I came across a very interesting study on eMarketer recently.  It was conducted in April 2010 and the aim was to find out what communication methods consumers prefer – and why.

It looks particularly at email, Facebook and Twitter.  Interestingly, the study found that customers mostly tend to prefer receiving emails from businesses and brands, and that those who interact with them through Facebook or Twitter are more than likely already signed up for their email newsletters.

Why is that – and why do your customers want three different channels of communication with your brand? 
As this study proved, people expect different types of communication through different channels.  Different networks thus have different audiences and messages should be customised accordingly.

Email

Email builds and maintains relationships with existing customers.  It’s informative, direct and targeted, rather than just a generic message directed at the masses.  (At least, that’s what customers have come to expect, so remember to segment and target your lists!)
 
Facebook
Facebook fans tend to be from a younger demographic.  By liking your business on Facebook they’re showing their support publicly.  Entertainment and active interaction are the most common reasons for users joining your Facebook group or page – conversational and interesting posts tend to get a good response.

Twitter
Twitter  users tend to be very active online.  They want to be constantly up to date, making it a great channel to give constant updates on new developments or current happenings. 

It seems that even your social network fans like receiving your email newsletters, in fact, they’re the ones most likely to sign up to your newsletters.  Good to know.  Why not add a newsletter subscription form to your Facebook page then? Find out how here. 

There are ways to offend subscribers if you’re looking for them…but why would you want to do that?  Problem is, often you offend or annoy subscribers without even knowing it.  I’ve put together a few key things that you may want to watch out for.

Problem:  Your emails aren’t customized to cater to my interests
Yes, email is a mass communication tool – but that doesn’t mean that one email appeals to all tastes and interests.  Personalised and, I’ve said this before, relevant communication gets better results from recipients. 
The danger here is that when you try to cover everyone’s varied interests in one newsletter, your newsletter becomes too long and confusing – a ramble of content that your subscribers will have to filter through to find something that appeals to them. 

Solution:
Make sure you send different emails to cater to the specific segments of your list.  Ask for your subscribers’ preferences when they sign up, i.e. what kind of information they’d like to read in your emails and how often they’d like to receive them, then stick to it!  Don’t email them daily if they requested a weekly email.
Yes it’s a bit more work, but if you keep it simple and work from a template it needn’t take much of your time.  Plus, isn’t it better to have smaller, more engaged audiences than just one mass of inattentive inattentive people who delete your newsletter or unsubscribe from it?

Problem:  They’re too long – and they don’t get my attention
As I’ve mentioned above, emails that require the reader to scroll through masses of information that could easily fill four or five screens simply won’t be read.  It’s too time consuming and too difficult to filter the information you’re actually interested in from that overflow.  Email is instant, quick communication, not something your recipients want to spend twenty minutes pouring over laboriously.
Also, you don’t know what dev ice your subscribers read your emails on. What if they read it off a smartphone or iPhone? Space limitations on there are far greater than on a PC or laptop. Think with a small screen on your mind – it will do wonders to your newsletter layout and where you place what content and links!

Solution:

Keep your content short and sweet.  If there’s a lot of in-depth information that needs to be conveyed, rather insert a hyperlink that will take me to the full article – it can even be on your site, generating more webtraffic.  Make sure the copy above the fold is attention-grabbing and that the call to action is clear.

Problem:  Your emails have too many images – and yes, there is such a thing!
Most of us have our images turned off in our email clients by default – it helps me to save on server space, means I spend less money when checking my emails on my mobile and generally helps reduce the number of spam emails I receive.  Why?  Because spam filters see too many images in an email as a spam threat.

Solution: 
When designing your emails, bear in mind that many people block their images and make sure that the area above the fold has enough copy to hold their attention regardless.  Keep a balance between copy and images and remember, when uploading your images to your newsletter, to insert alternative text.  That way even those of us who have our images turned off will see something other than a blank block where your image is supposed to be.

Problem:  Your email just isn’t hip enough.
Like it or not, social media is the hype of the moment – and staying a step ahead of your competitors requires staying ahead on every front.   Making it easy for me to share your email with my friends and colleagues shows that you understand the social age online marketing is entering, and that you’re keeping on top of these new developments.  Plus, it shows that you’re eager for me to share the information I value in your emails with your contacts, so if you keep the informative content coming I’m likely to help you out and spread the word.

Solution:

Add some social widgets to your footer, making it easy for me to share your newsletter with my social network connections with a simple click.  Or you can place a Forward to a Friend link in the footer, so I can easily forward your email to my email contacts.  More than anything, if you really want to get my attention, publish your newsletter where it’s fun for me to find – on Facebook or Twitter.  When I’m social networking I’m a lot more relaxed than when I’m checking my work emails, and thus in a much more positive and responsive frame of mind.

