The 3 Steps to Starting Your Email Marketing Off Right
Recently, Small Biz Bee posted 5 ways to bore your email marketing subscribers – what not to do. So the question is, what should you do to get results from your marketing emails?
The experts push for split testing and segmenting, and those are important – later. For now, if you only have a handful of subscribers and are still finalizing your initial set of messages, you need to start with the basics.
First, sight your goals
If you don’t have a clear destination, you’ll never get to it. Your message stream won’t be focused, your web forms may not match your follow ups and any inconsistencies may bruise your brand’s reputation.
“What are your goals?” is a broad, vague question. You may want to use these more focused questions to help you find your answers.
Once you’ve determined those goals at the end of a path ahead of you. What steps do you need to take to get there? List them out and scratch them off as you go. Stick to your path and eventually, you’ll get to your destination.
Then, decide how to track your progress
You can gather a whole lot of data on your campaign’s performance. Email service providers track opens, clicks, downloads and more, and Google Analytics provide even more depth.
In theory, this data shows you what to improve for better results in the future. But if you focus on all of it, you’ll be scrambling around tracking every upswing, downswing and flatline that appears, wasting energy instead of making decisive, effective improvements.
Instead, use those goals you’ve determined, you can figure out what you want to focus on tracking. This guide breaks it down.
This data can tell you a lot, especially if you have time to really break it down and make improvements based on the results you see, but it shouldn’t be your main focus – that should be somewhere else.
Focus your gaze on the people around you
It’s people who sign up for your emails, who buy from you, who link you up and talk you up when you wow them – or who, if you don’t impress, don’t.
So focus on them. If they reply to your email (you’re letting them, right?), respond. If customers ask for special treatment, give it to them (within reason).
If you have the time and manpower, link up with your supporters on Facebook or Twitter display your brand as more of a personality. (If not, focus on building relationships through email conversations.)
Once you get “there,” go further
That destination we mentioned earlier? I’ll tell you the secret to success. Don’t stop when you get there.
Reset your sights, perhaps on finding on ways to create emails efficiently or strategies to automate how your lists interact.
And by all means, make sure you go back to split test and segment. 
Photo Credit: Biscarotte
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Three Qualities Your Brand Must Have in a Down Economy
Your brand can be one of your most valued assets, especially when you’re facing challenging business conditions. Here are three key qualities your brand must have in a down economy:
1. Your brand must be loved by your customers.
A customer will stand by a brand even in a down economy. But to maintain that kind of loyalty, a customer must really love that brand.
Arguably, one of the most successful brands in modern history is Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone wasn’t the first smartphone, and therefore it didn’t start the category — but the iPhone was a game-changer in the category. Why? Some of it was because of cool features, like its intelligent touchscreen, which removed the need for a physical keyboard, like the keyboard on the Blackberry. The real game-changer, though, was the iPhone’s huge and continually growing library of applications. With these applications, customers could do things they couldn’t do on other phones. The iPhone became much more than a phone — it became a smart, sexy portable productivity powerhouse.
Customers don’t just think the iPhone is good, they think it is GREAT. They don’t just like the iPhone, they LOVE it. Apple translated that success into what essentially was a larger version of the iPhone, the iPad, and the same thing happened. Even in a down economy, Apple continues to prosper.
How does a small business learn from this lesson? Use the knowledge you have of your target audience to build a branded product or service that surprises and delights a customer, and you will have a raving fan for your brand. It could be easier than you think — it may just take the addition of one differentiating feature, or highlighting a product benefit no one else has, or relying on a great support representative to make your service stand out.
When your customer loves your brand — you have a great brand.
2. Your brand must have the right combination of rational and emotional appeal.
People think about brands, but they also have feelings about brands.
The rational aspect of a brand is the part of the brand that appeals to a consumer’s rational mind – the brain, the head, the thought process, whatever you want to call it. The emotional aspect of a brand is the part of the brand that appeals to a consumer’s emotions – that person’s heart and soul – how that person “feels” about a brand.
