Podcast: Better Engagement Thru Email Mktg

Heidi Tobias Wong (the voice of Constant Contact’s online Learning Center webinars) hosts the Expert Voices podcast. From time to time, I get a chance to chime in. Here is the latest …

Email Marketing Solutions from Constant Contact.

Topics included in this edition:

- How to segment your lists
- Better engagement from your emails
- What to write about in your emails
- Examples of what’s working forothers
- Don’t be afraid to give away the farm

Let’s Define Real Marketing.

When I use the word marketing, i am referring to something very specific — I mean that you define an audience, a group of people that you want to target with your offer or message. You reach out to that audience with a message that is specifically designed for those people and then you work to elicit a physical, measurable response. The physical, measurable response is what makes it marketing. Without that, you may be communicating and that is beneficial – always, but real marketing requires a physical, measurable response. So that you can say “this worked, do more of that…. or this didn’t work, stop doing that”.

What kind of physical response can you hope for? A click online, a reply email, a purchase direct from your website – a forward, a print, sharing the coupon with a friend. These are all decisions, represented by a physical action (a click or purchase) and it is especially easy to measure these actions with online tools like email marketing or online surveys, where you can track and report on every action the recipient takes. It’s no longer prohibitively expensive to do “real” marketing with measurable response. Should cost about the same as three latte’s to jump in and try it. This levels the playing field. a lot. Real marketing can help grow your business or organization, with immediate results. Thank goodness there are affordable, easy-to-use tools available for small businesses and nonprofits – ten years ago, i couldn’t have said that. Today, it’s actually do-able and even fun. 

There’s more to it, yes. Marketing is a dance businesses do to find their place in the market…but at the very least, this baseline for any discussion of marketing should be in place. Can we agree on that?

Shorten The Decision Cycle

When someone first opens your email, you have on average about 20 seconds to drive a decision from them. So how do you shorten the decision cycle that usually takes you a few weeks to sell someone on a concept or product into a measley 20 seconds in an email?  You must shorten the decision cycle in order to drive sales and donations thru email marketing campaigns. 

Anyone who has children knows that you do not open their closet up before school, stand there and with a wide open, no time limit kind of question say “What do you want to wear today?” Those of you without children don’t know that this is funny. People with children know that you don’t do this. You’ll be standing there all day and surely late for school. In my house, I reach into the closet and pull out a couple of options – maybe a red shirt and a blue shirt.. and hold them up to the child and let them pick – you know, the whole empowerent thing and making choices idea…

My husband reaches in, pulls something out, closes the closet door and says “Here’s what you’re wearing today.” You should be more like my husband than me when you are deciding what to put in your emails.

Think about it this way – your emails are not for telling people everything that you do. That’s what your website is for. Your emails are little test marketing campaigns that go out, focus on one item or concept, and from there you can sort out who was interested and who wasn’t using the tracking that shows who opened, who clicked, who forwarded, etc…  

Reduce the number of choices and you will reduce the back and forth, wishy-washy window shopping that ends in no decision or purchase. One choice will outsell multiple choices across the board. Think about it like shopping with a man at the mall – you get in, find what you want/need and get out. That’s how your emails will work best as a sales tool.

Too many choices in your email will usually result in fewer decisions.
Shorten the decision cycle by offering fewer choices and focusing on one aspect of your business
and you will see an increase in the decisions made to forward, click, read, buy, share, donate or show up.

Taking Pod-Requests…

In one short week, I will begin recording overly cool, terribly hip, highly infomative podcasts with my dear friend Heidi Wong of Constant Contact’s Learning Center fame. …is it actually possible to be cool while recording a podcast on small business marketing? If it is, Heidi will know how. 

We’ll start recording next week (she in her corporate HQ studio in Waltham, MASS and me in my husband’s music studio above the garage in Austin.) Yet, through the magic of GarageBand software/editing… gotta love a mac… we will cut them together and the only people who know we’re not in the same room will be people who read this blog. So all 3 of you should keep that secret for me.  That would be great, k, thanks.

