http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/ What this blog is all about en-us Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:55:26 GMT Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:35:28 GMT CF Blogger by DayDream Inc http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss john@doc-net.com john@doc-net.com http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=79DD40CA-1185-BAC1-E9ACC09545E2AA99 Retailers are upping their online efforts in a bid to improve customer satisfaction, with quantifiable successes being reported. Both customers in the UK and the US state they are more satisfied with retail sites last year than in 2008; approval has risen by 6.5% in the UK to 71 points, while in the US it has improved to 79 points (based on ForeSee reports). However, this 8 point margin shows that UK retailers should be doing more to improve their sites’ usability and accessibility. There is also a marked difference in the performance of pure play online retailers vs. store based competitors. On average, those who only sold products & services online scored an extra 4 satisfaction points. The likeliest reason for this is that with resources divided across fewer channels, they have been able to invest more time and money into perfecting their online strategies. Although many store-based retailers offer customers the chance to return faulty products to local branches, the option to reserve and collect products in store is not so widely available. However, according to eMarketer, this is to change: 50% of multi-channel retailers state this as one of their principle aims for 2010 in order to increase efficiency and improve sales, and expect to have it in place by the end of the year. Smaller independent retailers with multiple stores who wish to introduce greater online / offline and inter-store integration for the benefit of their customers should read about Docnet’s electronic point of sale (EPOS) system. We’ve just posted a new page outlining the benefits & features of EPOS, so if you count yourself amongst the forward thinking 50% of retailers this year, and want to increase sales and reduce costs, visit it today and contact us with any questions you may have. Thought Leadership Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:35:28 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=79DD40CA-1185-BAC1-E9ACC09545E2AA99 http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=4C55BBDD-1185-BAC1-E9386A175FD97CFA The question is, ‘Is it really worth the effort?’ Perhaps you're an avid Twitter, Facebook and blog-user in your private time, or maybe you have only the faintest notion what those phrases mean. Whichever camp you're in, you're probably wondering how (or even if) social media can be usefully applied to a B2B company. We're here to show you how it can. Some B2Bs can be remarkably hard on themselves, claiming they're not interesting enough to command a social media following. Others dismiss it as a drain of productivity; a waste of time, sceptical of social media's ability to generate actual finances. So why bother? For an initial expenditure of next to nothing, you get access to an entirely new audience to communicate with; social media is also remarkably easy to use. * Start Making Friends - Start by inviting and searching for existing contacts and develop it from there: invite the prospects you meet at networking events and business opportunities you acquire through marketing. Publicise your social media accounts on your web site; your email and marketing collateral, and provide an incentive to join to get a healthy following. Then use your accounts to develop promising business opportunities and increase your PR & networking potential. * Keep It Efficient - Because it's free, social media only costs you the time you put into it. Thankfully, it doesn't have to cost much: most of the main social media sites now integrate with each other, meaning you can update one account and have the rest update automatically. Broadcasting your news across social media suddenly shrinks from a fifty minute chore to five minute job. * Know Where To Go - You only need to use the main social media sites to achieve a satisfyingly broad coverage (Facebook, Twitter, Del.Ic.Ious, Technorati and LinkedIn are the big five). Keep it simple though: build social media around your business, not the other way round. Docnet doesn't have a Facebook page because we don’t find it relevant, but our staff use Twitter, Del.Ic.Ious and LinkedIn to spread news, attract interest and develop business opportunities. Pick and choose the channels you prefer, and add more later on if the need arises. * Get Known - Finally, in the world of B2B sales where competition is fierce and differentiation hard to come by, having a social media presence automatically singles you out as a different breed of business from the rest. It will also help you to publicise how ethical, environmentally-friendly, innovative, efficient and approachable you are by using it parallel to traditional PR and advertising efforts. This will ensure maximum coverage for minimum cost. And if you still need persuading that social media can help your business? Speak to Docnet for a thorough, truthful diagnosis of your online marketing