Why email marketing still trumps social media
In a recent article for SMH, Valerie Khoo writes that Scott Stratten, bestselling author of Unmarketing, still believes that email marketing is more powerful than social media. This is even though he built his massive following on social media and used twitter to create a national best seller before his book was even released (he has over 117,000 followers on twitter alone).
“Email address and sign-ups are still, to me, exponentially more valuable than a follower [on Twitter] or a ‘like’ [on Facebook],” says Scott. “Email marketing is alive and well. Don’t ignore what has been the backbone of communication for a long time now.” Continue reading
Daily, Weekly, Monthly… How often is too often?
I often get asked how often to send a newsletter.
The short answer is… it depends.
Sending more often means your subscribers get more regular reminders of your existence. You have greater opportunity for them to get to know, like and trust you. There are more frequent opportunities to inform, educate and sell to your subscribers.
Sounds fabulous doesn’t it? But…
Give a Little of YOU
All my email newsletter subscriptions go into a folder on my computer automatically. I do this to save myself from distraction, and I look through this folder every couple of days.
I scan, I delete and I read that which pops out at me! I am looking for emails that are interesting, relevant OR that come from a sender who I feel a personal connection with.
Go ahead and take a look at your inbox. Which commercial emails will get your attention? Take note of what gets your attention and why!
What’s a good email open rate?
In Australia the average open rate for email marketing, across all industries is consistently around 22%. Averages in the US and other countries are likely to be similar. Seems low, but compared to other marketing mediums it’s a good result.
Personally I like to have clients aim for an open rate of 28-35% which is possible with a targeted list and good emails!
Are your newsletter subscribers getting bored?
The inboxes of our newsletter subscribers (and our own!) are getting fuller every day. Subscribers are getting bored as they see more of the same old content hitting their inboxes, or even worse, irrelevant content!
It’s becoming harder to get and to keep attention.
So, if you produce an email newsletter then today is the day to review what’s working and what you need to change.
Email Marketing Open rates
Open Rates are the first vital clue to the health of your Email Marketing Campaigns. A high open rate indicates that you are consistently providing your subscriber list with valuable and useful promotions and information. A low open rate tells you that there is work to be done on your strategy and execution.
So what is a high open rate?
I often have new clients who are surprised when their email newsletter is not opened by all of the recipients. If you have reacted this way then I assure you that you should not be dissapointed as this is normal. There are many factors involved and believe me, no one gets their emails 100% opened unless they are sending to a very select small list.
Five Email Marketing Killers
Email Marketing is a highly effective and very cost effective way of marketing your products or services. However, as all of our inboxes get fuller and fuller it becomes even more critical to get the formula right so that you are welcomed into your recipients inbox.
You DON’T want to be a quickly deleted pest!
Often it’s just a case of ensuring the content you send is valuable to your recipients and that you have their consent. Think about your own inbox for a moment. If you receive an email from a business or a name that you are not familiar with and have no recollection of having met or subscribed to, what is the first thing you do? Assuming of course that the email did not go straight into your spam filter you would likely delete it or mark it as spam. Right?
So how do we get through the clutter and get results. Continue reading
Love your unsubscribers
If you publish an email newsletter, and you check your statistics (which you should) then you’ll likely know that heavy feeling when you see people unsubscribe. It’s like they are giving your newsletter the thumbs down response! It can be saddening that’s for sure.
But rest assured it is normal and nothing to be alarmed about. It happens to every single email newsletter publisher on the planet. I remember when I first started publishing the Web Chameleon newsletter years ago, and feeling sad when I saw people unsubscribe.
Having been in the email marketing industry for years now, not only as a newsletter publisher but as a service provider, I know all about averages and expectations. I also know that for new email marketers it is part of the journey to learn that not every recipient will stay on the list forever, and that sometimes people just don’t like what you have to say.
Would you Buy an Email List?
Whilst I’ve always had a strong opinion on this topic of buying email lists, it’s been forced to come to the forefront in the past few weeks as I witness talk in the market about this topic.
Many of my clients and pretty much all online marketers that understand the incredible value of email marketing are on a continual quest to grow their email lists. That is, to increase their database of potential clients with email addresses.
One possible way to quickly boost your email database is to purchase an email list. So, is Buying an Email List a good idea or a bad idea?
Email Marketing Success Secrets
In this article I outline some tips (aka secrets!) for ensuring your email marketing is highly effective…
Email Marketing is till a highly effective marketing strategy. In saying that, if you’ve been doing it for awhile you may need to rethink your strategy to ensure you are addressing the demands that are relevant to email marketing right now. And if you are new to email marketing now is the perfect time to get started.
The most effective emails are the ones that your clients and prospects open, read, share and respond to. It is not as simple as writing some words, adding an image and hitting send. It’s a longer term strategy that requires planning and consistent management.
One email done wrong can cause immeasurable damage. In fact, one email done wrong can mean the rest of what you do, even if done really well, can all be wasted. People WILL judge you by your emails. If you send them emails that are not relevant, that they did not consent to and that are not quality you need to be ready for damage control
Here I will share with you 4 factors to address to ensure maximum results.
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