Archive for the ‘Email Marketing’ Category
10 Internet Marketing Promotion Tactics
Posted by Bob Cavanaugh in Email Marketing on August 28th, 2010
There are probably a hundred ways to promote your business, store, product or service. Internet marketing promotion is the kind of marketing that seems to be most difficult for people to get their heads around.
One reason internet marketing promotion is confusing is that the methods are relatively new (or they seem to be). I’d like to clear up some of the confusion, so here are the tactics for effective internet marketing promotion.
1. Company website. It should be organized to move visitors to buy from you and it should be written to give them the information they need to make a buying decision.
2. High quality keyword research. Each page of your web site must be optimized for a single keyword.
3. Google Adwords campaign. It might be occasional, and it could be limited in cost each day. It can be a good way to get traffic to your site when you start up online.
4. An ongoing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Program. Keywords change, as do search engine algorithms. The goal of internet marketing promotion is to help people find you.
5. Email Marketing. This is the best way to stay in touch with people. Even only a monthly newsletter is a good internet marketing promotion.
6. Give-aways on Your Web Site. You can offer a free gift, a loss leader, or information (fact sheets, articles, white papers, e-books).
7. Press Releases. Send out information to the press so they know about you. They might look to you as an expert and call you for a comment or feature your business in an article.
8. Social Networking, social bookmarking, blogging and other Web 2.0 tactics, including commenting on other sites, blogs, etc. This is the newest approach to internet marketing promotion, and the most effective.
9. Article Marketing. This is a very important way to build recognition and to create more links coming to your web site.
10. Paid Ads. You will want to support your other internet marketing promotion efforts by putting a few paid banner ads on sites other that are appropriate to your business.
If you pay attention to each of these kinds of internet marketing promotions, you stand a greater chance of being successful.
If you own a small business or professional and want more information about lead generation, view the free video, “How Article Promotion Can Drive 25,000 Visitors to Your Web Site Every Month - For Free.”
Why Email Leads Are The Foundation Of Your Business
Posted by Bob Cavanaugh in Email Marketing on August 26th, 2010
Do you wonder why some businesses are doing a booming business online while you are still struggling to understand how to use email leads effectively? Chances are you have not yet mastered the three stages of understanding email leads that will enable you to use them legally, efficiently, effectively and for profit.
When you convince someone to give you an email address and permission to send information about your business to that email address, you have gathered an email lead. You need two things: their email address and their permission to send them information about your business at their email address. The more email leads you gather the better. These are people you can continue to contact until they tell you to stop.
Why is that list of email leads addresses so important?
Email leads are your treasure trove of future customers for your business, practice, or non-profit organization. When an email lead meets the two critical qualifications (address and permission), you have a potential customer or client.
Having a list of email leads also allows you to build trust and confidence in your product and/or service over time. Developing a relationship with potential customers will substantially increase the chances of them making a purchase in the future.
Uncovering the secret of how to gather email leads
You can buy or rent a mailing list and send your information. Then the email addresses of the people who respond to your offer are added to your list. You can buy a banner ad online or in the traditional media encouraging people to learn more about you and your products. The objective is to provide enough information to help your email leads take the next step toward a purchase. You can place ads offering some incentive for people to visit your web site or offering a discount if they visit your store.
Get the most from every email lead
Then find ways to explain the value you offer to your clients or customers. Place that statement in an engaging format where it can be seen by people who are your target audience. Then track the responses of those people to your announcement. If the level of responses is below your expectation, evaluate the message, the way you delivered the message and the audience. With testing and tweaking, your response rate will increase.
Marketing to email leads is extremely popular. The two main reasons for its popularity are that it costs very little and it works. Email lead nurturing is one of the best marketing tactics available to any business today. Experience and testing will enable you to learn how to capitalize on your email leads with ever greater success.
If you are a small business owner or professional and want more information about lead generation, see the free video, “How Article Promotion Can Send 25,000 New Prospects to Your Site Every Month - For Free.”
Can You Guess The Leading Direct Response Advertising Tag Line?
