Effective Email Marketing: How to Increase Existing Customer Sales Jenny Klimisch Marketing Coordinator VerticalResponse Page 1 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Agenda Why email marketing works Building your list Creating an effective email Content tips for your email Tools and resources to get you started
About VerticalResponse Leading provider of self-service email marketing, social media, online surveys and direct mail marketing Support Team Of The Year at 2011 American Business Awards 2010 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business "Ebbies" Awards 2010 San Francisco Business Times list of "Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in the Bay Area" Page 3 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Why Email Marketing Emails build relationships, retention and loyalty An excuse to talk about your company Stay in front of your audience Educate/entertain Establish yourself as an expert Sell your products & services Page 4 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Why Email Marketing Works Easy to Use Requires no technical expertise Fast Create a simple email in minutes Real time reporting on opens, clicks, and more Affordable Free Trial Pay As You Go or Monthly Pricing options High ROI Page 5 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Building Your Mailing List Quality lists are NOT built in a day Leverage existing network Customers past/current Build & Grow Constant process You can lose up to 28% of your list each year to attrition Purchased lists aren t a good way to start a relationship Give Then What You Promised Relevant content Frequency at least once a month Page 6 VerticalResponse, Inc.
List Building - Online If you already have a business relationship with someone you can email them Put your opt-in form on your website, blog, social media, etc Offer special downloads, like how-to guides related to your organization and require an email address to download Sponsor a contest or give away, just be clear that when they enter they will be added to your mailing list
List Building In Email Offer great content Include a forward-to-a-friend link in every email Include a link to your sign-up form in Every email for any shared socially Your email signature Share your email and opt-in form on social media
List Building In Person At events to ask people to sign up on your list Use a fishbowl to collect business for your mailing list or point of sale Have a newsletter sign-up form at your front desk Collect business cards Add info on the back of your business card about signing up for your email
Content Basics Keep readers coming back for more Limit to 3 to 5 topics/articles Personalize your message with merge fields Assist in scanning Bold headlines and keywords Bullets Whitespace is a good thing Page 10 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Best Practices for Content From Label Should be your company name or who the subscriber has the relationship with Stick with it and avoid changing it Subject Line Ideal length 40-50 characters Think of as your teaser copyl Avoid using all caps and excessive punctuation (BUY NOW!!!!) Must relate back to your email content Mailing Address
Best Practices for Creating Effective Email Use buttons for call to action when you can vs. text only link 26% CTR increase Links to your social media Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn Links to help people share your newsletter Page 12 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Content Ideas What is up with your biz? Testimonials Promote events and webinars Holidays Social media - get viral Questions & surveys What are your customers thinking? Page 13 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Content Ideas Include a link for a donating to a good cause Special offers You or your employees' smiling face Tips or ideas for your customers Awards you ve won
Creating an Effective Email Break your email up into short blocks of copy Use bullets Include several links back to your site Whitespace is good! Page 15 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Creating an Effective Email Make sure your best content is above the fold 50% of all email users spend 2-3 seconds scanning the top 3 inches of your email Use the crucial top area for a Table of Contents to get them to click and read more down below Page 16 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Creating an Effective Email Avoid using images as your sole content 39% of all email users have their images turned off Doesn t count as an open unless the reader enables the images Ask subscribers to add you to their safe senders list Page 17 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Creating an Effective Email Use a balance of images and text (80/20 rule) Use alternative text (alt text) that tells the user what the image is or, company name, or offer If possible, include a call-to-action on your images, like Click Here for Details Page 18 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Without Images Page 19 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Reporting Real Time Results Campaign Dashboard Overall Performance Top Performing Lists Top Performing Links Recent Email Comparisons Printable Dashboard What are good stats? Varies by industry, but an open rate of 20% and a click through rate of 2-5% are considered a very effective email campaign. Page 20 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Summary Emails build relationships Best practices for emails aren t all about selling Represent your brand Think about what your audience Learn from every newsletter
Free VerticalResponse Tools & Resources How to Do Everything http://help.verticalresponse.com Getting Started Kit help.verticalresponse.com/how-to/tutorial/new_user/ Free Marketing Guides www.verticalresponse.com/education-support/guides/ Regular Live Demos & Webinars help.verticalresponse.com Getting Started with VerticalResponse VR Marketing Lounge lounge.verticalresponse.com Page 22 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Central Coast SBDC Send your First 500 Emails on Us! Plus receive 15% off all purchases. www.verticalresponse.com/sbdc Page 23 VerticalResponse, Inc.
Q&A Page 24 VerticalResponse, Inc.