Tag: Email Marketing

8 Misconceptions on Email Deliverability

Leave a comment

Email deliverability has a lot of misconceptions.  Here are common assumptions that trainers, consultants, and professional coaches make that are often untrue:

  1. The bigger I can get my list, the more money I will make from it.
    A large list might make you feel better, but unless all of the people on it want to be there, the size of your list could actually be losing you money. First, you are paying to send information to people who don’t respond to it. The old and unresponsive names on your list are turning into spam trap complaints, ruining your IP reputation and degrading your delivery and deliverability potential.
  2. “Report as SPAM” is just a lazy way to unsubscribe
    People click this button because they don’t see the value of your email. Some people believe this is the only way to safely unsubscribe. Treat SPAM complaints as an aggressive unsubscribe.  Obviously you shouldn’t continue to email them but also take stock of how many unsubscribers are actually filing SPAM complaints.  Too many of these will begin to work against your deliverability.
  3. I need to have 100 percent deliverability rate all of the time.
    For the most part, this is simply unattainable. But, you – not the ISP – have complete control over this metric. If you keep your lists extremely clean and your audience is actively engaged with your email marketing campaign, you will have a great IP reputation and outstanding delivery rates and inbox presence.
  4. ISPs should care that my email gets through because we are not Spammers.
    ISP’s don’t care about brands or intentions.  They analyze what you do, not what you say you’ll do.  If the people on your list have asked to be there and are interacting with your mail, it will get delivered. If you are bulk sending questionable content then it will get blocked.
  5. My list wants to hear from me all the time, even if they never open or click on my mail.
    Put yourself in your audiences shoes.  Even if they love the content of your email there is a limit to frequency.  The absolute maximum you should be sending emails to your audience is twice a week.  For most trainers, consultants, and professional coaches it’s likely to be monthly to weekly.
  6. I can make my email look transactional and send it to anyone, even people who unsubscribed.
     In the U.S., sending transactional messages containing content that you need to tell people (order/shipping confirmations, order status updates, warrantee, or legal notices) does not require suppressing opt-outs. Further, including commercial content in transactional messages can be done and is often very effective. For example, messages that are sent to remind people that they forgot to buy something are most likely considered commercial and need to have opt-outs suppressed. Pretending this is transactional content will potentially raise enough complaints to instigate deliverability or even legal issues.
  7. Just because it’s legal, it’s OK to do it.
    There are tricks to bend the letter of the law on SPAM.  That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use them. The goal is to send communications to people that will get value from them.  Treat your audience with respect and tell them targeted and intelligent things. They will reward you with their continued business.
  8. I bought a list of 100 million names, this will really increase the value of my lists
    Buying a credible list is difficult.  Even good lists will not contain engaged prospects and customers.  It’s basically a crap shoot on whether there will be any interest at all and response rates will be much lower.  These lower rates can be damaging to deliverability as it typically produces a wave of unsubscribes and SPAM reports.  That’s a best case scenario with a good list.  Imagine how much damage a list obtained by an unreputable source can do.
Email Marketing , , , , , , , ,

Article Schedule with Social/Email Integration

5 comments

Many times with online marketing simply completing the tasks is the most difficult aspect of doing it.  So why not kill a few birds with one stone?  A blog’s posting schedule can be synced with email marketing and social media marketing programs to cover all the channels at once.

The simplest way of doing this is by making your blog your central content hub.  Once you have an article ready for posting you can create an email marketing message that features that article.  Provide a teaser for the content and then link back to the blog.  In this way, the content is not just a blog post but also an email marketing communication.

Same principle applies to social media.  Once a blog posting is live it can be featured on all your social media profiles.  Feature the title or a short teaser and a link back to the blog.  Again the content serves as a blog post but also as a social profile feeder.

Most online marketing campaigns for trainers, consultants, and professional coaches is based around valuable content and the blog serves as the central place for that content.

Once you have your schedule in place and are using the content for multiple marketing channels, you can focus on streamlining the process further.  There are a lot of automated tools to automatically feed your blog to social media channels.  Some are integrated right into the blogging platform, others can pull new blog posts from the blog.  Many email marketing platforms have social media  integration so your email subject line can be used as a social media post and eliminate the need to feed the information separately.

When you duplicate where the blog content is being used, it exponentially adds to the value of the blog because the content for the blog has several channels to engage prospects.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , , , ,

B-to-B Online Marketing Around the Holidays

5 comments

As the holiday season grows closer, many of us associate it with the busiest shopping season of the year.  But for B-to-B the inverse is often true.   While consumer shopping spikes business to business transactions often lag.  Consultants, trainers, and professional coaches need to modify some of their online marketing plans to account for the decreased activity without abandoning the time period as a lost cause.

There are two bad plans for your B-to-B marketing over the holiday period (late November through the early part of January in the US).