Posted by Bob Cavanaugh in Email Marketing on August 26th, 2010
If you have not listed your phone number with the do not call registry, I can almost guarantee that you get at least one call per week, usually during the dinner hour, telling you about some once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you simply cannot afford to miss. There will probably be a recorded message asking you to press one on your telephone keypad to speak to a sales associate and arrange shipment of some new product or service. It will normally end with the leading direct response advertising tag line, “Don’t miss this opportunity!”
This is one kind of direct response advertising. There are many more approaches to direct response advertising, including a postage-paid response card or a coupon to cut out of a newspaper or magazine and mail in. You are also likely to be familiar with television and radio advertising that ends with a request to you to call a toll free number to place your order. With the growth and expansion of the Internet, you might also be asked to click on an image or a link to learn more or place an order.
By definition, direct response advertising refers to a method of advertising or promoting a product or service in which you, the targeted customer, are asked to respond directly to the marketer. The best explanation is probably an example.
Because you work in a particular industry, you frequently receive information about new products, books, etc. You receive a brochure promoting a gathering of professionals in your industry. The brochure encourages you to watch your mail for further information. This is not direct response advertising.
Later the same day, you log on to your e-mail account and find an email from the manufacturer of the power tools. The same sale is announced in stores nationwide. But you are given the opportunity to click on a link or call a toll free number and learn about a special offer only available to premier customers. This is direct response advertising.
The second example includes all four of the basic elements of direct response advertising:
1. The advertising piece or ad makes a clear offer.
2. Enough information about the product to enable you to make a decision about whether you want to take any action.
3. You are asked to do something specific to take advantage of the offer.
4. Multiple ways to take the requested action.
Direct response advertising is very popular with people in sales and marketing because it is very easy to track, analyze, quantify and fine-tune the advertising. The marketer will know exactly how many people made a purchase. If the marketer has the ability to send slightly different promotional pieces to parts of the audience, it is also possible to determine which messages or formats were most effective.
If you own a small business or professional and want more information about lead generation, view the free video, “How Article Promotion Can Send 25,000 New Prospects to Your Web Site Every Month - For Free.”
Email Marketing Strategy
Posted by Bob Cavanaugh in Email Marketing on August 26th, 2010
If you really want to be successful in marketing your business or firm, you simply must develop and implement an email marketing strategy. Everyone uses email. Even the popular social networks and blogs rely on email. But you cannot just write an email and blast it out to everyone you have ever met. That is called spam or “spray-n-pray” and it can really make people angry.
Email marketing is flexible, free and traceable. A good email marketing strategy can be the most beneficial marketing tactic available to you. It can be used to build your brand, to alert customers and prospects of new product or service offerings, to follow up after people buy from you or subscribe to your newsletter and to build a relationship with your customers and prospects. According to a 2009 study by Unilever, email marketing doubles buying intention during a new product launch.
Components of an Email Marketing Strategy
Your marketing strategy should answer all of the questions you and your customers or prospects would ask about why you are sending out emails.
– Purpose. What is the purpose of each email you send out? Your email marketing strategy should be very clear about the purpose of each email you send.
– Timing and Frequency. How often you send out emails to your customers and prospects is a critical part of your email marketing strategy. How often does your strategy indicate you should contact your various list segments?
– List Segment. Because the goal of the strategy is to make each email sent relevant to the receiver, you will need to be very specific about who will receive each email. In fact, you will probably want to send several versions of an email to different segments of your mailing list.
– What the customer needs to hear. What do you want to say to customers and prospects? Better yet, what does your customer need to hear from you? A strategy should indicate a purpose for each email.
For the most part, an email marketing strategy aims to sell products and services, provide information that moves readers closer to a purchasing decision, and follow up after the purchase is made to sell another product or service or to ensure that the customer is happy with the previous purchase. A good email marketing strategy will reflect the recent trends moving email from “mass marketing” to “mass personalization” of the message, the offer, and the interaction. An effective email marketing strategy also includes a measurement and analysis segment. You will want to measure the rate of response to your email messages and refine them for greater effectiveness. You will also learn more about how your customers want to interact with you.
Finally, your email marketing strategy must respect each person you email. Keep in mind that 70% of our decision to buy, according to John McKean (of the Center for Information Based Competition), is determined by “how we are treated as people.
If you are a small business owner or professional and want more information about lead generation, see the free video, “How Article Promotion Can Drive 25,000 Visitors to Your Site Each Month - For Free.”