If a brand appeals to a consumer on both a rational and emotional level, it has a very strong chance of becoming a memorable, long-lasting brand. Brands that accomplish this often achieve category leader status.
How does a brand appeal to both the rational and emotional sides?
Basically, the rational argument for a brand involves conveying sensible, practical facts in the brand’s marketing messages. Depending on the product, it may be facts such as saving money, protecting the environment, or offering high quality.
The emotional side is quite different, however. Typically, to evoke emotion, a brand has to make a compelling case or paint a picture that creates a certain feeling. Instead of facts, the emotional side of the brand deals with benefits and feelings – things that make the consumer feel good. Often a brand will lead with the emotional aspect because it has higher impact (and it is less rational) so it might create a desire on the part of the consumer to purchase the brand. The rational aspect is then used to support the purchase decision.
It is particularly important to recognize both the rational and emotional arguments for your brand in a down economy because buyers are making tough choices about where to spend their money. A rational argument will appeal to the need for a product or service, while the emotional argument will speak to want — a customer’s desire to have it.
3. Your brand must be truly differentiated.
Today, very few company, product, or service ideas are truly new and unique. You can almost be guaranteed that someone, somewhere, has developed a product or service similar to yours. And even if you bring a unique product or service to market, it won’t be long before another company comes out with a look-alike. This is just the nature of the competitive marketplace.
This doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless! Use a brand positioning statement to help identify your brand’s unique qualities. A good brand positioning statement includes:
- Likely Brand Buyer – This is the person who is most likely to be interested in buying your brand. Often this person is described as being part of your “target audience.” The likely brand buyer should be described as specifically as possible: gender, race, age, income, geographic area, employment, interests, etc. Ideally, you will build a descriptive profile of one or more target audiences for your brand.
- Competition – The statement should position your brand against existing competition so the target audience can distinguish between your brand and someone else’s.
- Product Benefit – The single most compelling benefit of the brand.
- Unique Brand Promise – The unique selling proposition of your brand.
The brand positioning statement will help you make sure you are creating a brand position that is as differentiated from your competition as possible.
Pay attention to building your brand even when times are tough — and your brand will still be around when the economy improves.
About the Author: Barry Silverstein has over 30 years of experience in branding, advertising, and marketing. He ran his own direct and Internet marketing agency for two decades. He is a branding/marketing consultant, professional freelance business writer and the author of the new eGuide, Branding 123: Build a Breakthrough Brand in 3 Proven Steps. Branding 123 is available for $2.99 at the Amazon Kindle store, for the nook, iPhone and iPad, and at Smashwords.com. More information is available at www.123eguides.com.
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5 Reasons Why Online Businesses Still Need Business Cards
According to tech news blog ToMuse, of the 191 online businesses that were started during and just after 2005, 113 of them were still in operation two to four years later. In other words, just as with offline businesses, running and sustaining your business isn’t easy. However, online businesses should keep in mind that offline promotional tactics can still be used. Using techniques such as business card distribution can be an effective way to stay in the game.
Everyone Wants to Do Business with a Professional
Business cards have long been a quick, cost-effective and expedient way to market yourself to the public. A mainstay of traditional business etiquette, business men and women wouldn’t attend a business event without them in order to be taken seriously. Being able to present a business card immediately distinguished you as a professional who was on top of his business. You may be thinking, “Yeah, well that was then and this is now.” Well, let’s bring this scenario to the present.
Working online, you probably have coffee stains all over your desk. Your industry doesn’t allow for much face-to-face time with the public, but the operative word here is “much.” Eventually, you will have to leave your cave to connect with possible investors, clients and customers. When you do, you’ll be sure to clean up and act the part of the consummate businessperson, but there’s one problem: people still ask – and expect to see – your business card. That’s when things get a bit awkward. Will you say that you ran out or forgot them at home? Either way, you come out looking – you guessed it – unprofessional and not serious about your business. Don’t make the mistake of irreparably altering the way people see you.