Problem:  It just doesn’t look right…
Different email clients, like Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook and Mweb (to name a few), render emails differently.  This means that your email will look different in every subscriber’s inbox.   Sometimes the images won’t be aligned the same, or the preview pane will be smaller than the one you designed it for – which means it might not look as appealing to all subscribers as you’d hoped.

Solution:
Conduct a test send! It’s what it’s there for.  Try sending your email to as many different email clients as possible – open accounts with the different clients specifically to receive test sends if need be.  Whether you try to view it in different clients or not, you should always conduct test sends – it’s the only way to really see what your email will look like and to test that all your links work.  (We’ll also be releasing a clever Inbox Preview tool soon; I’ll be able to give you more details in the coming weeks!)

Yes, I know these are pretty subjective – but think about when you receive email newsletters:  Don’t you respond the same way? 

Do you have a retail outlet, a shop, that serves walk-in customers?  I’ve notice that surprisingly few South African retailers send out email newsletters.  A pity, really, considering this:

In a recent US survey by www.emarketer.com it was found that 37% of in-store consumers preferred receiving promotions via email – 18% preferred being informed of promotions via SMS and only 9% wanted to hear about them on social networks like Facebook.

We’re bombarded with promotional messages daily, but email gives you the power to decide which messages you want to receive and when you want to read them.  Think about it:  When you’re sending out emails to people who subscribed to them these people have already indicated that they’re interested in what you have to offer – and much more likely to be persuaded to participate in a promotion or buy a product.

Email is also one of the most popular methods of communication.  The same study also reflected that more than 90% of all adults in the United States have email accounts, whereas only a select few are on Facebook or Twitter.  So, even though you might think you reach more people with your social media, you're likely to reach a much wider, more engaged audience with email.

So where are the South African retailers?  I want to know what Woolies food products are discounted this week, when Zoom will be getting in their winter boots or when Mr. Price is getting in new stock!  Are you providing your customers with the information they want, the way they want it?

If you follow us on Facebook and Twitter you might have noticed me posting reminders to sign up to our GraphicMail webinars.  I’ve realized that, for some of our followers, webinars are a foreign concept.  So, here’s all you need to know about our webinars.

What is a webinar?

Webinars, as the name implies, are like seminars, except for the fact that they’re hosted online.  Basically, when attending a webinar you sit in an online classroom.  You put on your headset (unless your PC or laptop has built in speakers and a microphone, in that case you don’t need a headset) and a member of our email marketing team tells you more about the particular topic or feature the webinar is on.  And, just like at school, you can participate – ask questions, comment, annoy the teacher – the only thing you don’t have to do is put up your hand!

But the really nifty thing is that it’s also visual!  The team member hosting the webinar will share their screen with you.  This means you’ll be able to see on your screen (in your office, at home or on the couch) exactly what they’re doing and demonstrating on their screen.  Say for instance you’re participating in a webinar on how to create a dataset – they’ll walk you through the process visually, so you’ll know exactly what to do when logging into your own account.

What do you need to sign up for one?

You don’t need to be a GraphicMail client to participate in our webinars.  If you’re simply interested in finding out more about email marketing, join a GraphicMail Basics webinar to find out more and ask some questions.  (Those of you who are interested in expanding your business by becoming an email marketing reseller can sign up for a reseller webinar.)  All you need to sign up is an email address.

How does it work?

Simply go to the sign up page, choose a topic and a time that suits you and sign up – all you need is an email address.  Once you’ve signed up you’ll be sent a link.  When the webinar you want to participate in starts, simply open that email and click on the link.  The webinar is hosted online, so a tab or pop up will appear in your browser that will direct you.  Et voila! You are now part of the webinar.

It’s very simple, very useful, and very FREE.  That’s right, you don’t pay a cent.

We change the topics of the webinars regularly and also try to schedule them at various times to suit everyone’s timetable.  Keep popping into the sign up page regularly to see what’s new and of interest.  Of course, if you have any topics you’d particularly like us to do a webinar on, you’re more than welcome to post your suggestions on our Facebook or Twitter accounts and we’ll set it up for you.

You know we’re an email marketing service provider – but do you even know that we also provide mobile marketing tools?  I know, it’s probably my own fault for not focusing on that a bit more, right?

So, I thought I’d get back to basics and answer a question we hear often:  “Why do you offer SMS marketing – what would I use it for?”

