6 BEST Practices for Email Marketing

Email Marketing vs Social Media Marketing/Mobile Marketing

We know. Many reckon there is not even necessary to compare. Many would say Social Media Marketing & Mobile Marketing are all the hype now. Some would say Email Marketing is gone.

Think twice. Email Marketing is now more powerful than ever because of social media!

WHY?

This is because Email Marketing moves the conversation between you and your customers up to a more personal level – the Inbox. Moreover, with so many chat apps out there, most of us are joining too many chat groups which do not concern us at all.

So what do most of us do at the end of the day? We start to ignore certain chat apps and no longer reading them.

THE DIFFERENCE

But Email is different. Your email inbox is something more private. Most of us check our email inbox from time to time no matter what. For example, the Exabytes Group, the largest website hosting provider in Malaysia is still using Email Marketing!

So now the question is how can we make sure that the emails you send are opened, read, and acted on?

#1 Good Email Subject Lines

Email subject lines are what your recipients see before they open your emails. You must understand that your email will be competing with hundreds of other emails/e-newsletters as many of us subscribe to quite a number of newsletters from different companies at the same time. To grab the attention of your readers, the quality of your Email Subject Line is what makes all the difference.

For examples, if you offer 50% off for ABC package, which of the following subjects would you choose?

Subject 1: Grab 50% OFF For Our ABC Package!

Subject 2: How to Pay RM500 LESS for ABC Package!

Obviously, subject 2 creates more curiosity and is able to grab readers’ attention. On the other hand, subject 1 is less attention grabbing. At the same time, you also want to avoid email subject lines that sound too spammy such as the following:

“FREE! Grab 50% OFF & FREE Gift NOW!”

To write effective email subject lines that get opened, simply read more articles on how to write good email subject lines.

#2 Punctuation

A sentence without any punctuation is not good because nobody understands the tone and emotion of your message. Using the right punctuation marks in your subject line can show some excitement/emotion to the readers!

#3 Use Capital Letters

Use capital letters appropriately! While FULL UPPERCASE subject lines can draw attention, it can also indicate anger, and some of your recipients might not like it. A more tolerable use of capital letters is to use Title Case, for example, “What is Email Marketing?”

On the other hand, using Sentence case (“What is email marketing?”) in your subject lines can give your readers a feeling of being more casual and informal, which can be useful sometimes.

#4 Use short subject lines

Every day, the number of mobile users is increasing rapidly, and more and more people are checking their emails on smart phones. Try to keep your subject lines more direct and less wordy. Your goal is to get readers to open your emails! 60 characters or less usually does the magic.

#5 Quality Relevant Content

Always remember to match your goal with your content. The content of your email should depend on the immediate goal of the email. For example, if the primary goal is to give information, forget about sales pitches and stick to your main topic. In this case, short sentences and paragraphs are preferred.

NOTE: Make sure your email message is directly related to the subject line. Not only is this good for your credibility, it will prevent your email from going to the “Junk” or “Spam” folder!

 #6. Always End with a Call-to-Action Phrase

Every email you send should have a specific goal or desired outcome. What exactly do you want your readers to do? Do you want them to buy something, opt-in to register for a webinar, or simply read a blog post?

If you don’t tell your readers, or stress to them in the end of the message, some of them might not figure it out themselves. Thus it’s always wise to make it clear to your readers before you end your email!

COLOURS

Orange and red are popular call-to-action phrase/button colours. You could also use standard text with a blue underlined hyperlink or fancier graphical based images.

This wraps up “6 BEST Practices for Email Marketing”. Do you have what it takes to be a good email marketer? We are sure you do!

Lastly, we hope you enjoyed and learned something new from this blog post. Thank you for reading.

Stay tuned for more!

Top 15 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List

Email marketing can be profitable for any business, no matter what kind of product or service you offer. It is significantly cheaper than other advertising methods and, if done right, helps build loyalty and trust with customers. As a result, you generate more sales and more profits!

