What to look out for when sending out EDM Campaigns

Email is the most used tool in internet marketing. It has been said that your email marketing strategy is more vital than your website itself. Personally I believe that is a chicken an egg argument.

Once you get around to actually blasting out your campaigns either on your own or through a vendor. Things to monitor are:

1) EDM open rate – how many people actually opened up your edm

2) Among the undelivered, how many EDMs were hard bounces and how many were soft bounces.

whatis.techtarget.com defines the 2 as:

hard bounce

A hard bounce is an e-mail message that has been returned to the sender because the recipient’s address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur because the domain name doesn’t exist or because the recipient is unknown. When the recipient’s name is known, e-mail may be rejected because the sender’s mail box is full or for other reasons.

soft bounce

A soft bounce is an e-mail message that gets as far as the recipient’s mail server but is bounced back undelivered before it gets to the intended recipient. A soft bounce might occur because the recipient’s inbox is full. A soft bounce message may be deliverable at another time or may be forwarded manually by the network administrator in charge of redirecting mail on the recipient’s domain.

3) The days and timings that the majority of edms were opened. – This could help you time your next campaign

4) You can also set up tracking for the links in your edm to see which content is most popular with your readers.  Also you will be able to feature better tailored content in your next campaigns.

5) Unsubscribe rates: If you have an unsubscribe function you should monitor the unsubscribe rates as high unsubscribe rates may mean that your content may not be interesting enough or tailored to your target blast group.

Last of all make sure your your edm complies with anti spam laws. There are also steps that you can take to prevent your edm from landing in peoples junk mail folder.

More on that in the next article.

Shawn

The power of eDMs

Well it’s been awhile since I was on this. I have a great excuse though. I was busy getting in touch with using eDMs (Electronic Direct Mail) in my work. Working with this monster e-marketing tool has made me appreciate the power of email. I know that is an obvious statement but I have to say, the power of blasting an almost unlimited amount of individuals with relevant and timely information which is accessible to them when they want it is astounding.

Going forward I hope to discuss more on eDMs. For now below are some situations where you might consider applying eDMs:

Promotions:

Customer Relationship Management:

Data collecting:

Adverts: (must be tailored to the database please!)

Just a warning when using this tool. Spamming should not be done under any circumstances. If the culture of spamming is allowed to spiral out of control I believe this mode of communication between consumer and company will be rendered useless.

S.V

Getting to know: Google Analytics

Currently I am starting my journey deeper into web analytics. After doing some research I have found the that there are very vast and expensive web analytics programs out there which only the mega giants can afford. So lets start at the simple lower tier and most importantly free programs. One of the best known, Google Analytics. For some basics on using the program click here.

SV

Google Adwords: Monitor your competitors

On Google Adwords it would be wise not to just monitor your own campaign but to also keep an eye on your competitors who are usually listed along your ads with the same keywords that you use. This is important as users who enter a particular keyword see their ads along with your ads and the most attractive ad will win the click.

Also changes in your Clicks, Click through rate (CTR), Cost per Click (CPC) or Ad position could be affected by a new competitor entering/leaving the Adwords market. For example, if one of your closest competitors stops advertising you will see a surge in Clicks. So do keep track of your competitors online PPC campaign moves. – That would be a wise move.

Google Adwords: Clicks Vs Conversions

Lets define a conversion as an actual result that you would like the visitor to perform on your site. (It could be filling up a form or downloading a pdf brochure) Generally those new to Google Adwords will focus on the clicks that they receive through each Adwords campaign. If you are running multiple campaigns especially in different countries be sure not to measure your campaigns success by the number of clicks received and leave it at that.

REMEMBER THAT CLICKS MEAN NOTHING UNTIL COMPARED WITH CONVERSIONS.

This is a dangerous way to lose precious marketing dollars as a campaign which generates tons of clicks and visitors may not be generating any real revenue for you. Also it is not in your best interest to consider this as branding. In my opinion Adwords main purpose is to generate conversions and sales revenue. It is not a branding tool. So dig one step deeper when performing a campaign effectiveness evaluation and you may find gem campaigns.

Lets toast to Toast Box

I would like to confess – I am a toast box coffee addict. Usually coffee joints located in shopping malls try to serve you up a cup of stale tasting coffee for an above average mark up. (there is a certain donut-cum-coffee store which once served me the worst cup I have ever tasted) I would like to say that the marketing and product development guys down at BreadTalk (the parent company of Toast Box) have done an exellent job.

The first time I stepped into a Toast Box outlet (yearsss ago) my first impression was that their kampung style ambience- chairs which were not as confortable as the other outlets and old kampung decor- would not work. Now Toastbox has become a store which I frequest at least twice on week ends and a few times over the week to get my daily dose of caffeine.  I would like to go into more details on the little details that in my view makes Toastbox such a success but I shall end it here for now with the conclusion that with vision and great products tremendous things can happen in a short period of time. Now im off for a late night cup of  coffee – to bad Toastbox isn’t open.

Reviews:

• My Little Food Blog
• Hungry Go Where

Customer Service in the retail industry. Points to ponder

Being in the front line can be a tiring but rewarding experience. It gives you the opportunity to practice salesmanship and develop skills that will help you shine later on in your career. Being in a front line position in 2 industries (textile and education) here are 3 pieces of advice that I found to be valuable:

1) Make the customers problem your problem:

Nothing frustrates a customer more than a lack of empathy. If a customer feels neglected you will lose that customer or loose the good word of mouth that he/she could pass on. Should you not be able to handle the problem politely apologize and get the help/advice of a superior that can help you resolve the issue. The customer will appreciate your honesty and sincerity to help.

2) The customer is not always right (but you have to explain him why in a very tactful and information manner)

Some (difficult) customers could insist on thing being done a certain way because they think that it will benefit them. If you know better politely advise why your method may benefit them. Give them a choice and then if they still choose to pursue things their way then let them do so as long is adheres to the companies policy.

Remember the faces:

3) Nothing makes a customer feel more connected to your brand/company when they feel like they are remembered. This will increase their loyalty and CLV (customer lifetime value). Also expect better word of mouth when you are able to connect with your consumers on a personal level.

*Personalizing and tweaking your customer service skills to create brand loyalty and good word of mouth is vital to increasing the customers lifetime value. (CLV) Increasing CLV justifies a larger marking spend to acquire potential leads.