May
19
2012
There are several types of emails you can employ in your email marketing campaign. The type of email you create will largely depend on your focus. Naturally, the content of your emails will be different if you want to create awareness of something, convert prospects into buyers, building trust with your subscribers or promote your product or services.
Whatever the purpose, your emails will usually be either editorial or promotional. Editorial or promotional emails can be short or long, depending on the complexity of the message and how quickly you want people to follow your call to action. Let’s have a look at the different types of emails in more detail.
Short Editorial
A short editorial is the best email type for product alerts, updates, press releases, tips of the week or information on product launches. The emails should be short and to the point with the purpose of informing your subscribers. Make sure the balance is more towards editorial content rather than promotion, although you may have some promotional content in the email.
Long Editorial
A long editorial email provides quality content to your subscribers or delivers more information on a product, service or event. These are typically newsletters, longer press releases, white papers or industry guides. The main goal is to inform the reader. Long editorials are not sales pitches, so refrain from overly promoting, however, if you introduce products or services there can be an element of further information on how to obtain them.
Short Promotional
Unlike the editorial, a promotional email has a very specific call to action. It should be designed in such a way as to move the reader away from the email and on to the sales process as quickly as possible. Short promotional email are direct and for them to be most effective it is best just to have one key message. e.g. buy this product/service, sign-up for a free trial/newsletter etc. The short promotional email must be worded in such a way that it shows to the recipient a clear benefit by following the call to action.
Long Promotional
The long promotional email allows you to present the benefits of your product or service in more detail. It can also be used for multiple product and service offerings in one email. Long promotional emails are ideal for more complex messages or bundled deals that require greater explanation. The focus of the email is on selling and that should be reflected in the content.
Understanding the purpose of each type of email will help you to create a more effective email marketing campaign. If you want to learn how to further increase the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign, check out the special email and video persuasion system that we have developed. To access it, click the link.
You might also find our free online seminar on email marketing of interest. Simply input your details into the box on the right to get immediate access.
May
13
2012
It’s true you need an email marketing list (ideally a customer list) in order to succeed online but it’s what you do with the list that really matters. Your earning power greatly depends on the relationship that you have with your subscribers on the list.
Size does not matter. You do not need large numbers of subscribers to earn a decent living from online marketing. I know of people who have several tens of thousands of subscribers on their list but earn very little money from it. The reason for that is because they bombard their subscribers with promotion after promotion. People don’t join your email marketing list because they want to be constantly marketed to, they join because they have a problem to solve or a goal to achieve.
The most important thing you need to do with your email marketing list is to build trust with your subscribers. Without trust your list will never be as responsive as you want them to be. So how do you build trust with your list? Here is how it works. People need to get to know you before they can like you. They need to like you before they can trust you.
The best way for people to get to know you is for you to provide them with something of value. Many new internet marketers are worried about this because they do not consider themselves to be experts. You don’t have to be a ‘guru’ to teach others. Use your own experience of a subject and/or investigate it thoroughly. Don’t wait until you know everything there is to know about a subject before you begin sharing your knowledge. Start when you have something to share and build on it. But don’t write about things you know nothing about.
Developing a trust relationship with your subscribers on the email marketing list also involves appreciating and rewarding their loyalty. Treat your subscribers not merely as a means to make money but as friends and communicate with them in that way.
Think about their needs and do your best to help them.
The odd reward will certainly be much appreciated by your subscribers. This could be anything from an information product in the public domain to something you have specifically created for your subscribers. The very best thing to do is give away something of real value and from which you can’t possibly profit. People will see that you are sincere and will reciprocate your sincerity when you recommend products.
Uncover the needs of your subscribers by asking your subscribers. Also read their comments on your blog, if you have one. Add a genuine contact email to your website so that subscribers can ask questions.
Once you know what your subscribers need and want, offer them solutions. The key here is to make a recommendation based on your experience and/or your own research and not just promoting products that have just been launched. Only promote what you know works. Stress the benefits of the product or service, i.e. what they will do for your subscribers, not just what they can do, i.e. its features.
And finally, tell your readers the specific action you want them to take. Bear in mind that not all actions involve buying something. You might want them to subscribe to a new list or download a free trial.
