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Tag: email marketing campaign

  • Marketing Emails Viewed Through Spam-Colored Glasses

    Essential EM elements

    Email marketing (EM) can be very effective as long as it is not viewed as spam. This is critical because when your emails are viewed or interpreted as spam (viewed through spam-colored glasses) they will not likely be read by recipients and may not even reach those recipients if they are trapped by spam filters installed by some Internet service providers. It is for this reason that business owners must work hard to ensure their email marketing campaign messages are not viewed as spam by either their recipients or the recipients’ Internet service providers. That having been said, we will take a closer look at various aspects of email marketing and, specifically, how business owners can ensure that their emails are not viewed through spam-colored glasses.

    The distribution (or opt-in) list for an email marketing campaign is one of the essential elements which can help to ensure that emails sent by a business owner are not viewed as spam; but before this can be accomplished it is important to understand exactly what spam is, so let’s delve a little deeper into what spam really means. According to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2004, email marketers are required “…to include their physical address in the email as well as an “opt-out” link in every email designed to give consumers the ability to reach the marketer and tell them they no longer want to receive information from them after which the email sender must remove this email address from their data base within 10 business days.”

    Essentially, the law prohibits marketers from sending any email which is unsolicited, and sent for the sole purpose of advertising or promoting a product or service. And yet – in spite of this law and all that it encompasses in the way of prohibitions – Internet users still receive mass quantities of spam on a daily basis; quantities which, for some Internet users, is a huge source of frustration even as other Internet users have become so used to the spam sent to their email address that they barely even notice these emails.

    Neither of these scenarios, however, will bode well for business owners who are using email marketing campaigns to promote their products or services, because Internet users who are angered by spam mail in general, may react harshly and report such emails – legitimate as they may be – to their Internet service providers.

    Comprising the opt-in list

    Furthermore, Internet users who do not even notice spam are likely to either automatically delete emails they previously opted-in for and/or might block the sender’s email address to prevent future emails from getting through to them, because they have reached the point where all emails to their inboxes are viewed through spam-colored glasses.




    So if you are a business owner who intend to initiate add email marketing to your already established business operations, or you’re already engaged in email marketing activities, you may find it helpful to pay special attention to your email distribution list and make sure to only include recipients who had specifically asked for additional information, since such actions will help to keep your emails from being viewed as spam.

    You can take certain specific steps to accomplish these goals, the most important of which might be to invite individuals to subscribe to your opt-in list. In other words, simply ask visitors to your website – especially repeat visitors who seemed to have more than a casual interest in your content – to register with your website and specify whether or not they wish to receive future emails with additional information, advertisements or other helpful and useful tips. This ensures that the recipients of your emails are genuinely interested in your products and services and are not likely to view your emails as spam. Don’t allow your marketing emails to be viewed through spam-colored glasses!

    Another way to ensure that this does not happen is to offer recipients the option of being removed from the distribution list with each email (an option required by CAN-SPAM Act, anyway). This is important even when the recipients specifically asked to receive these emails; but they are entitled to change their opinion at any time. Offering your email recipients the opportunity to remove themselves from a email distribution list whenever they want is worthwhile because it allows recipients to have some control in the situation. This is a stark contrast to spam in which the recipients feel as though they have no control over the situation and, therefore, no way to stop the spam from bombarding their inboxes on a daily basis.

    De-spamming your business emails

    Finally, business owners can help to ensure their email marketing campaign is not viewed as spam by including quality content in the emails they send to recipients of their email distribution list(s). This may include providing feature articles, product reviews or a series of short useful tips which will likely be hold interest to all who receive your emails. These emails may also include a soft sales pitch but such a sales pitch should not be the primary focus of your emails.

    Putting too much attention on the advertising is likely to lead recipients to assume that your email is nothing more than spam. Conversely, providing quality information which is useful to recipients and subtly urging them to perform an action such as making a purchase or investigating the details of a product can make the email seem much more worthwhile, and less like spam.

