Email Marketing News: April 2014

Having an email marketing strategy is a very important part of a successful business. Here are some clues that you may not have a developed strategy in place.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Benchmark Easy List Ap: Another Great Plugin

We can appreciate our ancestors’ use of ancient pens and papers for their own business, but let’s take advantage of our modern technology and invest in a sign-up app for ours!Related Articles

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Three Things We Learned from Chris Kostman of AdventureCORPS

Indeed. Our latest podcast guest needs no introduction in the endurance sports world, as he hosts some of the most grueling races on the planet, including a 135-mile California footrace that starts below sea level in Death Valley and ends at Mt. Whitney’s portal at 8,400-ish feet.Related Articles

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You’re Doing It Wrong: 4 Tips For Better Social Media Engagement

Did you know only 1 out of 5 customer inquiries on Twitter and Facebook receives a response from a brand or business? Even when they are answered, the average response time is a dreadful 11 hours.

What a shame.

So many missing major opportunities – for new business, to save business, and to learn what your customers want.

I’m always surprised when I hear of businesses that ignore their customers on social media.

Instead of falling in with the anti-social majority, your business can stand out and delight customers on social media. Here’s how.

Put the “Social” Back in Social Media

Social media is not about simply broadcasting your products, services or content.

Rather, it’s about conversing with your customers and prospective clients. It’s called “social” after all.

To make matters worse for businesses unwilling to engage on social media, user engagement is on the rise, meaning customers are going to talk more. In fact, it’s growing nine times faster than the social networks themselves. This all according to the team at SproutSocial.

The “always on” consumer is also expecting a faster and more frequent response from business and brands.

Nearly half of consumers now expect businesses to respond to their tweets and posts within 1 hour. And that expectation grows if a customer is experiencing a service issue. Additionally, more than half of consumers expect businesses to respond during non-business hours.

So What’s A Business To Do?

How do you satisfy the ever-increasing needs of customers on social media?

Here are four easy steps you can take to engage customers better:

1. Use A Monitoring Tool

With the number of tools on the market, both free and paid, there’s really no excuse not to be able to monitor what’s being said about you on social media. You can use a free tool, like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, or go the paid route, like SproutSocial.

2. Expand Your Monitoring Search

While your first step in monitoring social media is to follow your own channels, customers or potential clients often don’t post directly to your Facebook timeline or @mention you on Twitter.

Be sure to monitor keywords that include mentions of your business as well as topics that relate to your business. This can be a huge benefit to your business because this is where you’ll find new connections and business opportunities.

3. Give Thanks

Engagement goes beyond addressing customer concerns. The real power is in building relationships with both customers and advocates. By monitoring topics relevant to your business, you’ll discover opportunities to engage with potential clients and advocates.

You can start by simply complimenting someone for an article they published, or sharing some of their content with your audience.

Sometimes just offering to help with a challenge someone is having can be the start of a great relationship.

4. Stay Calm and Take the High Road

You’re bound to get complaints once in a while. Have a plan in place for how you’re going to react and manage these.

There are various levels of customer complaints, and they all need to be handled in their own unique way. LiveAgent gives some great tips on how to handle a complaining customer. The key through all of it is to stay positive and never get into an argument. Always take the high road.

What Tips Do You Have?

What’s your take? How do you engage with customers on social media? Comment below with your two cents.

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The 2 Possible Responses to Any Marketing Report

There are two possible responses to a marketing performance report - "Oh Yeah?" and "So What?" - so how should marketers react?

