Posted by bnordin on January 30, 2010 under Emailing Dos and Don'ts | 
Email Marketing Keys to Success
Email marketing is one of the simplest and effective ways to increase sales. There are some important things to consider when launching a successful campaign:
1. What is the goal of the email campaign?
Is it to invite people to an event or promote a new product? Is it a monthly newsletter? Or, is it part of a drip email campaign that is attempting to sell something? If you have another marketing strategy, then your email marketing should be integrated into the bigger plan.
Your subject line should lead the reader to open the email. Think about all the junk mail most people receive from businesses – it can be overwhelming and your email needs to stand above the crowd.
The body content of the email should be personalized and capture the features and benefits of whatever you are promoting. The most effect way to present the information is in an advertorial style:
Headline
Anatomy of an Effective Email
Subheadline
- Feature/Benefit Statement
- Feature/Benefit Statement
- Feature/Benefit Statement
Keep the small talk and drivel to a minimum and quickly steer the prospect towards the goal of the email campaign. Every email should have a single call to action that pushes the reader further down the campaign funnel. To improve response rates, use trust-based selling tactics instead of the hard sell. Offer the reader valuable information as often as possible.
2. Design
It is important to present the content of your email professionally, yet concisely, as possible. Integrate the look with your brand name and web site at the footer. Double check the grammar and spelling of the content.
Ensure the email can be opened by a variety of platforms, including plain text. HTML emails are more likely to get caught in spam filters and excessive links can raise the spam rating of the email. Test the images, margins and other potential formatting issues. Test all links supplied in the email.
3. Know the CAN-SPAM Act
The best email leads are acquired via a double opt-in which also ensures they comply with the CAN-SPAM act. A double opt-in requires prospects to verify their account and information before they are added to your list. Prospects and customers should always be able to opt out of your list at any time.
4. Retention
Keeping your repeat customers happy is important. If a customer complains, address the issue promptly. Keep your mailing list up to date and remove delinquent email addresses to avoid being labeled as spam. To retain audience attention, use customer participation tactics such as voting, updates, or expert information and rewards.
To learn more about email marketing services, contact Halo Effects, an Arizona internet marketing firm for a free assessment of your internet marketing plan.
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Posted by bnordin on under Making Sense of Social Media |
Blogging For Small Business
The Benefits of a Thought Leadership Blog
Blogging for small business is the one of the easiest ways to generate traffic to your website if your content is relevant and valuable. A blog is short for “web log” and can be thought of as a journal. For example, you could write about your experiences as a financial planner and useful information you learn.
Unlike a news article, the content style and format are not critical. Blogging for small business can also trigger discussions and comments that further development the content. I’ve read several blogs that get first-page Google search rankings for Divorce Law, Real Estate, etc. These pages drive massive traffic and it’s completely free.
If you search for information on any local product or service, you’ll be sure to come across several blogs with relevant discussions. I like blogging because threads or strands of information can be provided without writing a long dissertation. The key to blogging is valuable content and high frequency.
Post things that are timely, relevant, useful and helpful
Getting someone to visit your blog is easy. Write a blog about a special interest, find a group related to your topic on one of the social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook) and post a comment about the blog and provide a link to it.
To drive more traffic to your blog (and potentially more leads), you can use niche keywords that will give your pages higher search engine rankings. The free blogging sites I recommend for newbies are Blogger.com and WordPress.com.
Most of the social networking sites also have blog functionality that can be utilized as well.
The easiest way to develop content for a blog is to look at what others are writing about and then re-write it. Google looks for unique content so be sure anything that is copy and pasted is 60% different in word and sentence structure.
Another simple way to discover blog topics is to ask your list. Have your customers ask the most burning questions they want answered. Each question can become the topic of a blog post.
The goal of blogging for small business is to drive traffic to your opt-in page, however, it cannot be forgotten that blogs can be viral – if done properly. By blogging consistently, you have the opportunity to position yourself as a trusted adviser and provide professional direction to the readers.
