How do blogging and email marketing work together, and do they? My opinion: email as a tool is great for conversion and retention, but what about acquiring new ones?
I've heard that email and search still make up the majority of online activity. How do leverage 'search' to reach new people?
To use search as a way to get more new contacts, there is Pay-Per-Click and SEO. To me they are one and the same, except you have to pay for one.
If your website ranks among the top dozen results after a search, you're doing well and can probably stop reading here.
Most if not all clicks are made on a search engine results page such as Google.
So here's the problem: PPC only gets a small amount of clicks on search engine pages, and traditional website SEO tactics don't come close to fulfilling the volume of keywords that an organization needs to target.
The supplement? Notice I said supplement and not "the answer". Search engines, when it comes down to it, want to deliver relevant content. This is where blogging comes in.
When blogging, pay attention to the following: keywords (the more content, the more chances you have to use the keywords you want to be found on), page titles (a page with a title that matches the search phrase has a much better chance of improving their rankings), and frequency (blogs are updated more frequently--search engines put a higher value on pages that are updated more).
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
E-Mail Marketing Tips
I recently had a client call me and ask why there was such a high bounceback rate in her constant contact list, or many that ended up in the 'junk folder'. While there are many reasons that can occur--from what you put as the subject line in your email to a few irate people hitting "spam" when they see it--in her case, here was the fix.
In my experience, the reason failure rates started becoming an issue to marketers started many years ago from the spam/valid email dictionary attacks on ISPs.
This is how constant contact defines "high" bounce rate: "Constant Contact also expects your mailing list to be as "clean" as possible before you import it to our system. Your list should be recently aged, as well as scrubbed of both "role" and illegitimate addresses. <this is why I always say our list management services, whether email or direct mail, needs to be at minimum a bi-monthly commitment--we manage, add and delete emails for you--all you have to send us is an email with old/new names/email addresses/physical addresses>. These lists consistently result in high abuse complaints and bounce rates, and directly impact email delivery rates."
Constant Contact is a low cost ESP that targets small businesses and organizations. It's a self-serve model and so anyone can come to their site and sign up for the service. Accordingly, to protect their IP addresses, Constant Contact has the most stringent thresholds for the three main criteria that ISPs screen for to determine whether or not to block, or at worst, blacklist you:
1. excessive "this is spam" complaints
2. excessive bounces
3. existence of 'spamtrap' addresses
So we also provide services that will help clean your list and flag/remove closed domains, suspect and malicious email addresses, hygiene (i.e. syntax, typo, formatting, misspelling, etc) and top level domain errors. What we try to avoid is having our clients function with an old list that contains a significant percentage of validly formatted emails (e.g. anniej@hotmail.com) that are no longer in use. We step in, 'hygiene' the entire list and then message the remainder of the file that otherwise looks OK. Given that most email address lists experience a 30% annual churn rate, it's easy to see how companies can get blocked or blacklisted if they're not being diligent about keeping their email lists fresh and up-to-date on a regular basis.
Give us your old list and let us start maintaining it now. You can design the most attractive email campaign in the world, but at the end of the day, it's only as good as your list. Same with direct mail.
Historically, B2B doesn't get as many spam complaints as B2C.
Try out our additional list cleaning services before sending out your next email campaign and see the 'failure rates' decline.
In my experience, the reason failure rates started becoming an issue to marketers started many years ago from the spam/valid email dictionary attacks on ISPs.
This is how constant contact defines "high" bounce rate: "Constant Contact also expects your mailing list to be as "clean" as possible before you import it to our system. Your list should be recently aged, as well as scrubbed of both "role" and illegitimate addresses. <this is why I always say our list management services, whether email or direct mail, needs to be at minimum a bi-monthly commitment--we manage, add and delete emails for you--all you have to send us is an email with old/new names/email addresses/physical addresses>. These lists consistently result in high abuse complaints and bounce rates, and directly impact email delivery rates."
Constant Contact is a low cost ESP that targets small businesses and organizations. It's a self-serve model and so anyone can come to their site and sign up for the service. Accordingly, to protect their IP addresses, Constant Contact has the most stringent thresholds for the three main criteria that ISPs screen for to determine whether or not to block, or at worst, blacklist you:
1. excessive "this is spam" complaints
2. excessive bounces
3. existence of 'spamtrap' addresses
So we also provide services that will help clean your list and flag/remove closed domains, suspect and malicious email addresses, hygiene (i.e. syntax, typo, formatting, misspelling, etc) and top level domain errors. What we try to avoid is having our clients function with an old list that contains a significant percentage of validly formatted emails (e.g. anniej@hotmail.com) that are no longer in use. We step in, 'hygiene' the entire list and then message the remainder of the file that otherwise looks OK. Given that most email address lists experience a 30% annual churn rate, it's easy to see how companies can get blocked or blacklisted if they're not being diligent about keeping their email lists fresh and up-to-date on a regular basis.
Give us your old list and let us start maintaining it now. You can design the most attractive email campaign in the world, but at the end of the day, it's only as good as your list. Same with direct mail.
Historically, B2B doesn't get as many spam complaints as B2C.
Try out our additional list cleaning services before sending out your next email campaign and see the 'failure rates' decline.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Art of Video Message Mapping
By Jolyn Janis, RCM Contributor
The art of video message mapping.
Before moving forward with any commercial video or film, we "map" our messaging and shooting plan in detailed visual graphs. While our clients may already know their messaging, it almost always evolves and shifts as the project continues and the creative juices are flowing. This mapping strategy helps to keep the project on a clear path in terms of the video as well as the world in which it lives.
