CLT Solutions:: Tips

How Frequent Should Your Newsletter Be?
The Why and How of Online Feedback Forms
Branding Your Email is the Logical Next Step
Bulk Emailing for your Business
The Importance of Having a Successful Website Presence
How to Enhance Your Brand with Social Media Marketing
The Good and Bad of Content Management Systems (CMS)
Using Day to Day Email to Enhance your Image
Use your Email Signature as an Effective Marketing Tool

How Frequent Should Your Newsletter Be?

Yes, I am assuming that you have joined the realms of the modernised and are, in fact, sending out a newsletter to your clients. If you have yet to jump on this particular band wagon, you have some catching up to do. Please do not panic if you have never sent a newsletter in your entire career - it is never too late to embrace those technological advances.

There is so much information you can impart via a newsletter that will save you a fortune in traditional marketing costs: update your clients about the latest happenings in your company, provide product updates or information on product launches, keep your clients abreast of your company events and achievements… a newsletter allows you to linger around your client without becoming a stalker.

Now that we have established that your company needs a newsletter to stay relevant, the question then becomes one of frequency. How often is too much?

Email Newsletter Frequency

Given the competition for attention in inboxes, your newsletter needs to appear often enough to trigger recognition and build awareness. So, to answer the question of how often your company should send out a newsletter… it depends. Before you paint me with the cryptic brush, let me just state that every situation is different and that is why it all depends. Most companies send their newsletters out on a monthly basis.

Here are some factors to consider:

The best frequency measure is if the information in your email newsletter has time constraints. If your content has a deadline and you need to send your newsletter, then you should send it
If your news does not relate to everyone on your mailing list, then perhaps consider only sending your newsletter to the appropriate subscribers
Another option is to let your subscribers decide how often they want or need to receive an email newsletter from you. A note of caution: if you decide to offer the flexibility to select frequency, then you need to ensure that you are able to back this option up with relevant information for the relevant sending options.
Bear in mind that any email newsletter that is sent out less frequently than once a month is unlikely to make an impression on your readers. If you find it difficult to support at least a monthly publication, then perhaps you should consider thinking in terms of promotions rather than newsletters.
Newsletters that are sent out more frequently than once a month i.e. weekly, should offer exceptional value or impact to justify the time your readers need to allocate to your emails
Look at the bigger picture before settling on frequency. If you are already sending your mailing list other newsletters or promotional emails, these need to be taken into account

Consider a Monthly Newsletter

Why do I recommend sending a newsletter at least once a month? I’m very glad you asked:

It will keep you on your toes by forcing you to pay attention to market news in order to keep your topics relevant and interesting
You will be able to keep in regular contact with past clients
Keeping in contact with past clients will more than likely lead to referrals
The discipline of consistently sending a newsletter will help keep you focused on your business

Consider the content you want to deliver to your subscribers. If your content has a "best before" date, then this should really be taken into account when determining frequency. Different topics are suited to different frequencies. The more "perishable" the information you need to send, the more frequently you'll need to send out your newsletter.

The Why and How of Online Feedback Forms

The Why:

Don’t fool yourself. Seeking feedback from clients is important. It’s the most direct route to finding out what it is you’re doing wrong. Finding the most effective way to obtain this information may depend on the kind of business you have and the nature of the particular client.

The best way to seek client feedback is through the completion of client surveys or feedback forms. These could be made available to your client upon completion of each matter. If you're brave enough for the bitter truth, clients will be more forthcoming on a form, particularly if a member of staff is someone the client works with on a regular basis. The drawback to a form is that many clients are not bothered about making your life easier, and simply don't bother to complete it. This is particularly true if the matter is a 'one time only' engagement.

One possible solution to this hurdle is a pre-emptive strike. Try providing your clients with the opportunity to provide feedback earlier in your dealings. This will afford your clients the opportunity to voice any grievances and have any misunderstandings corrected while the matter is ongoing.