The first is pretending the time of year does not matter.  While you’ll want to schedule any informative content that you regularly provide, sales or offer emails are unlikely to convert well.  For example, if you run a monthly event to find new opportunities, it’s likely that registrations will suffer.  Instead of forcing your regular events an alternative “gift” incentive might be more appropriate.  For example, offer a free whitepaper download or training webinar as a thank you to people that subscribe to your email newsletter.  Make the offer simple to redeem.  Prospects don’t even need to leave their office to take advantage of either example.  The holiday period is a challenging time to get people to take advantage of more elaborate or expensive offerings, so find ways of providing simple value add incentives.

The second bad plan is giving up the holidays as a lost cause.  This plan abandons regular communications because “no one’s paying attention now.”  Your regular informative emails or newsletters are a given.  If you publish monthly or bi-weekly, then you need to meet that expectation.  True, rates will likely be somewhat lower but being consistent with your offer assures your audiences that you will deliver on your commitment.  Furthermore, this time frame is not a total lost cause for B-to-B.  Some businesses might have put off a decision until the end of the year.  If their budgeting cycle will reset, they might be primed to close a deal with a consultant, trainer, or professional coach.  Keeping your online marketing churning through this time period provides an opportunity to stay top of mind with prospects and clients.

Take the holidays into account for your online and email marketing.  It’s not the boom time that consumer businesses experience but it can be fruitful none the less.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Site Conversion, Social Media, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When Scheduling Goes Bad

One comment

Having automated processes in place that allow you to pre-schedule email or social media messages are a great tool.  However, the people behind the tools always need to be aware of those sends and make judgment calls in extenuating circumstances.

As an example, Hurricane Sandy is hitting the east coast hard this morning.  Many businesses are closed as people rightly look after their welfare and the welfare of their loved ones.  Sending out an advertisement or an invitation to an event today is likely to be ignored or ill-received.  However, there are plenty of automated messages that will go out today because they were pre-scheduled or out-of-town marketers won’t be aware of local circumstances.

After working on a communication and crafting the message, scheduling is a good way to ensure it is sent at an ideal time.  However, marketers need to remember that extenuating circumstances will come up and send schedules should be modified in these cases.

It’s not always practical as emergencies can rise without warning.  But in situations where there is a looming threat (like a hurricane) then delaying sends until after the threat has passed is advisable. 

Best wishes to the East coast cities hit by Sandy and stay safe.

Email Marketing, Social Media , , , , , , , , ,

When Do I need Online Marketing Help?

One comment

One of the most challenging questions for trainers, consultants, and professional coaches in regards to online and email marketing is knowing when they need to hire outside help.  There’s not a hard and fast rule but there are three guidelines of when to look for help:

  1. Don’t Have Time – This is an easy issue to identify.  If you or your staff does not have time to consistently do the online marketing activities, then hire outside help that will stay on top of it.  Online marketing typically isn’t effective when done sporadically.  If pieces of your marketing campaign aren’t getting done because it’s being forgotten or postponed, get some help.
  2. Lacking Quality – This is a guideline that’s harder to define as standards for quality can be subjective.  Sometimes this can be solved by upgrading you or your staff’s skills.  This is often the case if the person responsible for your online marketing wants to do the work but struggles. Before investing time, money, and/or energy into upgrading a skill set, make sure that you or your staff member is close enough to a professional quality to make the investment worthwhile.  Often times, if a person has a poor aptitude for online marketing, trying to train them is just a frustration that still results in sub-par quality.As a general rule if you find that the quality of the content comes off as unprofessional or get feedback that others do, then the person producing the work needs to improve the product or outside help needs brought in. An online campaign that looks home grown because the quality is lacking can often do more harm than good.
  3. No Results – An online campaign should produce results in either business leads or sales.  How many leads or sales depends on the campaign but some results should exist.  If you are producing high quality communications on a regular basis but getting nothing from it than the approach is probably flawed.  This can be the most difficult problem to solve and often warrants hiring outside help.

Trainers, consultants, and professional coaches can produce quality online marketing campaigns on their own but it takes effort and dedication.  If you find that you aren’t meeting the guidelines above, then it might be worth hiring outside help and invest those efforts elsewhere.

If you decide to hire outside help here are some things to look for . . .

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , ,

Online Marketing Campaigns: Have a Target

Leave a comment

A common mistake in online marketing is not having a clear client target for individual campaigns.  The thinking behind it is usually,  “cast a wider net to have more opportunities to catch something.”  The problem is there are a lot of nets in the water, so the people that know how to catch a particular fish stand a much better chance of landing them.  Every online campaign should be built around attracting a particular target.

The first step in making a target is the overview.  Consultants, trainers, and professional coaches usually focus on executives or business professionals of a certain job role.  Let’s use sales training as an example.  The overall target could be sales professionals, sales managers, customer service professionals, business owners, and service professionals.  This is the businesses target focus but not specific enough for a single online campaign.