needs. Best Practice Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:24:32 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=4C55BBDD-1185-BAC1-E9386A175FD97CFA http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=BFFC92C5-1185-BAC1-E9F3185C021CC838 'Social' and 'media' are the words on everybody's lips, but how do you use it to generate sales? Indirectly, social media can drive people to your email marketing  program and web site through the power of 'Share With Your Network'. In this blog post, we explore the best ways to go about it. Regards, John Coyne ----------------------- If list-building feels like a Herculean task to you, try turning to your existing subscribers for help. They can do most of the leg-work by sharing the content on their favourite social networks. All you have to do is write share-worthy content and give subscribers the means to pass that content on. You can increase incoming traffic from these networks by as much as 2,000%, and increase engagement with the content by 25% (MarketingSherpa) by harnessing the power of word of mouth (or as it has recently been dubbed, ‘word of web’). To get the most out of sharing to social networks, do the following: * Identify the most popular and relevant social networks used by your subscribers; online surveys, monitoring current incoming traffic etc. * Place share buttons strategically in your email campaigns; don’t hide them below the fold, place them next to summaries of your most share-worthy content * Test the new buttons on a segment of your email list before rolling it out across the board; this will help you iron out any mistakes through trial and error for maximum effectiveness * Include a note to subscribers with the email explaining how the buttons work when you introduce them With this strategy in place, it’s time to set up some monitoring and measuring procedures to evaluate the project’s success. Suitable metrics include how many times people click on the buttons (easy to measure with an email marketing provider’s analytics tools) and the amount of incoming traffic. By encouraging subscribers to share content in this way, you will find more organic, relevant signups to your newsletter and increase the likelihood of conversions. Take some time off from list building and let your subscribers do the ‘work’ for a change. Best Practice Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:09:09 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=BFFC92C5-1185-BAC1-E9F3185C021CC838 http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=A6EF427A-1185-BAC1-E9E7A7D6149446CA Some mid-week food for thought, we've tried putting a new spin on an old story to illustrate how email marketing benefits when you team it up with other marketing channels - in this case, direct mail - and integrate your sales process. See what you can take away from this blog post and apply to your business today. And of course, any questions, just leave a comment. Kind Regards, John Coyne  --------- Taking some artistic license with the original fable (which I hope you’re all familiar with) imagine for a second that the tortoise and the hare are racing for the same team. No matter which one wins, their team will get the prize money. Now instead of seeing each other as competitors, the two of them decide to put their heads together and come up with a mutually beneficial strategy; one that is based on their unique attributes and gives them each a higher chance of winning and taking the prize money home. Suffice to say your marketing channels should not be competing against one another when trying to win business. They should be playing supportive roles. A recent study has shown that as few as 16% of direct-mail campaigns, including flyers, postcards, magazines and brochures ever ask for an email address. Many recipients stated they would be happy to include an email address provided there was an incentive, so where is the sense in not asking for this information? As long as it isn’t made obligatory and impedes on the main offer, the worst that can happen is the recipient says ‘no’. These days, it isn’t enough to be multi-channel when the channels aren’t integrated. In fact, you risk annoying customers and causing more problems than if you were single channel, with stock allocations being fought over, customer preferences being ignored etc. Look into ways of combining your multiple marketing channels and feeding them into a customer relationship management (CRM) program. This way you could convert more prospects into customers through a variety of different channel combinations. And remember: email can learn as much from direct-mail as vice versa. For instance, does your email marketing ask for subscribers' postal addresses as well? Not only will collecting this data help you profile and segment your mailing lists accordingly, it will help you to target direct mail campaigns for stronger offers. So make sure your marketing channels are all on the same team and we'll see you at the finish line. With apologies to Aesop   Best Practice Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:24:06 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=A6EF427A-1185-BAC1-E9E7A7D6149446CA http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=8CC2FC46-1185-BAC1-E9A44104B0A77035 