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Archive for October, 2009

Creating Leads Through Email Sequencing

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

As email marketers, we are aware of the importance of organizing and analyzing email campaigns. We also know how important each lead received through email marketing can be. We further know that a campaign with an audience of 500,000 and 5,000 total clicks is much less desirable than one with an audience of 10,000 and 2,000 total clicks, although this campaign has a lower number of clicks.

Email marketing can serve as a strong lead generation tool, as long as it is done properly. One way of using email marketing to cultivate leads is through email sequencing. Much like an email series, sequencing sends out targeted messages in a specific order. For example, say your company is attempting to promote a particular product. Instead of sending out a message that is directly specific to the product, create an email series to send to your whole email list. The first email should be a general introduction that explains who you are and what your goals are as a company. The second email can be more in depth, talking about what your company does or your industry. The third email is the one that explains the product you are promoting and the deals you are offering.

By creating this series and sequencing, you are giving your readers the chance to get to know both you and your product. Once trust is established through email marketing, you can start analyzing the leads you are receiving!

Successful Ways to Grow Your Email Database

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Here at ConsumerBase, we are always encouraging our clients to find new ways of building their databases. We use all of these tactics ourselves and are more than satisfied with the results. If you are interested in learning how to grow your database, use these tips to start the process:

1. Collect email addresses from your website. A quick and easy way to collect relevant emails is through your company’s website. Any time a visitor fills out a form, add their email to your existing list.

2. Use email appends. Another great way to increase your email address list is to match records through an email append.

3. Utilize offline communication. Understanding that you do not need to use the Internet to collect email addresses will definitely help with your marketing efforts. Ask for addresses wherever you are and in whatever way possible.

4. Implement search engine marketing. Using paid advertisements on search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing can help drive traffic to your website. If visitors from those ads fill out a form on your site, more emails to add to your database!

To learn more about the ways to grow your database, contact a broker at ConsumerBase today.

The Best Way to Handle Unsubscribes

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

As email marketers, we know better than to take it personally when a subscriber chooses to opt-out of our emails. In many cases, readers are not unsubscribing to us because they want to reject our company.  We should take the unsubscribe with a grain of salt and remember that these people can still be viewed as potential customers. Here are some tips on the best way to handle unsubscribes in email marketing:

Make It Short and Sweet

When it comes to opt-out clauses, the easier the better. The entire unsubscribe process should be swift and only take the reader a short time to complete. The CAN SPAM Act also requires that you follow through and comply with the unsubscribe immediately.

Don’t Overcomplicate It

Readers don’t want to go searching for your opt-out link. In fact, a hard-to-find unsubscribe link could turn your potential customers into people who would never choose to buy from you. The unsubscribe link should be visible and in a place where a reader can easily find it.

Verify Through a Webpage

When a reader opts-out, verify that he or she has done so by taking them to a webpage. This page can also include a quick note to the reader, thanking them for their time or reminding them the ways that they can opt back into the emails.

Sending Targeted and Relevant Emails

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. One of the best ways to send out targeted emails to a relevant audience is to segment your database. A recent report by Forrester Research said that sixty percent of marketers are not using segmentation, and therefore, not making the most out of their email marketing campaigns.

The first step to properly segmenting your email messages is to grow your database. The larger your database is, the more chances you will have to segment your messages. Once you have your database in place, you should make sure that the data is clean and that all email addresses are subscribed, as it is a waste of both time and money to send unwanted emails to consumers.

Marketers should also not expect their segmentation to be completed within a day. It often takes time to analyze the best way to target customers and differentiate between sections. If you start with broad subjects and build from there, pretty soon you will have a highly targeted database.

What should you do after you have created and segmented your database? One word: maintain. It will get you nowhere if you do not utilize data hygiene on a regular basis. Also, as you continue to build your database, keep thinking of other ways to segment your data and attract customers.