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The Secrets to The Most Effective Form of Online CommunicationBy Ryan P. Allis, CEO of iContact
June 16, 2008Durham, NC
LESSON: Thoughts become thingsBut email gets a bad rap…
SPAM BUY NOW!!!CIALIS
WIRE FRAUD
NO MORE FREEDOM
CRACKBERRY ADDICTS
NO MORE TIME
I’M LONELY TONIGHT
LESSON: Thoughts become things
When email is one-to-one it’s just email.
When email is one-to-many, it’s email marketing.
LESSON: Thoughts become thingsToday, I have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal
Mr. Gorilla, the Email Marketer
LESSON: Thoughts become thingsAND what’s the best way to turn those customers into lifetime evangelizers?
LESSON: Thoughts become things
You must be clear about:
1. WHAT YOU’LL BE SENDING2. HOW OFTEN3. FROM WHOM
LESSON: Thoughts become thingsDisclose at the point of sign-up the content, frequency, and the sender
LESSON: Thoughts become things2. Don’t send something more or less frequently than you said you would
LESSON: Thoughts become things3. Don’t let other people/brands send anything to your list (unless disclosed)
LESSON: Thoughts become things
So, opt-in email marketing is communicating to existing customers, members, and prospects
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Opt-in email marketing pays back $15.50 in return for every $1 spent
Source: Winterberry Group, May 2006
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Email Marketing…
• Drives repeat sales, referrals and customer lifetime value
• Increases prospect conversion, keeps your company at
top of mind
• Is easy to use and at a low cost, with measurable results
• Has the highest ROI on any online tool, $15.50 in return
for every dollar spent
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Email marketing (done right) will greatly increase your:
1.Prospect-to-customer conversion2.Repeat visits3.Repeat orders4.Customer lifetime value
LESSON: Thoughts become things
You can send:
1.Monthly newsletters2.Automatic e-courses3.Sale promotions4.Weekly coupons5.Customer surveys6.Group member updates7.Donor fundraisers8.Paid insider-only content
LESSON: Thoughts become things
1. Determine if you want to manage your email list manually or automatically
LESSON: Thoughts become things
3. Put a sign-up form on your home page (and all pages) with clear disclosure and value statement
Getting Inbox Delivery1. Make sure your Email Service Provider is whitelisted with AOL,
Yahoo, Gmail, and Hotmail2. Make sure your ESP isn’t currently on any blacklists3. Make sure your ESP has feedback looks set up4. Ask your subscribers to add your email address to their
address book5. Use SpamCheck to ensure your message doesn’t have any
trigger words or trigger elements6. Don’t use trigger words in your subject lines7. Use consistent from names8. Use the same from address every time
Getting Inbox Delivery
Getting Inbox DeliveryElements to Avoid
1. Avoid CSS2. Avoid Javascript3. Avoid Forms4. Avoid using ALL CAPS5. Avoid using just an image with no
text
6. Avoid Big Red Lettering
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Build your list through:1.Trade Shows2.Seminars conferences3.Point-of-sale forms4.Squeeze pages and lightboxes5.Events6.Free report response ads7.Your email signature8.Co-registration
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Create an effective sign-up form by:1.Positioning it above the fold2.Having an overwhelming value proposition3.Offering an opt-in incentive4.Collecting whatever data you will want to segment by5.Minimizing fields for maximizing sign-ups
Standard FieldsThe standard mail-merge fields are usually along the lines of:
Prefix - [prefix]First Name - [fname]Last Name - [lname]Suffix - [suffix]Business Name - [business]Email - [email]Phone - [phone]Fax - [fax]Address 1 - [address1]Address 2 - [address2]City - [city]State - [state]Zip - [zip]List Name - [listname]
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Write Compelling Subject Lines…1.Answer what’s it in for them2.Open with a benefit or curiosity3.Create a sense of urgency4.Personalize it5.Keep it under 35 characters
LESSON: Thoughts become things
BAD
ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHRONICLE FOR AUGUST 2008
GOOD
[fname]’s Entrepreneurship Chronicle
LESSON: Thoughts become things
BAD
Want to get out of the city this weekend?
GOOD
[fname], want to get out of [city] this weekend?
LESSON: Thoughts become things
A good open rate is 20%
A great open rate is anything above 30%
Note: Open Rates are usually underreported by 10-15% due to images being blocked by default in some email clients
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Write Compelling Newsletters…
1.Provide quality content and make the value to the reader clear2.Build a long term relationship and use a consistent voice3.Describe compelling benefits for your offering.4.Use credibility indicators5.Don’t use long copy, or sell directly in the email6.Use lots of links, drive traffic to the site7.Use the calendar to send date-relevant promotions8.Create urgency with limited time offers9.Have a clear call to action at the end
1. Target specific demographics2. Provide a discount to active customers3. Send separate messages to customers
who open or click more4. Create sub-groups based on survey
response data
You can use list segmentation to:
LESSON: Thoughts become things
You can use an ESP to track1.Opens2.Clicks3.Forwards4.Bounces5.Complaints6.Unsubscribes
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Split test different subject lines, content, and days with subsets of your list
LESSON: Thoughts become things
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays mornings and early afternoons are generally best times to send emails
Top 8 Email Marketing Tips
1. Start Email Marketing Today :Email marketing is the most cost effective means of
reaching prospects, constituents, and customers.
2. Put a Sign-Up Form On Your Site: A big mistake of web site owners is sending out
an email newsletter but not putting a sign-up form on your web site.
3. Be Clear About What You Will Send and How Often: The biggest cause of spam
complaints is recipients not receiving what they expected to receive when they
opted-in. Send valuable content on a set schedule and be clear in your opt-in form.