Yesterday, one of our team found this excellent example of data capture being put into practice by an international sports retailer. I think those of you trying to come up with new ways to attract subscribers to your email marketing list will find this entry inspiring. Please have a read, and if you have any questions just leave a comment and I will answer it as soon as possible. Best, John Coyne ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A strong <b>email marketing</b> campaign thrives on high-quality data, which is why we always recommend including data capture elements on your web site. Even if it doesn’t have transactional capabilities, your site can still generate potential sales leads and help profile who’s interested in your company. Getting people to hand over their email address can be tricky though; a subscription to an email newsletter isn't always incentive enough to create sign-ups – especially in the B2C market where things are more commoditised and tied into brand experience. You can lay out the benefits of signing-up as much as you like but to some people the thought of joining a mailing list will still feel a little dry There are plenty of opportunities for data capture however. Step outside the web site for a moment and look at what your business offers to its customers; see how you can involve them in an experience where handing over their email address feels less like signing their inbox’s freedom away and more like a minor formality. One sports retailer has nailed this approach on the head with its flagship store, where visitors can test their core skills in speed, strength and balance in an state of the art activity centre. By registering their details at the store and logging in to the web site, visitors can compare their performance to friends and famous sports personalities on the database. All kinds of useful data can be collected with this strategy: whether it’s the visitor’s first time in the store or if they’re a regular customer; whether their interest is in running or football etc. By providing an opt-in or opt-out tick box on the registration form, the retailer can grow their email list organically - a tactic that generally provide bigger returns on investment than third party list rentals (we estimate the retailer will be getting hundreds of sign-ups a week through this tactic at the very least). Maybe it’s time you gave your data capture technique a brush-down and started thinking about creating an experience for your prospects and existing customers. People won’t sign up to your email marketing for nothing; give them an incentive that taps into their desire for an experience and see your email marketing list grow. ----- Visit the eMailCampaigner email marketing blog for more thought-leadership and best practice tips. Thought Leadership Fri, 29 May 2009 14:25:37 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=8CC2FC46-1185-BAC1-E9A44104B0A77035 http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=814BA2C0-1185-BAC1-E9017D2B2D0729AC In a recent survey, Internet Retailer asked survey respondents what their adoption of email marketing tactics was like in comparison to other forms of marketing. A lot of the signs were good: 51.6% said they plan to increase usage during the recession, while only 4.7% planned to decrease it. However, some of the statistics around what tactics retailers were using left us both surprised and puzzled. For instance: * Only 36.5% of email marketers are personalising messages by addressing recipients by first name. This figure is remarkably low for such a basic feature of email marketing. Personalisation greatly increases relevancy to, and engagement from subscribers because it addresses them as an individual and stands out from the masses of generic messaging people already receive. Who doesn’t prefer to be addressed by their first or even surname as opposed to ‘Dear Subscriber? Mail-merging your contact data with an email marketing programme is a relatively easy thing to do – one your email marketing provider should offer as standard (and if not, you should ask them why). If you’re not sure what the fuss is about, consider the impression your current email marketing campaign is creating amongst subscribers. It could be either: * "I’m just another 'subscriber' on a list; no reason for me to get excited about the offer (or open the next email for that matter)"   Or: * "This email has come to me addressed by name; it’s nice that a company took the trouble to learn it" While personalisation might not create an earth-shattering surge in sales, it will go a long way to creating a happier and more valued subscriber list, with just the simplest of clicks. If your company wants to generate more sales using email marketing, you have to be ticking off these basic best practice boxes. So, are you?   Best Practice Wed, 27 May 2009 08:59:26 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=814BA2C0-1185-BAC1-E9017D2B2D0729AC http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=3FB87F46-1185-BAC1-E950BAF74EE1F7BE B2C companies – compared to B2B companies, you have it made when it comes to composing email marketing newsletters. More often than not, the target market is broader, new content is easier to create and there’s a product or service that can be sold or booked easily via an e-commerce website. The average B2B company doesn’t have half of these advantages but faces the same problem of, ‘How do I tell my market about our services in a cost-effective manner?’ while struggling to come up with relevant content to engage contacts on a consistent basis. Given that an email marketing campaign without engaging content is as good as a car without wheels, a deficit of engaging content can close the door on email marketing for some B2B businesses. We’d like to help you get that door open again: there’s no reason why B2C companies should reap all the benefits of a low cost, high ROI marketing channel while you sit out in the cold. B2B Emails & Personas Have you considered trying to create a persona in your email? Because the biggest drawback B2B marketing content can suffer from is that it sometimes feels too academic. Advice guides, for example, are really valuable content for an email marketing campaign, but are often removed from a specific ‘real life’ situation that contacts can relate to. What you need is something that helps them connect with the content. A persona can help. People buy from people in the business world. Just think about your most successful sales person: they can strike up a conversation (and therefore a relationship) with a prospect, which makes it much easier to turn them into a client and retain them for longer afterwards. However nicely designed your company logo is, no-one is going to ‘identify’ with it in a meaningful way. Putting a human face on your email marketing however, will make it feel more like another friendly communication channel that prospects and clients can use to have their questions answered (which is what it should be). How Do I Create My Persona? Choose someone within your company who has a good understanding of your customers and ask them to be the face of your email marketing campaign. Invite them to solicit content from subscribers via surveys and letters to the editors and to write articles on topics that concern customers the most. Draw on everything that is related to your company (events, awards, news stories, human interest stories) and include a headshot with their name and contact details. This will create a more engaging, approachable email campaign for your subscribers. B2B companies, you’ve got just as much to say to prospects and clients as B2C companies – you just have to find a different way of communicating it. Test and measure the use of a persona in your B2B email campaigns and we’re confident you will find an increase in subscriber interest, engagement and conversion rates. If you found this post useful and would like to receive regular updates on news and best practice tips for improving your online marketing, visit eMailCampaigner's email marketing blog. - John Coyne Thought Leadership Thu, 14 May 2009 15:23:24 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=3FB87F46-1185-BAC1-E950BAF74EE1F7BE http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=A92B7CF8-1185-BAC1-E93D71CC5883C626 Having a valid unsubscribe link in your email marketing campaign isn't just a case of satisfying the law - it's a best practice that could see an improvement in your overall long-term campaign performance. Now this might sound strange, but our latest blog post explains how far from throwing money out of the window, a working unsubscribe link could actually get more revenue flowing in. To find out more, read on. John Coyne How Unsubscribers Could Save Your Campaigns Once you’ve had a contact on your email marketing list for more than a few months, it can be tough letting them go – after all, you’ve spent time and money building your list; losing a subscriber feels like a wasted effort. But sometimes, the best way to keep subscribers engaged is to let them unsubscribe. Contrary to popular belief, having a prominent unsubscribe option could drastically improve the success of your email marketing campaigns through: * Establishing trust in you as a sender and the quality of your messaging i.e. ‘this sender isn’t forcing their messages on me’ * Providing an opportunity to redefine the relationship you have with a subscriber i.e. message frequency, interests, offers etc, so they don’t unsubscribe altogether * Minimising the risk of being black-listed for spam by email service providers, creating deliverability problems Although the short-term effect of lost subscribers seems negative, the long-term positives are increased subscriber retention, higher delivery rates and higher resulting conversion rates. Consider the alternatives: if a subscriber can’t opt-out of your email campaign easily, they will make a spam complaint instead. Too many spam complaints equal a dead end for your email marketing campaign's deliverability as it finds itself on a black list. Remember, unsubscribe requests aren’t a rejection of your company or brand altogether; they're a sign there’s room for improvement in your email marketing campaigns. Before the subscriber leaves, ask them: * Would they prefer to change the terms of their subscription (monthly vs. weekly, subject specific content etc)? * If they insist on leaving, is there any optional feedback they’d like to leave