Online Forms vs. Paper Forms

Here are some of the advantages to adopting an online 'tell all' approach with your clients:

Switching from paper to online forms will save you time and money. Who doesn't want to save either?
Online forms enable a process known as branching. Branching allows your clients to seamlessly skip past questions that might not apply to them, thereby reducing confusion and lost time viewing inapplicable questions.
You will be able to create questions that guide your clients to validation requirements that will provide accurate data. Your clients will also be spared from any head scratching over what it is you really want to know.
The feedback is immediately available. There is no time like the present for improvement!
Electronic and web-based forms are easier to fill out than paper. Fact. A nice side-effect from this is that response rates normally improve.
Your clients will be wowed by how modern and efficient your business is.
A bright spark in your business points out some questions that are missing from your form. No problem! Adding additional questions to an online form only takes a few minutes. Adding more pages to a paper form is bad for the environment.
Distribution of your form is almost too easy. Online forms can be accessed from any computer with web access.
Information will immediately be in a database with no costly and mind-numbing retyping to be done.

The How:

Online forms are most successful when they’re not too long or too cumbersome to complete. Here are some tips for making your form as user friendly as possible:

Ratings-type questions (for example 1-5) may be easier and faster for a client to complete
If the data required is a no-brainer, clients can supply information without further ado. If your clients find that they need to think and/or refer to supporting materials, they might be less inclined to be forthcoming
Keep the number of steps required before reaching that all important submit button as few as possible
Ask the hard questions about client satisfaction, but also provide your client the opportunity to laud your brilliance

Many businesses are prone to boasting in their various marketing materials of how they provide 'excellent client service'. In order to back those claims up, however, businesses need to connect with their clients by staying in touch and learning whether or not these clients feel that their needs are indeed being met. This is where the feedback form makes its debut.

Just ensure that each element is easy and that, if your form is unavoidably lengthy, all your clients have to do is keep scrolling (and sighing) as they complete each step in the long march to the blessed submit button.

Branding Your Email is the Logical Next Step

Email has become one of the undisputed champions of corporate communication. Most competitive companies incorporate email signatures in their emails for legal, operational or creative purposes. The question lies in whether or not these emails are being utilised to their full potential.

Crank it up a notch

Back in the days of snail mail, an official company letterhead was used for all external – and even internal – communication. Correspondence was typed on branded paper and most likely placed in a branded envelope along with a business card sporting the company logo. Projecting brand integrity and leaving a lasting impression was a no-brainer. Any communication on non-branded material was simply verboten.

Back to the future, and 87% of a company’s communication takes place via email. Do you see where I’m going with this? How much does your company spend on marketing strategies surrounding development of your company brand, logo, proprietary fonts, and so on and so forth? Now read the first sentence of this paragraph again. I’ll wait.

Ignoring the potential behind branding your email correctly is the equivalent of doing the unthinkable – sending out communication on plain white paper.

What exactly is this thing called ‘Email Branding’?

Email branding – informative, functional email branding – should consist of utilising technology that makes your everyday email interactive, has very little impact on your bandwidth, gets through firewalls and is centrally controlled. Should your email be forwarded, this email branding will automatically be forwarded right along with it.

I know what you’re thinking... why pay for such a service when you could set up an email signature yourself at no cost? Yes, absolutely, all you nay-sayers out there, you could set up your own run-of-the-mill email signature.

The majority of corporate email signatures are usually comprised of some basic text and a pre-designed image which is copy and pasted on to the tail-end of the actual email message. Are you nodding your head? Does this sound familiar?

This type of email signature generally creates no consistency across departments, a Compliance Footer should be showcased to avoid any possible legal implications and there is no way to track any clicks or drive clicks to your website. Images may also be blocked by firewalls or other security measures. Consider also what your email signature says about you. Is it respectful, descriptive or bland beyond words?

Remember, people are busy, and having a memorable branding element in an email enables its message to stand out in a crowded inbox.

