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Further to our thoughts about the dying art of email earlier this week, email marketers should take a close look at their lists.
Are you emailing a number (small or large) of people each week who do not actually want to receive information from you but who cannot unsubscribe without going through a lengthy process? For instance, when someone wishes to leave your email list, do they need to try and recall a password that your system insisted was set up some 1, 2 or 5 years ago? If there has been no requirement to use that password in the interim, it is unlikely that the subscriber will recall it. What other requirements does your unsubcribe process insist upon that may prove difficult?
Try now. How easy is it to unsubscribe from any email list you run?
If your email lands, week in week out into the inbox of someone who does not want to receive it but has been unable to unsubscribe, then all you are doing is pushing home a negative message which is likely to be passed on by those recipients. Not jsut by email but by word of mouth, twitter, facebook etc.
It is all very well insisting on a double opt in process to ensure that people have chosen to receive your info, but how easy are you making it to opt out? Or are you leaving people with little option but to report your emails as spam or to filter them permanently into the delete folder?
If people are finding it more simple to report your address as spam, this will have an effect on your presence on blacklists, and hence whether your emails will be delivered to other address who may actually wish to receive your content.
Take 5 minutes today to set up an address on your email marketing list and then try to unsubscribe. Are there issues? Can you make life easier? Have you already been blacklisted for spam due to a complexity in your unsubscribe mechanism? How clean is your email list? When was the last time you spoke directly to your list and received a substantial number of responses? Are your email falling into black holes?
Does your email marketing campaign work? Have you tied it into your social media marketing campaign so that you can track results? Are you actually reaching your target audience?
let us know what tactics you have tried and the changes you have made in email marketing over the last year or so….
If you are using Twitter, then you should also be using Tweetlater, which allows you to automate many of the processes which you need to do to make the most of Twitter eg send a welcome message, auto-tweet, auto-follow, auto-unfollow and so on.
Even if you are not using Twitter and tweetlater, a quick look around the tweetlater site reveals an interesting idea for banner ads and raising revenue from your website.
At the top of every page, above the fold, is a featured user banner. This reaches a large audience, both through the website and inclusion in 30k emails that are sent out. In order to feature here for 24 hours, all you need do is bid in the auction.
This is an interesting idea to deal with unsold inventory, raise money, and also promote your website as anyone who wins an auction will also mention your site in blogs, tweets etc. Particularly if they see an increase in followers from being featured.
Setting up persistent auctions such as this is not difficult, and could prove to be a valuable revenue generator for any site with a reasonable number of page views.
From an SEO / Web PR angle, purchasing a banner in such a way and on such a site will gain you a useful backlink, even if only temporary, whilst also getting your name and details out through email marketing to a large number of potential followers, customers etc. And very affordable, looking at the prices of previous successful auctions.
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I have just read a piece in our local business newspaper, written by a so-called online marketing expert, all about e-mail marketing.
It reminded me that as we approach Christmas, many companies will be looking to promote their products and services. Many will opt for an e-mail campaign, especially in times of recession where cuts must be made everywhere possible, and postage is one easy choice.
And these companies probably have little experience in e-mail marketing, so here is the first DONT! that this particular article missed out!
Before you send ANY emails to anyone, make sure that they have given you their email address for that purpose. Do not go out and buy an email list, because you are heading straight into the trap of sending out Unsolicited Commercial Email (aka spam).
Do not go searching through your inbox for email addresses for everyone and anyone who has ever contacted you with a view to sending them an email promoting your hot Xmas product. That is spamming.
The full Privacy and Communications Directive laying out what can and cannot be done is here, and everyone who uses email, or many other forms of communications, should have read it.
Although it is rare that we hear of a UK company being ‘policed’ over spam, it is not necessarily the legal effect that will be felt most soundly by your company, but the PR ripple effect, that is often unseen, and you may be unaware of.
Every individual who has to delete an unwanted email will, at the very least, take in the name of the company who sent it, even if very briefly as they hit the delete button. This means you have just had your name or brand associated with the Trash Box!
Probably not quite the effect you intended with your carefully crafted, beautifully laid out email. But it is the effect achieved, and you should avoid it at all costs.
Today’s lesson is: send your emails to those who have opted in to receive them. They are your willing target audience.