about the campaign to help improve it? * Would they prefer to follow your blog / Facebook profile / Twitter account instead? You could easily turn unsubscribe requests into opportunities for positive action simply through following the approach outlined above. Don’t try to hide the unsubscribe option; wear it on your sleeve as a badge of best practice and confidence. Best Practice Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:46:20 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=A92B7CF8-1185-BAC1-E93D71CC5883C626 http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=8B3D35FB-1185-BAC1-E9CF6AF83A1BF5FD Hello all, I thought I'd update you with the latest from the eMailCampaigner blog (where you can take away some very valuable tips by checking back every week). The article below addresses an important dilemma in email marketing - how to remain consistent in your campaigns whilst facing a changing business landscape. I hope you find the information useful! Vary Well: Consistency vs. Change in Email Marketing ‘Consistency is key’ is a mantra drummed into every marketer by marketing gurus and for good reason: consistently high-quality content in your email marketing is more likely to gain trust in subscribers. Likewise, consistent colour schemes and brand logos will improve recognition. Trust and recognition = more sales. At the other end of the spectrum, you have commentators advising that messages should be tailored and made more relevant to subscribers. Since subscribers’ tastes and marketing trends update on such a regular basis, that would suggest changes need to be made to your email marketing just as frequently. So it would seem marketers are being told their marketing campaigns should stay the same yet change at the same time. How is this possible? Decisions to change certain elements of your email marketing should never be made lightly. If you have chosen your company name as your sender name, it would be wise to keep this the same. Changing it to a customer representative’s name at a later date might add a personal touch, but it’s possible the subscriber won’t recognise the name and lose trust in the email. This is throwing away the value of an established connection. Subject lines, however, are prime locations for establishing topicality and relevance to the subscriber. Provided the sender name is kept the same, you can make changes here and trust people will still identify it's from you. A generic subject like ‘Your (Company Name) Newsletter (Date)’ holds little intrigue or interest to your subscribers and doesn’t communicate why they should open the email. Changing the subject line to fit the newsletter's content will. Content should also change - which might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many companies wear their subscribers down with the same tired offers and messaging. Changing content isn’t the same as changing the house style of your copy; if you’ve chosen to write in a professional voice, you should stick to it as subscribers will have formed an expectation around it. Changes to this are likely to be met with confusion and dislike. Changes to topic and offer on the other hand, are more likely to be welcomed. Likewise, design can be changed too provided it still fits in with the company image - but branding, logos and colour schemes are harder to update without suitable notification in advance. So it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. All you must bear in mind when contemplating a change is: ‘Will recipients still recognise us?’ and, ‘Is it still in line with customer expectations of the brand?’ If the changes pass these tests, embrace the variation. Best Practice Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:17:05 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=8B3D35FB-1185-BAC1-E9CF6AF83A1BF5FD http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=80D04841-1185-BAC1-E962690350ACA405   Welcome to my first blog post. You might have read recently how creating a marketing video can generate more sales through enhancing your business' on-line presence and reputation. Popular videos on YouTube are being indexed by Google and appearing in natural search engines for common key phrases, and videos on companies' own sites are attracting more visitors. However, there's less information about how best to promote your video and ensure as many people watch it as possible. If no one knows your video is on-line, how will they find it, and how will it generate sales? That's where email marketing comes in. By sending invitations to view the video via email to your existing customers and encouraging them to share it with their network, you can create a lot of on-line buzz in a short time. This article, Email Marketing - Increase Your Sales With Video and Email includes simple, practical advice on how to make your video the most popular in its field. Spend five minutes reading it and you could soon be launching your business into the on-line silver screen with all the financial rewards you'd expect. Now, quiet on the set! Thought Leadership Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:41:54 GMT http://www.creativematch.co.uk/blogs/eMailCampaigner/front.cfm?action=display_blog&bid=80D04841-1185-BAC1-E962690350ACA405