effective email marketing for small businesses
DESCRIPTION
Learn how to develop more effective e-newsletters. Email marketing, such as e-newsletters or e-zines, is a proven method for connecting with current clients and prospective customers, but many small business owners are not using the tools effectively. This workshop will give strategies and tips for building and maintaining an email marketing plan. This presentation will show you how to: Build a targeted list: grow your list while remaining compliant with anti-spam laws and how to segment your list for better results. Create engaging content: why compelling content is key to the effectiveness of your campaigns. Track your progress: why should track opens, clicks and how to use that data for improving your efforts. Build your brand: use your email communications as a way to gain trust, show your expertise, convert clients and build your small business.TRANSCRIPT
Visible Logic, Inc.
142 High StreetSuite 615
Portland, ME 04101207.761.4230
visiblelogic.com
IDENTITY
PUBLISHING
WEB
Effective Email Marketing For Small Businesses
Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development
COMPELLING BRAND IDENTITIES IN PRINT & WEB
www.mailonthemark.com
Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Emily Brackett
Visible Logic, Inc.
www.visiblelogic.com
www.visiblelogic.com/blog
twitter: @VisibleLogic
facebook: Visible Logic
Mail On The Mark
www.mailonthemark.com
www.mailonthemark.com/blog
twitter: @mailonthemark
www.mailonthemark.com
Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Why Email?
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
The Best Return
Return
Investment: $1
Catalogs Mobile Display Ads Search Email
$40.56
$22.24$19.72
$10.51$7.30
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
Integrates With Other ChannelsSocial Media
Blog
Web Site
Sales
NetworkingWhite Papers
Direct Marketing
SEO
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
Reporting and Data
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
Target, Segment, Refine
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
Builds trust
Builds relationships
Increases brand awareness
Builds Your Brand
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
Keeps Your Brand “Top of Mind”
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons from ☺ Lee J Haywood
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Why Email? www.mailonthemark.com
“I send out the e-newsletter... and the phone starts ringing!”
Drives Sales
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons from Karolina Kabat
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Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Plan Your Campaigns
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
Bulk EmailTransaction Email
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
Email Service Providers (ESP)
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
Really, plan.
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
Really, plan.
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
1
Plan Content
http://www.visualpharm.com
Newsblogs
Events
Reviews
“Quotations and Testimonials”
Photographs
Articles
✔Tips
Q&A
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Coupons
$AVE
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
50 Content ideas1. Promote your blog posts
2. Send people to other blogs or articles you like
3. Write product reviews
4. Write reviews of unexpected things (food, movies, books, bicycles, etc.)
5. Client testimonials
6. Answer a client email as an article
7. Tips
8. Beginnings of articles, find the rest on your web site
9. Coupons
10. Exclusive offers
11. Photos of happy customers
12. Photos of products in action
13. Employee biographies
14. Videos
15. Jokes
16. Cartoons
17. Charts
18. Statistics
19. Industry events
20. Technical information defined
21. Links to Facebook
22. Contests
23. Links to Twitter
24. Links to LinkedIn
25. Links to articles you’ve written
26. Downloadable white papers
27. Personal stories
28. Case studies
29. Portfolio examples
30. Welcome to new clients
31. Welcome to new readers
32. Number of products sold
33. External reviews
34. Behind the scenes at your company
35. Non-profit partnerships
36. Business partnership
37. Frequently Asked Questions
38. Insider information
39. Recent work
40. Recent contracts
41. Thank you’s
42. Account information
43. Deadlines
44. Inspiration quotations
45. Birthday wishes
46. Photos of recent events
47. Photos of completed projects
48. Giveaways
49. Surveys
50. Membership and renewal notices
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
1
Plan Content
http://www.visualpharm.com
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Who is going to write it?
Who is going to collect it?
Who will prepare the mailing?
Do landing pages or new content need to be created first?
How will it integrate with other channels?
How will you build your list?
Who will update the mailing list(s)?
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Match it to your brand identity
Make the layout work with your content
Test it across platforms
Make sure it follows all the anti-spam rules
Get feedback
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
2
Design1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
Really, plan.
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
Write blog postpost
Write intro to blog postAsk for photos from client
Review, crop, correct photos
Collect event listings
Start putting content
into email template
proofread test emails
3
CreateContent Schedule all of the steps.
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
4
Review,Proofread,Test
1. Proofread2. Check links / landing pages3. Send Tests
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
5
Schedule When is the best time to send your email?
Clock: Flickr Creative Commons from ☺ Lee J Haywood
1 2 3 4 65 7
Plan Content
CreateContent
Design Review,Proofread,Test
SendSchedule
Before you get going Every time you send out a campaign
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Plan Your Campaigns www.mailonthemark.com
6
Send
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Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Grow (and Maintain) Your List
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Grow (and Maintain) Your List www.mailonthemark.com
Give and You Will Receive
Email Address
Discounts, coupons
Exclusive offers
Valuable information
Support & stay up-to-date
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Grow (and Maintain) Your List www.mailonthemark.com
They’ve given their trust. Don’t abuse it.
