WinM@il-WinBlogger

Creative Strategies - Edit for cells & pda's

I am a little surprised by the number of companies that do not revise their email marketing content to suit the growing crowd reading emails on their BlackBerrys, cell phones or other mobile devices.

If I only have a few seconds to view an email from my phone, most of the time here is what I see:

"Problems viewing this email?"

"To view this email as a web page go here."

"This email was sent to kt@wincommunications.com by..."

And then I run out of time and I close my phone.  When I am back at my computer, I see those emails I already scanned and I delete them thinking I already read them.

A more effective approach would utilize the tool an email service provider offers you to edit the text version separately from the HTML email. 

Next, decide what ONE THING you want cell phone and PDA users to know before they exit their email screen, and type that at the top of the text version.

More on email rendering for mobile devices >>

Highlight of the Week - Branding

I have never been so excited about branding. 

This is because I spent 4 hours in a strategic planning session yesterday with the Iowa Society of Association Executives and we were coached through some very creative and thought-provoking material by Mike Wagner, author of "Own Your Own Brand" and owner of the White Rabbit Group.

The overall message was "branding is not about branding."  I love that!

So what is branding?  It is about ownership.  And branding is not just a logo and a color scheme, it is a unique identity that speaks without words.  It comes from within and is what makes one company's message more memorable, more identifiable than the hundreds of messages we filter through in a day.

Touching on marketing, Wagner reminded us that the modern media scene is no longer focused on one message to the masses.  "The mass market is dead."

Which means that successful companies and business owners are connecting with very targeted audiences through multiple channels with unique, timely and relevant messages.

This is exactly why email marketing is one of the most effective marketing tools available and essential to any and all businesses and organizations.  Email with permission to a targeted audience with a unique and relevant message that truly represents your brand, and watch this strategy jumpstart your plan for growth.  It is about relationships.  It is about fulfilling promises.  It is about reinforcing your brand.

For more on branding, see "Branding Redux | 3 New Rules."

Best Practices - Above the Fold

Recently a customer asked what "above the fold" meant and why it mattered.

Originally the phrase related to newspapers and it meant the printed material on the top of the page before the paper folds in half.

For email marketers, the same phrase means within the first viewable screen of an email, before any scrolling.  It matters because the content in the email "above the fold" is more likely to be viewed than anything below the scroll.  A few points to consider:

1. A good percentage of people view their emails in a "Preview Pane" (the top 1 1/2 inches of the email), so an ideal design would have the most important information right up top.
2. Often readers are not willing to take time to scroll down in an email.  To avoid having the message lost, an effective email design would have the bulk of the entire contents within one screen, above the fold.
3. For more details, encourage readers to click a link to a web site or an online brochure.  This enables tracking of that activity, which develops a better report on the effectiveness of the message.

Highlight of the Week - Cubs.com

The MLB and Cubs.com really know what fans want. 

Just think, how ideal to be a business that has such loyal and avid customers!

The web site knows what fans want, and they give it to us via news at the web site, contests, ticket ordering, video, mobile notices and downloads, and even pitch-by-pitch coverage via mobile phone! 

And a significant piece of this integrated marketing campaign is an email that follows all the rules.  It begins with my permission, it arrives in a timely manner, and it offers me relevant information and exciting opportunities exclusive to the email audience.

Just imagine - if your business knows your customers as well as the Cubs know their fans, how successful would your integrated marketing become?!

Know your customers.  IT BEGINS THERE.

Cool Marketing Resource - SendOutCards.com

A perfect complement to a targeted permission-based email campaign is an occasional direct mail communication. 

I have discovered SendOutCards.com.  This online tool creates personal and personalized greeting cards, then the company has your cards stuffed, stamped and delivered within 7 business days. 

What is nice is not only do they have huge collection of greeting cards to select from, they also allow you to create cards from pictures on your desktop.

When email campaigns integrate with a variety marketing tools like this one, the results improve. 

"If effectively used, these campaings increase response rates, market awareness and revenue, and maximize profits." - Integrated Marketing Campaigns 101, OnDemandJournal.com

Best Practices - List Building

Regarding "opt-in" email list purchasing or list rental, I most often advise otherwise.  What I have read is that when you rent a list from a list vendor, they do the delivery themselves, and the only email addresses you receive are those of the recipients who have opened the mail or clicked on your link.  Therefore, often the return is small and not worth the expense.  When you purchase a list, that means you would be sending from your own email domain (@yourcompany.com) and sending to an unknown list always results in high bounce rates - and often results in high complaint or unsubscribe rates, both of which can cause problems for future deliveries from your domain.

What I like is the idea of partnering with organizations which are willing to do cross-marketing.  For example, if there is a local department store near your company's restaurant & bar, and that store already has an email loyalty program, investigate the possiblity of putting a link to your web site in their next email promo – make sure then that the landing page at your web site has an email sign-up area.

Or create a mail postcard campaign to a certain geography which includes a pitch for recipients to go online and sign up for your news, perhaps in exchange for an immediate special offer.  For example, a postcard that says – visit YourCompany.com today to receive a 2-for-1 dinner coupon…

Integrate the list-building process into all marketing and sales functions.  This is the best way to grow an inhouse email list.

Best Practices - Permission & Perserverence

Communication professionals using emial to build and retain customer relationships are challenged to gain permission in order to email. 

But the challenge doesn't stop once permission is obtained.  A relationship is built on meaningful two-way messaging, perserverance, and promises kept.

So many times I have signed up for email at a web site and not received any confirmation and not received any emails.  In this case, if I do some day receive an email from  one of these resources, I will have forgotten I signed up for the email, and I'll probably delete it thinking it was unwanted/unsolicited spam.

The point is, as useful as email is at building relationships, it is a competitive and fragile relationship that can crumble without attention, persistance, and the fulfillment of promises. 

If you are collecting addresses at your web site, be sure not to let that relationship die on the line. 

Plan ahead, get permission and then pursue a closer connection.