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Monday, April 28, 2014

Emails That Do Work: Spring Edition Part 1

Spring has sprung for many, except for the few areas over east with pockets of snow (boo). The flowers bloom, the birds and the bees mingle, and businesses everywhere send out spring-themed emails to their faithful readers. Now that I’m done setting up this imaginary tea party, let’s sit down and chat about Emails That Do Work.Related Articles

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Playlist: Got the Blues

It was the kind of day that made me miss living in the city in which I was born and raised. In honor of the team the Blackhawks just sent on summer vacation and the feelings I was having for my hometown, this playlist is all about the blues.Related Articles

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Friday, April 25, 2014

Nurturing Leads Through Podcasting

Podcasting is a strange beast. It’s a communication medium that is based on the struggling talk radio format, absent the graphic stimuli so necessary for online marketing, and notoriously hard to share via social channels. Yet it continually delivers something that few other marketing tactics can — intimacy with your leads.Related Articles

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Podcast Playlist

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The Top 5 FTC Definitions In Podcaster Pay-For-Play Laws

You don’t have to be an infomercial pitchman like Kevin Trudeau to face 10 year jail terms as the FTC considers podcasts equivalent to TV broadcasts, so obey the laws!Related Articles

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Podcast 101: Pick Your Cohost, Divide and Conquer

Thousands of tutorials detail the nuts and bolts of podcasting, but read this beginner’s guide first.Related Articles

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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Building a Meaningful Relationship: Tips to Make the Most of Your Loyalty Program

It's clear that loyalty programs influence sales and brand affinity, but businesses need to do more than provide discounts to be a loyalty program that stands out.

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What 3 Mobile Marketing Experts Say About Growing Your Business

We recently discussed mobile marketing with three awesome mobile marketing pros: Tim Hayden, Kim Dushinski and Chris Brisson.

They shared their advice on the most important mobile marketing strategies and what companies should work on for the future.

For highlights of their wisdom, plus a little rap song parody, keep reading.

How Do You Define Mobile Marketing?

Mobile marketing can mean a lot of things, which can throw businesses and marketers for a loop.

So what does it really mean to “do” mobile marketing?

Our guest experts explained that it’s any engagement on a smart device, like a smartphone or a tablet. It may incorporate other online marketing strategies, including email, social media and a company website, but the key is that it’s all on the go.

A1. #mobilemarketing is understanding your customers/community, personalized & relevant. Less about technology than behavior. #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

A1: Also, traditional media is in play with #mobile. If you aren't thinking holistic, beyond the device, you're losing, already. #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

I define #mobilemarketing as anytime a business is interacting with their customer via mobile – whether the biz knows it or not #AweberHour

— KimDushinski (@KimDushinski) March 19, 2014

Greatest Benefit of Mobile Marketing?

We all know why smartphones are great – everything we could ever need to know is right there in our hands.

But mobile devices are great for marketers, too, because you can send your audience everything you want them to know – no matter where they might be.

A2: Let's face it… everyone opens up a #SMS text message. 97% open rate When combined with #email it's insanely powerful #Aweberhour

— Chris Brisson (@chrisbrisson) March 19, 2014

A2: Being more aware of customer needs/wants. Customer behavior insights are supercharged with #mobile. #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

Just Getting Started? Where to Focus Your Efforts?

The answer to this one is surprisingly clear – everything you put out to the web should be able to go mobile.

If someone visits your website on their phone, you want them to be able to view your site. Otherwise that’s a lost customer.

Equally as important are mobile-friendly emails. You’re reaching out to someone because they already indicated they are interested in what you have to say, so make sure they can see it.

A3: Responsive site, responsive email are 2 immediate needs for all business, today. #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

BTW, a business is already doing #mobilemarketing if their customers have cell phones. #AweberHour

— KimDushinski (@KimDushinski) March 19, 2014

Mobile Marketing Trends for 2014?

Predicting the future is hard to do, but our guest experts gave it a shot.

They said that mobile marketing will continue to grow in scope, importance and capability throughout 2014. It will become more personalized and more specific, hopefully making it more successful.