Blogs are a form of social media and readers can generate their own content by commenting below a blog post. As an author, you want to create discussions and promote commenting that automatically builds the page of information for you.
Quick tips on how to drive more traffic to your blog:
- Monitor similar blogs to make sure that your content is fresh, different and better.
- Post brief messages on other blogs that mention your own blog site.
- Swap links with other blogs. When you see blogs whose visitors might also be interested in yours, contact the blogger and suggest swapping links so that both blogs have links to each other.
- Give visitors an incentive to spread the word about your site. Reward the visitor who posts the best new information with special recognition on your site.
To learn how to start blogging for small business and create a thought leadership blog in your industry, contact Halo Effects, an Arizona internet marketing firm for a free consultation.
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Posted by bnordin on under Why Market Online? |
Arizona Advertising
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”
Winston Churchill
Traditional vs. Direct Response Arizona Advertising
In the small business world, traditional brand advertising doesn’t work.
Been there, done that.
I’ve discovered there are two kinds of advertising:
1. Traditional Arizona Advertising – these types of ads aim to build awareness for your company and aren’t much more than the information on your business card – Company Name, Logo and Contact Information.
Tip: You will never get a call from someone with this type of Arizona advertising.
These ads are done by big corporations that spend millions on Arizona advertising or small business owners that don’t know any better.
2. Direct Response Advertising – the goal of this type of advertising is to get a response from your target audience.
Advertising is a real estate game, the larger the ad, the higher the cost. Direct response ads can be the most cost-effective because they eliminate the corporate dribble and deliver a value proposition to your audience.
Here is the 4 part blueprint for an effective Direct Reponse Ad that could be used online (pay-per-click) or offline (print ad):
1. Headline –Broken Down? Need a Tow?
2. Subheadline – 24 Hour Emergency Towing
3. Make a Compelling Offer – Free Roadside Service for AAA Members
4. Provide a Response Mechanism – Call Toll Free 1-888-Need-Tow
Measure Everything
The only type of Arizona advertising you should be doing as a small business owner is direct response, not only because it is inexpensive but also because the response rate can be quickly measured.
Measuring the “rate of response” means you must understand the cost of each lead and ultimately the cost to acquire a customer.
For example, if my pay-per-click cost is $0.50 and I can convert 10% of the people who click through to paying customer, then I am paying $5 to acquire each customer.
- 100 clicks @ $0.50 per click = $50.00
- 10% buy out of 100 = 10 paying customers
- $50.00 cost to acquire 10 customers = $5.00 per distributor
If the profit I make from each customer is greater than $5.00 then I have a positive return on my advertising investment.
Figuring in the lifetime value of the customer – how much additional business that customer may refer my business or how much more they may buy – then my profit gets much higher.
I hate losing money so I want to get the quickest feedback possible as to whether an ad will work or not. This means testing several different ads to measure which advertisement gets a higher response.
Why Online Arizona Advertising?
The internet is by far the best place to test Arizona advertising because the results are instantaneous and low cost.
Once I determine the best ad structure online, then I re-use it offline.
Without having a mechanism to measure the performance of an ad, you run the risk of wasting money and killing your profits.
To learn more about setting up effective online and offline marketing campaigns, contact Halo Effects, an Arizona internet marketing firm, for a free consultation.
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Posted by bnordin on under Viral Marketing - The Holy Grail |
Viral Marketing
“What was freely given to me, I freely give.”
Lauryn Hill
Viral Marketing is a free way to generate leads
Let’s start with a definition:
A viral marketing campaign encourages people to voluntarily communicate your message to a plurality of others.
The awareness can be spread by word-of-mouth (slower) or accelerated by the network effects of the internet.
Most businesses rely on word-of-mouth and are often constrained by geographies. I find this mind boggling in the age of internet marketing.
Viral messages are typically thought of as funny emails, videos, texts or images, however, at a more sustainable level, they are becoming items of high value such as free information products, samples, software or trial services.