Sending bulk SMSes can fulfill multiple functions.  It is, of course, a convenient way of keeping your customers informed.  As soon as I get my monthly SMS from Elle magazine to let me know the latest issue is on the shelf, I know I need to stop by the shops to pick up a copy.  Some businesses also send promotional SMSes, so that when consumers go into a store and show the SMS on their phone, they receive a discount.  SMS reminders are, of course, very convenient for your clients – we all forget appointments occasionally.  Doctors and salons find it much easier to stay on schedule when their clients show up on time, and an SMS is such an easy reminder.
Personally, I greatly appreciate when companies make use of SMS as alert systems.  My neighbourhood watch sends out a mass SMS/text message to all their subscribers to notify us immediately when any suspicious activity has been reported or noted in our area, as well as details like which streets are affected.  They also let us know once the culprits have been caught. 

Of course, SMS campaigns also hold certain benefits for your business:
 
It’s quick
Like email, SMS/text messages are delivered almost instantly and, as most recipients probably carry their mobile phones on them all day, they’re bound to read the message upon or soon after receiving it.  It’s especially useful when you’re sending out urgent messages or time-sensitive information, e.g. Please remember that the school after care closes in 15 minutes!

Everybody gets it
Who do you know that receives a text message and DOESN’T read it?  Unlike email, which your recipients sometimes choose to delete without reading, it’s very unlikely that someone will delete your SMS or text message without reading it.  Perhaps it’s the intimacy of the mobile phone in my hand, the knowledge that I don’t hand out my number to Tom, Dick or Harry or simply the fact that I know it only takes us 2 seconds to skim through a text message, or simply curiosity getting the better of me – whatever it is, I know I never just hit delete on my phone. 
With SMS sends you’re virtually guaranteed that your recipients will get your message.

Your recipients are interested in what you have to say
As with email you should only send your SMSes to recipients who have opted in or agreed to receive mobile communications from you.  This does, however, mean that anyone who has opted in clearly is interested in what you have to say and you are therefore much more likely to persuade them to make a purchase through your marketing SMSes.

Sending bulk text messages can be a great way to complement your email marketing or to reach those who aren’t connected online.  Find out more about our mobile marketing tools here!

What makes email marketing an effective mass communication tool? What makes it a successful marketing platform for businesses?

I’ve identified what I think are the three most important advantages email has over other marketing communication strategies.

#1 - Email is personal
Email is by nature a very personal medium.  As online interaction expands through social networking, blogging, online shopping and banking, your email address starts to form of part of your identity online.

In your inbox you have the power to decide whether or not to read a particular email, whether you want to report a sender as SPAM, and whose mailings you want to remain subscribed to.  Your inbox is a trusted zone where you are in charge.  So when your email shows up in your subscribers’ inboxes you’re already in a privileged space – treat your subscribers to quality newsletters and you’ll manage to grow the relationship.

Simply by subscribing to your newsletter your readers have indicated an interest in what you have to offer.  Unlike social networks where you simply broadcast generalized messages to the masses, email marketing gives you access to a more receptive audience –thereby increasing the likelihood that they’ll become valued customers. 
Most of all, email is private, giving you the opportunity to grow a relationship with your recipient, especially if you give them somewhere to direct their replies.

#2 - You can track your campaigns
Unlike most other marketing tools, email is easily tracked.  This means you always know whether or not your campaigns are performing as you’d like them to.  Of course certain things, like building brand recognition, are never entirely trackable – but in terms of list growth, traffic generated and sales converted you can monitor regularly.

Being able to monitor the campaign’s performance enables you to hone your email campaigns to deliver the desired results.

#3-Your campaigns are exclusive
Your email newsletters are a chance to reward your most loyal followers.

When you send targeted mailings to a segmented list, your recipients get relevant, valuable information; when you notify them of specials or offer them exclusive discounts, it motivates other potential clients to join your mailing list.  An excellent example is Kulula’s newsletter campaign.  Only those on their mailing list know on what days they host their one-day-only sales – it’s an excellent reason to sign up for their mailing list, but it also means that – because I’m always aware of their specials and are constantly reminded of them by their regular emails – I’m more likely to search Kulula’s site for flights before looking at their competitors.

Build a quality, rewarding campaign (one from which your subscribers benefit) and you’re likely to get good word of mouth: they might just share your newsletter with their contacts, thereby expanding your audience.

Keep these three factors in mind when creating your campaigns and use them to your business’ advantage.

I have a lot to say about what to do in your email marketing campaigns – tips, best practices, that kind of thing - but I thought it might be a good idea to share with you some of the biggest mistakes I find our clients making in their campaigns.