Here are some benefits and advantages of email branding:

Richer graphics
Multiple active links
Strengthened brand awareness and identity
Looks more professional than unbranded email
Easy access to extra information
Click-through alerts
Traffic is driven to your website
Small file – a basic template adds less than 1k to messages
Cost effective

Technical benefits:

Templates are integrated into your email system e.g. MS Outlook
Different templates can be applied for different situations
Access to templates is controlled
Utilise the centralized storage of a web server to store resources instead of sending them along with each email
Unlimited email accounts – cost incurred per account
Minimal bandwidth usage per email sent
Daily back up of emails sent on server

Business Benefits:

Reinforce your brand every time an employee sends an email
Your company maintains a consistent professional profile
Increase efficiency by linking your branding to relevant pages on your website
Unlimited email campaigns
Per month and per user usage graphs
Automatically embed legal notice to each email
Unified look and feel to your entire company
Personalised email footer per email

It boils down to email branding vs. email signatures. While email signatures are more the norm and can get the job done, in an increasingly competitive market it would be unwise to completely dismiss the rewards that can be reaped from branding your email professionally.

Bulk Emailing for your Business

Bulk email marketing is one of the most cost effective online methods for keeping in contact with clients. Thanks in large part to the introduction of spam mailing into our lives, bulk emailing has developed a bit of a bad reputation over the years. However, having said this, it should not be dismissed as the powerful (did we mention cost effective?) marketing tool that it is. If used correctly, bulk emailing can build trust, loyalty and develop your brand name with your clients.

Where Bulk Emailing Goes Wrong

There are certain pitfalls to avoid when companies send out bulk emails. These are some of them:

The subject line of your email is the key to your success or failure. Words such as ‘free’, ‘win’ or ‘special offer’ will only serve to alert the firewall and spam police. Once these guys arrive on the scene, your message will be blocked and your email bounced back to you faster than you can blink.
Resist the temptation to inundate your message with those graphics you’ve been stockpiling so studiously. Overuse of images will likely result in your message downloading slower, serving only to anger your subscribers.
You may have a lot to say, but avoid filling your subscriber’s inboxes with a barrage of messages. Nobody has the time to read it all anymore, and you will most likely just find a lot more of your readers opting out of your mailing list. A carefully constructed email newsletter can get the job done in one swoop, keeping everybody informed and happy.
Generating advertising space on your email newsletter is great if you can get it. Overuse of this particular marketing nugget, however, will only distract from your very important message and once again land you in ‘opt out’ danger with your subscribers.

Investigate the many advantages of an email management system, which will assist you in avoiding many of these pitfalls. These systems ensure you have a managed opt-in joining process, click through tracking (this records every time someone clicks on a link in your mail), bounce tracking and complete control of your mailing lists – to name but a few.

How To Send That Important Bulk Email Correctly

Sending a successful bulk email is easier than you think. It mainly requires following the rules of cyber etiquette. We have listed some of those rules for you:

There is no harm in asking, so request that your subscribers add your email address to their address book to ensure your messages are not deleted or blocked by their company’s security software.
Always, we cannot repeat this enough, always have an unsubscribe option in your email. We’re confident that it’s not necessary to point this out, but ensure that your unsubscribe link is functioning. If you are using an email management system, the unsubscribe link will automatically unsubscribe someone without your having to do anything. If you are maintaining your own list, it is important to comply with the request promptly to avoid antagonising your subscriber.
Avoid going on and on and on in your email. Provide a précised version of your message in your email, with a link to the relevant content on your website. This will also generate visits to your website and increase the marketing potential of your email. This also goes for attachments. Attachments can be the kiss of death, especially if their size is too large. Rather create a link to your attachment on your website.
Include useful resources, tips and information in your newsletters. The idea is to make your newsletter something your client would want to keep in a special folder or, the marketing gods willing, forward on to others. It is a good idea to include a ‘opt in’ facility in your newsletter for just such an occasion.
You’ve wowed them with your content, and blown them away with your brilliance. Your readers are so impressed they want to drop what they’re doing and rush straight to your offices. Don’t make them hunt for your details. It’s a good idea to always include your company address and contact details in all electronic communication. This will also reassure new subscribers that you are not dispensing advice from a rickety desk in your uncle’s garage.
A catchy first paragraph is always a crowd pleaser, along with a relevant subject line. As mentioned in the pitfalls above, avoid using clichéd subjects such as “Must Read Now” in lieu of more pertinent yet equally eye catching subjects. The subject should capture the essence of your message as succinctly as possible.
Clearly identify yourself as the sender of the email. Suspicious readers are more likely to prematurely delete emails from senders they do not immediately recognise. Create your sending name in your email programme in such a way that your name or that of your company is displayed to recipients of your email.

