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Is It Time to Adjust Your Email Frequency?
by Karen Talavera
08 26, 2010 | Posted in Digital Marketing, Email Marketing | 0 comments
How often and what to send are top questions facing any email marketer today. Yet all too often, frequency for the sake of frequency alone trumps relevancy in this channel. It's a classic catch-22: email works so well it runs the risk of undermining its own potential.
Email programs tend to start with slow and cautious frequency, produce easy ROI, and become stars. Management assumes if some email is good, more must be even better. Yet as with all good things (wine, chocolate and pizza come to mind) increased consumption eventually leads to a point of diminishing returns. The correlation between cost and benefit is neither linear nor constant.
The Secret Ingredient for Your Online Marketing to Thrive in 2010 and Beyond
by Karen Talavera
08 26, 2010 | Posted in Marketing Vision | 0 comments
Marketing isn’t about singular tactics, tools and channels anymore, each managed neatly in its own silo (as if it ever was). Don’t limit your perception of digital marketing to adding the latest Web 2.0 gadget to your site or playing in the newest online community. It’s not about figuring out the newest tactic or technology although there are plenty, ranging from YouTube to Twitter to video, blogs, Facebook and Second Life, and then going on to the next one on the list.
Four Ways Email Can Strengthen Relationships in Other Marketing Channels
by Karen Talavera
08 23, 2010 | Posted in Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Multi-Channel Marketing | 2 comments
photo credit: thelittleone417
I preach a lot about getting email out of the silo it’s often relegated to within companies or marketing departments, and these days I think most marketers realize how important good email integration with other marketing (especially digital) channels and sales systems is to success. But once you’ve created a regular email communications program, or developed your smart auto-responders, are you remembering to strategically use email to strengthen and encourage relationships with your list members in other channels?
2010: Year of Conscious Marketing
by Karen Talavera
08 23, 2010 | Posted in Marketing Vision | 0 comments
photo credit: kenner116
2009 was a “watershed” year, packed with transformation and shifting, all happening to clear out the old in order to make way for the new. In watershed years, a lot of activity and change which has been slowly building over previous periods finally moves through all at once.
And so it goes as the pace of change continues to accelerate in the world at large – more and more gets packed into the same seemingly-finite amount of time and space. Mentalities change faster, evolution happens at a heightened rate. You know where I’m going with this – it all impacts your marketing too. Not just how you market, but what you say and do. And it’s coming to a head in 2010, likely a waterfall year. Expect to see the flow of change speed up even more!
The Top 10 Email Marketing Power Words and Language Pitfalls
by Karen Talavera
08 23, 2010 | Posted in Email Marketing | 1 comments
You already know that certain words are automatic spam-filter traps in email marketing, but if you're reading this you probably aren't using any of the worst offenders, such as obscenities or pornographic lingo. Nonetheless, your email marketing messages can benefit from a thorough edit to ensure both the avoidance of anti-spam filters and, even more importantly, the inclusion of the most powerful words in direct response. First though, examine how you and your colleagues speak about email marketing and describe it as a practice to those outside your world. For example, how often have you heard (or even said) an email "blast" was being sent? I don't know about you, but to me "blast" doesn't have a positive connotation. I don't wish to be "blasted" with anything (well, maybe $1,000 bills would be OK), including email "blasted" to my in-box, and I'd venture to guess that your customers and list members feel the same. When we as practitioners of email marketing become more aware of how the words we use to describe our craft are perceived in the outside world, we can see "blast" is a dirty word. Instead, you might say "broadcast," "announcement," "send," or "campaign" after the word email to describe your message deployment. But, please, no more blasting. Furthermore, despite the Email Experience Council's efforts, we still don't have unilateral agreement on how to spell the word "e-mail." The official AP style guide, dictionaries, and journalists continue to insist on the hyphen between "e" and "mail." Most everyone else has already dropped it. Chances are, the word will follow the previous evolutionary pattern of "on-line," "jell-o," and "e-commerce." Those and other factors aside (such as no agreed-upon definition of spam), the words used within your email messages can make or break your campaigns. Adhere to these Letterman Show-style Top Ten Lists—the first for language pitfalls and the second for power words—to ensure successful delivery, avoid complaints, and improve response: Top Ten Language Pitfalls in Email Marketing
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