5 New Ways to Get More Clicks in Small Business Email
Whether you’re managing B2B or B2C email campaigns, you not only want your subscribers to open your emails, you want them to click. And whether your business is B2B or B2C, the “rules of engagement” are basically the same.
What’s the secret to getting more click-throughs? While it’s not exactly rocket science, there is some testing involved (although not the white-coat lab kind). Let’s take a look at some ways to increase your clicks – and revenue.
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6 Examples of How Companies Change Email Strategy for the Summer
Singer Nat King Cole got it right with his lyrics referring to the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” Summertime presents a unique set of challenges for marketers, and for email marketers in particular. Unless you’re selling air conditioners or the like, you’ve got your work cut out for you.
Summer may not officially start until June 21, but mentally it starts with Memorial Day. Avoid the weeks preceding and following Memorial Day and Labor Day. And forget about the July 4th week altogether. People’s minds are on rest and relaxation, burgers and barbecues, not on business.
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Guide: How Internet Retailers Grow Social Media With Email Marketing
Companies with established audiences, communities and lists grow social media with email marketing.
Businesses have long understood that one of the biggest assets you can have is a list of names. A list of names could be your customer list, email subscriber list and a few other types of lists. Each has a varying degree of ability when it comes to how you can send messages.
For example, your customer list and your email list allow you to have full control over how you can send email (other than a few exceptions).
When companies need to grow another list they use email marketing and their existing lists of names. For example, when a company launches a new product line they email customers of their other product lines in an effort to grow the list of customers for the new product.
Companies also use email marketing to grow their social media profiles. You’re probably thinking, “Duh. Every company does that.” That’s great. You’re doing exactly what you should to grow your social media profiles, but the following is an overview of what companies are doing today to grow their social media profiles.
Hopefully these will provide inspiration on how you can get even more engagement from your email subscribers when it comes to social media.
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5 Things Small Businesses Can Offer People to Get Them to Subscribe to an Email List
We live in an age of WIFM (What’s In it For Me?), and email marketing is no exception. You want people to sign up for your emails so that you can promote your products and services. But what’s in it for the consumer?
The prospect of being privy to sneak previews, having access to exclusive products/services, and receiving special offers may not be enough to entice someone to subscribe. So what can you offer that will make prospective customers want to hand over their email addresses?
Here are a few ideas that small businesses can use to boost their email signups. Keeping in mind that small businesses don’t have huge budgets to play with, we offer the following suggestions, all relatively inexpensive…
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How to Get Small Business Reviews and Testimonials with Email Marketing
“If you build it, they will come.”
That doesn’t always work for small businesses.
In this day and age of social networks and viral marketing, positive reviews and testimonials can mean the difference between surviving and thriving.
Take a look at the popularity of online review sites such as Angie’s List. They understand – and have capitalized on – the power of customer reviews.
Email marketing is the perfect channel to capture – and share – glowing reviews. Whether your business is B2B or B2C, it can benefit from third-party endorsements.
Customer reviews are often more well received/perceived than internal marketing messages. Like PR placements, they are viewed as more authentic by your customers and prospects. It doesn’t matter how you obtained the reviews (other than outright paying for them, that is!). What matters is that you get them – and use them.
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How to Make Interactive Emails That Get Tons of Clicks
Take a look at the commercial emails in your inbox.
How many are truly interactive?
We’re not talking about asking subscribers to review a product – that’s an interactive website, not an interactive email. And we’re not talking about forward to a friend call to action or the standard “Like us on Facebook,” Follow us on Twitter” or “Pin us on Pinterest” social sharing shout-outs. We’re talking about emails that actually engage the reader.
Just as you want to make your website “sticky,” you want your emails to hold subscribers’ attention for more than a few seconds. Research conducted by MarketingSherpa indicates that most emails are opened for about 15 to 20 seconds. That means it’s crucial you grab the reader’s attention – and hold onto it.
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Why You Need a Plan B in Email Marketing
Email marketers can take a cue from the Scouts.
Their motto is Be Prepared.
You’ve been in business and have seen when things don’t go according to plan.
That’s why it’s necessary to have a Plan B.
Because online marketing is instantaneous, you must be ready when opportunity arises – or when things don’t go quite as planned. That’s when email templates come in handy.
Set up templates with copy that can be tweaked according to the situation. You can be ready to deploy an email in record time.
Below are scenarios that lend themselves to email templates.
Use them to kick-start the thought process so you can create your own templates to have on hand “just in case.”
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Small Business Email Marketing Lessons from Big Brands
Small businesses have a great opportunity with email.
Over 90% of Internet users have an email account and check it regularly. It’s a great way to get permission to market to your ideal customer. You can earn their trust and give them an off they can’t refuse.
One way to create great emails is to follow the strategy of the big brands.
In this post we look at three examples of strategies the big brands use in their email marketing campaigns. These are strategies you can use to turn subscribers into customers (and repeat customers).
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3 Email Tricks Big Retailers Use for Success
It’s not easy being a small business email manager. You’re fighting for attention in the inbox against all kinds of other companies including big retailers. Those companies have huge budgets and lots of room for testing.
But even if they have the advantage in dollars there are still somethings you can learn to get ahead of them.
In fact, you can beat them at their own game using their secrets.
Here are three secrets the big retailers use in their email marketing campaigns.
Use these in your own campaigns and your rates should increase.
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How to Increase Email Engagement During The Slow Months
January is typically a slow month in the email industry.
Across the board January is pretty slow for consumer businesses. Consumers have done their shopping in the previous quarter and January gives them a little reprieve to save their money.
It can be a frustrating time for email marketers. People aren’t interacting with emails quite as much as they were in the past. Even sales don’t work as well as they did just a month prior.