The foundation for successful email marketing is a targeted, permission-based email list. Marketers call contact lists their 'goldmine' because it can generate much of their sales revenue. If you've built up a list of opt-in subscribers that are qualified and interested in what you have to offer, then you've completed the first step and are on your way. Now it's time to 'mine' for gold!

Below you'll find several list-building and retention ideas that will help you get the best results from all your email marketing activities:

1. Provide useful, relevant content. Your visitors will not give you their email addresses just because they can subscribe to your newsletter free of charge. You have to provide unique and valuable information that will be of interest or use to them.
2. Add a subscription form to every page on your website. Make sure it stands out so it is easy to find. If it doesn't look cluttered, you may want to include more than one on some pages. For instance, if your opt-in form always appears in the top-left corner of your site, you may want to add one at the end of your most popular articles.
3. Add subscription forms to your social media pages. Make sure that you don't waste this valuable source of revenue opportunities. Integrate your sign-up forms with Facebook and more!
4. Make it easy for readers to sign up. The more information you request, the fewer people will opt-in. In most cases, a name and an email address should suffice. If it's not necessary, don't include it here. You can always survey them once they're customers! We do recommend that you provide a link to your Privacy Policy however.
5. Publish a Privacy Policy. Let your readers know that they can be confident you will not share their information with others. The easiest way to do this is to set up a Privacy Policy web page and provide the link to it below your opt-in form. (Note: If you don't have one, put the words 'privacy policy generator' into a search engine and you should be able to find a suitable form to use.)
6. Provide samples of your newsletters and Ezines. This lets potential subscribers review your materials before they sign up to determine if it's something they'd be interested in.
7. Archive past newsletters and articles. An online library of past newsletters and articles is both appealing and useful to visitors and builds your credibility as an authority. In addition, if your articles are written with good SEO techniques in mind, they can increase traffic to your website through enhanced search engine positioning.

8. Give gifts subscribers can actually use. Offer an opt-in bonus for joining your subscriber list! Write an ebook or provide a PDF business report, or even hire a programmer to create downloadable or web-based software. But don't limit yourself to offering gifts to opt-ins. Give them out when your readers fill out a survey, provide a testimonial, success story, or a great product idea. Let them know when they can expect the next gift offer. Everyone likes to get something for free! And if you pass out 'goodies' throughout the year, your subscribers will feel truly appreciated − and that's good for business!
9. Ask your subscribers to pass it on. Word of mouth is a powerful viral technique that works great with email marketing. If your subscribers find your content interesting, amusing or informative, they'll probably share it with their friends. This can be a great source of new customers, so make sure to remind them to 'pass it on'.
10. Let others reprint your newsletter as long as the content is not modified. If you're happy to share your content with the universe, then why not! Many webmasters and newsletter publishers are actively looking for high-quality content and, if they reprint your newsletter, you'll get new subscribers, and more traffic and links pointing to your site.
11. Include a 'Sign Up' button in your newsletter. If you're using plain text instead of HTML, be sure to provide a text link to your subscription page. You may feel that this is not required because the subscriber is already on your list, but remember that readers will forward your newsletters to others, or reprint them online. Make it easy for them to subscribe!
12. Add a squeeze page. A squeeze page has one goal − to acquire opt-ins and build your list. Think of it as a mini-sales letter to go along with your subscription or opt-in gift. It should feature a strong headline and a couple of powerful benefits that should make subscribers salivate to sign up! Once created, use a service such as WordTracker to find hundreds of targeted keywords, and promote your offer using pay-per-click advertising from Google, MSN and Yahoo. Now that should make a splash!
13. Include testimonials on your squeeze page. This is crucial. Put one or two strong testimonials from satisfied customers on your squeeze page. This can be in any format, but you may find that multimedia (audio or video) is more 'believable' and inspires more people to action. To further enhance believability, get permission to use actual customer names, locations and/or urls (Don't use 'Bob K, FL'). Add a note inviting others to participate. After all, it's free publicity!
14. Blog religiously. Blogging is a great way to communicate with prospects and potential customers, and creates a nice synergy with your email marketing. Be sure to include your newsletter sign-up form on each page of your blog. You can start a free blog at Blogger or WordPress.
15. Post on other blogs. Post thoughtful comments and information on similar blogs with a link to your squeeze or opt-in pages. Also comment on others' blogs through trackbacks. In most cases, your comments will be posted on their blogs with a link back to your site. This is an easy way to generate new traffic and subscribers, and get your brand out there!