Cheap and Simple Marketing
Usually, business cards can be ordered in 250- to 500-card batches. Just to give you an idea of the low cost of purchase, you can generally buy 500 cards for around 10 bucks. Yes, seriously. Whether you decide to choose from a number of online companies to print them, order a pack from your local printer or enroll in a couple of business card tutorials to do them yourself, adding business cards to your marketing arsenal couldn’t be any easier…or cheaper.
Let Business Cards Promote the “You”
When you think of business cards, you should think of them as a time-tested marketing tool that can be easily updated to fit your needs.
Make sure to include all of the below on your business card:
- Website URL
- E-mail address
- LinkedIn URL
- Facebook URL
- Twitter name
- Direct line
- Cellphone line
- Mailing address
Handing over an item that houses at least eight points of contact is a smart way to connect with potential clients and customers. What about current apps that allow you to send contact information, you ask? You have a point, but these apps still have their problems.
Bump, for example, is a networking phone app for iPhone and Android users. At a click of a button, you can send your contact information right through your phone. Here’s where things get a bit sticky, though: What if the person you want to connect with doesn’t have the aforementioned phones? Or what if they have those exact phones but haven’t downloaded the app? What does this mean for you and your potential connection? It means a lost opportunity, where fumbling with each other’s phones robs you from possibly making a lucrative connection. Don’t get lost in the shuffle. Next time, just hand her your business card.
Business Cards Legitimize Your Business
Just because you are online doesn’t mean you won’t have offline needs. What about when you ship your products out to your customers? Attaching a business card to your product ensures that any customer who wants to have repeat business with you can. It also puts customers at ease to see that the online company they are dealing with has standard details, i.e., physical address, direct phone number, person of contact, that any offline business would have. For the small expense, business cards go a long way.
Business Cards Also Break the Ice
Whether you are at a dinner party with friends or at a high-powered business conference, giving someone your business card is an effortless way to not only start a meaningful conversation but also build a relationship. If you know that you would like to pitch your online business to that bigwig across the room, giving him your business card for starters is a professional way to jump start the conversation. Outside of your physical appearance, a business card is one of the few lasting impressions that you can make. Long after the event has passed, that person-to-know will still have your card in his possession – and that can mean future business for you.
With the NY Times , saying that only 48.8 percent of businesses monitored between 1977 and 2000 survived after five years, having any business, whether online or off, is tricky business. If you are intent on being one of the survivors, no stop should be spared in promoting your venture. While there are clearly many more complicated reasons some businesses manage to stay afloat, business cards are an easy way to stay above the fray.
About the Author: Mitch O’Conner is an online marketer and writer. When he’s not busy testing sites, generating traffic or writing content, he enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, watching TV, playing games or going camping.
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The Safest Small Business Startup Strategies Are Virtual, Guerrilla, and Flexible
Our continually struggling economy, at least on ground-level, is sending aspiring entrepreneurs mixed messages. On one hand, there’s enormous incentive to stake your claim at a time when competition is low and human resources are high.On the other hand, the still-unknowable future state of our national and global economies is enough to intimidate even the most ardent of entrepreneurs.
While we often can’t make up our minds as to whether to invest our capital into budding businesses or stow it away in StorageMart lockers for fear of an economic Armageddon, there are ways to make your enterprising dreams come true while minimizing the risk of these uncertain times:
Virtualization
The lingering frailty of the real estate market means that at any moment another crisis could lead to rising rent as mortgages skyrocket. For start-ups renting office space, this could devastate the budget for monthly expenses. In addition, the cost of furnishings and supplies takes their toll on limited income too. Considering the prevalence of cloud computing and mobile Internet connectivity, start-ups should forgo a centralized work environment in favor of a remote operation. The benefits of an office fail to apply to young small businesses in an age when the Internet is the primary means people research goods and services.