Why Bulk Emailing Might Be the Answer

Still not convinced that bulk emailing is a viable option for your company? While we agree that there are those out there who abuse the system, this does not mean that they have negated all the major benefits of bulk emailing.

When done correctly, this method of communication displays your company logo and any other related branding in a prominent manner.�
With the human tendency to pass on good information, the forwarding of your email could lead to unlimited access to potential new clients. This is known in certain circles as Viral Marketing.
Your message is delivered directly, providing a pro-active method of establishing a rapport with your clients. Email management systems afford the opportunity to personalise your email, enabling you to start your message with e.g., Dear Reader or Dear Mr. Bulk Email with just the click of a button.
Bulk emailing affords your company the opportunity of expanding its market beyond local and international boundaries in a way even Donald Trump would smile at. With over one billion internet users worldwide, the marketing potential is almost infinite.
Delivery of your message is instantaneous, and it doesn’t require that your client be connected to the internet. No postage or delivery men are required, and therefore there is no delay in getting your voice heard.
Your message is available 24 hours a day and can’t become tattered or torn, or end up on the bottom of a cage of some unsuspecting African Grey.

Bulk emailing does require careful thought and planning in its institution as a viable source of advertising, but this can be said for any marketing strategy. Bulk emailing has the added advantage of being affordable in these economic times, as well as being a more direct link to your clients than any other form of communication. Email management systems are a great way to bypass most of the major impediments in making this tool part of your every day approach to raising awareness of your company and the services you offer.

The Importance of Having a Successful Website Presence

If you have found yourself wondering why you or your company should invest in a website presence when you already have a more traditional marketing strategy in place, then perhaps you have not considered all the motivating factors that others have already found useful. Surveys conducted¹ have ascertained that people logging onto the Internet do so primarily for information, communication and research. Entertainment is the last check-box to be ticked. If you can create a website that fulfils these criteria, then you are on your way to creating a marketing tool that will potentially service your business and customers much more efficiently, and cost-effectively, than any conventional marketing campaign ever could.

The Web has many features which sets it apart from traditional forms of media. These include interactivity, multimedia and synchronicity – to name but a few. Consider also that estimated Internet users are 1,668,870,408 for June 30, 2009².

Fortunately, the time and expense once associated in developing a website have been tempered by the arrival of Content Management Systems (CMS). CMS solutions and services make it quick and relatively painless to build and maintain a website.

Some Very Good Reasons to Have a Website:

Accessibility:
Your business will no longer be restricted to your office hours and will be available to the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Differing time zones will no longer present an obstacle. Your site can educate, inform and generate new customers while you sleep!

Establishing a Presence:
Over a billion people worldwide have access to the Internet. Chances are that your competitors have already realised this and have established themselves on the World Wide Web in an attempt to garner the attention of these masses. Can you afford to ignore over a billion potential customers?

Affordability:
The information on your site can save you time and money by, for example, resulting in a reduction in printed promotional literature. Websites are also affordable and cost effective in terms of longevity.

Improved Customer Service:
By providing answers to frequently asked questions on your website, sales and information requests can be processed automatically and immediately, freeing up your staff to concentrate on other areas of your business. Online forms can be utilised to allow customers to request quotations or ask for further information. Relevant documentation can be made available for download, thereby saving costs.

Reach Specialised Markets:
As the Web has several very good search engines, interest groups will be able to find you even if your product or service is a specialised one.

Reach the Youth Market:
Consider that most Universities and schools today provide Internet access to their students, or will within the next few years. This presents an emerging market. Books, athletic shoes, study courses, youth fashion and anything else that would want to reach these overlapping markets needs to be on the Web.