Marketing Your Business Online

If you are not already marketing your business online, it is time to start. Although there are a few exceptions, just about every business can benefit from online marketing. There are just so many advantages to this type of marketing. First of all, it is extremely affordable to market your business online. Other advantages to marketing your business online include the ability to reach a large target audience, the ability to reach potential customers all over the world and the ability to customize the marketing for different sectors of the target audience.

The affordability of Internet marketing is one of many reasons why many business owners are turning to the Internet for advertising. Advertising online is incredibly affordable especially when you consider how many potential customers a business owner can reach with an online marketing campaign. Most methods of online advertising are quite affordable and some of them do not have any direct costs. For example, you may choose to market your business online by participating in industry forums and posting links to your website whenever it is appropriate to do so. In this case the cost of creating and maintaining the website is insignificant in comparison to the number of potential clients you could reach through online marketing. Additionally, the costs associated with posting links to your website are incidental. You could consider the cost of having access to the Internet as part of the cost but you most likely require Internet access for other reasons as well so it is completely worthwhile.

Reaching a large target audience is another very worthwhile reason for marketing your business online. You may have spent a great deal of time and energy doing market research and determine who your target audience is. You may have also spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the best way to reach this audience. This is a very sound marketing principle but as it applies to marketing on local television, radio and print media it only allows you to reach a limited audience. However, when you take your marketing to the Internet you automatically drastically increase your potential target audience because you now have the ability to reach members of your target audience around the world.

This ability to reach customers around the world is another major advantage to marketing your business online. Regardless of where you live and operate your business, you have the ability to reach those who have an interest in the products you sell or the services you provide no matter where they live. This makes it possible for you to do business with customers around the world.

Likewise the fact that the Internet is available 24 hours a day is also very beneficial to those who choose to market their products or services online. Shopping for products and services in person can be very difficult especially for individuals who work long hours or those who work unusual hours. These working conditions make it difficult for these individuals to do business and make purchases of products and services they need during regular business hours. However, business owners who have an online presence are much more convenient because unlike stores and calling centers, the website never closes. This convenience gives potential customers the ability to view products and services, compare these products and services to the ones offered by competitors and make a purchase at any hour of any day.

If you are a business owner who is reading this article and you do not already have a strong online presence, you need to immediately start learning more about the world of Internet marketing. This is so important because if your competitors are marketing online, you may find they are gaining a steady advantage and are becoming more appealing to potential customers. Before too many of your potential customers become loyal customers of the competition it is time to start figuring out how you can market your business online and keep up with the competition. 

Why Google+ is Important for Your Marketing

There is more powerful marketing potential packed into Google+ than just about anywhere else on the web. Marketers who write Google+ off as just another complex and convoluted social network with limited marketing potential are misinformed.

Second in size to Facebook as a social network, Google+ has one clear advantage over Facebook and many not so well-known benefits — the ability to readily leverage the world’s largest search engine, being one of them. Google has built this into Google+ deliberately.

Here is a quick overview of some of the benefits of integrating Google+ into your online strategy.
 

Google+: Start Your Engines
The Business Page
There are just a handful of social networks that are brand- and business-friendly. Google+ is one of them.

The Google+ business page is the foundation from which a Google+ marketing strategy is launched. Once you get a business page set up, validated and linked to your official website, you immediately have enhanced trust with the Google search algorithms. This alone can bump your search results.