The Power of Free
The promise of the internet has always been a price of ‘free’ and online users expect to start a new relationship without paying for it.
Studies have shown that satisfied customers tell an average of three other people about products or services they like, and eleven people about a product or service they didn’t like.
By providing a valuable giveaway (ethical bribe), there is a higher likelihood of customer satisfaction and no financial risk in telling others. The “giveaway” becomes the cost of building an ongoing a relationship with a user and the opportunity to get a sale.
If the initial viral message creates the right motivation, it may exponentially spread to other users who also start a relationship with your business.
Although there is sometimes a cost to building the viral message components, they should support the consumption of your primary product or service and can be re-purposed in many ways to drive sales.
Here are the 3 key benefits of Viral Marketing:
1. Fast – At the speed of the internet
2. Consumer Driven – Penetrate targeted groups with similar interests
3. Free to the business owner – Spreads by network effects, not paid advertising
In the business world, viral marketing is the Holy Grail
A small seed can grow into a fast moving message that multiplies exponentially without additional cost.
One of my favorite viral marketing campaigns was Burger Kings’ “Subordinate Chicken”. It created a wildly entertaining experience for visitors and was laced with a bit of controversy…the perfect recipe for rapid awareness.
If we inspect the success factors of viral marketing campaigns, they can be broken into four key ingredients:
1. Access – The internet is the perfect medium for a viral marketing campaign. Things travel at the speed of light, cost per impression is essentially zero and the opportunity to provide a free experience for the user is possible. The campaign can be designed to have no barrier to entry.
2. Ease of transfer – Through email, communication and transfer of the virus is simple and rapid. Blogs and social networking sights increase the distribution points for the message.
3. Targeted “bait” – The value of the content is measured by the perception of the people subjected to the virus. If the bait being used is of high value, the more proud the user will be to pass it along to others in their network.
4. Favorable emotional response – A negative response can also create a viral effect, however, as learned by the “Subordinate Chicken” website, enough negative responses can stop the spread.
By including these key ingredients into the design of a viral marketing campaign, a very low cost sales message can be spread all over the world.
The design of a viral marketing campaign should cover the life-cycle of the relationship with the future client. This includes the initial viral message, an ethical bribe used to get permission to continue the relationship and ultimately converting the prospect into a paying customer.
Here is are the major steps in a viral marketing campaign that can be automated by building an online marketing system:
Anatomy of a Viral Marketing Campaign
To learn more about implementing a viral marketing campaign for your business, contact Halo Effects, an Arizona online marketing firm, for a free consultation.
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Posted by bnordin on under Why Market Online? |
Arizona Online Marketing
“The Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life.”
Andrew Brown
Misconceptions about Arizona Online Marketing
The internet is an extremely valuable tool that can be used in many different ways…so many ways that it can be overwhelming.
Here are the most powerful ways to use Arizona online marketing for business ownwers:
1. As a marketing and advertising system – to generate leads
2. To automate a trust-based selling process
The mission of any business website is to generate sales. Most companies forget this primary mission. Some business sites have great content but there is rarely a way or a reason for the visitor to be sold.
With all the buzz about doing business online, offline promotion and sales is becoming a forgotten art.
There is a natural synergy between offline advertising and the internet.
Don’t get hung up on where you advertise – the audience you are reaching and the marketing message are most important.
The response mechanism can direct the audience to a web page or a telephone number. The same ad could appear on a road sign, in the newspaper classified section or on the back of your business card.
Here’s the key – your Arizona offline marketing should drive people online where they become part of an automated sales process.
Tip: The internet acts as a natural filter by eliminating people that don’t have access to a computer. In certain businesses filtering out prospects that can’t afford a computer or don’t know how to use the technology may be beneficial to your campaign.
To learn more about leveraging your offline print advertising with Arizona online marketing, contact Halo Effects, Arizona online marketing firm for a free consultation.
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