EuroMail: Forget Likes And Shares — Use Social To Grow Email Lists

Too many marketers are missing out on social as a means to grow email lists through invitations to sign up for exclusive privileges and competitions.

Source: EuroMail: Forget Likes And Shares — Use Social To Grow Email Lists

The Rise of Subject Line Designers?

The Rise of Subject Line Designers? – Salesforce Blog.

Using symbols in subject lines can be very effective. Check rendering on all platforms to ensure your readers get a consistent experience. And do not overuse them. As with any marketing ploy, too much repetition robs you of the attention garnered from uniqueness.

via The Rise of Subject Line Designers? – Salesforce Blog.

The Power of Context

“Do You Want Fries With That?”

By Cynthia Edwards

What makes an email successful? – Delivering the right message to the right person at the right time on the right device. As a communicator, I like to think of these attributes as context. Here are some ways to get the context right and improve your program.

Meet the customer on his path

You don’t necessarily need massive customer data files to get messages out that are contextual and meaningful to the recipients. Much of your CRM strategy can be based on common sense.

Consider the following emails I’ve received that contain messages that apparently suited the vendor but were wildly out of context for me.

• Travel offers for a hotel located two miles from my home. (I’ve heard of staycations, but this is ridiculous.)
• Promotions for pricey sound systems months after I had already bought one. (How many do they think I can use?)
• An invitation from a local political writer to join a wellness class about essential oils. (I always knew politicians were slippery. Still …)

In terms of existing customers, the right context for an alluring continuing conversation, such as attempts at upsell, re-sell, or cross-sell, is along a reasoned path of usefulness. If the customer has just purchased a sound system for their TV, ask them to consider adding or upgrading a different device next. If they bought that sound system three to five years ago, maybe they’re ready now to buy a new one with the latest technology. Timing your offers well is another key element of the context.

The perfect cross-sell line is, “Do you want fries with that?” Because that’s the essence of getting the message in context. They’ve bought the burger, so now they need a side dish or a drink to go with it. They don’t need two hamburgers.

What about new customers? What might they like to hear from you? There’s only one way to find out for sure – ask them. Every brand’s sign-up page should be both a welcome tour and a preference center. Show them around the range you offer. Distinguish yourself from competitors. When you ask for their email address, also ask them what they’d like to know next. Capture those preferences and apply them to the specific email stream they will get.

Remind them who you are, every time you meet

Another important aspect of context that you need to nail every time is your identity. Don’t be lulled into thinking that in the midst of today’s frantic, fragmented media world, every subscriber remembers your company or why they signed up for your emails.

Consumers are bombarded with nearly 1,000 commercial messages per day. The next time the consumer meets you, she may need clues to your identity to enable recognition. Remind her of the context in which she signed up for your emails and brand every email with your unique voice, look, and differentiation.

On your unsubscribe page, use some of the web real estate to reintroduce yourself. It might be just the memory jog a customer needs to stay on your list.

Leverage the physical context

There are two important considerations here. First is the context of the inbox. Follow best practices to make your message stand out in the clutter. The whole art and science of email is progressively to draw the reader in to the message. Pour your creative effort into crafting subject line, pre-header, headline, hero image, and introductory copy that work together to pull readers in and get them engaged with your message.

The second consideration is the device your customer uses. Behaviors vary depending on whether the customer is using a smartphone, tablet, or laptop/desktop. Find the correlations in your data that show what your customers do on which device – reading, browsing, clicking, buying. Consider how you might tailor the email to take advantage of the context of each device.

Ultimately, your best strategy is to focus on the point of intersection between your audience’s habits, needs, and desires and the products or services you supply. That’s the winning context.

Email Marketing for Dummies

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Heavy hint to email marketers: don’t send out personalized emails without matching up the dynamic fields with the correct data.

You can always insert a default salutation such as “Valued Customer” to take care of emails to people on your list for whom you do not have a name on record.

Retail Email Marketers Rapidly Adopting Pinterest

Get this:

“Since mid-February, the percentage of major retailers that have used their email programs to promote their activity on Pinterest has grown from nothing to 24%, as of Apr. 18. … Pinterest seems destined to overtake YouTube as the No. 3 social network promoted in retailers’ emails over the next couple of weeks.”

And:

“Considering that Pinterest emulates window shopping at the most dynamic mall ever, it’s no surprise that retailers are finding success there. And with the failure of f-commerce to take off, Pinterest may very well deliver the direct contribution to sales that retailers hoped Facebook would deliver.”

Read the source article:

MediaPost Publications Retail Email Marketers Rapidly Adopting Pinterest 04/24/2012.