Essential Email Marketing Tips For Today – Part 1

The advantages of email marketing are now well known. However, the techniques that worked yesterday don't necessarily work today. As internet behaviour evolves, so the email marketing landscape shifts.

As with all forms of marketing, your company's email newsletter shouldn't stand still. If it's time for you to take a look at your email practices, then read this two-part summary on the latest techniques to better maximise your marketing channels and increase conversions.

Making Sure Your Email Marketing is Still Effective
Regular check-ups on the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts will ensure that you catch any potential problems before they hinder your marketing plan. The following five tips are designed to help you keep your finger on the email pulse.

1. It's Good To Talk
Whilst auto-responders and do-not-reply mail addresses have their place, as a marketing tool they are extremely ineffective. Communication is a two-way street after all, and if your clients feel you are uninterested in what they have to say (or even in receiving a response), they are likely to be uninterested in what you have to say.

Foster a sound relationship from the outset by engaging your audience. Encourage them to respond with thoughts and feedback – you never know, they might just have something useful to say.

2. Set Your Own Targets
Generic benchmarks often bear little relevance to a particular product, service or demographic. Rather than worrying about broad terms such as average open rates and click-throughs, consider defining your own set of parameters based on more relevant data such as demographic and past successes or failures. This will give you a much better idea of how effective your own particular strategies are.

3. Social Media
Nowadays it's rare to receive an email or marketing letter without an RSS feed, Twitter or Facebook link. Social Media has changed the way we do business forever – ushering in a new age in marketing. The opportunities are limitless, with the power to reach more people than ever before.

Think beyond providing a simple link however – give your readers a reason to spread the word by providing compelling, engaging content (video content is a fantastic tool for this). Experiment with different types of content and placement, and include regular offers as an incentive for your readers to engage.

4. Less is More
Consider the last marketing email you opened (if you even opened it). How much time did you spend reading it? How much text was included on the page? Did anything in particular grab your attention? The accepted rule of thumb is 7 seconds – that's 7 second to grab their attention before they either click delete or decide to carry on reading.

Draw the recipient in by making your headline engaging, succinct and brief. If you're sending a promotional email, make your point in no more than a few lines. Not only are they far more likely to read the email, but this represents a great opportunity to leave them wanting more.

For marketing messages, arrange your content in the most visually engaging way possible, and test different approaches to find the ideal layout.

5. Keep It Relevant
Lazy marketers may rely on the draw of multimedia and social platforms alone, but unless there is substance beneath the flashy exterior, the audience is likely to lose interest and fast.

Sending the right message to push the right buttons at the right time – it may all sound like a game of chance, but there's no luck involved. From direct marketing, email and B2B campaigns down to your company website, it's all about the words. No matter how aesthetically pleasing your approach may be, pretty pictures alone are unlikely to reach out to your audience. Understand what they need, why they need it and when.

If you would like to discover how these and other email newsletter marketing techniques can enhance your business communications, please call 02476 725653.

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Achieving the Best Search Engine Marketing Mix

Over the last few years, developments in online marketing have changed the way we work forever. From social media, blogging and tweeting through to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, there are literally endless inventive ways to promote your business online.

SEO and PPC are generally regarded as more substantive, 'traditional' approaches to driving traffic direct from search engines. Considering how often online marketers tend to bandy these terms around however, for many the benefits and drawbacks of either remain unclear. In this article we'll try and deconstruct the myths surrounding this much-debated topic.

PPC or SEO – Which Is Best For You?
Billions of searches are performed on the major search engines every week, and a large percentage of those searches are made by people who are actively looking for products and services to buy online. So how does SEO and PPC differ and which will help you win more web traffic.

What's the Difference?
Both SEO and PPC relate to driving traffic to a website directly using search engine results. More confusingly, both achieve similar results using very different methods.

An SEO strategy aims to optimise a website with a view to achieving healthy 'organic' rankings. PPC involves paid advertisements (on a pay-per-click basis) which appear in the sponsored column found to the top and side on most search engine results pages.

Short Term vs. Long Term
PPC can be set-up virtually immediately, with visible results within the first few days. Optimising web content with keywords, metatags and so on could involve months of testing using multiple strategies before any results are seen.

As such, PPC could be viewed as a useful tool in relation to short-term promotions and new websites looking for a quick boost. Longer-term, SEO offers a viable route to sustained traffic via consistent rankings.

Cost Effectiveness
It's difficult to weigh which approach actually offers a greater return on investment – there are a great number of external factors involved. PPC represents the greater short-term investment by charging each time a visitor clicks through. Monitoring results carefully however, this approach represents little in the way of risk as cost can be adjusted as required.

On the other hand, SEO could prove to be truly cost-effective by providing consistent added value over a sustained period.

Measuring Results
Well known providers such as Google and Yahoo provide PPC customers with comprehensive tracking results as standard. Clicks, leads and sales can be tracked from the word go, allowing users to measure cost per sale.

Measuring SEO results may not be as straight forward, but still possible to do with any good website analytics package. Website analytics can be a complex subject – which may discourage first time users – but shouldn't put you off considering a full SEO strategy.

How About Both?
Really it comes down to whether you're looking for short or long-term results. The most effective online marketing strategies will often use elements of both, in conjunction with other platforms such as blogging and social media.

For example, once a website is returning healthy organic rankings, PPC can be an effective compliment to your longer-term strategy by:

• Targeting specific keywords
• Pushing promotions and driving traffic
• Testing strategies such as new keywords and landing pages
• Promoting areas of the site not showing healthy result

If you would like a no-obligation consultation to get SEO and PPC marketing working for your business, please call 02476 725653.