A5: Mobile commerce: one-click purchasing & mobile wallet use will spread this year. #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

A5: Location-based email – "location" as time+geo+context – along with location-based SMS, is hot in 2014. #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

Q5: The need to have a responsive website is more apparent than ever. It's only going to trend upwards as more people go mobile #AWeberhour

— Chris Brisson (@chrisbrisson) March 19, 2014

One Last Mobile Email Design Tip from Tim

When designing websites and email newsletters for mobile, Tim offers one final tip:

A8: We like big buttons and we cannot lie. (at least our fat thumbs do). #aweberhour

— Tim Hayden (@TheTimHayden) March 19, 2014

To see the whole conversation with Kim, Chris, Tim and others, check out our Storify article.

Also be sure to check out our guest experts’ content below:

Chris is offering a free Call Loop account PLUS 25 free messages when they sign up.

Check out Kim’s SalesForce blog posts: 5 Best Practices for Mobile Marketing and How to Give Your Business a Mobile Makeover.

Check out Tim’s contributions to the Edelman Digital Blog.

How Do You Use Mobile Marketing In Your Business?

Mobile marketing touches so many aspects of your business. We recently teamed up with 60 Second Marketer and surveyed folks from around the globe to find out how businesses are using mobile marketing in 2014.

We’d love to know how you’re using it for your business, and what results you have seen thus far. Comment below with your insight.

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The 4 Primary Podcast Review Aspects

As a podcasting reviewer you should consider yourself a peer to any major review site or publication. You have to adhere to the primary tenets of all professional reviewers in order to not only provide valuable information to your audience but also to protect your reputation!Related Articles

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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Interview: How One Guy Got Started with a Successful Podcast Series

So how does your average guy next door master the fine yet technical art of podcasting? Find out as I sit down with Justin for some podcasting 101 tips.Related Articles

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Advice from a Social Pro: Integrating Social into Your Marketing Mix [VIDEO]

In this episode of the Magic 8 Ball of Social Media, our new video series where experts answer small business social media questions, we sit down with Ellyce Shulman, Social media and marketing consultant from Seattle, WA. Shulman provides great tips to efficiently integrate social media into your other marketing efforts.

The post Advice from a Social Pro: Integrating Social into Your Marketing Mix [VIDEO] appeared first on VR Marketing Blog.

Beware The Podcast Patent Troll

Most of these patent-infringement suits are settled out of court and in many cases an experienced attorney can diminish the amount of the settlement to the point where their fee is covered by the savings many times over. Unfortunately there is no cheap or free way to fight off patent trolls’ attacks!Related Articles

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What Mobile Marketing Strategy Is Right For You? Use This to Find Out [Infographic]

It’s no secret that mobile usage has skyrocketed in the past year or two.

More people are using their mobile devices more often, to do more things than ever before:

Litmus reports that more than half of people read email on a mobile device.

Shop.org reports that among U.S. smartphone users, approximately half have consulted their smartphones when looking for a product or service. And about one-third of people ages 18-55 have purchased a product on their smartphone.

Mobile is going to be a key way to reach consumers. For many businesses, it already is.

But most businesses are still very green when it comes to mobile marketing. Many say they lack the know-how, time, and budget that they think is necessary to start mobile marketing.

How Do You Know What Mobile Tactics Are Right For Your Business?

Wondering if mobile marketing is right for you, or how to get started with it?

This Mobile Marketing Decision Tree, courtesy of our friends at 60 Second Marketer can help you choose which mobile marketing tactics are best for your business:

Share This Decision Tree

Do you know people who are (or should be) thinking about mobile marketing?

Share this infographic with them via your blog, website, or favorite social network.

Here’s the HTML you can copy/paste to share it on your site…

… and here are links to share it on social…

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Would You Rather Be a DMP or an ESP?