Opt-in is powerful
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons from ironypoisoning
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Grow (and Maintain) Your List www.mailonthemark.com
Pruning and cleaning house
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons from Ewan Traveler
Opt-in is not forever
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Grow (and Maintain) Your List www.mailonthemark.com
Segmenting
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Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Reports, Dataand Testing
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Reports, Data and Testing www.mailonthemark.com
What data to look at?
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Reports, Data and Testing www.mailonthemark.com
Basic reporting
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Reports, Data and Testing www.mailonthemark.com
Clicks
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Reports, Data and Testing www.mailonthemark.com
Tracking beyond your ESP
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Reports, Data and Testing www.mailonthemark.com
Bounces
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Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Deliverabilityand Spam
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
3. Identify the message as an ad.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
3. Identify the message as an ad.
4. Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
3. Identify the message as an ad.
4. Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
3. Identify the message as an ad.
4. Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
1. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information must be accurate.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
3. Identify the message as an ad.
4. Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly.
7. You can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law.
CAN SPAM Act regulations
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
Recipients don’t care about anti-spam laws.
Spam is email that the recipient finds irrelevant.
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
There is no single definition of spam
SPAMBEST PRACTICES
Don’t underestimate how much people dislike businesses that send them unwanted or unsolicited emails.
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Deliverability and Spam www.mailonthemark.com
Why Isn’t My Email Delivered?
INDIVIDUALSPAM RULES
COMPANYOR ISP SPAM
FILTERO
DOMAINBLOCK
IP ADDRESSBLOCK
Blacklisting
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Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Improving YourEmail Marketing
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
About 90 trillion emails are sent per year. There are an estimated 294 billion emails sent per day. 2.8 million emails
are sent every second. The typical corporate user sends and receives about 110 messages daily. The average
number of corporate emails received is 75 per day. The average number of legitimate corporate emails received
daily is 62. The average number of corporate spam emails is 13 per day. 62% of people check work email on the
weekends. 59% check email from the bathroom. 55% of mobile email users upgraded to a new phone just to
get email. 66.7% of emails delivered during the first quarter of 2011 were categorized as marketing messages,
down from 74.4% the previous quarter. Email is the preferred method of commercial communication by 74% of all
online adults. 26% of users check their personal email account 4 or more times per day, 30% check it 2-3 times
per day. 60% of work email accounts get checked 1 or more times a day. 87% of personal email accounts get
checked 1 or more times per day. 63% of mobile email users check their account a minimum of once per day. 57%
of internet users worldwide said they are more apt to buy a product in a store after getting a marketing email.
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
About 90 trillion emails are sent per year. There are an estimated 294 billion emails sent per day. 2.8 million emails
are sent every second. The typical corporate user sends and receives about 110 messages daily. The average
number of corporate emails received is 75 per day. The average number of legitimate corporate emails received
daily is 62. The average number of corporate spam emails is 13 per day. 62% of people check work email on the
weekends. 59% check email from the bathroom. 55% of mobile email users upgraded to a new phone just to
get email. 66.7% of emails delivered during the first quarter of 2011 were categorized as marketing messages,
down from 74.4% the previous quarter. Email is the preferred method of commercial communication by 74% of all
online adults. 26% of users check their personal email account 4 or more times per day, 30% check it 2-3 times
per day. 60% of work email accounts get checked 1 or more times a day. 87% of personal email accounts get
checked 1 or more times per day. 63% of mobile email users check their account a minimum of once per day. 57%
of internet users worldwide said they are more apt to buy a product in a store after getting a marketing email.
How do you stand out?
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
1. Make the content great.
2. Use design that enhances your brand.
3. Get the frequency right.
4. Test.
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
More than 90% of consumers unsubscribe [to] brands because of too frequent, irrelevant or boring communications. —ExactTarget
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
Why the “from” can be more important than the subject line.
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
Not too few. Not too many. Just right.
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
Do recipients feel a little happier or just more annoyed after seeing your email appear in their inbox?
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
CreateProm
oteRepur
pose
Always be working on content
Content
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
Create/SendTest / Report
Adjus
t
Always improve your tactics
Strategy
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business | Improving Your Email Marketing www.mailonthemark.com
So many people are getting it wrong. If you get it right, you canstand out.
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Headline
Effective Email Marketing for Small Business
Emily BrackettVisible Logic, Inc.
www.visiblelogic.com
Mail On The Markwww.mailonthemark.com
twitter: @VisibleLogicFacebook: Emily K Brackett
Facebook Company: Visible LogicLinkedIn