Make Picture, Sound and Film Files Available:
Your website can provide an opportunity to significantly improve the essence of your marketing material by the inclusion of sound and film files. No brochure can do that. Your site will also be easier, cheaper and faster to update than any printed material.

Present a Professional Image:
For a small business, a well-designed website is a terrific way of instilling confidence and looking bigger than you actually are. If your primary competitor is bigger than you, creating a website that outshines theirs could be a good way of keeping up with them.

To Network:
Doing business today is nothing more than creating connections with other people. Consider your website as an extension of your business card, with the ability to reach a far wider group of people at considerably less cost.

Provide Instant Gratification:
In this busy day and age, people don’t like to wait for information or services. If the nature of your product permits, you might offer free samples or trials for people to download. This could include pictures, brochures, software, videos and more.

Make your Business Information Available:
Any Yellow Pages ad has the same basic information. This usually includes your business hours, what services you offer, contact details, your location etc. On the web, this information becomes readily available worldwide, at no extra cost. Studies over the last few years reveal that the internet has already surpassed newspapers and yellow pages for information and research regarding companies, products, and services.

If you build it, will they come?

Yes. Like most things in life, however, it will require some initial effort on your part. Problems arise when websites are designed without a clear goal in mind.

Establish a plan for your website by considering what it is you want your website to do:

To inform?
To reach a broad audience with a message?
To find sales leads?
To gain advertising revenue?
To provide support and customer service?
To conduct e-commerce?
To reduce printing and mailing costs?
To brand your company?

These are just a few suggestions. It is important to think of the web as not just a marketing tool, but as a business tool as well.

It is also vital to identify your target audience. Consider what information they would like to see, or what services they require. Why are they visiting your site?

There are a lot of factors that affect the performance and results of a website:

The general appearance and image of your website
Load time - does it take ages for your page or content to become visible?
Is your website easy to navigate?
Cross browser / platform compatibility - does every visitor have the same experience no matter which browser they are using?

Perhaps you already have a website, but find that it is not providing the results that you would wish for? Then perhaps it is time to relook at why you created the website in the first place.

There can be no denying, however, that having a successful and professional website presence is vital to any business owner. Having a website will give your business credibility. It’s all about keeping up with technology and making it a part of the success of your business.

¹Source: DIANE F. WITMER AND CHUTATIP TAWEESUK: Department of Communications, California State University, Fullerton, USA

²Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

How to Enhance Your Brand with Social Media Marketing

What is Social Media?

Still considered an emerging idea, and still relatively in its infancy, social media is something that is difficult to define. Social media is a general term covering interactive broadcasts such as blogs, as well as social networking web sites (think of Facebook).

Some of the more popular social media websites are:

MySpace: Initially a site for bands to promote themselves, it has become one of the most popular sites on the Web today. Anyone can create a profile and there are no identity checks. Companies targeting consumers often utilize this resource to set up shop.

Facebook: It started as a site just for students but its popularity has grown to such an extent that this site is now open to everyone. A January 2009 Compete.com study has ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace.

Twitter: Enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Twitter is ranked as one of the 50 most popular websites worldwide by Alexa Internet's web traffic analysis. In March 2009, a Nielsen.com blog ranked Twitter as the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for February 2009.

Why Should I Utilize Social Networking Sites for my Business?

1. Your existing (and potential!) customers and clients are already at these sites and you need to go where your customers are.
2. Location, location, location! Think of it as setting up your virtual store in a location with a lot of foot traffic.
3. Social networking sites cost nothing to join, and your only overhead costs will be your time.

How Do I Get Started with Social Networking?

Investigate: Look around to find the sites where your best customers are.
Pay Attention: Once you’ve joined, pay attention to the conversations around you. Avoid jumping into unrelated conversations with news of how great your products or services are.
Interact: Find a group relevant to your needs for you to participate in. If you sell car parts, find and join a car lovers’ group.
Create Your Own: Start your own group for current clients and colleagues to join.
Get Feedback: Establish a communication link for clients or customers to comment on your products and services, or for others in a similar industry to yours to suggest ideas that have worked for them in the past.