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing tactics center on the idea that the modern public responds better to seemingly off-the-cuff promotions and brand awareness. It’s also a conveniently cheaper way of executing large-scale marketing campaigns than traditional means such as television and radio. Guerrilla marketing takes some serious creativity, because, in essence, its got to be a purely original approach to spreading awareness about your goods and services. It does, however, keep you from having to invest large volumes of cash up front for more mainstream campaigns through pricey marketing agencies.
Flexibility
The main objective is to make your business practices elastic in their necessity. Young businesses need the ability to change pace or strategy without the added expenses of increases in marketing and further investment in company assets. You’re going to want to change some of the things you do because every small business start-up makes mistakes. You want to make sure these inevitable mistakes don’t result in major setbacks due to the added cost of fixing them when your business model is set in stone.
Don’t hold back on a great small business idea at a time when the best thing you can do for yourself and for your country is to do your part to help get the economy’s wheels turning again. But at the same time, don’t set yourself up for potential failure by investing large amounts up front when you can succeed just as easily by practicing a Spartan business lifestyle. Offices and expensive marketing can always come later.
About the Author: This article was contributed by Riley Kissel.
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Top 5 Retail Facebook Strategies
According to the website Realfresh.tv, ASOS is the fastest growing online retailer in the UK. And guess what? ASOS is adding fans to its Facebook presence at the staggering rate of 280,000 a month. Read more
A Marketing Strategy That Works: Shaping Consumer Perception
Perception is reality.
Sure, this is a phrase we’ve all heard before but marketers know better than anyone how true the phrase actually is. You can have the greatest product in the world but when it comes to getting others to purchase and use that product, what matters most is how your customers view it. Read more
PR Gaffes That Can Sink a Company’s Ship
As every business knows, getting the right quantity and quality of public relations material out about one’s company is paramount to being successful.
On the flip side, sending the wrong message can lessen one’s impact and even lead to damage control at times.
The first and most important thing to recognize is that PR is different from advertising and marketing. That being said, you would be amazed at how many company heads still don’t get that fact.
For those executives who still don’t quite get it, your PR efforts should go towards portraying your company in the best light. Quite simply, reach out to those who can assist in promoting what you do and be your mouthpiece for all to hear.
If you’re an outside agency or a PR pro in-house and the company suits are still a little out in the dark as to why they have you in the first place, remind them of why public relations plays a key role in company perception.
When the business you represent is trying to promote a campaign or run damage control, there are several factors to take into account:
- Timing of your campaign – When handling a PR campaign, remember that your audience will need some leeway. If you’re wanting announcement of an event coming up, let newspapers, online sites, magazines etc. know well in advance so they can make room for an announcement;
- Release filled with grammatical issues – Nothing is more embarrassing than sending out a release with typos, incorrect dates and times, wrong contact info etc. While your company may not have a proofreader on staff, make sure the release or video is checked for errors before releasing it;
- Random release – The chances of your release getting picked up improve if you have a targeted individual to send them to. Sending off a release to “whom it may concern” can end up going nowhere. Take the minute or two to locate the right contact person so the release gets to them, along with giving you a point of reference for follow up;
- Follow up on your campaign – It is inevitable that some individuals will have additional questions regarding your campaign. Be ready to provide the answers so that your release isn’t dispatched to the round file. You also want to have a follow-up email and/or phone call to make sure the release was received;
- Damage control quality – No company likes having to do damage control, but it is almost inevitable if one is in business for a long period of time. The important key here is not making it a personal attack. Whether you’re responding to the media or discussing a competitor, keep the comments professional. The last thing you need is bad PR that leads some to wonder about ever doing business with you again.
As any PR professional can tell you, a company isn’t made in a day and a problem is not solved overnight.
Whether working for in-house or outsourced PR, come together on a unified message, a message that will resonate with your audience.
About the Author: Dave Thomas is an expert writer on items like business copiers and is based in San Diego, California. He writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs at Resource Nation.
