Archive for September, 2009

Ever since a caveman scrawled the first advertising slogan on rock wall, three factors have influenced the profitability of any marketing effort:

The Right Message…
To The Right Market…
At The Right Time!

Unfortunately, many small businesses miss at least one of thse critifal factors. Heck, some overlook two or all three. The result is heaps of wasted money and squandered opportunities. Some businesses spend too much money on ego-feed image advertising, and not nearly enough on direct response offers, which are easy to track and evaluate. So, how you you change that?

Here are three ways to make the most of your marketing dollars:

Keep image advertising to a minimum. Sure, it’s nice to see a clever half-page ad in Sports Illustrated or the NY Times. But you never really know how effective it is? Does it lead to inquiries? Sales?

Test, test, test, especially direct response campaigns that are inexpensive. You can offer FREE stuff — reports, samples, coupons — or other response devices. Couple them with compelling copy that show you understand your target audience’s wants and needs. Connect with them, solve their most pressing problems and you’ll have a customer for life.

When you find a successful direct response offer, stick with it. Use every tactic at your disposal — autoresponders, email newsletters, postcards, phone calls — to stay relevant to your loyal customers.

Follow up is critical. Be persistent but respectful. If a potential customer tells you to back off, respect those wished. But don’t be shy about contacting leads if you have additional information that might help sway their decision.

A computerized system that methodically, repetitively and consistently follows up with your leads is the most cost-effective alternative. Otherwise, you might be spending too much time doing manual labor or, worse, wasting valuable leads.

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Email is a powerful tool for marketing good and services. While the options are virtually unlimited, there are a handful of best practices that every email marketer should stick to:

Be Personable
You wouldn’t just walk up to someone you know at a cocktail party and say “Greetings” would you? No, you’d address that person by name. Same with your email marketing. Include your subscriber’s name right at the beginning. Studies have shown that emails with a personal greeting enjoy a much higher response rate. It’s human nature – people love being addressed personally. It makes them feel valued and appreciated. A simple “Hey Joe,” will go a very long way in increasing the response rate.

Think Like a Headline Writer
Most people make a decision about whether to read a story based on the headline. If it sounds interesting or informative, readers will give it a shot. The same is true for email subject lines. Avoid the boring, easy-to-ignore “ABC Co. Newsletter – September Issue.” That’s not going to entice anyone to open it. Instead, include a benefit in the subject, something that will pique a reader’s interest to the point of actually opening your email. How about something like this: “Improve Your Bottom Line in 3 Easy Steps” from ABC Co.

Always Include an Unsubscribe Link
Hard to believe, but some emailers still refuse to include an unsubscribe link in every email or make it so inconspicous and difficult to use that people don’t notice or give up after a handful of clicks. Beyond just being courteous, it’s also a legal requirement in the United States. And if that’s not enough, including an unsubscribe link can help keep your list clean and your deliverability high. You don’t want to waste time marketing to people who have no use for what you are offering. Make sure your unsubscribe link is clearly visible and easy to use.

Text Links vs. Image Links?
Everyone wants to produce emails that are visually attractive and graphically robust. But some research shows that bold, blue, underlined text links draw a better response than images that need to be clicked. Although image links are okay, text links are a more effective way to get readers to click-through to your strategic landing page.

Write Clearly
Make sure there are no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors on your email message. Make your point and move on. Your message, especially on the web, has to be clear, concise and compelling. Readers won’t put up with rambling, disjointed, jargon-filled essays. Oblivion is just a mouse-click away.

Provide Additional Connections
Make sure the links to your social media profiles appear in all of your emails – you can add them as content blocks in your HTML newsletter and in the email signature of your individual emails.

Be Consistent
I know I’m a drying breed, but I’ve come to expect my newspaper to be delivered at about 6:30 every morning. If it’s even a couple of minutes late I get antsy. As long as you are delivering an email that is useful to your readers, they, too, will come to depend on it. They’ll look for it at a certain time and a certain day. The same rules holds true for your enewsletter design. When my newspaper changes its look, it takes me a while to get accustomed to familiar features in different places. Don’t change your design every other issue and keep your “From” field consistent, Minor tweaks are ok but people tend to prefer routine rather than surprises.

If you have any other best practices for email marketing, I’d love to hear about them.

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