How Do I Ensure My Success with Social Media?

As social media networking is still in the early stages of what promises to be a long and fruitful life, there are no simple answers to this question. All the fuss surrounding this tool might turn out be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Are you willing to sit on the sidelines, though, while your competitors make the first move and build connections and relationships with your potential customers?

The most important thing to remember is that these social mediums are locations for people to network, as one would at any party or social gathering. The same social rules and etiquette will therefore apply. Interaction with fellow users is the key to your success on these sites.

Here are some tips:

Know why you’re using a particular site. Use Twitter, for example, to gain visibility and develop relationships with others.
Provide what is required. Know what your followers want and provide it. It’s as easy as that!
Get your followers to cross over. Point your Twitter followers to your Facebook page, and vice-versa. You will find that new followers will get caught up in the mix.
Use a familiar face. Keep the same avatar (or profile picture) for each site to establish a familiarity for your brand, thereby making it easily recognizable.
Help others. If someone posts a question or problem for which you have a solution, attract their loyalty, or following, by helping them out. You will more than likely become an ‘expert’ in their eyes, adding to your popularity.
Form alliances. If you mention a great product or service of someone else’s, chances are that they will reciprocate by mentioning you in return. This is a ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ scenario that could be very useful.
Put in the time. You will only get what you put in. If you are not active on these sites, you will not reap any rewards.
Keep it simple. Don’t be the person at the party that doesn’t know when to keep quiet. Avoid inundating your followers with information.
Remember your manners. Understand that these social mediums have their own social etiquette.
Add Value to the site. Don’t submit content just because it promotes you and your company. Make sure that you are providing useful information to the particular community you have joined.

In Conclusion

While social media networking is still in the development stages, with the rules still being written, the only thing that seems certain is that more and more users are flocking to these sites. Memberships have grown exponentially with no signs of slowing down.

The business landscape seems to be changing, with these sites becoming the coffee shops and street corners of the 21st century. Do you really want to be left behind?

The Good and Bad of Content Management Systems (CMS)

In the era prior to search engines such as Google - before the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) was fully understood by web developers and the business world - Content Management Systems (CMS) were invented to help companies large and small easily create and maintain their web sites without having to manually edit HTML code. Wikipedia is a prime example of a site that uses a CMS.

The advent of CMS resulted in a rush to supply the many content management systems in use today. Some of these, however, may hinder or even prevent your site from ranking in the search engines. Each CMS is different so the pros and cons are different for each and every one of them.

CMS – The Good:

Certain systems are open source, have large development communities, and provide good SEO performance if they are configured correctly.

Multiple users can contribute to a website
Content can frequently be added to or edited on a website
Content updates are visible immediately
Users do not need to be able to write code but can easily learn the basics of HTML
Open source CMS’s, can be free or very low cost
Provides a central hub so all users can keep up to date on site changes
Allows uniform pages - so multiple users don’t stray from the overall design - thereby providing a more consistent look and feel throughout the site
Some provide useful and attractive imaging and templates
Allows the restricting of design elements (colours, fonts, navigation, etc.) thereby allowing limited access for users to manage text and images
Allows the sharing of information among many sites within the content management system
Once content is stored, it can be used multiple times
Built in features which include a link checker and spell checker
Information can be supplied in multiple formats such as .PDF files, Word documents, and RSS feeds

CMS – The Bad:

Sites need to have the correct business authenticators, heaps of relevant content, easy to follow navigation, the ability to adapt to search engine changes and anything else that improves the general user experience. Many of these criteria are still not as accessible to change as they should be using a CMS.

May not comply or be up to date with web standards and web innovations
Integrating new web services may require expensive re-engineering
Limited SEO (Search Engine Optimization) functionality
HTML editing may be restricted
Certain design limitations
Difficulty would be encountered in switching web hosts in the case of proprietary CMS’s
Website can look dated or can look like a ‘CMS website’
Cost - could be very expensive if building a custom system
Training would be required for users of the system which may be seen as a financial burden

So, as with most things in life, there will be benefits and disadvantages to anything you use. CMS’s are no exception. While all content management systems have the same basic intent, they are each different in their own way. It is always advisable to shop around before deciding which the best system for you is.