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No-tell Marketing: Four Techniques to Make the Sale Without Telling the Tale
Go to any bookstore and you will see the shelves filled with books on salesmanship. Everyone seems to have some kind of advice on how to sell things and more specifically, how to sell things that nobody wants to people that very often don’t need them.
For sure, how to sell ice to an Eskimo is a hot topic. But a subject you don’t see discussed nearly as much is how to sell things which people may very well want or may very well need—but which fall into one or more of the “unmentionable” categories. These might be things you can’t fully discuss—or things you can’t show. In some cases, they may even be things you can’t name. But you need to sell them anyway.
So how do you do it? Well, believe it or not, this challenge is not as uncommon as you might think and it is a challenge which has been tackled many times in the past. Advertisers need to do this all the time. And over time, they have honed a few time-tested techniques which have proven to make sales like this not only possible but also very effective. Here are four of those techniques:
- Create a mental analogy.One of the most brilliant ad campaigns in recent history was 7Up’s “Uncola” pitch in the 1970s. At the time, the soft drink market was dominated by Coke and Pepsi’s cola brands. Without directly badmouthing the competition, 7Up managed to craft a mental equivalency between the monopoly of the cola industry and the mass tyranny of large societal superstructures. Through the simple use of one key catchphrase, 7Up positioned itself as different and daring—and proud to be so. The mental analogy was critical to sales because the image of rebellion characterized much of society at that time and it was particularly effective in appealing to the large and expanding youth market.
- Cast the corporation in a positive light.When your product has some negatives, you sure don’t want to talk about them even though a lot of people might already know about them. So what do you do instead? One very successful strategy is to focus on the corporation itself by cultivating a positive corporate reputation. Create a focus on the integrity of the company and the positive things it does for the community. Talk about how the corporation seeks to better the circumstances of the local residents and the initiatives it sponsors to improve the local cities and towns. Stress the company’s philanthropic advances and its charity work. By focusing on the positives of the company itself, the advertisers will see those same positives trickle down to the products produced by the corporation. And the product negatives will be trumped and in many cases, eradicated completely.
- Use an outrageous image to paint a mind picture.Talk about withstanding the test of time! It was back in the early sixties when magazine ads first appeared showing a hot blonde in a boxing ring wearing only a bra, shorts, high heels, and boxing gloves. A ridiculous image? Maybe, but that gal who was a knockout in her Maidenform sure sold a lot of bras back then. The advertisers took advantage of a time-tested memory trick—the association of something you want to remember with an outrageous mental image. And the key to the trick is that the memory association becomes stronger when the image is more outrageous. In the Maidenform campaign, the image was as Freudian as it was outrageous, capturing the concurrent themes of strength, independence, and of course, sex. The appeal of this ad campaign was indisputable and also long-lasting, as it ran for more than twenty years.
- Sell by implication. As early as the Sixties, Right Guard was mostly a manly brand of deodorant. As such, its advertising would generally emphasize male attributes; i.e., strength, virility, etc. So then why was it that one of Right Guard’s most successful ads showed a woman’s hand clutching a can of Right Guard aerosol spray? The ad promised a tough solution to perspiration. But what it showed conveyed a deeper message—a message that couldn’t be overtly spoken, at least not back then. The implication of a sexual tie-in with the product was powerful enough to supersede less dramatic product benefits. Dry armpits are great—but some other things are even better.
There is more than one way to skin a cat—and more than one way to sell. The conventional approach where you show the customer a product, talk about it, and tout its benefits is all well and good—if you are allowed to do it. But such is not always the case. When you can’t say everything, then you need to be more subtle. And when you use the right techniques, it can become very easy to make the sale without fully telling the tale.
About the Author: Marni Mutrux is a staff writer for v2cigs.com.V2 Cigs offers the industry’s most innovative electronic cigarettes. An e-cigarette is a non-smoking alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
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5 Ideas to Market Your Company in the Digital Age
The game has changed – or, rather – the game is changing.
