if I was the customer/prospect”.
What Type of Message Are You Sending?
The types of email communication you are emailing will somewhat drive the frequency of email you are sending out. For example, it is perfectly acceptable to send out a newsletter once or twice per month to your regular customers and prospects. You certainly want to include anyone on the distribution list of your newsletter who has signed up for it, purchased something from you, or emailed you asking for more information.
If you are selling products and have updates on those products, that information is very valuable to people who have those products. Typically this type of communication is for customers only, not prospects; but you can give prospects the option to receive this type of communication as it may be useful to them. Product updates, service information, and recalls all fall under this category.
Company news and event announcements are a great way to communicate with your customer base and your prospects. While you don’t want to overdo this type of communication, every other month or quarterly is acceptable. Use this communication to highlight exciting happenings in your company, trade show invitations, or an invitation to an event you are hosting or participating in. Make the announcement informative and newsy, not just fluffy and sales-y.
Who Are You Sending the Email Message To?
One of the first rules we are taught in communicating, whether verbal or written, is to know your audience! For your existing customers you want your communications to add value and build your relationship with them. You don’t want to be a bother, but you want to let them know what’s happening with the product or service they buy from you as well as what’s going on with your company.
For prospects, you want to build your brand name and position yourself as their logical solution for purchasing the service or product you offer.
A Clear Sign You Are Sending Too Much Email
If you find that many people are not opening your emails or are opting out, your email frequency is probably too high. Rethink your communications strategy and review your distribution lists. Track your site usage reports and analytics and watch the browsing patterns.
If you find your sales are stagnant, you need to try a little more communication or perhaps some variation in the messaging and remember the key: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!
Tags: advice, E-Commerce and E-Business, e-mail marketing, email marketing, larry Slusser, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, tips
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Choosing an Email Marketing Service Provider
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007
One of the great things about conducting business in the new millennium is that a lot of the costs have been cut out of marketing campaigns. The ubiquitous nature of the Internet means that almost everyone on the planet is a potential viewer of your marketing campaigns, and they can be reached any number of ways.
One of the most effective marketing methods ever used is email marketing. Anyone with an Internet connection has email, and that means that you can reach thousands of potential customers or clients who are already in the “likely” category when it comes to your products and services, due to targeting. Also, the cost of email marketing is relatively low when compared to other forms of marketing, both online and offline.
As is true of so many things on the Internet today, though, not all email marketing service providers are equal. In fact, some may not provide you with what you were hoping for at all.
With that in mind, here are some criteria to keep in mind when you are choosing an email marketing service provider.
* Is the provider aware of the laws regarding email marketing? Believe it or not, the Internet is not a totally unregulated Final Frontier. Problems with email campaigns in the past have meant that both the United States and the European Union have passed laws which specifically govern the use of email in marketing (namely, the CAN-SPAM Act ).
Most email marketing service providers have an understanding of these laws and have built their own policies to comply with them and with industry best practices in general; but it’s a good idea to ask the providers on your short list any specific questions you might have about their understanding of these laws and their handling of spam and opt-outs. If they don’t provide information on their website or if their representatives can’t answer your questions, walk away.
* Is the service provider aware of ISP policies? Not all rules regarding email marketing are enshrined at the government level, but some can get a business in just as much trouble. One example is the violation of Internet service provider (ISP) policies.
Email marketing service providers make it their business to be well-versed on the policies of each individual ISP so that you don’t have to. Again, make sure that the provider you are considering does not just say “yes, we follow the policies”, but can give you a detailed description of those policies and what they do to help you adhere to them as a marketer.
* How many opt-in campaigns has the company handled? Experience counts for a lot; it means the difference between a good campaign and your company being used as a guinea pig. Make sure that the ESP you choose has a good track record in handling email marketing campaigns for other successful businesses - and can show you the numbers to prove it.
* Is the website user friendly? You want to spend most of your time developing or selling your products, not working out the finer technical points of an email campaign. Make sure that the provider you choose supplies you with easy to use templates, where all you have to do is fill in the information you need for a successful opt-in campaign.
Conversely, you will want your ESP to be flexible if you want your forms tailored to your specific business.
* What kind of reporting is provided? When you deploy an email marketing campaign, you don’t want to just send it and forget it - you want to know how many were opened (open rate), how many clicks it got (click through rate), and what links were clicked, as well as how many people unsubscribed and how many emails bounced. These sorts of statistics will help you to further improve your campaigns, and you want to make sure the ESP provides you with this information.