If you follow this blueprint you will be doing very well. If you want to learn more about email marketing, sign up to our free online seminar. Just fill in your details on the right.
May
9
2012
Many people would agree that internet marketing has become harder than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. But with a simple ‘tweak’ to your understanding of internet marketing, converting prospects into buyers, i.e. increasing your web conversion rates becomes a lot easier than ever before. And it’s all to do with psychology.
Research into human behaviour has shown that every single person on the planet is driven by avoiding pain and gaining pleasure. These are our primary motivators. Want to know what this has to do with internet marketing, web conversion rates and your website? It’s this…
If website visitors associate more pain with buying what you are selling or promoting than with pleasure, they won’t buy. It is as simple as that. When you understand this, you can influence people so that they associate buying from you with pleasure.
In our lives, our believes decide our actions. If we believe that we will get pleasure from something, we will do it. If we think something will cause us pain, we will usually avoid it. As an internet marketer you therefore have to focus your efforts on people gaining pleasure from the products you are selling or promoting.
When people land on your website or the website you are promoting as an affiliate, they will unconsciously make an instant decision on whether or not what you are selling will cause them pain or pleasure. Instantly. Why?
When we are born we have zero experiences of the world. Everything we experience is new. As each day passes, we gain new experiences. This is fine for very young child, but if you carried on like this into adult life, would never get anything done as each encounter with people, situations and things would be a new experience. This is inefficient, so the brain forms ‘associations’.
For example, if you touch a boiling kettle it gives you pain. The brain builds an association that boiling kettles can hurt you. If it didn’t form this association, then every time you saw a different coloured or shaped boiling kettle this would be a new experience and if you touched it and it might hurt you. Not an efficient way of learning.
Forming associations happens completely unconsciously and it rules your life in good and bad ways. Throughout the day we are all make associations with people and things we see but we don’t normally realise we are making them. The only thing we know is the way we feel. So within an instant of seeing something, because of associations based on their past experiences, people make a positive or a negative decision.
What has this got to do with internet marketing? Everything! If your website looks the same as other sites in your niche, you are running the gauntlet of people’s negative associations affecting your business. Let’s face it, most people these days will have had some negative experience on the internet. In order to avoid that, you want your website to look different to other websites in your niche and your communications with your subscribers stand out in a positive way too. This way you can bypass the unconscious negative associations visitors to your website may have.
If you do things differently to everyone else and build positive associations, i.e. pleasure with spending time on your website and eventually money with you, people will buy what you sell. If they buy what you sell and like it you can sell and promote other products to them again and again. In time other website owners will want to promote your site because it sells so well thus building your customer list for you. This is the real secret of high web conversion rates.
So how do you create these positive associations? Through a very specific email and video persuasion system that we have developed. To access it, click the link.
You might also want to check out our free online seminar on email marketing. Simply input your details into the box on the right.
May
8
2012
Your emails are likely to be filtered and rated against various criteria with a spam score being attributed. Getting through these filters can mean the difference between your emails being delivered into the spam folder or the recipient’s inbox.
There are a few things you can do to increase the likelihood that your emails are being classified as junk mail. It is not an exact science and different spam filters, firewalls, and Internet Service Providers may use different, often changing criteria to filter and assess content. Even if the email is filtered into the contact’s junk mail folder, they may still report it as spam. The following guidelines will help you to prevent this as much as possible.
1. Keep it short. An effective email subject line is precise and no more than 8 words or 60 characters as most email providers will cut off longer subject lines.
2. Content filters will scan and mark the words you use in your email, so not use words in your subject headline commonly used by spammers. This includes words like ‘free’. Use complimentary, giveaway, or zero cost instead. Other words to avoid are ‘save’, ‘discount’, ‘viagra’, ‘Nigeria’, ‘porn’ or ‘gamble’.
While these words on their own can cause problems, words in conjunction with the obvious spam words, e.g. ‘replica’, ‘quality’, ‘enhanced’, ‘hard’, ‘stamina’, ‘college’, ‘diploma’ and ‘improve’, can also increase your spam score.
Phrases to avoid are ‘no obligation’, ‘click here’ or ‘click below’, ‘click to be removed’, ‘order now’, ‘no risk’ or ‘low risk’ or ‘risk free’, ‘money back guarantee’, ‘you have been turned down’, ‘spam’ or ‘spam legislation’.
