Jul/090
Top 10 Email Marketing Mistakes
With email marketing being so widely used these days, we start to see an increasing number of people making very common, yet critical mistakes. Have a look at our Top 10 Email Marketing Mistakes below, and ensure you’re campaigns are performing at their best!
1. Lacking a strategy - Develop a strategy detailing why your recipients will find value in your campaign. Content, key messages and metrics expectations.
2. Outdated list - Develop a permission-based list of opt-in subscribers to increase open rates and reduce undeliverable e-mails. For customer lists, try and contact your customers to ensure you have an updated email address on file. Outdated lists will offer higher bounce rates, and lowe view/click rates.
3. Non-relevant content - Keep your message relevant. Your recipients should find your campaigns interesting and engaging. E-mails with the highest opt-in and open rates are most often thought-leadership topics or personal insights into industry trends.
4. No thought to layout - Keep in mind that your message may be viewed in a preview pane with images turned off or on an e-mail system or PDA that doesn’t support HTML content. Your top-line message must include a link to a Web-based version—just in case.
5. Sloppy design - Adding graphics improves visual appeal, but you need a balance of images versus text. Too much text can be overwhelming and your readers will quickly get bored. Get to the point.
6. Hard selling - If your readers feel they’re being pitched to, your message will not only get deleted but they may even unsubscribe from your mailings. Worse yet, they could report your e-mail as spam.
7. Lack of external links - Newsletters are best developed with stories pointing to an outside Web site. Include a portion of the story with a link to “read more” and have links relevant to specific Web site pages.
8. Poor testing - All e-mail systems will not display your message the same, so be sure to test your campaign across various applications. Format consistency is critical for HTML-based e-mails.
9. Sending at the wrong time - Think about recipients’ time zones and business hours. Recent data suggest higher open rates occur on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
10. Ignoring reporting - Metrics tell you whether your message was successful, or a flop. Analyzing your campaign reports allows you to develop better content, that will engage your recipients.
Mar/090
PTM Set to Release ‘Do-it-Yourself’ Email Marketing Application
March 24, 2009
Windsor, Ontario – Local email marketing experts Primary Target Media, a subsidiary of CDP Web Solutions, are all set to release the much anticipated ‘do-it-yourself’ version of their popular email marketing service.
Using the same technology which has helped Primary Target deliver over 10 million emails on behalf of their clients, will soon be available for businesses to create and deliver email campaigns of their own.
Primary Target is best known for their managed email marketing service, where they design, develop and deliver custom email campaigns for their clients. Using their experience in the email marketing field, they have been able to produce consistent, exceptional results for businesses of all types and sizes.
“The idea of email marketing is still in somewhat of an infancy stage in our area. A common misconception among many businesses is that all email marketing is both SPAM and ineffective”, states Joel Paterson of Primary Target Media. Paterson continues by adding that email marketing offers the highest ROI (return on investment), over any other form of advertising available today.
Primary Target’s decision to release a ‘do-it-yourself’ version of their application came about when discussing the topic with various colleagues throughout Windsor. “Some individuals are reluctant to pay a higher price for a managed service, however are certainly willing to try their hand at email marketing on their own. Our ‘do-it-yourself’ application will provide just that. Easy to use functionality at an affordable price” says Joel.
“Since the development of our first email marketing application five years ago, we’ve been working diligently on improving the system and its capabilities. Today, it offers some of the most robust reporting and analytic features available anywhere. Our clients are often extremely impressed with the comprehensive statistics and follow-up opportunities it offers”. Paterson adds.
Primary Target stresses the importance of customer loyalty and retention. Keeping in touch with current and past customers is what builds a strong foundation for any business. By developing effective email marketing communications, a business is able to keep in touch for as low as $0.02/contact… Far cheaper than the price tag of $0.60+ to deliver a letter or postcard.
Joel finishes by adding that email marketing can help most any business. With clients such as Car Dealers, Travel Agents, Garden Centres, Salons/Spa and more, the deployment of consistent, on-time communications doesn’t have to be intimidating or expensive.
For more information on email marketing, or any other of Primary Target Media’s services, contact 519-253-8885 or visit www.primarytargetmedia.com
Feb/090
Top 5 Marketing Myths
Myth #1 - Marketing is simply advertising & Sales
Marketing is educating your target audience about your products and services and showing them why they should buy from you. Marketing is the whole package of what you do to reach this target audience. Advertising, direct marketing, Internet Marketing, events, PR, strategic partnerships and networking through associations all make up marketing as a whole. Taking advantage of all the options available to your business in terms of applicability and budget is what truly makes a successful marketer.
Myth #2 - Email Marketing is no longer effective… It’s SPAM.
Email marketing is still the most effective form of communication if done properly. People always want information and offering it through an opt-in email marketing program is a means of reaching people in a low-cost manner. Building an in-house email list by encouraging visitors to your store or web site to sign up for your newsletter or other type of correspondence is the first step in effective email marketing. Think of it this way… If a customer or prospect asked you to call them next Tuesday, would you simply ignore them? Of course not. Opt-in subscribers are interested in your products/services and want to be kept in the loop. It’s as simple as that.
Myth #3 - Great marketing works instantly
Although marketing can shorten the sales cycle, and some tactics can produce instant results, effective marketing is about sustained contact with your target audience to ensure they know who you are when they are looking to buy. Marketing is an investment and like all good investments, they take time to achieve the greatest gains. Consistent, branded messages in an effective manner is the true key to marketing success.
Myth #4 - Lower Prices encourage more people to buy
If that were always true, the roads would be filled with Hyundai’s and a Mercedes-Benz would be nowhere to be found. Differentiators are what the prospect perceives is valuable to them. The reason for so many options among types of products is that people have different views of what is valuable to them. That is why it is so important to target your product or service correctly so that you can provide the maximum value at the right price, not an artificially discounted price because you are trying to reach the wrong audience.
Myth #5 - Marketing messages should be changed often, or it just gets old
Consistency and repetition is marketing’s best friend. Often times, a company’s marketing messages are just starting to resonate with their audience, and they decide to change angles. Changing your messages, brand, or marketing campaign for the sake of change is a waste. Be sure you plan a strategy that has options. For example, if you are doing advertising, you can start a theme and change the image throughout the campaign, sending the same message to you clients. This eliminates potential boredom and increases interest.