The second step is picking out a subsection of your target market that is suitable for your call to action.  Let’s use sales managers from the example above.  If a manager event is coming up then the campaign should be built around problems that a manager faces.  Topics of making prospecting calls or dealing with budgets will have less impact than building a sales team and sales debriefing because these are topics that sales managers directly deal with. 

The third step is identifying group subsets.  The event might be centered on managing a sales team in a particular industry.  If this is the case then targets should be related to that industry with a certain size sales force.

The point is that every online campaign should have a very clear target.  Ideally communications via email will be segmented to that group.  For web and social media communications, (or in cases where email segmentation isn’t possible) communications should clearly define who the offer is for.  This casts a smaller net by eliminating poorly suited people but adds credibility to the message for the target group.  A side benefit is that people outside the target group can quickly see it’s not suited to them and are more likely to take notice when they fall into a target segment for a future campaign.

There’s nothing complicated about defining a target.  It’s simply a matter of taking some extra time to focus the campaign and having the guts to let people know who is and is not a good fit for the offer.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media , , , , , , , ,

Quality Web Help

Leave a comment

I had a question come up recently with a prospective client that interestingly comes up a lot.  The question was, “How do I know you’ll stick around to do these campaigns?”  I’ve had some clients go so far as to ask for a contract for a dedicated length of time to work on their project.  These questions and requests are all based on the same problem.  It’s hard to find good web help.

The internet is only expanding which helps explain why hiring web help is difficult as demand stretches qualified professionals and introduces unqualified “professionals” attempting to tap into the market.

It took me a while to get used to these types of questions.  The defining moment for me was when a business owner asked me for a quote on redesigning his website.  The site was already professionally done, so I asked why the person who created it didn’t do the redesign.  The business owner responded, “Because I can’t locate him.  He got most of the site done and right after that we had a few extra projects for him.  I guess we paid him what he needed because he disappeared.”

So here’s an insider’s view on what to look for if you’re going to hire someone to do any web, internet, social media, or email marketing work for you.

  • How long have they been doing the work?
    Don’t go with just a date established. Seek out testimonials or referrals that validate the individual or firm have been consistently providing a service.  A lot of between job web professionals become freelancers for a few months but then vanish as soon as their next employment opportunity materializes.
  • Who do they work with and what do they specialize in?
    Anyone claiming to be everything to everyone should raise suspicion especially for freelancers or small firms.  The web has grown too big to be an expert in all industries and media.  A lack of specialization might be a sign of casting a wide net but not being well equipped to service clients.  Make sure you clearly define what is needed and what the freelancer or firm will be responsible for.
  • Do they practice what they preach?
    A web design firm should have a website.  A social media expert should have a sophisticated social media profile.  To some extent it’s true that our own sites are the last to get attention but a lack of a professional presence is a sure sign that the individual or firm might not be as qualified as they need to be.

The good news is there are a lot of web professionals available that will do a quality job.  Just make sure to do some homework before hiring them so you’re not left with a poor quality or unfinished project.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , ,

Reasonable Next Steps in Online Marketing

Leave a comment

Successful online marketing is part art, part science, and a big part common sense. However, when we work on our online marketing campaigns everything makes sense to us. We clearly see the value proposition and truly believe in the product, service, or offer being made. That zeal can blind us to common sense. The most common unreasonable expectation that crops up is how an audience will react to our call to action. Make sure that the call to action is suitable for what’s been communicated to the audience.

I recently had a conversation with a client who was frustrated by a lack of interest in a two day business event they run. We revued the email marketing metrics and my client stated, “See, we had 25 people click to the registration page and not one signed up. What’s going on? Our other offers consistently generate leads but marketing is not getting interest in this event.” So questions arose but 3 key questions told the tale.

How many people were ideal for the event?
About 20 was a good balance to make it a profitable event but small enough for personal interaction.

How many did they typically have register?
The events had averaged 10 people so they were operating at half the desired number.

If marketing was not filling seats how were people being registered?
On average 5 of the attendees came from personal invitations from the sales staff. The other half called in and after getting some more information about the event they would register.

So where did the call-ins come from? The assumption was that it was word of mouth or referrals but upon analyzing the dates it appeared that the call-ins were most prevalent when email communications were sent. The issue wasn’t that the emails weren’t working. It was that the audience was taking an unexpected next step by calling in.

Now correcting this situation can go down a lot of avenues. Was the landing page lacking enough information to convert interested parties? Was the sign up process unclear or cumbersome? Was the sign up process working technically? These are all valid questions but as is often the case the common sense questions are usually the most valuable.