The more times you use a word, the higher your spam score. The spam score is an amalgamation of several criteria, so the odd single use of some words may not automatically cause your email to be classed as spam.
3. Avoid punctuation used by spammers such as exclamation marks, or even worse multiple exclamation marks, and multiple dots in your email subject line. Currency and percentage signs in are also out.
Do not capitalise whole words. This screams at people and don’t use different fonts in your subject line either.
4. Bad grammar and spelling mistakes are attributes of spammers. Use the spam checker when previewing your email. It is also advisable to set up test email accounts at commonly used free email providers to see if your email comes through to the inbox or lands in spam.
Don’t use deliberately misspelled words or gaps in words in your email subject line like this one - fr!ee m o r t g a g e - in an attempt to fool spam checkers.
5. When personalising your emails do it properly or not at all. Non-personalised or badly personalised emails may attract spam complaints or increase your unsubscribe rates.
6. Don’t use italics and very large fonts in your email as they will increase your spam score. Replace large text and titles with images. Keep a good balance between text and images. Avoid image heavy emails and never send emails containing one image only and no text.
7. Don’t embed images in your emails. Spammers send emails with images as attachments or embedded within the email. To avoid this host your images online, either through your image library or on your website.
8. Spammers often use white text to add content that’s not seen by the recipient in order to get through email content filters, therefore use white text on a colour background sparingly. If you do use colour text on a colour background, make sure there is a strong contrast so that it is easily readable.
9. Don’t use forms in your email. None of the major email programme supports forms and including one might look like spam. If you need people to fill in a form, host the form on your website or a third party site and include a link to it in your email.
If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
(Source: Dotmailer. co.uk – Getting your email past the spam filters)
May
6
2012
The ability to write great email subject lines is one of the most important skills you need to develop to be successful in your email marketing campaign. After all, unless you have a great subject line your email may not get read and you may not make any sales. Most internet marketers struggle with writing highly effective email subject lines.
To make this task easier, to having a blueprint to follow helps. Below are five blueprints that have been proven to work. Not only will they increase your open rates, they can also help boosting your sales.
1. Succeed expectations
This is a great result-driven email subject line that is likely to get people to open up your email and take a closer look. For this blueprint you use the classic combination of something your subscribers want with a way to get it. By including phrases like “this works like crazy” you are not only telling them how to get what they want but also that the solution you offer is very effective.
Obviously, what you are offer must be highly interesting to the reader, and must be directly related to what you are going to share with them in the email itself. This subject line blueprint works equally well for content and promotional emails. It works because it promises to reveal something that produces results your subscribers want to achieve.
Example: For Losing Weight Fast and Effortlessly, This Works Like Crazy…
2. Fear of failure
This email subject line blueprint is the exact opposite of the first one. It hints at not producing results and plays with your readers’ fear of failure. For this blueprint you talk about what they want and combine it with a negative statement that tells them why they can’t have or achieve what they want.
Who could resist not finding out why? Not many. If the result is something that they really want to achieve, then people would want to read your email to find out what might prevent them from achieving it.
Example: Why Your Email Marketing Campaign Won’t Make You Any Money
This blueprint enables you to reveal a mistake or a problem and then offer your product or service as a solution.
A much stronger version of this email subject line blueprint predicts utter failure and ruin. Subject lines in this category go beyond sharing a mistake (see below) to the point of revealing something that can have a devastating effect on the reader, if they fall victim to it.
This type of subject line creates awareness of a potentially destructive pitfall and provides a solution. The language is strong in that it could ruin the efforts made to succeed.
Example: This Ruins Most New Marriages…
Be careful not to overuse this blueprint or it lose its power. Also don’t use it for things that your subscribers might consider trivial. This type of email subject line is best used for promoting products that can have a dramatic impact on a person’s life. The best way to approach this to to provide a brief solution in the content of your email, so you do actually give your subscribers useful information, and then lead them to an offer which explains the solution in detail and allows you to make a sale.
