Email Marketing: Get People On Your List

Several years ago when the 'new message' icon used to pop up on your computer screen, it meant you had received a note from an old friend, family member or coworker. Today, more of that form of 'simple' communication is moving to Facebook, Twitter or texting.

As a business owner looking to create stronger relationships with clients and customers, do not forget the power of email marketing.

A new study released by ExactTarget found 58 percent of U.S. online consumers begin their day interacting with companies on email, compared to 20 percent who start their day on search engines and 11 percent on Facebook.

And with the increased number of mobile devices that can send and receive email messages, there is really no boundary to the time and location where you can remind your customers about the benefits of your business. A blog from MediaPost Publications said it best; your customers are your marketers in today's world.

What is email marketing?

In it's simplest form, email marketing is email data-base management. Several companies offer on-line email marketing solutions including the creation and distribution of your own newsletter or eBlast to subscribers. While some people get hung up on giving out personal information such as an email address for fear of being spammed, rest assured that the reputable email marketing companies have a fail-safe method to prevent this type of invasion of privacy. Email marketing is always a permission based subscription service. Once your customer does not want to receive information from you, they have the option to 'unsubscribe' from your list. Most reputable companies offer a simple one-click remedy for this while others make the user jump through several hoops just to be removed from a list. More hoops to jump through - the more upset your clients will be.

How to get started with email marketing

Start with the list of clients and customer who are 'regular' fans of your business. From there, add the names of first time visitors and people you have met at industry events. Encourage people who visit your website and subscribe to your social media site to join your email list. Even a simple piece of paper at a cash register to collect the name and email address of each customer is a great way to add names to your list. The more people on your list, the more valuable your marketing.

What do I send to my subscribers?

A weekly or bi-weekly Newsletter is a great way to stay in touch and remind your customers of special offers, upcoming promotions or special events they are interested in. Your newsletters can also include a video (linked from YouTube) showing a presentation you made at City Hall or a short clip demonstrating a new product or service. The key is to give your subscribers material that will be of interest or a benefit to them. Offer them something (information) first before it is available on any other source.

What else can I do with Email marketing?

Are you interested in sending out a regular email newsletter to your subscribers? Great. There are many companies that can help you.

Are you interested in combining your email marketing with event planning that will track respondents and collect money all online?

Are you interested in combining your email marketing with online surveys that you can send to collect valuable information about a product or service you are offering - without having to use another external source?

If you answered YES to one or any of those last questions, I recommend Constant Contact.

Yes, I am a very satisfied Constant Contact user.

-Darren

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How To Cut Through The Noise

Let me guess; one of your earliest childhood memories was learning the letters of the alphabet. Since then you have lived your life confident in the knowledge that "I" comes before "U" in the alphabet. Guess what - you are WRONG.


Before you write a letter to your Grade school teachers or to the Sesame Street gang, let me explain.

For years, marketing and advertising campaigns were designed around the values and experience of the business to demonstrate the products or services being offered. Essentially, consumers were told what was good for them, and for quite some time we believed them. Call this the "I" method of communication.

Then a number of marketing and advertising agencies began to shift the focus of attention towards the consumers to demonstrate how each product or services would impact the lives of the consumer. Call this the "U" method of communication.

Today more than ever, you need to explore how to put your consumers needs ahead of your own.

Think for a moment how many messages you sift through and prioritize each day with email, text messaging, telephone calls, newspaper columns, magazine articles, blog posts, TV news, radio commentary, billboard advertising on buildings, buses and street benches, website click throughs, social media (Facebook and Twitter, etc), meetings, letters, fliers stuffed under your windshield wiper and even bathroom stall advertising. Yes, there are so many ways to broadcast your message. Now, quickly think about how many of those messages do you remember at this moment. Which messages did you respond to and which messages did you discard?

How do you cut through the noise?

As a Media Coach and Consultant offering effective solutions for message creation, delivery and engagement, I am constantly being asked to create communication links (dialogue) between clients and business. Effective messaging, either with media releases, marketing, advertising, even email and blog posts, should focus on the impact of your consumer. Answer their questions: "What's in it for me?", and "How will this effect my heart, health or wallet?".

Start with re-arranging your business priorities by putting the needs of your clients and consumers ahead of your own. In other words, re-arrange the alphabet and put "U" ahead of "I".

-Darren

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Spring Cleaning; Tips to Increase Engagement with Customers and Clients

Not only does the arrival of Spring mark the end of the Winter 'blahs', it is also a perfect opportunity to do some spring cleaning of your own to prepare you for an even more successful year.

