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| Keeping You Informed About The Latest In Technology |
February 2009 Issue |
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As we all know. February is, by far, the shortest month of the year. So we thought that we would keep with that theme, and make this edition of Expedite eNews short and sweet as well.
At Expedite Media Group, we understand that everyone is constantly surrounded by abysmal economic news—thousands of jobs cut each day and a climbing unemployment rate. With that said, though, we want to supply you with positive news, and we’re hoping that the tips included in this newsletter will be put to good use. |
Have a question or concern you just can’t seem to get to the bottom of? Not sure which day of the week is statistically the best to send your e-mail marketing messages out? Feel free to write in and ask the experts, and we’ll get back to you in a future edition of Expedite eNews. |
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Gibson strikes a chord in 50th anniversary commemoration with Expedite's SMS marketing service
Expedite has an exciting announcement to make this month! Gibson USA, the world renowned maker of stylish and innovative guitars, has decided to use our SMS text message marketing software for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of their prominent and prestigious guitar—the 1959 Les Paul Standard.
As part of the anniversary celebration, Gibson has kicked off a contest where there will be a random drawing for a 50th anniversary Les Paul Standard from the Gibson custom shop. They're planning on promoting the contest at a few concerts, and to enter, the only thing people have to do is text "LPburst" to 85700—that's it! What a simple and great way to build customer loyalty and brand awareness.
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Five tips to make your e-mail marketing recession resistant
By now, it’s not much of a secret that e-mail marketing is the highest ROI tool in a marketer’s toolbox, because e-mail marketing campaigns are, by far, much more cost-effective than direct mail campaigns and most other traditional advertising and marketing methods. And as we’ve said before, with recent economic trends, marketing budgets are getting slashed—if they’re not already virtually non-existent. Consequently, it’s not much of a surprise that marketers have stepped up their e-mail marketing campaigns more now than ever—it’s all about doing more with less.
Since this is the case, we thought this would be a great opportunity to provide some tips on how to make your e-mail marketing campaigns as recession resistant as possible.
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Don't over inundate |
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Just because business is down, try to resist the urge to blast coupons and promotional offers to current clients and prospects. Actions of this nature can be seen as desperate, and, consequently, could backfire and have the opposite effect that you’d hoped for. By e-mailing current clients more than they’re used to, oftentimes, they’re inboxes are being flooded by the exact same offers from your competitors. This is why what you send out should stand out and provide value of some sort to the recipient. |
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Provide value, not nonsense |
The key to marketing is to give people what they want, and in the most easily absorbed manner. The exact same rule applies to e-mail marketing, too. If you make it too challenging for the recipients to understand your message or offer, most likely, they will not follow through on it.
In addition to e-mail marketing, we also suggest that you use e-mail as a means of connecting with your customers and prospects. Showing that you and your company values your customers is something that can really set you apart. The best way to accomplish this is to make an emotional connection with the reader, which is clearly something e-mail blasts do not achieve. However, even a survey, or a portion of your newsletter dedicated to asking for suggestions can show that your company cares and wants to help, which is something that adds value. |
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Be relevant |
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The other important element to focus on in a recession is relevancy. With all of the e-mail the average consumer receives, the last thing they’re going to want to read is something that they can’t understand or relate to—or simply, something they’re not interested in. Sending irrelevant messages surely will not deliver great results from your e-mail marketing campaign. Writing and giving your readers what they want is crucial part of providing the right content. |
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Clean it up—purge old and unresponsive e-mail addresses |
Now is the time to purge e-mail addresses that are outdated or are no longer interested in your product or service. Why spend the money on sending e-mail to recipients who will just delete your messages? All of those wasted messages can add up after while, and with budget cuts, now is not the time to be wasting money. Instead, find the recipients who are interested and engaged by your e-mail marketing—then focus more on building loyalty with them. Here are a few guidelines on how to streamline your lists:
- Set deadlines—What do you consider to be an inactive recipient? If they haven't purchased a product or subscribed to your service in two years? If they’ve been unresponsive to your e-mail marketing messages for six months? A rule of thumb we suggest is that the more frequently you send them e-mail, the shorter the time period you should consider them an inactive recipient.
- Send a unique targeted message—Contact them letting them know that you are offering them a limited time only promotion, and sweeten the deal a little bit with a discount. You also can try sending a survey to find out why they didn’t choose to use your products and services, or why they stopped using the service altogether.
- Send a follow-up and track the results—Many people forget to follow-up with more recently pursued prospects. We suggest that you send a follow-up to anyone who hasn't responded in a week or two. If you don’t receive a response from a few follow-up efforts, you can then decide to move any of those inactive recipients off your main list or to a “do not e-mail list.”
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Tailor your lists |
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In tough times, everyone seemingly steps up their marketing efforts. As recipients receive more and more e-mail, it can be harder to get your e-mail viewed. This is why we stress segmenting your lists. Depending on the information you gather you can segment your lists by:
• Age
• Gender |
• Geographic location
• Interests or hobbies
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• Occupation or job title |
After you segment your lists, you can use targeted marketing messages, which always yield a higher success rate. |
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Expedite Media Group has been helping organizations and entrepreneurs worldwide build and grow their businesses since 1999, and we understand that a successful online business is a blend of activities, all designed to create new buying interest and to establish a loyal customer base. We have the experience and skills to provide the marketing solutions targeted at achieving optimum exposure for your business.
Expedite Media Group, headquartered in the Chicagoland area, provides Web site design, hosting, SEO, e-mail marketing and SMS marketing. Expedite's proprietary software platform, Simplicity, integrates all of your marketing activities into one "dashboard," providing visibility into the effectiveness of a business' marketing campaigns and Internet presence. For a free, no-obligation consultation on what it would take for us to quickly and affordably enhance your site with these and other features, please call us directly at (630) 897-6448. One of our marketing professionals will contact you within 24 hours. |
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We are looking for our clients to tell us what you want to learn and read about. Any topic—big or small—that has to do with Web design, Internet marketing or e-mail and SMS marketing, we are here to help! Please send your questions and ideas via e-mail to enews@expeditemg.com, or click here for our quick contact form. |
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For more information on Expedite's products and services, please click here. |
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