Yea you read that headline correctly. Yours truly has spent last week and this upcoming week visiting family and doing some business development. As you can imagine Dubai is an amazing place. To bring everybody up to speed, Dubai is located in the United Arab Emirates and sits on the Persian Gulf. Dubai is a wonderful city, with world class hotels, abundant culture and caring people. I have been posting some pictures on my twitter feed that you can check out as well. I am going to post a few more updates about my trip, but I wanted to quickly talk about how great this internet thingy is.
Ah, I am just joking but I have been able to work all week in the states, while being able to reach out to new companies here in the UAE. Mostly what I have been learning is companies need Internet Marketing help. I have been able to provide many great solutions, and the one I have found the most interest in is our Enterprise Solutions.
I have been able to use my laptop to tie in back to my desktop in the states. I have also been extensively using Skype to make calls. I have also found Google Video while I have been out traveling and that is an awesome service.
Well, I am getting ready to go ice skating in the most giant mall I have ever seen. Ice skating in the desert! It doesn’t top snow skiing at Ski Dubai, but maybe some other time…
Yes, I know this topic has been hashed out numerous times, but I still see email newsletters coming in with subject lines that will send them straight to the spam folder and my finger straight to the delete key. So let’s recap a little.
You’ve hit send on an aesthetic, poignant email campaign and it’s reached your recipients inboxes…but are they opening it? If your unique open rates are less than stellar it may be time to analyze what you may be doing wrong.
Let’s face it…it’s the middle of 2009 and email is the fastest growing communication tool. Users have to spend more time weeding through email after email than ever before. So the real question is - How do you stand out amongst the crowd and gain that sought after unique open?
Here are some factors to consider before launching your next campaign:
Permission-based: Can your users easily remember the where, why and when of opting in to receive your newsletter? If it’s not clear to them they will most likely mark you as SPAM.
Is it clear who the sender is? Don’t switch up your “From” name - stay consistent to avoid confusion with your recipients.
Experiment with your subject lines: One of the biggest factors of whether a recipient will open your email is an enticing subject line. Here are a few tips to keep in mind while writing your next subject line:
Don’t use acronyms
Don’t bore them - use interesting attention grabbing headlines
Include a subject line that reveals a bit of what your newsletter is about.
Avoid words like “free” “help” “percent off” and “reminder” - they scream SPAM!
First and last name in subject line don’t necessarily help, but localization does - including a city name in your post (if relevant) can increase your open rates - “Cool Spots to Relax in Phoenix” (I’d open that!)
Try and keep your subject line to 50 characters or less - A subject line which is too long will discourage your recipients from opening it.
Finally make sure your key points are in the top third of your email - many recipients use a preview function to decide whether or not your newsletter is worth reading. If all the juicy details are at the bottom of your email you’ve probably lost a few relevant unique opens.
To summarize: sometimes the little things can make the biggest differences. Constant tweeking and tuning your strategies for your online efforts is a must for acheiving the best possible ROI for your business.
First of all I would like to thank everyone for attending. We had a great turnout with a lot of crowd interaction. I love a vibrant group…
The seminar last night was focused on Importance of Calls to Action. Now every marketer worth their weight should know what a call to action is. So why have this seminar? I wanted to focus on Optimizing that call to action in a web based world.
Why is this important?
In this interactive marketing medium web developers, search engine optimizers, and us folks that excel in the complete internet marketing game are met with new challenges when it comes to phrasing and language. I think this is totally exciting and embrace the challenge!
Interactive components and hyperlinks can be both content and navigation to inform and provide the action the user should take. This gives us many more opportunities to convert that potential lead into a CUSTOMER.
But only if we Optimize correctly…
I spoke at length last night about how to best optimize your call to action both on your website and within the push marketing medium of email marketing. Does you website prioritize the tasks you would like your reader to take? Or in other words is that first call to action, the action you want that potential customer to take? Many if not most of the websites I come across do not take this approach.
This is also true with the 1000’s of email marketing messages I view each week. I think it is a safe assumption only 10% are optimized correctly.
But how do you optimize an email?
It is as simple as the bullets below:
Create compelling subject lines
Use proper Call to Action Placement
Provide Relevant Content
Test your message
Measure your results
Revise all steps
REPEAT
Yet I am amazed how often ALL of these steps are overlooked!
What did I learn?
From my conversation with the group there is a real need and a desire to have more effective Calls to Action. More people than I thought are interested in how to not only Optimize their emails for Human eyes, but also Optimize their emails for Search Engines…
Ooooops done went and said too much… That topic is for another Bat time and another Bat channel… although if you dropped me a line and shared your Sour Patch kids with me, I might be inclined to tell you more…
What a great chance to tell people you have played the TPC Stadium!!!! This is an opportunity you do NOT want to miss. Playing the signature holes including 16 and 18, minus the thousands of people watching you is well worth the price of admission!