Recent trends have led to email service providers (ESPs) and data management platforms (DMPs) becoming hot commodities in the mergers and acquisitions world.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Pushing the Limit with AdventureCORPS

Find out how Kostman went from runner to even organizer and the lessons he has learned along his journey.Related Articles

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Heart of Business: Photographing a President & Starting Your Own Business

Heart of Business: DDP Wrestling with a New Yoga Business

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The 2 Reasons Why No One Cares About Your Podcast

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The Top 10 Basics For Creating A Podcast Media Kit

You may consider your media kit as your podcast’s resume, summary, or informational package, but no matter how you look at it you can be assured that it is the one aspect which will differentiate your podcast from its competition in the eyes of the advertiser or sponsor. You can’t go wrong with a great kit!Related Articles

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Plain Text vs HTML Email: What Reaches the Inbox in 2014?

We’ve heard it all over the place: “I send plain text emails because HTML emails get filtered into the spam folder.”

But is the belief that plain text emails get better email deliverability than HTML ones rooted in reality?

We sat down with our Director of Deliverability, Mohammed Ahmed, to find out.

The answer, it turns out, isn’t so black-and-white.

HTML Isn’t Automatically Less Deliverable, But…

According to Mohammed,

“If you send an email with broken HTML, it could possibly be the tipping point for an email already in danger of landing in the spam folder. Or if it’s broken enough that your users can’t read it, they may mark it as spam.”

So certain HTML emails — poorly coded ones — can potentially experience poor delivery rates.

But of course, not all HTML emails are poorly coded.

So why the urban legend about HTML being less deliverable than plain text?

A Little History Of HTML And Spam

Over time, ISPs like Yahoo, AOL, and Comcast have used various filters to protect inboxes from unsolicited messages.

Spammers, eager to keep reaching potential customers, looked for and often found ways to get their emails past the filters. Naturally, ISPs adjusted their filters in response. And the pattern continued to repeat.

Since HTML emails have more components than plain text (code, images, etc), filters have historically given them a harder look.

So will those filters, designed to catch spam, inadvertently keep your HTML emails away from the people who signed up to get them?

In short, not really.

In 2012, we talked to Laura Atkins of Word To The Wise, who shared that while HTML-only emails were more likely to be filtered, when the they were were accompanied by a plain text version, this wasn’t the case:

“If you send mail that is heavy on the images and low on the text, it’s going to look like spam. This doesn’t mean it’s going to be a delivery problem necessarily. But, if the mail has other issues: mentions domains that have iffy reputations or recipients that aren’t engaged then a heavy image to text ratio may be enough to tip the mail into the bulk folder.”

Here’s How Things Stand In 2014

HTML email can only affect your deliverability if you have a broken tag, or if you’re not sending that plain text version.

No plain text version? To a filter, that may look like you’re trying to slip something shady through.

Note: when you create HTML emails in AWeber, we’ll automatically generate a plain text version to create a good experience for your subscribers AND to support high email deliverability. So we’ve got you covered there.

And if your HTML email contains a broken tag? In that case, it’s not the filters you need to worry about.

In Mohammed’s words, “If you have a broken tag, it means [readers] are probably going to click on the report spam tag, because they’re not seeing the mail they’re supposed to see.”

These spam reports damage the reputation of both your site’s domain name and the IPs your emails are being sent from. If either develops a reputation for sending high levels of spam (or emails reported as such), your future messages are more likely to be flagged.

Now, here’s the really good news:

When you create your email marketing campaigns in AWeber using our drag-and-drop message editor, we’ll automatically make sure your HTML is correct and valid. We’ve got you covered there, too.

The Best of Both Worlds

The bottom line: if you’ve been holding back from sending HTML emails because you’re afraid of poor email deliverability, it’s time to stop.

You can send beautiful HTML emails AND get good delivery, too.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Podcast Playlist

Instead of the standard Spotify playlist this week, I’m going to list some of my favorite podcasts.Related Articles

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Ensuring Your Delivery Does Not Negatively Impact Your Podcast

Yes, it may be “just” a podcast so no one is expecting you to adopt the delivery of a major television network news anchor, but you should strive to portray professionalism and propriety!Related Articles

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Two P's in a Podcast: Preparation to Publishing

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Exclusive Research: How Do Millennials Use Technology?

