From the category archives:

Email Marketing

Capturing the right leads for Email Marketing

by ZK on October 7, 2009

This is a guest post by Anand Srinivasan, who writes on Internet statistics and news at TechCrunchies . He has also recently launched a Q&A website called KnewThis.

Have you ever thought why businesses pay hefty rents to own a shop space in the main city center and not on the outskirts? Pretty obvious, right? The most likely spenders come to visit these shopping places around the city center and very unlikely to travel to the suburbs to shop.

A similar logic is in hand when it comes to email marketing. It is not about how many you sell to, but the right customer that matters. In other words, you can make more profits out of a 100 member database if they are truly targeted than you can from a 1000 member generic database.

One of the most popular ways to populate databases for email marketing has been offering freebies in return for the customer’s email address. It is one of the most easiest and most efficient ways. But there is a logical flaw here – people who provide their details to the database are those who are going crazy for a freebie offer. Can they make rightful targets if you are selling a product later on?

The answer to this is yes and no. It depends on what you are actually offering. Let us take an example. Let’s suppose your target visitors are bloggers who come to your site for blogging tips. And you are selling them ebooks related to PPC advertising through email marketing.

You may always offer a free ebook on blogging tips to populate your database. But will this database provide the returns? Alternately, let us suppose you offer a free ebook on ‘cheap ways to advertise your website’. The members who subscribe to the ebook are likely to be those who want to spend money to advertise and they are looking for cheap opportunities. These are also members who could be convinced into purchasing a book about PPC advertising.

The end result of your email marketing campaign is hence so well dependent on the start. Choose the right bait to attract customers for your returns to be the highest.

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How to use Dynamic Email subject lines for your Feedburner Emails

by ZK on July 3, 2009

Email Subject Line Feedburner

Personalisation has played an important role in marketing communication, marketers are willing to spend millions of dollars to ensure personalisation of their communication message. Google seems to have realised this for their feedburner services a bit late. Better late than never, now you can personalise your email subject line in feedburner emails, you can use the text ${latestItemTitle} to make the subject line of your emails reflect the title of your latest post.

You also have the option to customise your email subject line if you have more than one blog post a day. Once logged in Feedburner, you can do this under “Publicize” > “Email Subscrptions” > “Email Branding.”

Until last night, if readers subscribed to your blog via Feedburner email service, your email subject lines would be static, containing either the name of your blog or some other text that you would specify.

For this web marketing blog we had the subject line : WebTrafficROI’s Latest Post , which for obvious reasons was not very compelling to readers who subscribed as they would not know what the email was all about unless they opened it.

The good news is that you now have an option to change it to reflect your latest blog post title. Its very simple all you need to do is log in to your Feedburner account and use the text ${latestItemTitle} in the subject line, you can do this under “Publicize” > “Email Subscrptions” > “Email Branding.”

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Aweber : Automate Email Marketing Newsletters for your Web business

by ZK on May 5, 2009

If you have a website or a blog you’ll know the importance of building a targeted list and having all your users email ids white listed (This is the process by which a user adds a company’s e-mail address to their e-mail address book or whitelist) and comply with the CAN-SPAM act (This is the U.S. law that regulates commercial e-mail. It stands for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003.”)

The process of white listing encourages all subscribers to do this and helps prevent “false positives” in which legitimate, permission-based e-mails are filtered. This helps you remain clean as a web business owner.

The CAN-SPAM Act affects some aspects of your email marketing business, especially if you intend to send an email newsletter or send emails about “deals” to your list. You need an effective email marketing system that maintains your email marketing list by complying to The CAM-SPAM rules.

Remember that whenever you use any form of email marketing you ll be complying with CAN SPAM and best practise for email. Not complying to CAN-SPAM affects critical aspects of your email marketing and web business.