Date: August 21st
Time: 2:30 - 3:00 Check in, networking TPC Grill
3:00 - 3:30 Practice facility….you will need it!!
3:30 Shotgun start with play until dark.
Cost for members is $40.00, non-members $50.00
SPACE IS LIMITED - Registration is required, walk ups may not get a spot.
Modified Scramble format including Long drive, Closest to the pin and Longest putt prize giveaways!
Provided to each player will be Range Balls, Golf Cart, One Fountain Drink, Tea, or Domestic Draft and of course, playing the world famous 16th hole!!
In case of inclement weather, a new date and time will be re-issued. If interested or you have any questions, please contact our Network and 9 Committee Chair, Bob Woodbury.
Register Here. Thank you for your continued support.
Next week Tuesday August 18th FireDrum and I will be hosting a seminar on the Importance of Calls to Action. The seminar will be located at Entrust Arizona 20860 N Tatum Blvd Suite 240 Phoenix, AZ 85050.
The event will cost $15.00 dollars to attend and we will be accepting the fee at the door. A part of the proceeds to this event will go to my favorite local charity Hands On Phoenix.
Networking will start at 5:30PM and the seminar will begin at 6PM. If you need further information please feel free to drop me a line.
I wanted to do this “Importance of Calls to Action” seminar for two reasons. One because everyday I educate business owners who are currently doing Search Engine Optimization that they are wasting resources by not having a compelling call to action to prompt that highly qualified lead to leave an email address to market back to them…
If you are optimizing for search engines, take that extra step with a conversion optimization analysis!
I also wanted to conduct this seminar for marketing professionals and business owners on how to have a more compelling call to action in their email marketing efforts. A few topics we will be covering on that end include, optimized subject lines, placement of calls to action, and when to announce that sale…
I am really look forward to this seminar, and I look forward to seeing you there.
From my recently published article in the Scottsdale Airpark News
Unless you have been living under a rock on Mars chances are you have heard about Social Media. Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo, LinkedIn, the list goes on, and on…and on. Frankly, it can be exhausting. But just what are these forums and online communities and why should business people care?
Social Media is a broad and daunting form of media. It can take many forms and have many different users. Social Media can take just some of these forms such as blogging, video blogging, microblogging, social sites, email, podcasts, forums, and music sharing. All of these forms of communication can be done very simply and cost effectively. Social media is highly accessible and is changing the day to day activites of how people read, write, share news and information. Wikipedia even goes so far as to call it the “fusion of sociology and technology…and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers to publishers.” No that’s is a very powerful statement. Sociology is an extension of social sciences and is the study of human social structure. In the Social Media-sphere we are applying classic sociology understanding with the evolution in technology, to drastically change the way humans are interacting.
ONCE UPON A TIME
Just how did social media start? Well many attribute the start of social media directly to free email clients. Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, these still are email sites that allow people to directly communicate, and publish thoughts, feelings, and keep in contact with others next door, in the next state, or in the next country. Email was and still is an instant communication tool and the most widely adopted form of social media.
Social media, as it has more traditionally been come to be known has generally been acknowledged with the beginning of the out of favor site Friendster. Friendster’s initial goal was to “create a safer, more effective environment for meeting new people. Friendster allowed you to connecting to friends, friends of friends and so on, allowing members to expand their network in face-to-face type scenarios.” Friendster was the first to actually take away the anonymity and encouraged users to use their real name. Now I would be “Jacob Lebo” instead of “kinglebo2027” thus allowing all users a more personalized and fulfilling online experience. Friendster is mentioned as falling out of favor and sure, you can still get a profile and actively participate on Friendster, but good luck finding your friends and family to engage with. Friendster suffered a fabulous and almost instant death, similar to what is happening with MySpace right now.
In fact Jon Gibs, vice president of online media and agency insights for Nielsen Online notes. “Remember Friendster? Remember when MySpace was an unbeatable force? Neither Facebook nor Twitter are immune. Consumers have shown that they are willing to pick up their networks and move them to another platform, seemingly at a moment’s notice.”
DOWN TO BUSINESS
As a business owner it is in your best interest to have a strategic plan to understand just what networks are worth engaging in. So do you need to participate in social media? Does you business need social media?
A recent Anderson Analytics report found an estimated 110 million people in the U.S. — or 36% of the total population — are regular social networking users. A regular user is someone who logs in at least once a month Within those regular users Facebook dominates with 78 million regular users, followed by MySpace with 67 million, Twitter with 17 million, and LinkedIn with 11 million regular users.
With 110 million members in a captive audience, members that willingly share their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, wouldn’t your business be hurt by not participating in Social Media?
Getting started on social media, is best done personally first. Then you can decide if it right for your business. Obviously an informed decision is the best one so here are some points to get you started.
DO NOT Accept every social media invitation. I constantly turn down invitations to many different social media circles because quite frankly I don’t have enough time.