Millennials

You’ve seen them: in cars, in coffeeshops, and in countless articles trying to explain what they do and why they do it.

Millennials are everywhere. For marketers, they’ve become a hot topic of discussion over the past few years.

And no wonder:

Millennials have hit the workforce and will continue to do so for the next 5-10 years.

As a result, their share of disposable income is growing.

Businesses who want to be a part of millennials’ spending habits aren’t sure how to get their attention.

In this post and short video, you’ll discover a powerful way to learn more about how they communicate.

How Can Your Business Reach Millennials?

If you’re one of those marketers trying to find out how to reach millennials, you’ve no doubt found the Internet more than willing to supply plenty of anecdote and speculation.

You’ll learn, for example, that…

They don’t need to be connected all the time (or do they?).

They’re leaving Facebook (unless they’re not).

They’re constantly on Snapchat (except for the 83% who aren’t).

Guess that’s what you get when you leave it to non-millennials to tell you what millennials are doing.

Here’s How Millennials REALLY Use Technology

So we decided to go right to the source: millennials themselves.

Here’s what our research created: The Generation MEdia Explorer.

What is it?

A free interactive tool that helps you research and analyze how millennials use technology.

A way to explore over 90 million original data points using filters to combine data.

An easy way to share what you discover with your friends and colleagues.

Where Did This Data on Millennials Come From?

Every year, we offer a scholarship to one talented student to put toward their college studies. We ask candidates to submit an essay about technology, and we choose a winner from the entries.

When setting up the most recent scholarship, we thought “who better to ask about how millennials use technology… than millennials themselves.” Makes sense, right?

We added a survey to the application process. It asked applicants a series of questions about:

What communication and media technologies they use

What they use each one for

Who they use each one with

When they use each one – and for how long

We also collected some demographic data – location, age, and gender – so that the data paint a more comprehensive picture of how groups of millennials use technology.

All in all, over 1300 students applied for the scholarship and completed the survey.

“What, No Infographic?”

Sure, we could have taken this data and just made an infographic.

But let’s be honest: how many infographics are out there? Tons… and after a while they all blend together. A pie chart here, a line graph there, and a handful of cherry-picked conclusions in each one. Yawn.

What’s interesting to us isn’t just what WE find in the data — it’s all the interesting facts you and others discover while playing with the data.

What Can YOU Discover About How Millennials Use Technology?

A lot of time and effort went into creating this tool…

… but we didn’t do it for us. We did it for you.

We hope you’ll find it useful as a market research tool, a source of stats for your articles and presentations, and as a starting point for conversations about how technology use will change over time.

Building and playing around with this has been a lot of fun for us. But now, it’s your turn to play.

Visit the Generation MEdia Explorer and uncover your own findings about how millennials are using technology.

Once you’ve checked it out, we’d love to know: what’s the most interesting stat you’ve found so far? Share in the comments below.

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Which Came First, Your Email Content or Your Segment?

The audience and content conundrum can be very chicken and egg for many brands, especially their email marketers.

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Friday, April 18, 2014

When Reading Became Cool. And Why You Should Care.

First came Harry Potter, the book that reignited a passion for the written word. Then came Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, Twilight, and even The Walking Dead - all stemming from great reads that got us cracking open books after at least a decade of awkward and illiterate silence.Related Articles

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What Marketers Can Learn From How Easter Got Re-Branded

What you can apply from an understanding of Saint Paul’s practices is that if you are able to present some brand factor that your audience is not necessarily aware of in a way that amply demonstrates to them that it actually is something that they want and need… but they just weren’t previously aware of how great a fit it is… then you’ve become a Saint Paul-level branding master!Related Articles

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Thursday, April 17, 2014

The Jedi, the Mini-Me, and the Swordsmith’s Apprentice: Forging Tomorrow’s Leaders