So – I am taking input from the peanut gallery (that means anyone but me, speak up!) — what do you want to know? What have you wished some marketing “guru” would explain in plain english but instead came away trying to figure out how to wiki a google with a tweet for a retweet at the tweetup on a cloud…

and by asking that, I do not mean that I am the “guru”… I’m pretty much an UN-diva, NON-guru type. I’m one of you regular people who speaks in normal human words. I don’t rattle off “hypertext markup language” to root out the newbies in the room. I don’t offer my FTP access and then deny you access based on your browser settings.  I’m just a small business owner myself – was lucky enough to be born at a good time to find the internet during college and never put it down. I was fascinated by what it could do for smaller organizations and love to give away the tricks and strategies that I’ve tested over the years.

SO – what do you want to know in a podcast? OR do you even use podcasts? I’ll give you a few topics to consider (as they are some of the topics we’re considering as well) and you can add to the list or comment by email if you have strong feelings one way or another (jniehoff@constantcontact.com)

Possible Topics:
- How To Write A Subject Line That Actually Works
- Why It’s Important To Choose ONE Objective for Your Email Campaign (and how to do that)
- What Makes a Good Candidate for Your Email List – Not Everyone Is Right For You
- How To Get People To Forward Your Message To A Friend- Without a Gimmick

anything else rattle your cage these days….?

Maybe, Newbie or Techie?

I’m not big on labels and I hate sweeping generalities as a rule. But over the last few years, I’ve noticed a slight change, a tiny shift in the way people approach learning… I’ve decided that people coming to my workshops generally fall into one of three categories – maybe, newbie or techie.  Which are you?

“Maybe” people are window shopping the idea of using the internet and all of it’s itchy-gitchy-gooey tools – free or otherwise – to reach clients, find networking opportunities and to unleash the new web-universe to troll for new customers. To some it’s a magical place they have only imagined and to others it’s a scary, dark wood with mysterious wolves waiting around each bend. Maybies are nice, intelligent and remind me of my Aunt Betty. She’s a great business woman but has no need for email or salesforce.com to run her Christmas Store in Birmingham. She also doesn’t want to miss out and doesn’t want to look up and have the world pass her by. She’s fine where she is but might wants to investigate further.

“Newbies” have jumped in – either by dipping their toes in a little at a time or with a fully-clothed cannonball from the 3rd floor balcony – they are in and they are loving it. They use email marketing tools, they have a website that integrates a survey or their email signup form. They may have started tweeting, or not. They have a smartphone to get all of their emails anywhere and they still have that shiny glow of facebook – that part before you start getting requests from vampires or farmers asking you to help them get farther in their games, but after you’ve been “friended” by an old flame or your best girlfriend from 4th grade girl scouts. Newbies are open to new ideas, are not afraid to click the wrong button, and march toward new technologies and tools with verve. Who doesn’t love that word?

“Techies” used to be the pasty-face nerds that dream in code. Now that group also includes those of us that have been on facebook for several years. We follow and are followed on Twitter and realize it’s not about what you had for lunch…it’s really all about the retweet. Am I right? Techies need an iphone, nothing else will really do. Techies often have a blog – or may even have moved beyond. They have a wireless network at home, and it is protected.
They use the word “cloud” and it does not refer to white puffy things in the sky. Techies can be ten years old, or 85. They are out  and about, en mass, in the Austin area. They do not self-identify. They are your neighbors and friends… even if you don’t realize it.

So, are you a Maybe, a Newbie or a Techie?
There’s no right or wrong answer and each group has it’s charm. The fact that we all fall in line just shows how much the world has changed, and that the lines are blurring.  I do know after speaking to more than 5000 small businesses and nonprofits over the last 6 months that pretty much everyone falls into one of these 3 categories.  And I like it. I love that there are so many of us, doing so many things, so differently. That’s part of the beauty of technology. We can all be ourselves and put our hopes and dreams out there in any way we like, that is comfortable and reflects our true selves.

Long live technology and the people that make it go — Maybies, Newbies and Techies alike!

Use of Social Media Pays Off

Businesses and organizations that are wary about stepping into the social media waters often ask why. Why should I create a Facebook Fan Page or do all I can to attract Twitter followers? What’s the point?