  • A Few Proven Email Marketing Strategies

    Email marketing: An evolution!

    Over the last decade – and in some cases, dating back even further – email marketing has evolved into a popular method of doing business on the Web, despite the fact that many business owners knew little or nothing (something that is probably still true today) about creating, managing and completing an effective email marketing campaign. On the other hand, there are marketers who are well versed in all aspects of email marketing; those who possess the knowledge, skills and experience in the use of effective strategies that will likely hold a significant advantage over their competitors who lack similar skills.

    This article will provide useful information for business owners who are hoping to improve their sales or website traffic through effective email marketing; and if, for any reason, you do not have a great deal of information about email marketing and do not fully understand the principles involved, one of the best ways of orchestrating a truly effective email marketing campaign is to hire a consulting firm with a proven track record in promoting business through email marketing to assist you in your endeavor.

    Similar to some traditional marketing methods such as radio, television and print media, the strategies governing email marketing are growing in popularity even while they are constantly changing. And as a business owner you probably already have enough on your plate trying to stay up to date on business practices in your own specialty, without having to use time, energy and finances necessary to also stay up to date on the latest changes in email marketing; so it is certainly understandable if your email marketing efforts come up a little short.

    Hiring a consultant

    So if you are that business owner who already have a full slate of responsibilities and obligations just to keep your current business running smoothly, it may be a worthwhile investment to hire an email marketing professional with a good reputation in the industry to manage your email marketing tasks for you. This individual would devote him/herself on a full-time basis to keep up to-date with the most effective email marketing strategies while designing an email marketing campaign for our business. This step alone would go a long way in helping you achieve your business-related goals.

    That having been said, it is important to point out here – something that you should keep in mind – that selecting a consultant from the many available options on the Web can certainly be overwhelming, although this is not a sufficient enough reason to ignore such a crucial part of this powerful income-producing marketing specialty. Generally, you should look for a consultant who has a great deal of experience, a proven track record, listens to your questions carefully, explains concepts simply and makes your project a priority.

    Among the proven email marketing strategies frequently used by business owners who opt to do their own work, is offering an email correspondence course on a subject that closely relates to their website, or the products / services they offer. These correspondence courses usually include a number of short segments, useful information, interesting tidbits and business promotional material. The simplest way to promote your business without having your correspondence course deemed as spam is to use a soft sell approach which subtly urge readers to make a purchase or visit your website for more information.

    DIY email marketing tasks

    Perhaps the least burdensome approach to email marketing for existing business owners is publishing and distributing periodic e-newsletters, a strategy which can be highly effective. An e-newsletter is very similar to a newsletter which is printed and distributed using conventional methods like postal mail delivery. The bulk of an e-newsletter should be quality content in the form of featured articles and short articles containing useful tips and product reviews. The e-newsletter may also contain graphical elements which could simply be graphic designs or graphics served via links.

    In the case of links to serve graphics, they can be formatted to send traffic directly to your website, as well as to other websites. The important thing to remember is, any e-newsletters you send out should contain some type of soft sell approach as enticements for your readers to visit your site. You should not make any blatant sales pitch(es) as this may result in the e-newsletter being looked at as spam. Just make sure to include a call to action urging the readers to either make a purchase or visit your website for more information.

    Test and evaluate!

    Regardless of the method of email marketing you opt to employ, one of the most important strategies is to evaluate the effectiveness of that email marketing strategy on a regular basis. This is critical because elements of your email marketing campaign which are not working should be weeded out. Likewise, elements of your marketing campaign strategy that shows a high degree of success should be utilized more often. A spike in sales or website traffic each time you issue an e-newsletter should be seen a sign to begin issuing e-newsletters more often. This type of evaluation and feedback can turn moderate success into a huge success.