Why should you consider using Aweber for email marketing on your website or blog

1 ) Uses the Opt-In Box
- CAN-SPAM requires that you have the permission of the recipients of your marketing emails (this includes ezines and newsletters) to send marketing messages to them. This means that the email marketing system that handles optin box on your website must include certain things. The opt-in box must require a positive action on the part of the site visitor. The visitor should have to check a box that says, “Subscribe me” or “Add me to your list”, etc.

You may NOT add a paying customer to your opt-in list automatically when he or she makes a purchase.

You can subscribe a customer who signs up for your mailing list at your physical store or at a meeting with you if they do it in writing and the signup sheet clearly states that it’s for a mailing list.

2) Uses double Opt-In
- Aweber uses double opt-in. It sends a confirmation email to the subscriber, and that they MUST reply or click to CONFIRM their subscription. It keeps copies of all subscribe notifications, it maintains this list for you. If you don’t use an autoresponder, you must maintain the list yourself.

3) It follows the CAN-SPAM rules.
- Just because a subscriber opted-in doesn’t mean that you don’t have to follow CAN-SPAM . Any message that you send of a “commercial” nature — having to do with your business — must follow the rules of CAN-SPAM .

4 ) Creates a CAN-SPAM Compliant Mailings
Identifies yourself in the “from” line of your email. You can use your real name, the name of your business, or the name of your website. The law requires that the “from” line identifies the sender.

5 ) Uses accurate headers
Real addresses should be in the “From” and “Reply-To” fields. If your present email marketing system does not allow you to use your real email address in the “From” and “Reply To” fields, change companies. Try the Aweber Email Marketing system.

6 ) Handles obvious opt-out instructions in every email
- A clearly defined and obvious unsubscribe link is required by the law. CAN-SPAM allows you to provide a menu of opt-out options. That means you can direct users to other targeted mailing lists when they leave yours.

It always reminds your subscribers why they’re receiving email from you. “You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to our mailing list. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking this link.” It includes your physical address. It is the law that your physical address be included in marketing email messages.

7 ) Honoring the Opt-out
- Aweber honors all opt-out requests immediately. Email Opt outs are done automatically by Aweber email marketing system. If you are not using an email marketing tool or an email marketing service, you ll have to do this manually. Trust me doing opt outs manually is painful when you have an email list in the thousands.

Turn One-Time Visitors Into Active Subscribers with AWeber Email Marketing

If you’ re an affiliate marketer, you would want to use Aweber and comply with CAN SPAM :

- Keep relations with your Affiliate company or Merchants :
One of the foundational concepts in the CAN-SPAM legislation is that a company can be found in violation of CAN-SPAM even if they didn’t send the message.

The term “on behalf of” is found throughout the CAN-SPAM Act. This term, though vague, is directly related to the internet marketer/affiliate (or advertiser/publisher) relationship.

It means that if you, as an affiliate marketer, send a commercial message advertising a merchant whose
affiliate marketing program you’ve joined – BOTH you and the affiliate are responsible for following the rules of CAN-SPAM when it comes to that message and the list that it is sent to.

As you might imagine, this stipulation has lead to some nervous merchants. Here are some of the things that you can expect affiliates to do in an attempt to stay in compliance with CAN-SPAM:

- Email marketing bans:
Some affiliates will not allow email marketing of any kind. If you intend to promote via email, even if it’s through a newsletter or ezine, be sure to check the affiliate agreement to see if the programs that you’re joining allow email marketing.

- Added Disclosure and Opt-Out: Some affiliates will require that you add their email signature and opt-out link to your message along with your own CAN-SPAM compliant contact details and opt-out link.

- Approval: Some affiliates will require that you receive their approval on the message — and possibly even the list — before you send emails.

Aweber fully complies with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 by the Federal Trade Commission which can carry fines of up to $10,000 per violation for what is considered email Spam.

This blog uses Aweber email marketing system to maintain a spam free email list and comply to the CAN-SPAM rules.

