By: StrongMail What’s the one thing all email marketers should know? I have been in the email space for upwards of 12 years now (geez, I am getting OLD) and through the years I have had the chance to work both the client and vendor side. I have held nearly every position within every discipline of the industry, but I got my start in direct mail. Back in the day, when I started... [Read more]
By: B to B Online Marketers are often so focused on getting prospects into the sales funnel that they may forget that getting them to the bottom of the funnel is the real goal. After all, prospects aren’t worth anything if they never convert. Paul Turnbull, product manager for email service provider Campaigner, suggested these 5 tips to help create your next customer via email... [Read more]
By: MediaPost It’s fair to say that smartphones have experienced explosive growth within the U.S. According to Canalys Research, there were more smartphones shipped in America last year than tablets, desktops and laptops combined. And what are people doing on their smartphones? They are posting pictures on social networks. They are throwing eggs on pigs that have stolen eggs... [Read more]
By: Email Critic Let’s start off with defining “above the fold.” In the newspaper world, above the fold is anything that is on the top half of the newspaper – it’s prime real estate for articles. You put your best and most compelling articles above the fold because they are the hook to getting people to buy your paper. Now what does “above the fold” mean in email? In... [Read more]
8 Things All Great Competition Emails Have in Common Competitions are a fantastic way to increase engagement, grow your email marketing audience or promote your brand. Not all competitions are created equal though. Some are definitely better than others. As a serial competition entrant myself, I’ve learned that there are some very simple elements within competition emails that will... [Read more]
By: Constant Contact Color will make or break your next email campaign. Sound too bold to be true? When your email message is opened, you have a split second to make a good impression. Long before any of your words are absorbed, your reader sees the appearance of your email. And color is the first thing that makes an impression. Will the impression be that your business is polished,... [Read more]
Email Marketing Design Tips for Novices: Expert Interview with Kaushal Gunaratne Kaushal Gunaratne is CEO of Digital Glare and the creator of Cool Templates. He’s an expert when it comes to designing… well, cool templates. In this interview he reveals his top tips for marketers and novice designers when it comes to designing effective emails for their business. Question: Hi Kaushal.... [Read more]
Is Your Email Marketing Campaign Optimized for Tablet Users? If you’re still viewing mobile optimization as the latest in email marketing design, you may be falling behind the times. Studies show that tablet users now account for a growing percentage of online shoppers, with tablet ownership almost doubling over the 2011 Christmas holidays. And not only are more people using tablets,... [Read more]
By: Business 2 Community Keeping your customers is crucial to your business success. If you are going to succeed as your own boss, you must understand that the most valuable asset in your business is your existing customer list. Now hear this: It’s cheaper to keep a customer than to go out and get a new one. It’s a widely held belief that in many industries it costs five-to-ten... [Read more]
The Art of Crafting the Perfect Email Invitation It doesn’t matter how fantastic your event is if your email invitation does not entice recipients to attend. That is why it’s important to create an invitation that will grab the recipient’s attention, provide them with the information they need and entice them to RSVP. Here’s an example of an event invitation with a list of... [Read more]
Ten Tips on How to Do Email Marketing Right Email marketing puts the ability to connect with potential and existing customers at the touch of a button. Despite this simplicity, deciding how to approach and manage the process of email marketing can still be a challenge for businesses looking to leverage the channel to communicate competently and achieve a high return on investment. 1) ... [Read more]
Five Email Apps to Spice Up Your Email Marketing Campaigns Today’s consumers have moved beyond being impressed with social media marketing efforts. Nowadays, it’s not impressive; it’s expected. But that’s old news for most marketers. If you don’t have a solid social media strategy in place, you’re a step behind. For those of you who do, the next step is integrating the... [Read more]
Bringing Sexy Back to Email Marketing: 3 More Ways to Stand Out in a Crowded Inbox Unless you overhear a conversation about porn spam, the words “email” and “sexy” don’t get used in the same sentence very often. Email, the loyal silent workhorse of social media, steadfast driver of e-commerce, overshadowed stepsister of search, is more often likened to Martha Stewart –... [Read more]
I was on an email forum recently when a guy asked, “Does anybody know if you can use animated Gifs in emails and if so how do you do it? I know that you cannot send flash, or it’s not recommended”. If you’re just getting started with animated Gifs in email, here are the basics: 1. Can I use animated Gifs in email? Yes. Animated Gifs play in all email clients,... [Read more]
Digital Hats Off to the Goorin Bros.’ Great Email Marketing Campaign How do you define a great email marketing campaign? Effective copy, concise subject line, clear call-to-action? Sure. But putting hours of effort into an email campaign means nothing if you don’t see results. A successful campaign boils down to your brand understanding how to meet (and exceed) the expectations... [Read more]
20 Ideas to Inspire Your Next Email Marketing Newsletter It’s that time again; the deadline for your upcoming email marketing newsletter is looming, and you just can’t find the energy or inspiration to even start. In fact, you find yourself staring at the screen with eyes slightly out of focus and fingers itching to type ‘w-w-w-dot-f-a-c-e-b-o-o…’ into your web browser. Sound... [Read more]
Mobile Devices Spell the End of Email Marketing Subscriber Text Entry: How to Adjust The policy of asking your email subscribers to write lengthy reviews, comments, or even customer service requests has faded to extinction due to the proliferation of mobile web-enabled devices which make extensive data entry painful or outright impossible. Thanks to these changes, email marketers... [Read more]
Designing an Email Marketing Campaign that Sells Commercial email marketing was expected to drive $63.1 billion in sales last year according to the Power of Direct Marketing study. So, if you are looking for a cost effective way to acquire more customers, promote your business, and sell more products – email is definitely for you. Here is a product email that I recently received... [Read more]
By: CampaignMonitor Finally getting atop an annoying email rendering bug gives geeks like us near-endless, t-shirt removing satisfaction. Especially when it’s plaguing our newsletters. In this instance, our adversary was 3px spacing to the left and right of tables with align="" applied to them. The stage was Outlook 2007 and 2010. While this has been a long-running issue,... [Read more]
Email Newsletter Image blocking: Why It Sucks and How to Rise Above It A staggering 2 out of 3 email users have images turned off in their inbox by default (MarketingSherpa 2010). This makes image blocking a serious issue for email marketers. Particularly when you consider all the time, effort and money that goes into designing a beautiful, compelling email. Take this email design,... [Read more]