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  • Email Marketing Mistakes to be Avoided

    Highlighting EM mistakes

    Some business owners who decide to try email marketing (EM) share the notion that email marketing done in any manner or form is conducive to their business; but this notion might well be misconceived, because there are certainly numerous mistakes a business owner can make when s/he organizes an email marketing campaign. Examples of such mistakes might include:

    • Allowing promotional materials to be tagged as spam;
    • Failure to follow-up with promotional emails;
    • Unpreparedness for increased customer interest after a given campaign;
    • Neglecting to market specifically to a target audience.

    Listed above are the four most prominent among email marketing mistakes committed by some business owners; but let’s take a closer look at each of these email marketing failures individually, beginning with the dreaded spam, which is as serious a problem affecting email marketing as any other; and – because there was a law created specifically to control it – could be seen as the most serious violation of any Web marketing law, rule or practice.

    The dreaded spam

    Spam is a problem that has become so prevalent on the Web that almost every email service provider, Web hosting company, major blogging platform and most other Web-based businesses have created a weapon to combat it; and still, Web users are bombarded with spam originating from various global destinations that seem to be ignorant of – or otherwise impervious to – CAN-Spam Act, the law previously referred to.

    Spam, by its very nature, includes a host of unsolicited emails that promote products and/or services to recipients who may or may not be interested in purchasing, and certainly did not ask to receive them. But it is at this juncture that many business owners make a critical mistake when attempting to do legitimate email marketing business; which is to say, they send emails which are likely to be construed as spam and, as such, they never reach the intended recipients or are deleted by the “spam assassin” tool without ever being read by those recipients.

    However, what these business owners must understand is the fact that another way exists in which they can avoid the potential of falling into the spam category as spam; and it is not very difficult to do. This better way basically involves ensuring that the promotional emails sent by their business contain more useful content than blatant advertising; and as a result they will likely see a significant uptick in their emails being taken seriously, both by their intended recipients and the detection software installed to capture and delete spam.

    Follow-up & preparedness

    Another email marketing mistake often made by some businesses is failure to follow up on promotional emails. Sending out emails to interested parties can be very beneficial; but it is even more beneficial to contact the recipients by other methods, such as mail or telephone, to answer any questions they may have, and offer additional information they might require. This type of follow-up can be much more effective than simply sending an email and allowing it to fall into the abyss of an overcrowded email inbox.

    Business owners may also commit the mistake of not preparing themselves for an influx of customers after an email marketing campaign has been completed. The express purpose of email marketing is to generate increased interest in products and/or services offered by the business; so it follows that the business which initiates and completes such campaigns must anticipate an increase in business, and be prepared to accommodate this increased demand for products and services.

    In fact, such preparedness is critically important because potential customers who are forced to wait for products or services might just get tired of waiting and go elsewhere (competitors of that business) in search of better service; and if a particular competitor proves to be better prepared to provide them with products or services immediately, that’s where they will spend their time and money.

    Target marketing

    All too often business owners fail to tailor an email marketing campaign to their specific target market (or audience). This failure represents the fourth mistake on our list, because it is a problem that may result in the email marketing campaign being less effective. Business owners typically make this mistake because they fall into the trap of believing that it is more important to reach a large audience than it is to reach a target audience.

    Think of it this way: Blindly sending your business email marketing materials to millions of recipients and only generating a few leads is far less effective than sending the same email marketing materials to a smaller group of, say, only a thousand recipients who all have expressed an interest in your products and services; because the smaller group will certainly generate more leads since they’ve already shown that they’re more likely to do business with you.

    It is not only important to send your message to members of your target audience, but also to tailor your message to suit this particular audience. The simple rule to which an email marketing business should is this: Creating an email message which will appeal to a variety of individuals is not nearly as important as creating a message which will appeal to members of its target audience.

    The autoresponder

    You will need an autoresponder system with which to initiate and effectively complete the email marketing techniques suggested in this article; and which there are many on the Web to choose from, we’ve found this industry leader among the most reputable and affordable email marketing companies.