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Best Practices - Email Call-to-Action

I've opened your email, now what do I do?

Too often an email grabs my attention then veers off message, leaving behind my 3 wasted seconds and a deleted email with no clear call-to-action. You know the ones - where finding the BUY button is a virtual game of hide-and-seek. Or searching for the REGISTRATION link is like an online Word Search Puzzle.

Even more frustrating are landing pages which have nothing to do with the email's main message. If your email event invitation says "Click to Register" but takes me to a Home Page with a two-year-ago video and nothing about the upcoming event, well, "ba-bye." 

So make the most of your email by developing a landing page that follows through with the promise you are making in your email campaign. Call-to-Action is a process that begins in the email and does not stop until action is complete. The landing page should look and feel similar to the email. It should offer all the details that didn't fit into the email. It should display a clear and final call-to-action.

Useful article on at Clickz.com on Landing Pages:
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2380783/3-steps-to-improving-your-lead-generation-landing-pages 

Build a Landing Page with WinCommunications! Visit WinCommunications today.

Cool Marketing Resource - LinkedIn Group Suggests Email Marketing Providers

A member of the eMarketing Association Network LinkedIn Group asked "Can anyone recommend an Email Service Provider (ESP) to send out email campaigns?"  Here are the suggestions so far over the past month. (Listed in no particular order, other than the first one is my favorite)  NOTE: add .com to any of these to get to their web sites!

• ExactTarget
• Boomerang
• MailerMailer
• Eloqua
• MailChimp
• Responsys
• Silverpop
• EmailLabs
• VerticalResponse
• CampaignMonitor
• MyNewsletterBuilder
• Bronto
• CheetahMail
• ConstantContact
• InxMail
• ThinkDigit
• LiftMySales
• SendIt
• Publicaster
• Peer360
• DotMailer
• SimplyCast
• Emarket360
• eDialogue
• iContact
• Zumie
• ZetaInteractive
• eConnect
• MadMimi
• SendPepper
• Emma
• AceOfSales
• SubscriberMail
• Campaigner
• RatePoint
• EmailBrain
• AWeber
• Media1llc

Cool Marketing Resource - article2video.com

Wow, here is a bright idea!  I am not sure if the concept of putting an article into video format is a good idea, but if it seems to be worth a test. 

One trial is allowed for free.  www.article2video.com

Check it out, comment here!

Cool Marketing Resource - Sherpa Stats on Social Media

Here's something, MarketingSherpa has a chart concluding that marketers believe social media to be effective, although unmeasuarable.

I wonder how they know these strategies are effective?

MarketingSherpa Chart >>
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31043

Cool Marketing Resource - @deliverability

A Twitter account allows you to follow the thoughts and daily interactions of another individual who is also using Twitter.

For email marketing pros, I recommend following @deliverability.

You can also read the blog at www.Deliverability.com  

And here is a useful article about email deliverability:
http://www.demandgenreport.com/articles_print.php?codearti=1243

Cool Marketing Resource - Social Media

It's the rage, there are webinars, seminars, white papers, and loads of tweets on how to use social media for marketing. 

I attended a presentation by Hillary Brown (@hillabean) on social media marketing strategies, and I am finally sold. 

There are two valid reasons to monitor and participate in social media marketing:

1) Search engine rankings - the more your brand appears online, the more likely your brand name will appear in search findings.

2) Viral marketing - the online form of word-of-mouth marketing.  If your business has flourished as a result of good customers talking good things about your business, those same good customers are now likely twittering, blogging, facebooking, and posting comments about your business. 

The tools exist to track your brand name across these social media platforms.  Want to know what people are saying about you?  Moreover, would you prefer to contribute to the positive image your brand name already enjoys?  Join Twitter, create a Facebook page, build a blog...

The time has come.

For more on social media marketing, keep up with Hillary Brown at www.lavarow.com

Cool Marketing Resource - Salesforce.com

I was a sales rep with a large international company for 15 years.  Managing the information flow to and from sales reps was a trick in and of itself.  And overseeing data collection and information flow from reps to customers was nearly impossible.

This has all changed in the past 5 years with new technologies and the creative use of Customer Relationship Management tools.

What is fantastic, as a sales rep AND an email marketing professional, is how we can integrate email programs with CRM tools, resulting in more timely communication, easier communciation management, and more satisfied and connected customers.

Triggered email, as defined at Webopedia.com, is: "Any email message that is automatically sent to a person based on an event..."  Triggered emails are created in advance and delivered as they are triggered.  The trigger can be a click at a web site, a relationship to a particular data field in a database (date of birth, for example), or any type of action within a customer relationship cycle.  Triggered emails are often "transactional" in nature, confirming a sale or a registration.  More and more, email marketing professionals are focusing on triggered one-to-one emails to implement marketing campaigns.  With our email solution, we can integrate a product update with a purchase confirmation, automate an annual renewal email or send an personalized offer based on a recent registration or purchase.

Our tool of choice for email marketing is ExactTarget, and the online sales tool of choice for our customers is Salesforce.com - which integrates seemlessly with ExactTarget.  See ExactTarget.com and Salesforce.com. 

Cool Marketing Resource - ExactTarget Seminar

ExactTarget's Route 1 to 1: The New eMarketing Essentials is heading your way!  More info >>

In addition to informative presentations, top industry experts and analysts will provide one-to-one marketing technology insight, and ExactTarget clients will share real-life examples of B2B and B2C email marketing success.

WinCommunications will be there in Chicago in May.  Look for the latest tips here at WinBlogger soon after the May seminar, and be sure to call 1-866-win-mail if you are interested in learning more about how to incorporate ExactTarget's tool into your marketing plan.

Cool Marketing Resource - Clickz Conference

Q: Who reads email and why?

A: From "Beyond Direct: E-mail Branding & Relationships to Build Business," at the Clickz Email Marketing Conference come these facts:

• 81 percent of U.S. executives subscribe to industry e-mail newsletters for product information and business intelligence (Wall Street Journal).
• 60 percent of business decision makers said Internet and email are the best ways for advertisers to reach them (Jupiter Research).

Read more statistics reported at the conference in this Clickz article: http://www.clickz.com/3627305/print

Cool Marketing Resource - WDFM.com

I like lists.  They are:

1. Easy to follow
2. Organized
3. Succinct

The email newsletter by Larry Chase called "Web Digest for Marketers" organizes information in a numbered list which is consistent and familiar every time it is published.  The lists are always topic-specific, so I know right away if I am going to want to browse the list or not.

One thing I don't like is how I have to skip past the large advertisement that pops into my preview pane in order to get to the content of the newsletter.  This is an unfortunate misunderstanding of priorities.  I also think it would be helpful to have a table of contents and some back-and-forth navigation.

Still, the information is terrific and I appreciate the lists he sends out on topics like "Top 12 Advance Email Marketing Resources" and "How to Get Email Newsletter Subscribers." 

See more at www.wdfm.com .