1.    Neglecting to manage your mailing list

Ensuring that your mailing list is always up to date is vital for a healthy campaign.  Sending to outdated email addresses waves a red flag at spam filters, so it’s important to make sure that you regularly remind your subscribers to update their profile.

It’s surprising how many email marketers simply don’t delete unsubscribes from their mailing list!  Not only is that illegal, but it disrespects the subscriber’s request.  Why not stay on good footing with those unsubscribers?  There’s always a chance that they might subscribe again at a later date.  Perhaps they signed up for your real estate emails because they were in the market – then they found the perfect nest through you and unsubscribed as they no longer need to receive your emails.  That doesn’t mean they won’t be moving again in a few years…  Make use of our automated mailing list management tools to ensure that unsubscribes are removed from your mailing list and spam complaints are added to your block list.

2.     Not sending targeted, relevant emails

As I pointed out last week, relevancy is one of the make-or-break elements of your campaign.  If your content isnt’ relevant to your subscribers, they won’t read your emails, won’t click on your links and will, eventually, unsubscribe.  According to this chart by Emarketer, 55% of email recipients said their reason for not opening marketing emails was because the content didn’t interest them.  (The survey is about how subscribers respond better to targeted emails, so it’s worth your while to have a look.)

Targeted sends mean the content is more relevant to the person receiving the email, making it much more likely that they’ll follow your call to action – whether it’s clicking through to your site or donating to your cause.  How to target your list?  Segmentation and automated responses (TriggerMail).  To find out how, read this article recently posted on our US blog on how one company increased their email generated revenue by 322%, simply through segmenting their mailing list, and this one on how you can implement TriggerMail to target your sends.

3.    Overlooking the importance of testing

Subscribers are a whimsical bunch; their preferences and topical interests are constantly changing.  Your email campaign needs to evolve with them, or you’ll risk becoming irrelevant (I won’t bore you by repeating myself – see point 1!).  Using our A/B split testing tool gives you the ability to constantly test how variations of different campaigns perform against each other.  Test with a clear objective in mind:  If you want to see how recipients respond to longer or shorter subject lines, or a subject line that contains your brand name against one that doesn’t, test it.  You can test longer versus shorter newsletters, one that contains more or fewer  images, or even test different placements for your logo. 

Testing ensures that you send out only the most effective newsletters with every send.

4.     Not considering timing

Some days are proven to yield higher open and click-through rates than others.  There’s no point in sending out a newsletter late on a Friday afternoon when most of your subscribers have already knocked off for the weekend.  Midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) are generally considered the best sending times, but this might differ depending on your business.  I’ve given more tips on send times a previous article, but the most important thing to keep in mind (as always) is the subscriber.  What time best suits them?  When will they be most likely to sit back with a cup of coffee and read your email – and when are they likely to be most responsive?  If you’re trying to get them to make a purchase, why are you sending a week before pay day?

5.    Disregarding social media

I’ve written a lot this year about the rise of social media – and you’ve probably noticed the social versus email debate.  The general consensus is that social media, when implemented properly, can complement your email marketing very well.  Email is more personal, but social has the ability to expand your audience drastically.  It’s time to make use of this quality to grow your email marketing reach.  Add social widgets and forward to a friend links to your footer and make use of our new social share tool which allows you to share your newsletter with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter.

Some of these may seem obvious or clichéd, but unfortunately that’s because these mistakes happen.  I suspect it’s because often clients think that these measures are difficult to implement, or that it doesn’t apply to them.  GraphicMail offers you the tools you need to avoid these mistakes at no extra charge.  They’re part of the service we provide and without fail they’re easy to use. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the most important thing about email marketing is getting the right message to the right recipients. It’s all about relevancy folks! Think about it: your subscribers open their inboxes to find a heap of new mail…personal mail, marketing messages, invitations, news and maybe even a little Spam. It takes time to sort through mail and weed out the good from the bad. So what will guarantee that your messages aren’t forgotten, deleted or labeled as junk?

It’s simple, really. Offer your subscribers the information that they want, i.e. the information that they signed up to receive. Recipients have opted into your messages for a reason. Perhaps they’ve indicated an interest in your promotions, new products or upcoming events — regardless, give the people the information that they want. For example, I signed up to receive newsletters from Amazon about new non-fiction book releases only. Hopefully, Amazon won’t be sending me information about Kindle updates because it’s not what I’m interested in. Rest assured that if Amazon did send me info about Kindles, they would lose some  credibility. If they had caught me on a bad day, I might even unsubscribe myself from their mailing list. 
Basically, all of your messages should contain quality information that is worth a reader’s time and effort.