For businesses big and small, I present the Speak Media Consulting Spring Cleaning check list:

1. Review and update Marketing tools. Ensure all new data is correct and updated to reflect the changes in your market
2. Review and update your Website. Time to update content on your website. Add new staff pictures, be sure all contacts are still employed and all links work correctly.
3. Review and update Media contact list. Media people come and go as often as the seasons. Make calls to your ensure your Media contact list is still current.
4. Clean up your Contact List / email Data base. Each year, people come and go from your life. Nothing personal - it is just time for a purge.
5. Update your Presentations. If you do many public speaking engagements, take a few hours to ensure you have all the current information. Update graphs and slides with the most relevant information. Or if you're really daring - rewrite the entire presentation.
6. Create a new Business card. If you are not restricted by corporate design templates, create a new design for your business cards. Borrow examples from other smart looking cards you have collected over the last few months.
7. Make contact with a long lost friend or former associate. We all live busy lives, but staying in touch (networking) with an old friend might lead to new contacts and a year filled with great rewards for you and your company.
8. Wardrobe. If it has been in your closet for more than 6 months and you have not worn it, get rid of it. Donate all your gently worn clothes to Goodwill or other collection agencies.
9. Update your work space. I am not suggesting you hire a Decorator - take time to freshen up your work space. Clean off your desk, get rid of clutter, update pictures of your family and throw out whatever is growing that funky mold in the back of the refrigerator.
10. Be great. Your clients and customers are looking to you for confidence and charisma. Go out there and be the best you can be each and every time.

-Darren
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What's In It For Me? Effective Email Marketing Tips

In my presentations as a Media Coach and Consultant with Speak Media Consulting, you often hear me use the phrase "what's in it for me?".

To have effective engagement with your customers and clients, you must answer the number one question they have each time; "what's in it for me?".

If you are using email marketing to reach your consumers, are you answering that question?

Is your email marketing still bragging about your 'stuff' and not focusing on the wants and needs of your consumer?
Or have you realized that effective marketing - just as effective communication - you must put the needs of your consumer ahead of your own?

When it comes to email marketing, the trend has always been to use strong words such as "save", "gift", "free" and "now" in the subject line.

From eMarketer.com, the most powerful words for email marketing subject lines are "you" and "your". Finally, the consumer is been recognized as the most important element of the campaign.



Read the full report from eMarketer.com.

Today's consumer is busy and your message has to cut through all the noise created by other effective newspaper, radio, television, email, text, web and Social media messaging.

You read through this message. Something must have grabbed your attention.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope you found this useful in creating your own effective connection with your clients and customers.

-Darren
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Social Media Has Not Killed eMail

For the last six months there have been many blogs, articles and ramblings about the 'death' of email due to the popularity of Social Media.

Speak Media Consulting found this study that indicates email usage is still very much alive and well with Social Media's strongest users.



This is great news for the small business owners and large company CEOs alike. As email marketing continues to grow, this indicates the majority of Social Media users are still using email for daily communication with other friends, co-workers and other business and marketing opportunities.

Read the full report from eMarketer.

Thanks for reading.

-Darren
Media Coach and Consultant
Speak Media Consulting, Calgary AB

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E-mail Marketing for Small Business

Perhaps a better title for this post might have been "Build Customer Loyalty through E-Mail Messaging".

Either way, e-mail marketing (Newsletters) can be a very effective way to communicate to your clients and build stronger relationships with your customers. However, too many messages can often be deleted and not enough messages can be forgotten. So how do you find the happy medium? How do you know your messages are being delivered, are being read, and are creating a call to action?

There are many programs available that can handle e-mail marketing and database management. One I have had tremendous success with: Constant Contact.



Recently featured in an on-line article from MediaPost, Constant Contact has seen a nearly 50% revenue increase and has increased staff.

Constant Contact is much more than just E-mail Marketing for newsletters and communication with your clients. Their services also include On-line Surveys to track customer feedback, and Event Marketing that allows you to manage and promote any size event with online registration, payment capture and RSVP management.

The great thing about E-Mail marketing; you can and should use e-mail marketing in conjunction with your current social media marketing;
-Blog
-Facebook
-Linked In
-You Tube
-Twitter

The same principals of social media marketing apply when using E-Mail Marketing.
-build a community
-share expertise
-discuss business issues
-build your brand
-establish yourself as an expert
-and build a database

How much is TOO much and how much is too little?
I recommend to my clients to send out an e-mail newsletter at least once a week. If time and content is an issue, look at communicating with your clients every two weeks or once a month, but do not let more than 4 weeks lapse between each newsletter or you will lose the engagement with your clients.

Feel free to sign up to receive my free e-mail newsletter.

If you would like to know more about creating a successful E-Mail Marketing strategy for your Business, contact me at: darren@speakmediaconsulting.com

Thanks for reading.
-Darren