In epic organizational mismanagement, the job of sourcing leaders has slipped to HR. Some HR departments are smart enough to outsource this task to professional recruitment and development firms. Others rely on hiring leaders externally, not excluding ruthless headhunting and poaching. Very few hire from within. Fewer still cultivate them.Related Articles

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The Top Five Easter Email Marketing Strategies

No matter what your brand is and what marketing campaign strategies you’re accustomed to utilizing you can always derive valuable benefits in appealing to your email subscribers’ celebration of Easter, whether it’s through devout church attendance or just taking the kids out to find eggs under bushes!Related Articles

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5 Pervasive Email Challenges – and How to Fix Them

There are many things that can wrong in an email marketing campaign, from conception to delivery. Here are five of the most common challenges, and simple steps to take to fix them.

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Game of Thrones Inspired Leadership Hacks

In a Game of Thrones analogy on leadership, leaders would be the “Maesters” or “the King’s Hand” rather than the king himself.Related Articles

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Playlist: Prepare for Battle

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5 Annoying Distractions That Can Kill Your Output

Here’s a list of five different annoyances that can stop you from being a work from home superstar.Related Articles

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Honey Maid’s Controversial Video: A Planned Spontaneous Reaction

“No matter how things change, what makes us wholesome never will. Honey Maid.Related Articles

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Heartbleed: We’re Not Affected. Here’s What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

By now, you’ve probably heard about Heartbleed. It’s a major security bug believed to affect about 17% of all (supposedly) secure servers on the Internet.

There’s a good chance you’re wondering whether AWeber.com and other websites you use have been affected.

So let’s talk about it.

AWeber: Not Affected

When we found out about Heartbleed, we quickly verified whether we were affected.

All of our servers were secure and not affected by the Heartbleed bug.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about what you can do to protect yourself now and minimize the risk of future events like Heartbleed affecting you.

Why It’s Still a Good Idea to Change Your Password

First of all, even though AWeber was not affected, we recommend that you change your account password.

Why do we recommend changing your password, even if AWeber wasn’t affected?

Changing your password from time to time is a good security practice, and an event like Heartbleed is a reminder to do this.

Plus, you might also have been using the password for your AWeber account as your password for some other website that was affected by Heartbleed.

So go do that now. Here’s the link.

How to Find Out if Heartbleed Affects You

Next, you should find out what other sites you use that were affected by Heartbleed.

There are a few free resources available to help you with this:

LastPass? Heartbleed checker

Filippo.io Heartbleed checker

McAfee Heartbleed checker

The Chromebleed extension for Google Chrome will tell you if a site you’re visiting is affected.

Get a Password Management Tool

Are you using the same password for multiple websites?

If so, it’s time to stop doing that and protect your digital self better.

There are a number of high-quality password management tools that will help you keep track of your various passwords.

In some cases, you can even automatically fill in the login and password you need for a site with a simple keyboard shortcut. So there’s really no reason to re-use a password on multiple websites.

Here are a few password management tools:

LastPass

1Password

KeePass

Dashlane

Roboform

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We like and use 1Password extensively at AWeber, but whatever your choice is, pick one and get in the habit of using it and setting up unique passwords for your online accounts.

Monday, April 14, 2014

After an Event: How to Connect and Follow up on Email + Social

In the world of digital marketing, it’s easy to forget that some email addresses are collected in person. Whether you just taught a workshop or seminar, hosted an event, or found yourself at a vendor’s table at a conference, chances are good that you’ve walked out with a list of names to add to your email list. Now what?

If you’re uncertain how to take the next steps, or want to make sure to capitalize on the enthusiasm generated at your event, keep reading. We’ll share some tips on making the most of the new names of eager prospects who want your messages in their inbox.