Custom URL
Once you’ve set up your Google+ business page, you are eligible for a custom Google URL for your business page that further cements your legitimacy, trust and priority with the Google search results algorithms.

Optimize
Now, to finish the foundation of your future Google+ empire, you will want to optimize your Google+ home page by using relevant and SEO targeted keywords throughout your page. Of course, you will want to do this in an elegant and non-spammy way. This will generate another boost for your business in the search rankings.

Carefully select your keywords so you can use them in your headlines, descriptions, taglines, introductions, as well as general content. By planting them in more durable content elements like headings and tag lines, you’re maximizing their effectiveness.

Hashtags
Keep this in mind for future posts. As with Facebook, Google searches can now be conducted for hashtags, at least in the U.S. and Canada. This will produce a list of related Google+ posts on the right side of the Google search results page. This is pure SEO gold. Content producers who incorporate hashtags into Google+ posts that match known user keyword searches can experience astounding increases to their website traffic.

Promotion
Get all your employees involved in your Google+ strategy instead of just expecting a few social media geeks in the marketing department (if you have one) to do all the work. Google+ is built on a circles metaphor, so the more people who have you in their circles the better your search results will be. Encourage employees to link to and share news, posts and other content through their circles, and take advantage of the network effect.

Build a Community
As with any marketing effort, you’re going to want to engage with users. On Google+, this means the two Cs — content and circles. Circles are the way Google+ communities of interest are organized, and they can be used to target your content to different segments of your target audience based on their interests and interactions.

There are two basic principles for community building, the two Es — entertainment and engagement. Start by posting a higher percentage of entertaining content to build interest and get people involved. Later, when your community is established, increase engagement by posting content that is more issues- and solutions-oriented. You will have to find the right balance for your business and its audience. Naturally, in addition to great content, posting regularly is essential in building an audience and keeping them engaged.
 

Shift Into Gear

Now, let’s take a look at some of the things you can do on Google+ to really amp-up your marketing efforts.

Hangouts and Helpouts
Google+ Hangouts is a free video chat service from Google that enables both one-on-one chats and group chats with up to 10 people at a time. Hangouts utilize sophisticated technology to seamlessly switch the focus to the person currently chatting.

Google Hangouts can be accessed via laptop and desktop computers as well as with Android mobile devices. Google+ Hangouts also offers a “Hangouts on Air” feature for broadcasting live video conversations that are accessible to anyone with a web browser.

Helpouts are similar to Hangouts and are used to connect people who need help with those who can provide assistance, over live video. These could be customers, prospects and others connecting to subject matter experts, sales people and others within your organization.

Contests
Contests on Google+ have some restrictions. One of the best ways to use Google+ for contests is to use them for recognizing individuals for creative contributions and user-generated content or results.

Advertising
Not only is Google+ tightly integrated with Google Search, it is also tightly integrated with AdSense and AdWords. Google +Post advertising lets you promote and post links to your Google+ content on sites that serve Google ads, thus dramatically increasing the reach of your Google+ posts.

In-depth Analytics
You won’t be left in the dark when it comes to analytics on Google+. In addition to yet another tight integration within the Google suite of products and services — Google Analytics — there are a number of third-party tools with quality free offerings that integrate with Google+ to help you keep track of your online efforts and results.

Leverage the Influence Loop
Google+, with its seamless integration to the rest of the Google online platform and suite of products and services is the perfect place to leverage the influence loop.

Your goal is to rank higher in general search results. By creating a community and building an audience, you start that process. When other people follow you, they benefit from your ranking and rank higher too. As they rank higher, they share and link back to more of your content. This causes your content to rank higher and generate more interest in circles you were never able to touch before. This, in turn causes you to rank higher, and the cycle continues.

This is a virtuous cycle that is the basis for the Google+ Circles metaphor. It is also a perfect example of the way sustainable marketing works. It’s the online equivalent of the best marketing there is: word of mouth!

Do you use Google+ is your marketing efforts? Let us know why or why not in the comments!

Image credit: Canva, Wikipedia & Al Le Carte