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Cliff Tillery – Digital Marketing Consultant. Today’s Plan . Blab a bit about email marketing Some basic ideas, tips and tricks Look at Mailchimp and Constant Contact and how to use it Do some networking. Email Marketing…..WHY?.
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Today’s Plan • Blab a bit about email marketing • Some basic ideas, tips and tricks • Look at Mailchimp and Constant Contact and how to use it • Do some networking
Email Marketing…..WHY? • A lot of business owners collect email addresses all the while thinking, “I’ll get around to doing something with those someday” • Here’s why that’s a mistake (Like we all didn’t already know why…) • It’s easier to sell to people that already know you (and quite possibly still like you) than it is to sell to strangers.
Why Email Marketing Is Relevant • Who doesn’t have an email account- almost 3 billion in the US alone- major traffic • It’s a very personal medium • It gets minutes of attention (which on the internet is like dog years) • Your target market expects to get offers this way • It’s a direct conversation with your buyers
Conversion-Let’s Be Realistic • Some “experts” say a 1-5% conversion rate is good • It depends on the industry and what you’re trying to accomplish • Measure the conversion rate by the price per sale to get actual ROI (a 2.5% conversion rate of $50/per sale isn’t as good as a 1% conversion rate for a $300/per sale.)
That Being Said… • DON’T SPAM • Many business owners think it’s ok to grab email addresses and just spam, spam, spam • Do you really want your business reputation to be connected with spam? • Email marketing is all about: • Top of mind awareness • Staying in touch with your target market • Letting them know what’s going on in the industry and with you
Email Marketing Tips • Write your emails to one person rather than as if you’re talking to a stadium. People like the personal touch • Don’t waste my time. Don’t just email because you should. Email because you have something important to say. • Give me something- give me a tip, a resource or inspiration. Oh, and how about a discount or freebie? • Make me a part of the secret club or inner circle.
More Tips • Use a real name in the “from” section. • Feel their pain- identify the pain points of your target market and be the solution in what you email them. • It’s ok to use their name, but don’t be creepy. Using my name too much makes me feel icky • Be trustworthy. That should just go without saying • Every email is another shot at proving your value
The Harsh Truth • We’re all busy. Wading through our email isn’t the bright spot of our day, but we are looking for nuggets • Gmail tabs make it harder to get noticed. They’re sorting the mail for you which works against you (First the spam filter now this!) • A lot of your emails will go ignored. Many will get no clicks. Don’t take it personally.
Tools For Email Marketing • Mailchimp- my favorite (and not just because it has a monkey. Who doesn’t like a monkey, though, right?) • Constant Contact- just as good, but sadly, no monkey involvement. • Both give you great analytics • Both give you flexibility to develop templates and experiment (and you definitely should!)
Analytics: The Basics • Open rate: the number or percentage of people that open your email (helps you measure the attention that email got) • What’s a good open rate? As close to 100% as possible. People keep telling me 14% is good • Click through rate: the number or percentage of people that opened your email and clicked on the link. The higher the better. 5% is great. • Where should you send them when they click? Ah, glad you asked!
Marketing 101 Thingy • In all your marketing, have a call to action. • Seriously, ALL your marketing. • Emails are no different. What do you want the reader to do? • Ideas: • Go to your website (increase traffic, sign up, buy stuff) • Call you (and pay you lots of money to do what you do) • Go to your social media sites (like you, follow you, etc.) • Attend stuff (Hmm, that’s a good one!)
Your Email Subject Line • The need to be attention grabbing but relevant. Short descriptive beats cheesy lures • Succinct is always better with notification emails • Promise something good, solve a problem, ease some pain, etc. • Humor- it’s a mixed bag. We’re big fans (or…try to be!). Know your audience first • Controversial subject lines- again, tricky territory. “Your sales skills suck” got trashed.
Subject Lines • One word subject lines can come off as spammy “Panic”, “Followers”, “Renewal” • Numbers & Lists- Blog post titles can make good subject lines such as “Top 3 Mistakes Email Marketers Make”, “47 Reasons Your Digital Marketing Needs Help” • Punctuation or unicodes- small figures that help lead eyeballs through the clutter. Exclamation points have been so used that they get ignored.
Subject Lines (Last One!) • Need to be under 50 characters • Alliteration is good- “Email Marketing Makes You Money!” • All caps= NOT GOOD! (No one wants to be yelled at!) • Use you/your to help personalize • Do A/B testing as much as possible. • Urgency can work- “Two Days To Decide” • Localization Can help as well- “Award Winning Marketing Firm In Gwinnett”
One Study • Looked at more than 260 million delivered emails and 540 campaigns. (Yeesh!) • Subject lines with 6-10 words performed best • Roughly 35% of emails are opened on phones • Using the recipient’s first name bumped open rates by 2.6% • Movie titles or song lyrics in the subject line were opened 26% of the time
Top 10 Worst Email Subject Lines • Your test results are in :( • Sorry about your job • Most of the car is fine • DID YOU MEAN TO ‘REPLY ALL’??? • Your Son, and His Future at Our University • B4 u open, promise not to get mad • Your IRS Tax Lien • Your Match.com profile has been suspended due to low interest • RE: The car and the dog. The car is fine. • Re: paternity test results
The Design Of The Email • Think of emails you open & read vs the ones you don’t • Brevity is good • Bullet points are good • Avoid long text • Maintain consistency in your branding- use your logo/colors/usual voice • Include a link for the reader to click to (send them somewhere) • Include your social media icons
The Email • Beware the email clutter- too many choices send the reader into analysis paralysis • Make sure it looks good on all devices • Use relevant images. Pictures have higher engagement rates, tell your story and support your text
Factors Effecting Open Rates • Naturally, if your email looks awful • If your subject line is boring • When was your email sent? Test this-are mornings or afternoons best for your business? • Is your list valid? Lists you buy can often be a risk for less active emails
Digital Marketing Diagnosis • We’ve developed a free tool that you can use to help you measure the effectiveness of your digital marketing. • Go to: digital.makeitloud.net • Take the free assessment. • We’re beta testing this, so help us work out the kinks!
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