Email marketing affords you the opportunity to listen to what your subscribers are saying, even if they aren’t actually saying anything. GraphicMail’s reports and analytics features let you know which emails are reaching who and what those subscribers are doing with said emails. See who is opening emails, if they’re clicking on links and, if so, which links they’re clicking on, then use that information send the most appropriate (read: relevant) messages to the right people. Communication is a two-way street, and with email marketing you won’t be preaching to subscribers about your business, rather they’ll be requesting information from you that they find interesting. Keep an eye on what your subscribers are doing, or else you email marketing campaign will quickly turn to rubbish.

If you’re an occasional blog reader or a practicing GraphicMailer, you’ve probably heard us sing the praises of our TriggerMail and subscriber segmentation features. These features are designed to help you keep providing your subscribers with relevant emails with minimal effort.

Keep your newsletters relevant and your subscribers will keep coming back for more – and who knows, they might even forward your email to their friends.

We have so many international clients and franchises that it takes some brainwork catering to everyone’s individual needs.  I find the South African in particular quite tricky, because we’re on par with international markets in some ways, yet obviously very behind in others.  One particularly frustrating aspect is our limited internet access: Too many people don’t have access to the internet at all, or their internet is exasperatingly slow.

BUT

Earlier this week Fin24 reported that South Africa’s online usage has risen by 51% in the last year.

You can read the full article here; it reveals some inspiring statistics. 

Almost the same number of people who read a newspaper every day now use the internet every day.  Last year 5.3 million South Africans were internet users; that number has grown to 9.1 million.

Several factors are listed as possible reasons for this massive boom in web browsing:  The global focus and adaptation of digital media in the business environment does, of course, have an influence, but recently we have also seen many expos and conferences aimed at educating the local market place on online benefits.  More educated users have resulted in people utilizing the internet more effectively and more people installing home connections.  Greater social media interaction is also viewed as a contributing factor, but one of the most important has been the escalated competition and price war among ADSL providers – it’s made it a lot easier for the average Joe Soap to have access to broadband internet. 
This means companies that make use of online marketing can reach larger numbers of people at a relatively low cost.

Good news for South African email marketers?  I think so.

Fact: Happy subscribers are more like to pass along positive news about your business that unhappy ones.

Keep your subscribers happy and soon their friends will be subscribing and then their friends will subscribe as well, and then their friends…you get the idea.

So what are the best ways to keep subscribers happy and at the same time increase the size of your mailing list?
   
I know you’ve heard this one! Make sure that emails contain relevant information. It’s usually best to only include content that is business-related. Really think about what your subscribers want out of your emails. Why did they sign up in the first place — was it to get discounts, find out about upcoming events or learn about new products? Create content based on what your recipients want from you, as well as what you can offer your customers.

Listen to your subscribers. Do your best to cater to subscribers’ wants and needs when it comes to communication - which channels of communication do they prefer? Social networks or perhaps mobile messages? If so, engage with subscribers on their chosen network as much as possible. Open up social accounts for your business and engage in mobile marketing.

Of course, this is all assuming that you already have some subscribers. How do you develop that list of original subscribers?

Well, first, make subscribing simple. Subscription forms should be easily accessible; include them on every page of your website. Forms don’t need to be lengthy eyesores, just include a space for potential recipients to enter in their email address—quickly and painlessly. An email address is all you need in the beginning. The best relationships are those that develop over time, so don’t worry about not gathering too much information at first; besides - people are less likely to subscribe to a long, complex and tedious form than to one that is simple, to the point and only takes a few seconds to fill in. You’ll learn more about your recipients as you send messages. Keep in mind that with GraphicMail’s reports and statistics features, you can always gather data based on a recipient’s email opens and clicked links.
   
To further encourage a sign-up, provide reasons for subscribing to the mailing list. What will potential recipients get out of giving their email address to you? Is there any incentive for them? Also, make the entire process professional, quick and easy. Send new subscribers a professional and positive confirmation email. I always encourage a double opt-in process– your business will come across as professional, with less of a chance of being labeled as spammers.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to gather feedback from unsubscribes. When someone opts to unsubscribe, include an optional form for them to complete asking them about their reasons for unsubscribing. Study this feedback and, if necessary, use it to change your strategies. Perhaps there is another way to communicate with these lost subscribers.

Happy subscribers and a healthy mailing list mean higher open and click-through rates, and ultimately higher sales conversion rates.  Isn’t that what you signed up for?