Well, according to a new research study from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate, those who connect with businesses on social media sites are more likely to purchase from them. The study found that more than one-half of Facebook users said they would be more likely to purchase from businesses they were Fans of, and 67% of Twitter users said the same.

Equally interesting is that 60% of respondents said their Facebook connection made them more likely to recommend the business to a friend. Among Twitter followers, that number was nearly 80%.

Clearly, having a presence on social media sites is important. Does your business or organization have a page on Facebook and/or Twitter yet? If not, here are three steps to get up and running:

1. Reserve your spot. Even if you’re not ready to devote much time to promoting your social media presence, at least go to Facebook.com and Twitter.com (and any other sites you choose) and register your business or organization’s name. That will ensure no one claims it before you do.
2. Tell the world about your social media presence. Add links to your regular email signature. Include it in your email newsletter. Post it in your place of business. Then people can easily click to become your Friend, Fan, or Follower.
3. Start communicating. Social media is a great place to build your relationships with customers and members, and make connections with prospects — who can find you by referral or by other means. Give your Friends, Fans, and Followers the kind of content they want (information about sales and specials, yes, but also information about your business/organization, your products, and services) and they will continue to value their connection to you.

For more information about getting started with social media, check out our guide to the 35 Things You Should Know About Social Media Networks.

Speaking @ Wilco in Round Rock Tomorrow Night

Wilco Entrepreneurs Network
Alliance of Texans Building Businesses – Passion, Plan, Perform!

LOCATION:
• Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, 212 East Main St., Round Rock, TX 78664 (512)255-5805
• Please enter on the east side doors, by the Library.

Date/Time: Thu, 3/11 @ 6:30PM

Agenda:
• 6:30 – 7:00 Welcome, introductions, announcements, possible speakers, calendar for meetings
• 7:00 – 8:00 Business Review/Discussion (Julie Niehoff on Key Strategies for Email Marketing
• 8:00 – 8:30 Your one question / Your need
Networking

Cost: Free

Mission:
• Provide a community of learning, discussion, collaboration, support and talent for entrepreneurs starting and growing businesses.
• Allow local entrepreneurs to improve, clarify and realize their business dreams and goals while helping their neighbors.
• Encourage local economic development that creates stable, local jobs.

Format: Grass roots effort to have informal discussions to bring entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs together to learn from each other,build synergy and increase each others potential to succeed.

Audience:
• Anyone interested in starting a business.
• Anyone needing help with their existing business.
• Anyone with experience starting, owning/operating a business and willing to mentor others.
• Anyone willing to work for a small business (to learn, partnering, possible pay).
• Anyone interested in funding small businesses.
• If you know someone, please invite them.

Raise your hand if you have a marketing calendar

Raise your hand if you have a marketing calendar.  Most small business owners do not have their hands up in the air right now. For those of you that did raise your hand, are you doing the things that you’ve planned to do? 90% of you have put your hands down if you’re being honest. Maybe 95%.

Don’t feel bad. Look around. No one else has their hand up either. We’re all busy, we’re all wearing 14 hats and doing more than just our own job. With so many balls in the air, it’s no wonder that a marketing calendar seems like a far off luxury for big corporations with big budgets.

Lots of people write one and then don’t follow it because something big happens in your personal life, or in your work life that throws the whole plan out of whack and then you’re stuck trying to catch up. For some, a marketing calendar is just not realistic until you get a few other items filed away and in control. But for most small business owners, a simple, flexible marketing calendar can be the difference between growing your business or wishing you had.

For those that want to make one but don’t think they have the time or the energy, I ask you for 20 minutes.
I will give you a plan for making a marketing calendar that is very flexible, moves and shakes with both your personal and your professional life and gives you both insight into what is working for your business and well as what isn’t working so that you can move on. 

Here’s what you need:
A file folder – any color will do, a pen, a pencil, a highlighter, a stack of sticky notes and a calendar (any will do, but best to have one with a large square for each day of the week, and one month per page). I get my calendar for this process from Microsoft downloads – free.

Click here to download complete instructions for making a flexible marketing calendar in about 20  minutes.

This is not rocket science, but it is important. Setting up some goals, some ideas is easy to say – putting pen to paper (and sticky notes) takes you that little bit futher, closer to making it happen. Can’t hurt, right?