* What is the cost? This is an extremely important factor, for obvious reasons; but you should price out several providers and weigh their costs against their features and your needs in particular. If you’re just starting out with email marketing, you may not need something with lots of features you don’t really need that will cost you more than you expect to make from your efforts. You’ll also find that most ESPs have tiered pricing, based on the number of email addresses you send to.
ESPs tend to offer free trials, so take full advantage of those so you can “try before you buy”.
Email marketing continues to prove to be very effective as a means of direct communication with your potential clients. Choosing the best email marketing service provider is critical to your business; not only will the results be measurable, but your business will stay legitimate in all aspects!
Tags: advice, CAN-SPAM, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, Leeia Ladipoh, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, tips
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How to Make Sure Your Next Email Campaign Complies with CAN-SPAM Regulations
Friday, October 26th, 2007
There’s no doubt that in the past decade, unsolicited emails have gotten increasingly out of control. To curb this mass of junk e-mail, Congress has enacted the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act," or CAN-SPAM Act. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 16, 2003 and it became effective on January 1, 2004.
Here are the key points of the CAN-SPAM Act for bulk emailers to follow:
* No deceptive subject lines
* No false or misleading headers
* Must include a clear and conspicuous way to opt out/unsubscribe out of your email list
* Must include a valid physical postal address
Not complying can subject the spammer to stiff criminal penalties of three years in prison for a first offense and five years for a subsequent offense. For a more detailed rundown of the CAN-SPAM act, you can go to the Federal Trade Commissions website and learn more: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm
When putting together an email campaign for your company, you should take the above CAN-SPAM points into consideration as well as other customer-comforting additions such as:
Don’t Share Customer Email Addresses - It’s bad business practice to sell or give a customer’s email address to a third party. Some companies are in the practice of selling emails to list companies or trading their own list with another company’s. It’s unfair to your customers and if they trace the source of their new flow of emails, they will undoubtedly never consider doing business with your company.
Confirm Every Subscription -The best way to ensure that only interested parties are receiving your emails is to have a double confirmation (or "double opt-in"). With this method, a company sends an email to new subscribers requiring them to click on a confirmation link, at which time the new email address is added to the list. Subscribers who do not confirm their email addresses are not added to the list and will not receive further communications from you.
Avoid the "Negative Opt-In" - This is when a company pre-checks a box that automatically has a person agreeing to receive emails in the future. A company’s opt-in subscription box should be clearly visible and un-checked, making sure that subscribing to your list is an intentional act.
Identify Yourself Clearly In Every Message - To be completely clear to your subscribers, your company name should appear in the both the sender and subject line of every email you send out.
For email campaigns, if your end goal is to eventually sell something to your subscribers, then it’s best to make them feel comfortable and trusting of your company. Take a look at how some large and reputable companies (like Microsoft, Apple or Amazon) structure their emails and learn from their techniques. There are billions of scam emails being sent out each and every day, it makes good business sense to distance yourself from these illegitimate con artists as much as possible. A proper email campaign should be beneficial to your customers and something they actually want to open and read.
Complying with the CAN-SPAM act is simple, but making your campaign really effective means going a few steps further and making your emails a win-win for both you and your subscribers.
Tags: advice, CAN-SPAM, Carrie Hinkel, E-Commerce and E-Business, email campaign, email marketing, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, tips
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5 Tips for Utilizing Email Marketing to Drive Sales
Friday, October 19th, 2007
Email is a quick and reliable mode of transferring messages and information. It is also a relatively free form of advertising. For new businesses, anything free is worth considering. But there are many regulations that muddy the waters of email marketing, and if you go the wrong way here, you’re likely dealing with hefty fines.
There are some things that can help business owners take full advantage of email marketing, while avoiding potential pitfalls.
1. Focus your attention first on those people who have already expressed an interest in your service or product. Starting and maintaining a short newsletter can attract subscribers who would be more likely to buy from you. Once they subscribe, they provide their email addresses, which provides you with a chance to market.
2. Make sure that you don’t go against the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003: This Act allows for up to an $11,000 fine per spam email sent, but you can use software or the service of a company specializing in spam avoidance to ensure that your marketing does not go against the Act. In general, the Act requires that you: provide a valid physical address for contact, allow a one-click unsubscribe button, and disallow the importing of lists, which may include purchased contacts.