The way we conduct business today is drastically different than it was a few years ago, and it’s still evolving. The internet, and specifically social media, has changed the way people and companies communicate in ways that you can’t ignore. To succeed in business today, you have to change the way you communicate. Read more
8 Key Strategies For Successful Gift Certificate Marketing
Gift certificates work. As more and more small businesses find out, they enable you to make more sales and improve customer loyalty towards your business. And it’s not only for spas or massage therapists: virtually every service provider under the sun would gain by offering gift certificates (also called gift vouchers or gift cards) to their customers. So if you haven’t started to offer them, why don’t you try it out and see what the impact on your business is? The returns on investment can be great provided you focus on effective marketing strategies. Read more
Get Noticed through Social Media Marketers
There is no denying the power of social media in today’s society. Look at any product and you will see the logos for Twitter and Facebook. Watch people waiting for the elevator and see how they spend their time checking and updating their Facebook or Twitter accounts. It is important for any business looking to gain the attention that they need to succeed in the modern marketplace to understand the importance of social media. Of course, just understanding its importance will not get your business noticed, you need a professional with the ability to navigate you through the social media maze. Read more
How to Use Brochures to Expand Your Small Business
Brochures can be used to introduce your business to your target audience. You can include a short story about how you started, what products and benefits you offer, and even a map of where your store or office is located. Read more
Effective Greeting Card Marketing Techniques
You can be sure you’re reaching your target customers when you have effective greeting card marketing techniques in place.
Ensuring Your Greeting Cards are Reaching the Intended Audience
If you are a seller or developer of greeting cards you know it can be difficult to make sure that the cards you make reach their intended audience. There are so many different kinds of greeting cards out there and so many different companies manufacturing greeting cards that it can be difficult to be sure that your greeting cards are getting the recognition they deserve. How can you know whether or not you particular greeting cards are getting seen by the customers who are most likely to buy them? There is no one answer to this questions, but those who have been in the industry for years and those who have spent considerable time attempting to establish the connection between the greeting cards they manufacture and the consumers who most likely will purchase them, have found that the very best way to establish this relationship is to develop effective greeting card marketing techniques.
Match your Marketing Strategy with your Audience
There is no one “right way” to arrive at the effective greeting card marketing techniques that are going to work best for you and your employees. It is important to consider the different types of greeting cards that you manufacture. For one thing, if you are a particular company that creates and distributes a small array of cards with a small niche market, say, Christian inspirational cards, you will very likely focus your marketing on the already established Christian community. If, by contrast, your cards are humorous, irreverent and with an eye to young people, your strategy will be most successful if it targets this particular population by spending marketing dollars to increase visibility in the magazines, subway stations or other forums where young people are most likely to be. For cards with a wide range of consumers or a wide range of cards to choose from, they will most likely find that the best thing to do is to cast a wide net when attempting to determine a marketing strategy. Making yourself visible in a variety of areas including, a presence at major bookstores and gift shops, advertising in periodicals and online outlets strategies will yield growth by giving your products increased visibility.
Is an Outside Marketing Company Best for your Business?
It can seem overwhelming to consider all of the elements inherent in developing effective greeting card marketing techniques. Fortunately, this is not something that you will necessarily need to conquer alone. If your greeting card company is not large enough to retain a dedicated marketing department, it may make sense for your company to outsource some of the work involved with creating and developing these marketing techniques. For one thing, an external marketing agency has the advantage of years of experience where marketing is concerned, and can be supremely helpful in determining the exact route your company should take when attempting to differentiate itself from competitors, while still remaining an effective key player in the greeting card game. Most marketing agencies can come up with a plan of attack that can easily and effectively reach the right consumers, while remaining within the budgetary constraints you have laid out. This is a critical piece of the puzzle because in order to be effective, your strategy must be a cost-sustainable venture, as well as an innovative concept.
About the Author: Floras McLain is a freelance writer for assorted greeting cards. When she is not writing or blogging, she loves to dabble in marketing.
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