1. The Welcome Message

Remember that people at conferences or events may have signed up for multiple lists, and unless you get in touch with them right away, they might forget that yours was one of them. Instead of waiting weeks or months and finding out the hard way if they know who you are, be proactive. Send a message (ideally within 48 hours) welcoming them to your email list, letting them know how often you plan on emailing, and reminding them where you met is always a good start. That way they won’t accidentally unsubscribe, mistake you with another company, or worse, think your email is spam.

2. Consider a show discount or offer

Want to tap into the enthusiasm generated at your event? Creating a special offer or discount with a hard deadline can motivate your readers to respond sooner rather than later. If you can personalize it to the specific event where they signed up – even if it’s just with a special discount code – all the better.

3. Segment your new list

If you have list segmentation, make sure to select the area where they best fit. You may even have two different lists from the same event: For example, you could have people check off what their areas of interest are on a form.

4. Personal follow-ups

If someone you met at an event asked for information on a certain product or service that you offer (or handed you a business card), don’t automatically add them to your email list. Send them a personal email with the information they requested, or a message asking if they’d like to join your list since they thought the content might be of interest based on your discussion.

5. Follow up on social media

If there’s a specific hashtag for your event on Twitter, or if people are sharing stories on a specific Facebook page, following up on social media can help you with your marketing efforts. Just make sure to offer something valuable – whether it’s a link to a blog post covering topics people asked about specifically, a wrap up of the event, or a special discount for attendees.

6. Consider offering a place for new readers to share their concerns

Maybe your new subscriber had a question they wanted to ask you but ran out of time or didn’t want to ask in front of a group. Offering them a place to interact with you directly can build your credibility and the level of trust they have for you.

7. Share information about the event directly

Whether you’re writing a bulleted list of lessons learned from the conference, sharing information about the most frequent questions you received, or even posting a photograph from the event itself, can make your new subscribers feel included.

8. Don’t neglect the rest of your list

Even though there’s a lot of enthusiasm from a new event, and it’s always great to connect with new subscribers in person, a big chunk of your list might not be interested in the event or did not attend it for a variety of reasons. When sharing event information, make sure that it’s accessible to everyone and has key takeaways for people who couldn’t make it as well as those that did.

9. Keep your list posted about future events

It can be difficult for some people to stay updated on events in their industry, so make it a little bit easier for them by sending out announcements of when you’ll be presenting or exhibiting at an event or conference. Some people may even choose to attend certain events simply because you’ll be there!

10. Keep track of metrics

If one particular event or conference is a huge draw and another isn’t, you can use that data to determine your schedule for the following year. To do so, though, you’ll need to keep track – not only of the number of email subscribers you’ve received but also how long they stay engaged, which lead to sales, and any other key indicators you’d like to track.

Want more marketing tips and tactics? Sign up for the free VR Buzz .

The post After an Event: How to Connect and Follow up on Email + Social appeared first on VR Marketing Blog.

Triggered Email Messages: Keys to Success

Sending triggered email messages can be an extremely effective marketing strategy, as they have been shown to produce much higher open and click-through rates.

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Friday, April 11, 2014

Emails That Do Work: April Part 2

Hello, and welcome to another month of Emails That Do Work! At this point, I feel like I should have a gameshow slogan following the intro of this series. “Welcome to Emails That Do Work! Where emails...that do work...actually...”Related Articles

Emails That Do Work

Emails That Do Work - June Edition

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Yahoo's DMARC Policy Change

A recent change by Yahoo has some email marketers exclaiming some choice four letter words, rather than the cheery one for which the company was named.Related Articles

Yahoo Mail's New Ad Targeting Software Puts the User in Control

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Support Update: Upgrade and Billing Cycle Issues

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Gmail Grid View

Travis

In case you’re not aware Gmail is currently doing a field trial that allows you to view image previews of promotional emails. It’s referred to as the grid view. I signed up for the field trial and it’s definitely something retailers will want to take advantage of. There was however an issue I noticed. Some of the emails did not have an image preview. With a little research I discovered there are a few things that can cause this problem. This article at FreshInbox provides some helpful information about fixes for the issue.