DO NOT use social media during the day. I know it can be addicting, however in addition to building relationships, it can be a time vacuum. Many social media activites should be done off business hours.
DO engage. In Facebook, wish happy birthdays, and make relevant comments to your friends. In LinkedIn pose and answer relevant questions that relate to your business. On blogs and forums leave thought provoking comments and compliments. “that was a great aritlce” doesn’t work! I said thought provoking.
DO NOT get overly personal. Remember these comments are generally read by your peers and business associates. Do not write anything you wouldn’t say in person, and be aware these will be listed forever.
Remember the key to any successful social media strategy is to actively listen participate and engage with you industry, customers, and other relevant players. If you do this correctly, the relationships you build will foster a greater ROI for your business and brand.
Nothing is ever deleted from the web; it just goes into Google’s cache… What’s a cache you ask? Google it!
By now you’ve heard of social media and the impact it is having on the interactive world. Bridging the gap between email marketing and social media is a good way to increase your online presence and grow your email lists without having to lay too much groundwork.
and businesses are starting to recognize this growing trend. According to a report from Forrester Research, email marketing will grow by $2 billion by 2014, and social networking sites have become the largest portal for sharing information online. But recognizing and utilizing these features are two different things.
By including a Share-to-Social feature in your emails, you allow your recipients to share your content with their social networking contacts and followers. A few reasons to utilize this feature are:
Increase user interaction with your recipients.
A modern twist to the “Forward to a Friend” methodology.
A good resource to build quality links to your content.
Increase traffic to your content.
Grow your email lists.
Choosing which social networks to utilize on your Share-to-Social feature depends greatly on your industry, but the big three to add are Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
To add Share-to-Social features to your email marketing campaigns, or to get started with an online marketing campaign, contact FireDrum today and a sales representative will work with you to create a package that will fit your needs.
The current economy has thrust marketers onto a sinking ship; companies are decreasing marketing budgets while expecting increases in revenue. Finding ways to cut costs while increasing your ROI can seem daunting, but the solution is quite often a simple one.
Allocating marketing dollars towards email marketing is the most efficient way to increase your ROI while reducing your costs.
Email marketing is 90% more cost-effective than most other methods of advertising.
Fast, efficient and current - Uploading an effective campaign can be done in a matter of minutes. By utilizing an immediate messaging system with your customers it ensures that your campaign is relevant and fresh.
Easy to use and easy to target - Email campaigns are easy to create and can be targeted to ensure delivery to the right audience. This specific type of targeting is unique to email marketing.
Email marketing is measureable - you can see who opened your email, who clicked on what, and how many sales/conversions your email generated. Unlike television ads or radio ads, you have distinct, in-depth reporting.
When marketing efforts count more than ever, the winning application will be the one that consistently yields good results in terms of ROI - that application continues to be email marketing.
If your company is looking to stay afloat amongst the vast sea of drowning businesses, let FireDrum be your life-raft. Our email marketing campaigns, which are custom designed to fit your needs, will help you retain and maintain a loyal customer base while increasing your ROI.
All new Members who sign up for either a self maintained or full service email marketing account and mention this ad from April 12th through April 30th will receive a FREE custom designed newsletter template based on your current marketing materials and website.
*certain rules apply.
I think rule #1 when starting any blog is consistency. Well I guess that holds true in sports, business, marketing, etc… but blogging and internet marketing in general is kind of like exercise. It does you no good if you run 10 miles in April, then sit on your duff eating potato chips when the May flowers are out.
What else can you do to have success with your blog? Well I was cruising around this morning looking for some good ideas to blog about and stumbled across this article from the online news magazine Slate.
Christopher Beam was discussing how the Transportation Security Administrations got so good at blogging. And what the government and the rest of us can learn about it.
Beam points out that the “Transportation Security Administration’s blog, entitled Evolution of Security, is everything the TSA is not—lighthearted, informative, responsive, and devoted to the needs and concerns of its customers.”
He goes further in noting that “It may also be the best model for government to engage citizens over the Web.”
I would take that a step further as this is not only a great model for governments but also for companies to engage their customers over the Web
I urge you to read the article and the blog to get the full effect of the power of a well run blog. What really stood out to me was the idea that a government agency, and in fact, all blogs need actual power.
Some examples sited in the article are when “the Evolution of Security commenters complained about having to remove all electronics from carry-on bags during screening in certain airports, the TSA put a stop to it.”
Beam also points out “when they kvetched about long lines, the agency created a new express-lane program.”
Obviously they do not take all suggestions as noted in the article when “One commenter asked TSA to focus more on invisible supernatural terrorists.” Which I guess since TSA isn’t going to do anything we are going to have to call these guys
And actual problem solving power is what is going to bring the most success to your blog. Allowing good and bad customer feedback and comments and addressing those concerns automatically. This direct engagement with your customers is going to not only improve their experience, but also increase your company’s Word of Mouth advertising tremendously.