Digital video rarely lives alone.
Digital video always lives within the context of a website and other content is sharing that space. What else lives on the page where your video will be shown? Where does the video direct the user? What emotional response do you want to evoke and what actions do you want your audience to take based on that emotional response? These are just a few questions we ask our clients to understand the context of the film that we are trusted in creating.
Story is key.
There is story in everything, everybody, every company. When a client is open to spending the time to craft their unique narrative thread, it always enhances their final product on an emotional level (the most impactful level). Making a video is the easy part, but what do you say and how will you say it? We've all seen the ads that are informational, but kinda boring - or they are entertaining but once its over, you cant remember what company it was promoting. This is the result of a good idea without a core foundation of the company that created it. Start with the story and craft outwards from there.
The art of video message mapping.
Before moving forward with any commercial video or film, we "map" our messaging and shooting plan in detailed visual graphs. While our clients may already know their messaging, it almost always evolves and shifts as the project continues and the creative juices are flowing. This mapping strategy helps to keep the project on a clear path in terms of the video as well as the world in which it lives.
Digital video rarely lives alone.
Digital video always lives within the context of a website and other content is sharing that space. What else lives on the page where your video will be shown? Where does the video direct the user? What emotional response do you want to evoke and what actions do you want your audience to take based on that emotional response? These are just a few questions we ask our clients to understand the context of the film that we are trusted in creating.
Story is key.
There is story in everything, everybody, every company. When a client is open to spending the time to craft their unique narrative thread, it always enhances their final product on an emotional level (the most impactful level). Making a video is the easy part, but what do you say and how will you say it? We've all seen the ads that are informational, but kinda boring - or they are entertaining but once its over, you cant remember what company it was promoting. This is the result of a good idea without a core foundation of the company that created it. Start with the story and craft outwards from there.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Keep Your Project On-time and In Budget
By Emily Adams, RCM Contributor:
A designer shares the things she wished clients knew:
Content! Content! Content!
The single most important thing you need to know about graphic design is that it can't save bad content! Content that is ready for design is fine-tuned for MESSAGE and free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. If it takes you two months of back and forth with your internal team, it's time well spent. You should avoid using the layout process as "inspiration" as multiple text edits will drive up your costs significantly. If you get a completely new idea when you see your first designed draft, put layout on hold and go back to the content development phase.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth $$$
Another effective way for you to help is to thoroughly prep all of the materials you provide to the designer. If graphs/charts are included, the data should be configured as you would like it presented in the piece. The designer will most likely need to redo the materials in a design-specific program, but a nice, neat Excel file will make this process much faster and thus, less expensive. Any images you provide should be high-res and fairly good quality, meaning close to how you want them to look in the finished piece.
The Designer is a Magician, Not a Mind Reader
Make sure you are very explicit about things that may seem very obvious to you. For example, stock imagery can cost anywhere from $10 to hundreds of dollars. If your budget is an issue, make sure the designer is aware and instruct them to source appropriate images that are also cost effective as you define it. Make sure you and the designer agree that no images will be purchased without your approval.
If you have corporate graphic standards that need to be followed make sure the designer is provided with these or make a detailed list of key rules to follow when formatting text or using elements. Never assume the designer knows anything about your graphics standards. Review the first draft thoroughly to make sure that the designer is understanding and implementing the guidelines correctly.
Agree to Disagree: The Internal Approval Process
You can greatly reduce costs and keep deadlines intact by streamlining the approval process. Make sure that you know who will be in charge of approving design work and that everyone can agree to let that team or person's judgment stand. If you have thoroughly vetted your content, then you'll be way ahead of the game.
A designer shares the things she wished clients knew:
Content! Content! Content!
The single most important thing you need to know about graphic design is that it can't save bad content! Content that is ready for design is fine-tuned for MESSAGE and free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. If it takes you two months of back and forth with your internal team, it's time well spent. You should avoid using the layout process as "inspiration" as multiple text edits will drive up your costs significantly. If you get a completely new idea when you see your first designed draft, put layout on hold and go back to the content development phase.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth $$$
Another effective way for you to help is to thoroughly prep all of the materials you provide to the designer. If graphs/charts are included, the data should be configured as you would like it presented in the piece. The designer will most likely need to redo the materials in a design-specific program, but a nice, neat Excel file will make this process much faster and thus, less expensive. Any images you provide should be high-res and fairly good quality, meaning close to how you want them to look in the finished piece.
The Designer is a Magician, Not a Mind Reader
Make sure you are very explicit about things that may seem very obvious to you. For example, stock imagery can cost anywhere from $10 to hundreds of dollars. If your budget is an issue, make sure the designer is aware and instruct them to source appropriate images that are also cost effective as you define it. Make sure you and the designer agree that no images will be purchased without your approval.
If you have corporate graphic standards that need to be followed make sure the designer is provided with these or make a detailed list of key rules to follow when formatting text or using elements. Never assume the designer knows anything about your graphics standards. Review the first draft thoroughly to make sure that the designer is understanding and implementing the guidelines correctly.
Agree to Disagree: The Internal Approval Process
You can greatly reduce costs and keep deadlines intact by streamlining the approval process. Make sure that you know who will be in charge of approving design work and that everyone can agree to let that team or person's judgment stand. If you have thoroughly vetted your content, then you'll be way ahead of the game.
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