3. Curiosity
Another variation of the second blueprint is to offer some sort of warning or caution. This email subject line blueprint focuses on a negative result and describes things your subscribers want to avoid if they are going to achieve the results they are after but also offers a solution. This is one of the easiest types of subject lines to create.
Example: The Biggest Mistake Dieters Make And How You Can Avoid It
The emphasis here is on the word ‘biggest’. This isn’t just any mistake, it’s the the number one error people make regarding a particular topic. This creates curiosity and curiosity will get people to open your email to see what it is. They may also be concerned about whether or not they are making this particular mistake.
Curiosity plus benefit, i.e. offering a solution is a winning combination, therefore adding the words ‘and how to avoid it’ works very well with this type of email subject lines.
Another variation of the curiosity blueprint is to craft a subject line along the lines of: ‘Something every xxxx needs to know’. Need is very powerful word and gives the impression that something is a necessity. This will motivate readers to open your email.
Putting a special emphasis on newcomers like ‘first-timers’, ‘beginners’ or ‘newbies’ will increase the power of this type of subject line. Because they are inexperienced, they are likely to be eager and want to know what they need to know in order to succeed.
Example: Something Every First-time Buyer Needs To Know
4. Promise of quick and effortless gains
People want to achieve results instantly and with as little effort on their part as possible. This blueprint plays to their desires and is a great motivator to open your emails. The key for this blueprint are words like ‘fastest way’ or ‘easiest way’ in your email subject line. This isn’t just a way to achieve your goals or solve a problem; it’s the fastest and/or easiest way to succeed.
Example: The Easiest Way To Make Consistent Money Online
This blueprint comes with a health warning. Don’t make outlandish claims, promise reasonable gains. People have to believe they can actually achieve what you claim in the subject line or your emails won’t get opened. A subject line that promises to show the reader the ‘fastest way to make a million dollars online’ is much less appealing as most people don’t believe they can realistically achieve this, at least not to begin with.
A variation of this blueprint is to offer a shortcut. Something that is faster and/or easier, gives an advantage or reduces expense or effort is highly desirable. Subject lines following this blueprint are amongst successful in email marketing campaigns.
Example: Here’s A Shortcut For Boosting Your Online Revenue
To make this blueprint even more powerful, tie in a product, software or service that fully or partially automates the shortcut you are offering. This will increase your sales.
5. Checklists
The checklist approach provides your subscribers with a set of instructions that they can follow to make sure they do things correctly and get the results they want. Checklist are short and to the point and therefore manageable. This is highly desirable. Therefore this type of email subject line is another great way to increase your open rate.
Example: Here Is Your Perfect Subject Line Writing Checklist
The checklist allows you to provide useful steps and make recommendations in the content of the email as well as to refer readers to your products or services on entries in your checklist. It’s one of the best ways of making money from your email marketing list.
Master these blueprints and you will never be short of ideas for killer email subject lines that make you money. If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
(adapted from Charlie Page: 10 Headline Blueprints; http://charliepage.com/10-headline-blueprints)
May
4
2012
The subject line is the only part of your email marketing campaign that subscribers are almost guaranteed to see. It’s one of the most important elements of your email marketing campaign. If you get it right, your open rates will soar.
Research has shown that 35% of recipients would open an email specifically because of the content of the subject line. So here are some top tips for creating email subject lines that get your emails opened.
1. Your subject line has to accurately reflect the content of your email. To ensure a good match it is advisable that you write the content of your email first and then craft your subject line.
2. Keep your subject line as factual as possible. Don’t use your subject line to sell, just tell subscribers what it is you have for them. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put an offer in your subject line if this is your key message. If you do so, be clear about the offer, benefit or proposition of your email content and communicate that and only that in the email subject line.
Intriguing email subject lines can increase your open rates but specific, relevant subject lines are more likely to generate clickthroughs. If you are using a mysterious subject line, make sure you deliver and your subscribers aren’t left feeling disappointed or misled when they open your email.
Put yourself in your subscribers’ shoes when you write your subject line. What would trigger your interest and make you want to read more?
3. Seek inspiration from your own inbox or sign up to email newsletters relevant to you and see what you can borrow. Create a swipe file. When you see a great email subject line copy it and use it for inspiration. Of course. Never use anyone’s copy word-for-word without express permission but you are free to draw inspiration from great marketing. After all, why reinvent the wheel?