4. Send During the Best Times: The best times to send an email to consumer
addresses are: Tuesday through Thursday 6pm to 8pm and Sunday 7pm to 9pm.
The best times to send an email to business addresses are: Tuesday through
Thursday 9am to 11am, 1pm to 3pm.
5. Maximize Deliverability: Add a message at the top of your emails that says "To ensure
receipt of our emails, please add [email protected] to your Address Book."
Make sure to use the SpamCheck feature.
6. Have a Consistent From Name: Use either your company name or the name of a person at
your company. Once you choose a From Name, keep it consistent.
7. Send HTML & Text: Include both a plain text and an HTML version of your newsletter. If you
don’t include a plain text message, around 5% of your recipients will see a message with
nothing in it.
8. Build Your List At Every Opportunity: If you have a retail location, add a point-of-sale sign
up form. At conferences or events, ask everyone you speak with if you may add them to
your list after you exchange business cards. Add your newsletter sign-up form to every
page on your web site.
Top 8 Email Marketing Tips Continued
Three Types of Marketing
There are three types of marketing:
• Acquisition marketing
• Conversion marketing
• Retention Marketing
1. Acquisition Marketing
Acquisition marketing acquires prospects via:
A. Display Advertising (Cost Per Impression)
B. Cost Per Click Advertising
C. Organic Search Optimization
D. Co-registration Deals
E. Affiliate/CPA Marketing
F. Social Media Marketing
A. Display AdvertisingAd Servers
• DoubleClick (Google), Atlas (Microsoft), Zedo, or Open Adstream• MediaVisor, RFPs, IOs
Ad Networks• Tribal Fusion• Advertising.com• Tacoda• AdBrite• 24/7 Real Media• aQuantive• Blue Lithium• Casale Media• Revenue Science• DrivePM• Value Click
B. Cost Per Click Advertising
Major Networks (90%)
• Google Adwords (65%)
• Yahoo Panama (17%)
• Microsoft AdCenter (8%)
All Other Networks (10%)• Kanoodle• Miva• Findwhat• 7Search• Zango
Acquisition Marketing
C. Organic Search Optimization
Basic Steps to Rank Well for Competitive Search Terms:
1. Determine Keyphrase: Determine which target keyphrase you want
to rank for.
2. Increase Keyphrase Frequency: Place keyphrase on your home
page 5-10 times, in image alt tags, in title tag, in H1 tag, in anchor
text.
3. Add Thematic Content: Add 20-30 articles to your web site about
topics related to your keyphrase.
4. Build Reputation: Get at least 20-30 other web sites and blogs to
link to your content. Number needed determined by authority of
sites (PR) and competitiveness of target keyphrase.
D. Co-Registration Deals
Co-Registration networks
• Opt-intelligence
• Q Interactive
• Lead Point
• CoregMedia
E. Affiliate/CPA MarketingAffiliate Networks/Programs
• CommissionJunction• LinkShare• Share A Sale• 1 ShoppingCart• MyAffiliateProgram
CPA Offer Networks (Primarily for Consumer Offers)• Primary Ads• AzoogleLeads• CPA Empire• HydraNetwork• ClickBooth• Value Click Media
F. Social Media MarketingSocial Networks
• Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Hi5, Orkut, Multiply, Ning Content Aggregators
• Digg, Reddit, Propeller, NewsvineContent Networks
• SquidooBlogging Tools
• Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress, MyBlogLog, TechnoratiSocial Search/Bookmarking Tools
• StumbleUpon, Mahalo, FreeIQ, Wikimedia, Del.icio.usVideo Tools
• YouTube, MetaCafe, Vimeo, Viddler
3. Retention Marketing
Retention marketing turns a customer into a lifetime evangelizer via:
• Email Marketing
• Newsletters
• Autoresponders & Ecourses
• Existing Customer-Base Promotions
• Surveys
• Blogs/RSS
The Cardinal Sin of Web Marketers
We focus WAY too much time
and money on acquiring new
customers and not nearly
enough on converting existing
prospects and getting our
existing customers to buy
more.
Three Methods of Increasing Revenue
There are only three ways to increase company revenue
1. Acquire more prospects (ACQUISITION MARKETING)
2. Increase conversion rate of prospects (CONVERSION MARKETING)
3. Increase re-orders from existing customers (RETENTION MARKETING)
We often focus almost all of our time and money on Method 1 and so little on Methods 2 and 3.
Two Key Questions
Key Questions to Ask Yourself
1. How much money do you spend on prospect acquisition? (Advertising and Sales Costs)
2. How much money do you spend on increasing conversions and LTV?(Landing Page Optimization, Email Newsletters, Email Promotions, Blogging)
The Three Types of MarketingAcquisition Marketing• Display Advertising• Cost Per Click Advertising• Organic Search Optimization• Co-registration Deals• Affiliate/CPA Marketing• Social Media Marketing
Retention Marketing• Email Marketing Newsletters• Autoresponders & Ecourses• Customer-Base Promotions & Sales• Surveys• Blogs/RSS
Conversion Marketing• Email Marketing Newsletters• Autoresponders & Ecourses• Prospect-Base Promotions & Sales• CPM Re-targeting• Landing Page Optimization
• Email Marketing• Autoresponders• Surveys• Blogs/RSS
Blogs, Autoresponders, & Surveys
iContact also allows small businesses to easily create surveys, autoresponders,
blogs, and RSS feeds
Easy to Create Blogs Automated Autoresponders Multi-question Surveys
LESSON: Thoughts become thingsAND what’s the best way to turn those customers into lifetime evangelizers?
For More Information
Contact Info:
Ryan P. Allis, CEO
iContact Corp