The 2-day event this trainer was running was a $1500/person event. The email communications were largely being sent to prospects that were new to the list or only asked for basic information. The chances of converting an unengaged contact for a $1500 purchase on any online communication are slim to nil. However, the event might be of interest to them and they might want to call and ask questions. Some of the people that call to get information about the event will then decide they do want to attend, but they need that personal interaction. A promotional email just isn’t going to do it because it doesn’t intrinsically carry the necessary credibility for a purchase that size.

Any commitment over about $50 will meet with resistance unless the audience is already familiar with you or your company. My client’s future emails were sure to highlight their phone number so that interested prospects had a viable next step without having to commit to spending $1500. If you find that your conversions are performing well below expectations, it’s a good idea to review the call to action and make sure it’s a reasonable next step.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Site Conversion , , , , , , , , , ,

Email and Online Marketing: Create Genuine Urgency

Leave a comment

Creating a sense of urgency is often noted as a best practice in marketing.  We want prospects to take action on an offer now rather than filing it away for “later” and then forgetting about it.  But urgency, like anything, can be abused.  Many online marketers create arbitrary deadlines or dates to force urgency.  Overusing the strategy causes problems in the long run because audiences become skeptical.  Rather than making up false urgency review your offers to find the genuine urgency that can drive your prospects to take action.

Here are a few sample offers common for consultant, trainer, and professional coach’s events.   It’s an outline on how subtle changes in an offer can be perceived as genuine rather than a hollow marketing ploy.  The same strategies can be adapted for products or item promotions.

Many event communications for business seminars try to encourage registrations immediately.  Below are some common incentives.  But remember only use these urgency building tactics if it truly fits your event.

  • Give Away – A certain number of people that sign up first get a free item.  If you use this promotion then you need a rock solid way of knowing who the first registrations were up to a certain point.  The attendees will notice if every person in the room has the give-away.  Be realistic about the audience size an event will draw.  If you are expecting 30 people, don’t do the first 30 to sign up because the offer will look disingenuous.
  • Reduced Pricing – Early registration leads to a discounted price.  This can be a powerful incentive but needs to be honest.  If dates are rescheduled or everyone is given a reduced price the audience will learn that any advertised reduction is just a hollow attempt to portray a good deal.
  • Limited Number of Seats – Unless your registration method has a counter on available seats it’s difficult to use this incentive early. An email stating that seats are filling up well in advance is often hard to take seriously unless it’s a well known event.  This tactic is most effective as events get closer. It’s often a good “last chance” communication letting potential attendees know there are a certain number of spaces left but it needs to be sincere.  Telling people that there are a limited number of spots and having them come to a sparsely attended event is a quick way to lose credibility.
  • Upcoming Date – The most overlooked urgency builder for events is the most obvious, the date.  The beauty of this urgency builder is it’s self-apparently genuine.  The event happens on x date.  If you don’t sign up by y date then registration will be closed and you won’t be able to attend.  This again is best served as the event gets closer. The only way this can be undermined is if dates are commonly cancelled or rearranged.  If dates move a lot the audiences will assume that it’s not an actual deadline.

These are 4 examples.  The key to using any of them is to do so genuinely.  Urgency is created when the audience clearly understands why a timely response is necessary.  If urgency builders are overused or abused then the marketing audience tunes them out.  When that happens conversion suffers because communications have less credibility and offers with urgency are disregarded.

Email Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web Maintenance , , , , , , , , ,

Content for Email Marketing

Leave a comment

Many consultants, trainers, and professional coaches seem to be stumped on where to get quality content for their online marketing campaigns. In reality, the content isn’t the real problem. Given the nature of training and consulting literally everything being offered is valuable content. The real problem is organizing the material to make a cohesive online campaign. Training and consulting businesses have a wealth of valuable data to leverage for online marketing but it needs to be efficiently managed to make an effective online marketing campaign.

The first step in gathering content is to choose an area of focus. Is there a particular problem, tactic, or product/service that the campaign will focus on? Is the series of email designed for a particular segment of your audience? Identify the goal of a campaign and then group all the similar content together.

The second step is to take the similar content and organize that into a logical series. If the email will include narratives, maybe it’s chronological. If it deals with multiple products/services, maybe individual communications can be grouped for each service offering. If it’s a tactic, it could start out with small easy tips and proceed to ones that build on the initial ideas. The point is that a series of emails guide your audience step by step and reinforce your primary message.

Remember each topic in the series should be it’s own email communication.  Email marketing messages need to be laser focused and to the point.  Don’t muddy the communication by splitting the focus.  There should be only one primary offer or article.  Some small side bar offers or links can be OK but the main message should never be in question.

When content is ordered well it can steadily build credibility, reinforce reasons to take action on an offer, or both. Trainers, consultants, and coaches have content available. The challenge is putting in the effort to repurpose that content for an online campaign by organizing it into usable categories.

Email Marketing , , , , , , ,
1 2 3 4 5