I received an email the other day from a consulting company I have used in the past for Google Analytics. The email was for a seminar in Columbus, Ohio. It was a comprehensive one and two day seminar that, I’m sure, appealed to a wide range of people who use the service. The cost was low for most small businesses and was enticing. All the information given in the email made it the right seminar for me.

I had received a few of these emails for a few months previous for other seminars, which was good, helpful even. It gave me a basis that the company cared enough to want to offer me education on their systems.

TIP: When sending emails for seminars or conferences, getting the date out early is great, especially with some follow-up emails when the actual date is closer. Keep the seminar in the minds of the customers.

However, the date I received this particular seminar email blast was October 13th. The seminar was for October 14th. One day turn around.

I should say at this point, I do not live near Ohio, I am not even in the same time zone as Ohio. The only thing my state has in common with Ohio is the O. (Oregon, Go Ducks!) I am NOT the target for the “day before seminar” email blast. Who is? People in Ohio. People close to Ohio. Not people on the west coast.

Email marketing with a series targeted for a specific date can work, when done properly. Every piece of communication about this event was done perfectly, except one. They didn’t use segmentation in their email management tools to target their customers at each stage.

If you are sending out eblasts for a particular event, take the time to think about who should receive each email - It may not be the same set of people at each stage.

Nicole Poole
Online Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Where it all went wrong photo by gary_foulger via Flickr

Tags: email lists, email marketing, Marketing, right way wrong way, segmentation
Posted on October 20th, 2008 | No Comments »

Does your blog or website have a newsletter for informational articles or product/service announcements?

If you do, most likely it’s an opt-in list you’ve cultivated slowly over time. So, what do you do when you want to grow that list? Do you invest in a high priced email list from a broker or do you find them yourself? If you want to find and qualify those customer leads yourself, where do you start looking?

Buying a list may be the easy route, but it can get expensive. The alternative being collecting the email addresses yourself. But as I mentioned above, that can take a while if you aren’t being aggressive about it.

So get aggressive! You’re in business to make money, don’t be afraid to sell your product to people who want and need your product or service. A newsletter to give your customers that value added benefit of being your customer might be just the thing that keeps them coming back to you instead of moving to your competitor.

iContact has 9 creative ideas you can use to build your email list.

Nine Ways to Collect Email Addresses

Your website - If you’re not promoting your email list on your website, you’re not using your website well enough.

Current email lists - Using current email lists to build your own email list is an essential part of your growth. If your current recipients see something of value to them, they may think their friends will benefit as well. Allowing them to pass your email along may easily add to your list.

In-store sign-up - Add sign-up forms so people can opt-in to your email list when checking out or browsing around.

Contests - Register participants’ addresses and announce the winner through your next newsletter.

Coupons and discounts - Offer special incentives through email only, and allow recipients to pass them along to friends.

Advertisements and direct mail - Never pass up the opportunity to inform readers about your email community. Direct them to your website or have them send an email to you requesting their addition.

Business cards - On the back of your business card, promote your website and the opportunity to receive informative emails or newsletters.

Trade shows and networking events - Offer collateral material that requests them to sign up on their own.

Seminars - Give seminars on your area of expertise, and have people sign up to your mailing list for future seminars, discounted rates, and other announcements.

Be creative with these ideas, mix and match, or come up with your own ways to collect emails.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

  iContact allows businesses, non-profit organizations, and associations to easily create, publish, and track email newsletters, surveys, blogs, auto-responders, and RSS feeds. We are thrilled to be able to share their expertise with you and give you an opportunity to use their best-in-class email marketing software for a special 10% off the lifetime of your account.

Tags: email marketing, icontact, Marketing, palo alto software
Posted on October 9th, 2008 | No Comments »