4. Carefully consider the length of your email subject line. One key factor to determine the right length will be the devices your subscribers are using to open your emails. If a significant number open your emails on small screens of smart phones short subject lines are more effective. The general rule of thumb is 60 characters.
5. Avoid the use of capital letters and exclamation marks in your email subject line. This looks like spam and may get filtered out by spam filters. Ideally you should run your email through a spam checker. It will tell you if your email will be considered spam or not and highlight which words, if any, within your email content score highly as spam words, allowing you to alter your copy before you send your email.
6. Don’t rush into publishing your email. Take your time and ensure your email subject line and the content of your email are free of spelling and grammatical mistakes, so use a spell checker. Sloppy emails give a bad impression and can affect your sales.
7. Split test your email subject lines to find the best one. Carefully consider the criteria for success. Email open rates are not the only measure. If you have a call to action in the body of the email measuring clicks is more worthwhile, or clicks to open rates.
Following these simple rules will substantially increase the success of your email marketing campaign.
If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
(adapted from Dotmailer.co.uk: 10 Top Tips for Writing Winning Email Marketing Subject Lines; http://www.dotmailer.co.uk/blog/email-marketing/10-top-tips-for-writing-winning-email-marketing-subject-lines/)
May
1
2012
The reason for list building is primarily an economic one. If you want to succeed online, the best way to do this is to build your own email marketing list. It’s actually not as hard as you think if you are willing to put some effort into this continuously and set realistic targets as to how many new subscribers you can add to your list every week.
You may want to spend some money on your list building activities but it is perfectly possible to start without spending a penny. Here are four ways to build an email marketing list that really work even if you don’t have any money to spend, a website of your own or any traffic.
There are a few things you need, however, before you can begin list building. As a bare minimum you will need a landing or squeeze page and an autoresponder. I have covered them in more detail in Beginners Tips To List Building. If you go with Aweber as your autoresponder, they will host a basic landing page for you for free as part of the service, so you won’t even need your own.
1. Email signature
Include a link for joining your email list in your signature. Why? Think of how many emails you send every month. This may add up to thousands each year. Even if just a small proportion of the recipients saw your link and joined your list, you got them for free and with no extra effort on your part.
Don’t worry about emails to friends and family. People are self-selecting. Those who are interested will take it up your invitation, and those who are not will ignore it. Occasionally, people might forward your emails to others and an entirely new audience gets to see your list building offer. And it costs nothing!
2. Forum and blog commenting
Forum and blog commenting is another free but very effective way to build an email marketing list, so join forums in an area of interest and make use of the signature line when commenting. Some forums require a minimum number of comments before you can add a signature, so give yourself time.
Similarly, find blogs that interest you and leave comments. Almost all blogs encourage you to enter a URL when you comment on them, so include the URL of your squeeze page.
3. Twitter
Using Twitter is one of the easiest ways to build your email marketing list for free. Here is what you do: Start following people you have heard of and replying to their tweets. Make sure your reply makes sense and won’t waste people’s time. For example, you could send fan tweets , i.e. replying to a tweet with something like “loved your book/song/film about xxx ”.
Once you have been following people for a while you will get followers too and become a known in the area you are tweeting in. When that happens, send a short tweet about your new email list and where people can join it. The key is to create curiosity with your tweet which will generate clicks. It is similar to writing powerful email subject lines. You can even automate the process by using a service like Hootsuite or software like TweetAdder.
4. Create a blog
If you haven’t got a website, you might want to create a blog. The advantage of having a blog is that you can use it as a landing page. If you publish a comprehensive blog you can start ranking in the search engines, generate traffic to site and build your email marketing list even faster. Just put a sign-up form on your blog or landing page.
Starting one at Blogger.com is free and they have templates you can use that look professional. There are many other options but you will need hosting. But with one hosting account you can have an almost limitless number of blogs and landing pages in various niches.
If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
April
29
2012
The first thing your subscribers see in their inbox is the subject line of your email. To get your emails opened your email subject line has to stand out in a good way from all the other emails.