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Business Blogging – The Right and Wrong Way

Nowadays if you were to think of any subject – literally anything – it will have been blogged about. Blogging has become a truly universal language in which anyone can have their say, for better or worse.

When used effectively, blogging has become a principal weapon in the online marketing arsenal – providing a fantastic vehicle to engage current and potential clients with fresh, optimised content. With such creative freedom, however, come inevitable pitfalls. Using your business blog in the wrong fashion can do more harm than good.

Fine Tuning Your Business Blog
In this article, we'll briefly examine some of the dos and don'ts in an effort to help readers avoid some of the common mistakes when it comes to business blogging etiquette.

Don't: Use your blog as a poor man's email marketing campaign
There's nothing wrong with discussing certain aspects of your business in an objective sense. However, using your blog as a substitute for or as an extension of your direct marketing campaign is an effective way to turn your readers off – fast. Visitors do not expect to see a hard sales pitch on your blog, and neither will they want to.

Whether you're creating a corporate blog for a thriving community of users or a more personal outlook, part of the planning process should involve defining a clear set of objectives. The most successful (popular) blogs deliver consistency in exchange for loyalty. Try not to be all things to all people, and don't be pulled off in different directions.

Do: Deliver concise, compelling and focused content
By the time you come to think about a business blog, you should have a pretty good understanding of your demographic and what appeals to them. Focus on delivering information that is objective, authentic and engages the reader with an obvious passion for the subject matter. Funny, serious or whimsical – a well-written, intelligent blog will keep them coming back for more.

Don't: Use your blog as an outlet for company press releases
There is a time and place for a press release, and your company blog isn't it. A press release – usually an official announcement written in the third person – is an approach directly at odds with the more casual, informal tone of a blog. Acting as a statement rather than a dialogue, it is unlikely to yield any response from your readership.

Do: Make your blog pleasing to the eye
Eye catching images aside, ensure you break the text up into manageable chunks using appealing sub headings and other engaging content such as video.

A well-presented, balanced page goes a long way to ensuring your readers digest the content as a whole, rather than the odd piece here and there.

Don't: Attempt to be all things to all people
The most effective business blogs are those which are focused in terms of content and message. Once you have identified your audience, content should be selected and delivered in such a way as to attract, engage and develop your readership. Broadening your scope too much is likely to dilute your message.

Do: Promote your blog consistently
With the advent of the social media revolution, there's simply no excuse for letting your blog languish in obscurity. From RSS feeds and Twitter plug-ins to Facebook and Hootsuite updates – there are a wealth of resources through which you can promote your blog. Don't rely on word of mouth – get out there and make it happen!

Ultimately, successful blogging is all about finding a workable strategy and sticking to it. Used correctly, blogging is a win-win marketing tool. With little up-front investment, businesses have the room to experiment and develop a strategy at their leisure. What's not to like about that? If you would like help developing your business blog, call 02476 725653.

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10 Ways to Boost Sales Using Video Content – Part Two

In the wake of YouTube's meteoric rise to become one of the most powerful marketing platforms on the internet, the profound popularity of video content is indisputable. Search engine marketing is no longer the ultimate route to the masses online, as users adapt to a social media and interactive content-driven landscape.

This realisation is only half the battle however, as knowing how to use video content to your advantage is not always straight forward. Video advertising can prove an extremely cost-effective way of promoting a brand, but can also be a powerful platform for direct-response marketing. So, which method will work best for you and your business?

Engage With Customers With Video
So, which method will work best for you and your business? In the second of our two-part guide we look at more ways to make the most of online video content to maximise sales opportunities.

6. Sell, Yes. Oversell, No.
Readers tend to be turned off by the brash, direct hard sell. We've all seen the landing pages for 'miracle' products that shun effective, intelligent marketing in favour of a more 'dumbed-down' approach.

When it comes to video content the user is in control. Give them a little credit – supplying enough information to allow them to make an informed decision. Keep it authentic, relevant and don't forget the call to action!

7. It's All in the Strategy
Nowadays many internet marketers test multiple variations on a theme to find the most successful approach – an interchangeable mix of offers, messages, features and so on.

Place your video at different strategic points throughout the copy, testing along the way until you find the best success rate in terms of the desired action. Use a link or coupon code to track which of your initiatives is bringing in the highest conversions.

8. Share and Share Alike
If YouTube has shown us anything, it's that internet users like to share. The growth of viral marketing has helped to make video content a truly powerful medium with the power to inspire, spark debate and bring people together across the web.

Don't be afraid to ride the wave – use links and incorporate functionality to ensure users can email, embed and spread your content as they please. There's nothing better than a little free marketing.

9. Decision Time
Video is often the deciding factor as to whether a customer will make an online purchase – it encourages interaction and has been shown to reduce returns and abandoned shopping carts. A video demonstration for example will often gain a consumer's confidence and give them a reason to buy.

10. SEO friendly
Google's Universal Search has lead the way in promoting the use of video content as a marketing tool – now seen in search engine results. Name files using keywords or terms and ensure your page is optimised too. Also try to keep your videos in one area of the site and display an RSS feed to encourage users to connect. Youtube is also an invaluable way to boost the profile of your marketing efforts.

With such relatively low production costs and a potentially limitless audience, online video not only represents an excellent Return On Investment (ROI) but has become a truly powerful medium through which marketers can create a compelling story and drive sales. There really has never been a better time to add a little interactivity to your marketing strategy. If you are interested in getting video to work for you, call 02476 725653.

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