The From Line
Sending, Managing & Monetizing Email
If you’re not creating content, start! If you are, create more!
These days marketing success goes beyond banners, email and search engine marketing. With the proliferation of digital channels and the screens that support them, marketers need to invest more in content development that entertains, delights, educates and moves their customers to buy. In the past decade, the quants overtook marketing departments at the cost of creativity, resulting in a sea of mediocre content.
Since the demand for content is growing to a louder beat, balance is gradually being restored as companies rush to strengthen their customer bonds through videos, blogs, social media and games. Contrary to the trend, effective content development doesn’t require big budgets. In fact, small to medium sized businesses in particular can master content marketing without blowing their creative budgets and in a way that adds value to their brand.
Almost a year ago, we wrote about the value of a strong content marketing campaign in our post “Giving Content Development High Priority”. Back then we stressed its importance as a foundation for marketing automation. However, today the value of quality content goes far beyond that. Tony Quin, CEO of IQ, a full service agency said in a recent post for Marketing Daily that “compelling content is the currency that buys your customer’s attention and affection long before they reach the stage of comparing features and benefits.” Knowing this, its obvious that every business CAN and SHOULD be a publisher. There is an immense amount of marketing clutter out there for businesses to compete with. Creating content that adds value to your brand will be what separates you from the competition.
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Happy Tuesday everyone!
There are a few more bug fixes that have been put into place over the last few days as well as the addition of a great new import feature. Also, we will be turning future updates into a weekly RSS to email campaign that will package all that information into an easy to read email. If you aren't familiar with RSS to email, especially if you have a blog or anything containing an RSS feed, you're missing out on a valuable yet simple email automation method. Hit us up if you have any questions about it and one of our knowledgeable support reps will point you in the right direction. Now on to the updates...
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Marketing Trend
Our trendwatchers are seeing a growing need for even the savviest of marketers to educate themselves on workflow improvements. The concept of how to mass-produce automated marketing campaigns (without reliance on excessive human interaction) is not difficult to implement, yet many businesses aren’t aware of the right strategies. Furthermore, while the cost of marketing mediums has decreased due to the rapid growth of online advertising opportunities, production costs have skyrocketed. This leaves marketing budgets vulnerable to what our experts call The 21st Century Marketing Paradox – a cost shift from channel to production.
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About a week ago, we posted a query in our GLJive Client Community for our clients to come up with 10 uses for our RSS to Email feature. If you aren't familiar with this feature, here are a few of the sticky points:
* Automate your Email Campaigns based on your RSS feed(s)
* Customize messages and templates easily to include RSS feed(s)
* Control which feed(s) are included in which campaign including multiple feeds per campaign
* Control the times that the campaigns go out (daily, weekly, or monthly)
* The ability to choose the launch of the campaign only when RSS feed(s) are updated (validation)
There are so many uses for this feature in pretty much every industry. If you don't believe that this saves time and creates a huge efficiency, ask Gary Smith of Fox's Bull's and Bears and owner of The Chart Man Website. With the help of Gold Lasso, he saved countless hours for him and his staff by automating his daily email campaigns using the RSS to Email feature. Our group came up with some great uses, so here they are in no particular order.
Usage #1 - Deal of the Day
Post exclusive deals for those who follow your RSS feed. Let the RSS to Email feature do the rest for you.
Usage #2 - Internal Communications
Aggregate RSS feeds of competitor information: tweets, news releases, Facebook updates, etc. Automate a campaign that’s internal to your company and sales team. Not many subscribers, but it could be quite useful!
Usage #3 – Automatic Photo Updates via Email
For a website constantly uploaded with photos, pull an RSS feed of new photos into scheduled campaigns. Several applications: Dating Site, Real Estate, News, etc.
Usage #4 - Deal Roundup
Similar to Usage #1, a website that posts MULTIPLE sales/deals can send a weekly or daily email that pulls all deals into an email.
Usage #5 – Candidate Recruitment
Insert feed of resumes titles, even by category, into an email to HR and recruiting managers. Use campaign categories for highly targeted approach.
Usage #6 - Job Listings
Insert feed of job listings, either by zip code or by category, into email for job-seekers. Schedule weekly or daily campaigns.
Usage #7 – Automate message assembly
Instead of designing new messages and campaigns, create a message template with space for your private feed. Update the feed and your campaign is sent automatically.
Usage #8 - Live Event Coverage
A lot of bloggers and tweeters constantly update from live events. You could sum up all of the posts from the event in an easy to read re-cap.
Usage #9 - Writers/Authors
Authors could send teaser chapters from an upcoming book to get readers excited.
Usage #10 - Public Postings
Public postings could be used by colleges and other higher education, regulatory, state run groups, government, etc.
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Here we are, well into the last quarter of 2009, and holiday-related marketing campaigns are well underway. Many of Gold Lasso’s clients have begun promoting sale dates, coupon codes, clear outs, special event dates such as VIP access to online sales and other year-end online campaigns. Meanwhile, some still have not begun their end of year planning. Start now, it’s not too late. Here are some tips to help organize your e-marketing strategies:
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Coordinate online and offline promotions together to reinforce customer messages.
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Prepare special “backup plan” promotions that might be triggered by an event – snow in Florida promotions and inventory blowouts are just a few examples.
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Make it your New Year’s Resolution to be more engaging with your customers. Clearly and directly ask your customers to use social media by sharing info on Twitter or Facebook, forwarding to a friend or responding to a survey. Follow up with a thank you email or give financial incentives to those who share messages. (This feature can be tracked in eLoop standard campaign reporting.)
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Incorporate Auto Responders so people receive messages immediately after signups or customer purchases. This not only puts your name in front of the customer right away, but prompt emails encourage higher open rates and build better sender IP reputation.
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Keep pushing your messages all the way until last minute. It’s OK to send messages the day before Cyber Monday as well as on Cyber Monday. (The Monday following Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is associated with a significant increase in online sales. Cyber Monday is November 30. Mark your calendars!).
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Don’t only promote holiday shopping. Why not assemble messages for New Year’s – encourage customers to stock up on services or products for 2010 now.
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Busy staff? Why not incorporate RSS-to-Email functionality in campaign creation. One of our clients saved his office 20 hours of staff time by utilizing this feature in eLoop!
These are just a few of the many ways email marketing can be used to enhance your business this time of year. Remember to start sending emails now, send often, and send all the way until the end of the promotion for maximum results. For more information on how these features can be used, contact your eLoop Account Manager.
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