Our brains are wired to discard the familiar. It is the unexpected that gets people’s attention, so ditch the familiar ho-hum email subject lines for something that makes your subscribers furrow their brow and pulls them out of their inbox apathy. Here are 10 top tips for creating killer email subject lines for an effective email marketing campaign.
1. Combine things that don’t really fit together
You can easily create effective email subject lines by combining things that don’t really fit together. This creates curiosity in the reader and increases the likelihood of your email being opened. Here are some examples:
- Multiple Personalities–Not a Disorder but the Norm
- Does Your Product Have a Plot?
- Meat is Might: Epic Meal Time Rules the Web
- Can Growing a Moustache Change the World?
- How to Be Strategically Unlikeable Online
2. Use lists of three
Using lists of three is another proven method to get the reader’s attention. There is something memorable and easy-to-count about lists of three. Creating an email subject line that contains a list of three is especially successful when the third item is overly specific or doesn’t fit, e.g.
- Drugs, Milk and Money: Social and Regulated Industries
- Free Coffee, Bad Apples and the Future of Currency
3. Incorporate and element of surprise
Shocking or surprising email subject lines can work very well in your email marketing campaign, provided you use them wisely. Don’t overdo it. Here are some examples:
- How Mexico’s Drug Traffickers Harness Social Media
- How Not to Die: Using Tech in a Dictatorship
- Language of Mutilation: Grammar for Ads and Life
4. Use rhymes and alliteration
Every email marketing campaign will benefit from a bit word craft. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of a series of words or phrases. Rhymes – the repetition of similar sounds in two or more words – will grab your readers attention, so don’t be afraid to add a little poetry to your subject line. Combine rhymes and alliterations in your subject line for maximum effect as in the examples below.
- Social Music Marketing: Bands, Brands and Fans
- An Unusual Arsenal: Tech Tools to Topple a Tyrant
- Contextual Communication: Crowds and Coordination
5. Include numbers
Using numbers in email subject lines can increase your email open rates. When you offer your readers a specific number of things, they know they are going to get a manageable list of tips that is easy to read and digest. The subject lines below demonstrate this well.
- Five Top Tips for Writing Effective Email Headlines
- Three Secrets to a Killer Pitch
- 100 Things Designers Need to Know About People
6. Use pop culture references
Pop culture references can bring your email marketing campaign to the next level. If you know your readers well, occasionally slip a pop-culture reference into your email subject line to make it more attractive and create a common reference point. This builds trust. Music and films are usually best but there are many other options. Here are a few examples:
- Do Gamers Dream of HTML5 Sheep?
- The Cloud as Skynet: Conquering Digital Overload
- Wall-E or Terminator: Predicting the Rise of Al
- Defense Against the Dark Arts: ESAPI
7. Create a common enemy
Identifying a common enemy in an email subject line can also work wonders for your email marketing campaign. You may find that readers unite behind you. Combining this method with asking a question is likely to increase your open rates. Use the examples for inspiration to create your own.
- Screw the Job Market: Young + Passionate ? Broke
- Rise of the Social Spammers
- Can Washington Make Your App Illegal?
- Has Twitter Made the Sports Reporter Obsolete?
8. Invent new words
New words can create an element of surpise and catch your reader’s attention, so it is worth giving this method a go. It requires some creativity but is not hard to do. Here are some examples:
- Adprovising: Agile Marketing Made Easy
- The Making of Twittamentary
- Newsjacking: How to Inject Your Ideas
9. Make big promises
Including big promises into your email subject line can significantly increase the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign and your business revenue. Of course, if you can’t deliver on the promise with sufficient proof in your email, you lose your credibility and won’t make any sales. So, only use this method if you really can deliver. Here is an example from my website:
- How to Improve Your Online Revenue Without Spending Any Extra on Marketing or Web Conversion Rates
10. Create an ‘i’ subject line
Exploit the rapid development of technology and turn your subject line into an ‘i’ line to create curiosity. All it takes is one little vowel. Here is how it can be done:
- iVision Africa: New Media’s Role in Reframing Africa
- iPlant: Advanced Computing to Feed the World
If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
April
25
2012
By dividing your email marketing list into smaller chunks, people who share a certain characteristic or behaviour can be grouped together and targeted with the appropriate content. You can win them over to your product or service through focused, targeted and personalised communications which will result in higher trust in you and better relationships with your business which will also improve responses to your email marketing campaign.