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Addressing Anonymous Negativity as Secret App Gains Traction

Commenting or posting anonymously may be old hat on web forums, but newer apps allowing users to share secrets are gaining in popularity. The iPhone app Secret, which allows users to send anonymous messages to contacts on their phone (and friends of friends), is getting a lot of buzz, particularly in the tech scene of Silicon Valley.

Secret is part of a wave of apps emphasizing anonymity. Others include Whisper (where conversations are among strangers) and Wut (which mass texts all of your friends). The idea is that anonymity removes inhibition, allowing people to communicate more freely about ideas they may normally keep to themselves.

But Secret has a dark side that could negatively impact small businesses. Its community guide calls for kind, respectful and honest communication; states that defamatory, offensive or mean-spirited posts will be removed; and that harassment won’t be tolerated. However, some businesses and individuals have been victims of nasty comments or rumors they say are inaccurate. Evernote CEO Phil Libin took to Twitter to publicly respond to rumors of acquisition started on Secret in February.

“I’ve often thought about the need for an anonymous social network to go along with the fully public and the friends-only ones. But I can’t figure out a way to stop an anonymous network from decaying into a Mean Girls-style burn book,” venture capitalist Sam Altman wrote on his blog after deleting the app from his phone.

Unfortunately, refusing to participate doesn’t mean that you or your business won’t be a target of anonymous negativity, and it’s often difficult to know what to do in that situation. To find out, we spoke with Melissa Agnes, president and co-founder of crisis intelligence firm Agnes Day.

Small businesses are vulnerable

As people flex their anonymous muscles and learn the power of their voice, platforms such as Secret are proving to be very powerful. “You can really do a lot of damage, so, unfortunately, people take advantage of this, and there are a lot of trolls who just don’t stop,” Agnes says.

She points out that even small businesses can be targets of false rumors or anonymous negativity. “Small businesses can often be the most vulnerable because they don’t expect it –the impact, all of the chatter that might be negative – whereas large organizations are very used to it,” she says. “Unfortunately, small organizations or small companies can be the biggest victims.

Be prepared

Instead of trying to determine whether or not to respond while in the middle of a situation, Agnes recommends that companies determine what to do ahead of time by developing a response flowchart.

Different variables include the type of comments being made (positive, neutral or negative), whether the claim is valid, and if the comments can be corrected – as well as how influential the person is and how they’re likely to respond. “Can you fix it and transform it into a positive thing if you responded, or is it a troll that’s completely negative – the more you help the more they bash?” asks Agnes. How you’ll respond is a personal decision, but the big key is to prepare for it in advance.

A range of options might include not responding at all, responding privately, responding publicly on the forum where the comment is made or responding on your own site or email newsletter. Agnes also points out that although proving defamation is difficult, taking legal action is an option.

The tone of the response is also important. Being negative or defensive can give off the wrong impression. This is another reason why coming up with a plan before a situation arises is so important – it allows you to respond in a logical way even when emotions are running high.

Pick your battleground

Agnes also makes a distinction based on the potential volatility of a comment, since very negative emotions that are relatable mean that a post is more likely to escalate because it’ll get shared or even go viral. Making an assessment of the emotion involved can help you gauge the situation and potential impact from the start.

If you do determine that a comment or issue is worth responding to, Agnes recommends responding on the platform where the conversation is taking place.

In a crisis situation, an option would be to respond to the rumor on your own blog, but this can sometimes call attention and bring more power to a post or comment that very few people saw. “If it’s simply an issue and not a crisis, you may not want to bring light to it by putting it on your site,” says Agnes.

However, posting on one’s blog also allows some control that’s not available on other forums – by closing comments or moderating them, for instance. It can be a good choice for a worst-case scenario, where persistent rumors are starting to have a negative effect on your business.