Using Day to Day Email to Enhance your Image

There is a common misconception that email marketing is part of a dying breed. The advent of spam mail has further entrenched mistrust in the general emailing population. Those in the know have even created the term “email fatigue”, which basically depicts a user who ignores a large number of email messages due to having fallen behind in reading and answering them. The most common reason for falling behind is often due to information overload.

These are some of the facts:¹

Spam Facts

60 billion emails are sent daily
90% of all email is spam
64% of spam servers are in Taiwan, 23% are in the US

User Facts

The average business user receives 25 email messages per day; increasing 10% per year
The average business user spends 2.6 hours per day reading and responding to email
38% of employees have sent an email without the required attachment
34.1% of users open an email by 5 pm
It takes 77 minutes a week for an employee to manage their mailbox, such as cleaning out old messages and filing old messages or attachments
It takes 27 minutes for a user to delete or archive enough messages in order to be able to use the email system again after hitting a “quota limit”
It takes 8.2 minutes for a user to find an email that is older than two weeks

Email Marketing Facts

Email click through ratio is best on Wednesdays, reaching 3.9%
60% of business correspondence has grammar or spelling errors

¹Facts Source: Justin Hartman – MD and Co-founder of Afrigator

Email can be an effective marketing tool, it is important, however, to use it correctly.

Decide on what you want to accomplish:

Raise media visibility
Create a buzz
Increase business from your existing clients
Increase registration to events

Implement strategies to keep your email current and effective:

Think Long Term. Keep in mind that you need the reader to want to continue receiving your emails. The unsubscribe button is an easy out for your reader! Offer something that is not only valuable or useful right now, but also a year from now. Perhaps consider a series or topical messages or seasonal information.
Give To Receive. Consider very carefully what you can offer your reader that is of value to him / her. A company newsletter with a fancy graphic is not a give at all. Provide usable information. Perhaps put yourself in the shoes of your reader and consider first if this is information you would find useful or interesting yourself. Intrigue your reader in such a way that he / she will want to see what you've got coming next. If your newsletter is relevant, a good percentage of your subscribers will read at least one out of every four you send. Be patient and persistent because a well-managed regular email campaign will definitely produce results for your company.
Create a Connection. Emails often come from a corporate email address like info@ or sales@ and your reader can't be expected to feel a connection to Mr. Info@. Send a message from your Company Spokesperson, be it your CEO or Sales Manager etc. Make your email more personal by signing your email with a name and make sure the email address matches. Your readers will be more likely to respond to an email if they feel there is a real person sending it and reading the responses.

These are some dos and don’ts:

Avoid Unsolicited Mail.�Make sure you don’t send mail to readers who have not asked for it. Don’t be tempted to buy email databases and then inundate them with emails. Rather build your own list of colleagues and friends and grow it from there.

Provide an Opt-In Option.�This ensures that people joining your database do so willingly by clicking on a link sent via email to them.

Provide an Unsubscribe Option. We mentioned the peril behind this feature earlier, but it is important to provide your readers with the ability to remove their details from your mailing list. Traditionally in mail management systems this happens without your knowledge and ensures the list manager doesn’t simply re-subscribe your reader.

Keep it Brief. Resist the urge to send large emails to your database without their permission. The general standard in bulk mailing is to keep your newsletter or announcement to under 100kbs.

Utilise Your Email Signature. Create a link to your website in your email signature. By placing ‘http://’ ahead of your web address e.g. http://www.cltsolutions.co.za/, you create a live link to your website. The real benefit in this is when you are simply sending out questions to people online, or responding to theirs, this signature will show up every time.

Why wait?

The time for your firm to invest in email marketing is now! The current economic climate has everyone scrambling to cut costs. A recent MarketingSherpa study shows that reducing email marketing during this period would be detrimental.