Aweber’s 30 DAY RISK FREE TRIAL

Aweber is offering you a 30 day RISK FREE TRIAL to test out the features of their email marketing service and see if it’s right for your web buisness. AWeber offers a risk-free thirty day trial. With this trial, you can set up your first email marketing campaign and quickly begin to see results. If you do not see results, or cancel your account for any reason during the first 30 days of your service, Aweber provides a full, hassle-free refund.

They know that technology can be daunting sometimes so they offer free webinars on topics such as effective email newsletters and how to get started to help you start taking advantage of the power of email marketing right away.

If you run into problems or questions Aweber provides an online knowledge base you can search for answers to your questions about using the system. You can also send them questions through their Help control panel or give them a call on their toll free number.

If you’re not using email to communicate with and market to your customers, give Aweber a try and see for yourself how it can add to your bottom line.

Apply for Aweber’s 30 DAY RISK FREE TRIAL or simply sign up with the form below:

“The Money Is In The List“

AWeber proves it to thousands of businesses every day.

Learn how email marketing software
can get you more sales, too.

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4 Proven Email Subject Lines

by ZK on September 23, 2008

Building an online bussines with a email list can be a very powerful source of passive income. The larger your list the more better your revenues. While email marketing always gets a bad press , studies have shown that its the most effective online marketing tool, most of my revenue come from building and maintaining an effective email list.

If you ve got a targeted list of opt in subscribers and a message that they want to hear, email marketing can be an incredibly powerful tool. Investing in a good email list is like investing in gold.

But what differentiates a successful email campaign – An effective subject line can make or break your email marketing strategy. Its the most important element of your sales pitch, if its not convincing to the reader to immediatly open and read your message, it will most likely end up in thrash.

Nothing is more effective than using the reader’s name in the subject line to catch their attention. (You can easily set up this tried and tested technique with an email service provider like Aweber) But your subject line must also answer the first questions on your reader’s mind:

” Whats in it for me ”
” Why should I open your message ”
” So what ”
” I already know that ”
” This looks spammy ”

Only a few subject lines address this isssue. I ve tested more than a thousand lines for my campaigns – the below four approaches have been consistance winners.

Situation 1: Make an announcement or share news
People want to be the first to find out and review things , its human to boast about it in a group or send an email to your friends about a hot topic of discussion. Use this to your advantage if your site covers a specific niche or industry. ie. : David, this has just launched or John, doors open 3 pm EST and you are invited .

Situation 2 : Make the reader curious
The subject line should arouse his curiousity and lead him to open the mail. you can do this by suggesting the reader if he is missing out on an important event or information. Chris, have you downloaded this yet ?It’s important to leave something to the imagination when using this technique, usually by posing a question the reader can’t ignore.

Situation 3 : Create a sense of urgency
This works very well, I ve got repeated sales for products by using this angle, you can either do this by limiting time (e.g., “Jim , Only 3 hours left”) or quantity (e.g., “Bruce, last 29 copies available now “).This approach works especially well when you’re creating a follow-up mailing – and it’s a great way to motivate people to take action now. Dont over do this approach , use it carefully and sparingly.

Situation 4 : Emphasize how the user will benefit from your product.
You ll be more successful if you state a clear benefit in your subject line. Tell the reader how exactly is he going to save money or any other benefit by reading your email (e.g., “Tom , save $35.00 or more every time you fill petrol”).

If you create a benefit and curiosity in your subject line it will be very powerful. Write subject line keeping your readers in mind and from their view point and I guarantee you ll see an increase in the number of reader who open and read your emails.

I have limited copies of the CMA ( Canadian Marketing Association ) Guide to Effective Email Marketing to give away to my users. This 55 page powerful guide includes employing the best practises and practical advise for marketers.

All you need to do is subscribe to my Email and comment on this post below saying ” Subscribed ” and i ll send it to your email id.

If you like this post , you may want to subscribe to my Email feed or RSS feed.

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