3. Track your email. Tracking who responds to your email and who doesn’t can be a great tool for evaluating how well your marketing efforts are paying off. Unlike written communication, email marketing leaves a permanent trail. Response time and email-to-final-purchase ratio each tell a story about your marketing success. Some people may choose to use more advanced tracking methods, such as coding links within each message that notifies you every time a potential buyer clicks for more information.
4. Personalize. Don’t think that just because you’re sending the equivalent of a “cold-call” through email, that you have to make your message impersonal. In fact, the computer robots that go through and decide which emails to mark as spam and which to mark as legitimate mail depends a lot on how you address their email. Use a real name and a believable subject line, and include your contact information at the bottom of the email. You are, after all, trying to attract people to your product.
5. Embellish. If you have a choice and the capabilities, use html in your emails. Plain text doesn’t attract attention like a slick logo or graphics. This will also show your recipients that you didn’t just slap some sentences together and send the message off blindly, but that you took your product and its future seriously.
You may want to look into the services of an email service provider (ESP). Many have easy to use features that are great for those just getting started with email marketing, such as customizable HTML templates, the ability to personalize your emails, and open and click reporting. Most importantly, ESPs also help you to become CAN-SPAM compliant by reviewing your lists and maintaining relationships with the various internet service providers that your subscribers are using so that your emails get delivered. While some ESPs can be pricey, others (such as Constant Contact )are inexpensive and cater to small businesses with smaller budgets.
Email has more potential to attract customers than any other Internet marketing method. Think of how hard it is to climb the page rankings at Google and Yahoo. Trying to bring customers to your site involves years of work or a lot of money as you struggle to get the Meta Tags and descriptors just right for your site to move up in the rankings. Email marketing is much more skill-dependent. It still involves work and creativity to attract customers this way, but is much more rewarding, as email marketing can bring people into your business who will turn into regular customers.
Tags: advice, boosting sales, constant contact, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, increasing sales, jennifer ratliff, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, tips
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Using Email to Market Your Business
Friday, October 5th, 2007
Studies show that email is the single most used application on the internet. More people use their email than they surf the web, visit social sites, or even shop online. This makes using email to market your business a great idea. There are different ways to do this, and as long as you are in compliance with the Can-Spam Act , you will have a great chance of gaining new traffic and customers.
Say It In Your Signature
Each day, you probably use your email to keep in touch with your family and friends, reply to business emails, and even communicate with people you don’t know. Each time you send out an email, you have the chance of telling someone about your business. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use a signature file. A signature file is where you set your email to automatically include a signature at the bottom of every email. Your signature is like a little advertisement for your business that you can send in every single email. Even if the person who is receiving the email will not be a customer, they may know someone who might be interested.
Create and Send A Newsletter
This is a great way to market your business and include specials, discounts or even information on new items for sale. You want to include some kind of newsletter opt in on your website. This way, you can send the newsletter to those people who wish to be included. Sending unsolicited newsletters in bulk is considered "spamming." If you do send newsletters to people who have not signed up, be sure to include your business’s physical address, and a way for them to opt out if they don’t want to receive newsletters. There are many services out there, known as email service providers (ESPs), that can help you set up your email campaigns easily (even providing easy to use templates and helping you to put the actual sign up on your site). One such service, which is relatively low-cost and popular with small businesses, is http://www.constantcontact.com Constant Contact .
Purchase A List
You can purchase email leads for your specific target market. There are many places where you can purchase a certain amount of leads for a specific price; however, this can get pricey, especially if you’re operating on a shoestring budget. Compliance with the Can-Spam Act cannot be stressed enough when using this method, since the people on this list did not opt in to receive your emails. The key is to message more than one time. In fact, research shows that a person will normally get 4 emails from a company before clicking on that email; however, make sure you "clean" your list each time by promptly removing unsubscribes and undeliverable addresses (called "hard-bounces").
The best method for selling on the internet today is to use 80% information and 20% selling. When people are overwhelmed by hyped up selling techniques through their email, they will most likely not respond. Be sure to include lots of great information, and don’t push your products very hard. Just allow them to be informed and offer the option of visiting your site. Using your email to market your business is being smart, and it’s a great strategy that can work out well if you follow the above tips.
Tags: advice, constant contact, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, tips
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