The gist of the recent study is that organizations who view email marketing as a tool to build and nurture long term relationships with existing clients and customers are finding that, even during lean economic times, the return on investment from email marketing continues to increase. This is measured by higher clickthrough, open and conversion rates.

"Modest investments in testing, best practices, measurement and, most importantly, providing relevant content will generate powerful ROI [from email marketing] - especially in a time when selling to existing customers will be a key to survival." - MarketingSherpa

In essence:

Email marketing it is still one of the most powerful, cost effective communications and marketing tools there is for businesses to use. According to annual studies by the Direct Marketing Association, email still delivers the top return of ANY marketing medium.

Give special attention to the elements listed above. If your effort falls short in any one of these areas, you can expect a poor response.

Use your Email Signature as an Effective Marketing Tool

With the entry of blogs, and networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, into the world of online communication, the much understated Email Signature has been largely relegated to the realm of Forgotten Marketing Tools.

What is an Email Signature?

An email signature is a virtual business card which is automatically added at the end of your outgoing email. This signature generally depicts contact details for your business and lets people know who, where and what you are.

Why all the Fuss?

Email signatures, used correctly, can be a low-cost, high-return marketing tool. A business with 30 employees sending at least 10 emails daily will essentially lead to roughly 75000 adverts for your business annually. At no cost. What’s interesting is how seldom email signatures are utilized.

Advantages of using an Email Signature:

An email signature conveys a willingness to communicate. By providing your necessary contact details, the receiver feels less hesitant about contacting your company as they are immediately in possession of a contact name and the ability to research your company (especially if you have included the URL of your company website in your signature).
Another major advantage to having a signature is the opportunity to promote your company/brand and to associate your name with your company/brand. The more you are able to get your company name/brand in front of people, the more they are aware of your website address, and the more your name is associated with these details – the easier it will be to find you on the web and on profiles that you might not have directly linked to your site.

Here are a Few “Netiquette” Tips for Email Signatures:

Consistency: ensure everyone in your company uses the same format in their signatures, thereby building a recognizable identity for your company.
Keep it Simple: provide just the basic contact information and leave any further investigation up to the recipient of your email.
Avoid Including your Email Address: this information is already provided in the ‘From’ field of your email.
Keep it Up to Date: don’t forget to edit your signature should any of your contact details change.
Separation: ensure that your signature is clearly separated from the content portion of your email.

How to Create an Effective Email Signature:

Below is an example of a good email signature:

Name
Title
Company Name
Street Address
City, Province, Postal Code
Phone
Fax
Email

Here is a suggestion on making this a great email signature:

Name
Title
Company Name
Phone
Company Web Address (URL)

A general rule of thumb is that a good signature be four to six lines in length. Eight lines is the maximum length, but that is pushing it. Don’t forget that frequent recipients of your emails see your email signature again and again.

Optional Additions to a Great Email Signature:

Should you have a specific function or event that you would like to call attention to, utilize your signature, but keep it to one line and/or a link to the details of the function or event.

Tagline (for a specific company event, campaign, etc)
Graphical elements (such as a horizontal line to distinguish your signature from the rest of the email)
A quotation to share your company’s point of view
An announcement of a new program, service, or publication
An invitation to a special event, conference, or to subscribe to your company's email newsletter

In Conclusion:

Keep in mind that once people have read the contents of your email they tend to ignore the signature area unless it stands out. Keep your signature short and sweet. Don’t create a signature that is longer than the content lines of the majority of your emails!

Sticking to the basic suggestions listed above should keep your company, and you, fresh in the minds of your email recipients.

How Frequent Should Your Newsletter Be?
The Why and How of Online Feedback Forms
Branding Your Email is the Logical Next Step
Bulk Emailing for your Business
The Importance of Having a Successful Website Presence
How to Enhance Your Brand with Social Media Marketing
The Good and Bad of Content Management Systems (CMS)
Using Day to Day Email to Enhance your Image
Use your Email Signature as an Effective Marketing Tool