There are a number of ways in which you can use the information you hold on your subscribers for segmenting your email marketing list. List segmentation by profile, e.g. age, gender, postcode, interests, customer status (prospect, customer, repeat customer, VIP customer etc.) is one of the simplest but very successful segmentation models. Profile based list segmentation will cover most of your needs.
Examples of profile based list segmentation include sending male and female versions of an email. This is actually one of the most successful methods for segmenting.
Customer purchasing habits are also often defined by age, so targeting information and offers to specific age groups makes sense. And if you know where your prospects and customers are based, you are then able to develop promotions that are attractive to subscribers in certain locations.
In addition, an upcoming event such as an upcoming product promotion or a recent action such as a purchase of one of your products can also help to profile your email marketing list.
List segmentation by lifestyle requires some deeper level of data analysis but can be a very powerful way of determining how you should talk to these subscribers, what offers will suit them and how you can increase your online revenue.
Data analysis by lifestyle will identify patterns that you can use to group subscribers together who exhibit similar behaviours. You would be looking at data such as buying patterns and types of products bought and match them to other factors such as geographical location and age of your subscribers. This level of analysis can be very costly and time consuming and may not be necessary for small businesses.
Once you have segmented your email marketing list according to your needs, decide which methods you will use for each of your segments. For example, you could create separate content for each segment. Such content can be based on subscriber profiles, purchasing behaviour or email metrics, e.g. open rates.
Different segments could also benefit from different email frequencies based on their point in the customer life cycle, e.g. prospect, customer, repeat customer. You could increase your email frequency at the point when subscribers are likely to buy and reduce when they are less likely to buy.
If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
April
22
2012
Email marketing list segmentation is an important strategy for your email marketing campaign. List segmentation is the process by which you only send information that is tailored and delivered to a specific target group.
Sending a bulk blast to your entire email marketing list is the wrong approach. Why?
Targeted content is vital to the success of your email marketing campaign. Segmenting your email marketing list will help you to target content far more effectively. Each of your prospects and customers are different, and ideally should to be treated individually. You may have freebie seekers, new customers or repeat customers and each one has a slightly different relationship with you and your business.
Using spray tactics, where everybody receives the same information or promotions, will soon lead to waning subscriber interest and at worst to increasing unsubscribe rates from your list. Email marketing campaigns that use this method will be far less effective than personalised campaigns directed at particular list segments.
In order to be able to personalise your emails you need to capture more than just a subscriber’s name and email address on sign-up, e.g. demographic data such as age, gender or location. The more information you have, the greater your chance of segmenting and personalising your emails with content relevant to each subscriber group. So you need to think about this when you design your subscription process.
Many email marketers just capture basic contact information on subscription which will not enable them to undertake more sophisticated list segmentation. However, even the smallest amount of list segmentation will enhance your email marketing campaign and can make a big difference to your online revenue.
Remember, not all information that might be useful to your for list segmentation needs to be captured at sign up. You could send out a questionnaire or survey at a later stage to capture this kind of information. Most subscribers won’t be too bothered about being asked to complete the occasional questionnaire.
The key objective of any list segmentation effort is to increase relevance of your communications and promotions and retain subscriber interest. An understanding of different list segments allows you to tailor your offer to individuals to make your email stand out and capture the attention of your prospects and customers.
List segmentation will therefore help you to move away from sending blanket emails that are often deleted without being read. Emails that are targeted and cater for specific interests will encourage a more positive response from your subscribers.
Segmenting your email marketing list also allows you to analyse the performance of different content or promotions against different target groups. List segmentation will vastly increase the performance of your email marketing campaign as the content is of greater interest to your prospects and customers. This might even encourage them to forward your message or offer to others and should lower your unsubscribe rate.
List segmentation is also one of the most effective methods of reducing costs. Your targeted message can be sent to a smaller number of recipients to achieve the same conversions.
Although list segmentation requires some effort, it is clear from all best practice in email marketing that there is a corresponding increase in the level of the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign, so it is worthwhile doing.
If you want to learn more about email marketing and how to improve business revenue sign up to our free online seminar.
