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Overview
Introductions Why Email Marketing? Best Practices How To Send Questions
Using Email Marketing To Grow Your Business MSBDC - March 19, 2014 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Using Email Marketing To Grow Your Business MSBDC - March 19, 2014 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Using Email Marketing To Grow Your Business MSBDC - March 19, 2014 tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization Overview Introductions Why Email Marketing? Best Practices How To Send Questions tunnel 7 Design Marketing Optimization
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Who Am I?
derek allard, Tunnel 7 Website design / internet marketing / optimization Maximize return on investment Work regularly with clients on email marketing
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Who Are You?
Do you currently use email marketing? What has your experience been? What other internet marketing have you used / tried?
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Why Email Marketing?
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A Better Way
No postage required / no high cost ad placements Can target specific audiences with your lists Track results of email AND on your website
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Services Make It Simple
Management of lists / unsubscribes, etc. automated Prebuilt templates are decent to get started Most all provide data about results
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Despite What You’ve HearD …
Email marketing is an excellent channel for my clients You’re really only limited by the quality of your lists Done smartly, it’s one of the best tools at your disposal Smartly = have a plan, build quality list, follow said plan
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Best Practices: List Building
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Build Quality Lists
Hitting your target market is key If lists are bad, email marketing efforts will suffer A good list is the foundation all else is built on
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How To Build Lists
Export from your contacts database Collect email addresses from website Run contest / giveaway for email address Partner with related organizations (that have lists) Buy email lists (cautiously)
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Ask For Email Only
Common mistake is asking for extra information Decreases likelihood of person giving information Keep signup process one simple step If brick and mortar, ask at checkout / paper list
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Keep Signup Simple
Say thank you (concisely) Clearly indicate that any promises made are kept Ideally, don’t send them off to another website
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List Segmentation
Keep to a minimum Unless you’re targeting unique emails, not needed Don’t overthink creating multiple lists
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Write down how you will build (or improve) your mailing list
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Best Practices: Content
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What Is Your Message?
What do you want to tell the world about? What makes you, your service, your product unique? What benefits do you offer your customers / clients? What action do you want users to take (goal)? Best to think in planned campaigns (seasonal, etc.)
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Grab Attention
Write attention grabbing subject lines Make offers in your messages Make things sound simple (even if they aren’t) Put deadlines on offers, offer timed discounts
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Plan For The Year
Allows for a more cohesive email marketing strategy Start with a monthly basis and topic to discuss Write concise text, gather professional images Tweak the plan from year to year
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Content is the most important piece of any internet marketing effort
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Think Big, Write Small
Keep each message to one main message Don’t write a full newsletter with multiple articles (that’s what your website is for) Email is a quick pull to get users to website / action Avoid walls of text … think compressed sentences
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VS.
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Keep Recipients Focused
By keeping yourself focused One clear message One clear call to action Remove clutter and extraneous content
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For Most Clients
Content is published on website Email directs to the website for action
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List 3 topics you’d like to tell the world about (and that would benefit your business)
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Best Practices: Design
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Think Simplicity
Mirror the content suggestions (brevity) Best to share look and feel of website Services offer decent starter templates Link to website / have one clear call to action
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Should Include …
Link to view in browser Clear unsubscribe messaging Your contact information (CAN-SPAM)
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Use Landing Pages
To get specific actions from users Tie landing pages closely to content of email Tactic leads to higher conversion rates
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Do …
Consider responsive, mobile friendly designs Design in a clear headline / call to action Keep header area as small as possible Make sure your message is coherent without images
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Don’t …
Design a width > 550 pixels (unless responsive) Use images as text (email clients often block) Use web-based HTML for email templates
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How To Send
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Do Not Use Email Client
Not built for email marketing Managing unsubscribes / lists Clients are built around one to one / few messages
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Third Party Services
The best way to send and manage email marketing Campaign Monitor MailChimp Constant Contact
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Don’t Be A Spammer
Don’t buy suspect lists Respect users unsubscribe requests
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“From” Field
Use same address each time (avoid spam filters) Use an easily identifiable person / company name
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Smart Timing
Never send on a weekend Monday and Friday tend not to be good 10 am - 1 pm midweek = prime time Start with once a month, increase if manageable
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A/B Testing
Can test subject lines Can test email content Keep tests very focused (change only 1 or two things)
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Track Results
Services offer robust open rate and clickthrough data Most allow you to tag for Google Analytics Definitely use this data to see what resonates!
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Data will help you make better decisions about all your marketing efforts
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Important Metrics
Open rate Click through rate Quality of traffic on website Goal completion on website
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Write down how often you will send your messages & how you will track results
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Takeaways
Build a quality email list Be smart about your messaging with email marketing Plan for the long term (annual basis) Keep content brief / get users to take action Data is your best friend - use it to make smart decisions
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Tips & Tricks
Don’t try to be perfect / fail faster Run a survey to see what people want to hear about Be sure Google Analtyics is connected to efforts Cut content in half and in half again Better to put more messages out than perfect messages
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Additional Resources
Effective E-Mail Marketing: The Complete Guide to Creating Successful Campaigns by Herschell Gordon Lewis Web Design for ROI by Lance Loveday & Sandra Niehaus
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Thank You.
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Ask Me Questions
derek allard / Tunnel 7 derek@tunnel7.com / 413.282.9957 twitter.com/derekallard facebook.com/tunnel7 linkedin.com/in/derekallard