12 tips to optimize your Christmas email marketing
Well it’s that time of year again. Television ads and big box stores are telling us that Christmas is here and that you should be out spending.
So if people are out there shopping for the holidays, it only makes sense that you should be focusing on your email marketing campaigns to make sure they are as good as can be.
Time to throw on the Santa suit and hand out some helpful reminders to optimize your email marketing campaigns this holiday season.
1. Use opt-in data – You will always get a better response from a list you built organically. Recipients will want to read what you send and they will trust you more.
2. Content is king – You need to make sure you have great, compelling content that fits your audience. It can’t just be about the sell. It needs to be relevant and interesting copy that provides the reader with something of value. Include blog posts, links to newsletters or offer tips or instructions that relate to your product or service. This will take a bit of time and effort to put together, but that effort will be repaid handsomely.
3. Branding continuity – Your clients will be familiar with your website, so why not send emails that are consistent with its appearance and extend its appeal. This only helps build trust with customers. Why do you think Santa wears that red suit? Would you let just anyone slide down your chimney?
4. Don’t email too often – You have worked hard to obtain users information, bombarding them with emails could trigger them to unsubscribe. Let people digest what you have already sent. Less is certainly more when it comes to email marketing
5. Make sure you email often enough – I know what I just said. But just to make things even trickier, if you’re not in touch often enough then you’ll also see response rates drop rapidly. People move on much easier than they used to and there is always another company that will try to sway a reader their way. You should be sending out some form of communication at least once a month.
6. Call to action – Give your recipients a reason to read and interact with your emails. Be specific about what you are offering and make it clear how long they have to take advantage.
7. Attach a plain text version – This step is overlooked by a lot of people. Most recipients will receive HTML emails, but for those who can’t, a plain text email will ensure they read what you have to tell them. This goes for mobile devices as well. You don’t want them thinking they got a lump of coal instead of your message.
8. Always check before you send – Testing your campaigns takes two seconds and can avoid an embarrassing mistake being seen by thousands of readers. Get a friend or coworker to check it twice, to see if it is naughty or nice.
9. Keep data secure – Make sure you and you alone have access to your database of customer’s information. Selling it on or lending it to a friend is a sure fire way of losing contacts as well as damaging your reputation. At SimplyCast we can’t stress it enough. We don’t buy or sell lists and you should not either.
10. Subject line – Make sure it is relevant and tells that reader what to expect from the email. A good subject line will entice your recipients into reading. Remember, being misleading with a subject line goes against the laws of CAN-SPAM and will get you put on Santa’s naughty list fast.
11. Get viral with your campaigns – Encouraging recipients to forward your campaigns to their friends costs you nothing and it is an easy way to double your readership. Post your message on Twitter and Facebook and offer incentives for your readers to do the same. Christmas is a time to give, so make it something your readers will want to pass on.
12. Use SimplyCast’s email marketing service – Yes the team of elves at SimplyCast will have you up and running in minutes and will make your first email campaign easier than decorating the tree. Try us out today and see.
By following these 12 tips to optimize your Christmas email marketing, you and your readers will be having a joyous holiday season in no time.
To learn more about SimplyCast, please check out our website here and follow us on Twitter here.
Add comment November 13, 2009
SimplyCast’s email marketing service is offering a 20% discount
After a day off to reflect and remember our troops, the SimplyCast team is back in the office.
This is just a quick post to let you know we are offering BIG savings on our email marketing service this week. Act now and get 20% OFF your order. This includes all new sign-ups or account upgrades.
As mentioned, this offer will only be available until Friday, November 13th at 11:59 pm EST, so click the link below and start expanding your business with SimplyCast’s email marketing solution.
Visit SimplyCast.com and enter coupon code EPC20 at point of purchase to receive an instant 20% discount.
Remember, the SimplyCast team is always available to assist you by phone, online chat and email. You can also take advantage of our extensive FAQ page here.
Thank you,
The SimplyCast Team
1.877.312.4979 ext. 1
sales@simplycast.com
**The above offer is only valid on single month purchases made after November 10th, 2009 and cannot be combined with multiple coupon codes**
Add comment November 12, 2009
Important information when using a dedicated IP address
As an email marketer the one endless battle you face every single day is deliverability. Whether you’re sending a personal email or a bulk customer communication, electronic messages are frequently intercepted, filtered, erroneously labeled as spam, bounced or returned to the sender as undeliverable.
Needless to say, it can be a real pain in the butt.
Fortunately, one option that is available to you when using SimplyCast’s email marketing service is to send your emails through a Dedicated IP address. What does this mean?
A dedicated IP address is one that is used only by you or your company to send the emails from. Dedicated IPs are static and do not change and since the IP does not change, the history and reputation of the IP belongs to the customer using it.
This does not mean you can stop worrying about deliverability. Even with a dedicated IP, deliverability is not as easy as transmitting an email message from one server to the recipient’s server and hope it will reach the intended inbox. It involves an understanding of industry best practices and adhering to legal/compliance requirements etc. to get your emails delivered.
When using a Dedicated IP you must understand Reputation: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) filter spam based on many factors like the private IP address reputation. Building a solid reputation using a Private IP takes time, and the only way to build it is by sending legitimate emails and following best practices. After 3-6 months of sending legitimate emails, cleaning your lists and avoiding complaints, your reputation will be top notch. The great news is you control this because with a private IP address your reputation is only impacted by your email marketing practices.
Think about it from an ISP’s point of view. They are sitting there one day monitoring the emails flying around and all of a sudden this brand new IP starts sending 100,000 emails out of nowhere. It will trigger a red flag the same way a credit card company investigates a possible stolen card. Even though you are one of the good guys, to the ISP you look like someone sending spam.
Over time once the ISP sees a regular pattern of sending from an IP, then they will trust it and that is when open-rates will return to what they used to be if you were on a shared IP for example.
So in conclusion, if you choose to upgrade to decided IP address, this does not automatically mean all your emails will reach your recipients inbox. You must think of your new IP as an intern that just graduated from college. They are full of promise and have the skills to do the job but they need to earn the trust of the company first before being hired and moving up the corporate ladder. If they moved into the corner office on day one, red flags would be going off and everyone would be complaining.
Take the necessary steps to make sure your emails are compliant, your HTML code and content is compliant and your email lists are updated.
For more information please check out the following links and remember to visit the SimplyCast FAQ for all your other SimplyCast related questions.
How to claim a free dedicated IP
Best practices for building your reputation
If you still have questions concerning your dedicated IP, please contact your account manager.
Add comment November 6, 2009
How email marketers can beat writer’s block
Even the most seasoned email marketer can run out of great content from time-to-time. Those who write a lot know that ideas are not always flowing and some days are a lot harder than others. So how do you beat the dreaded writer’s block and return to pumping out witty and creative copy?
Here are a few tips to get your creative juices flowing that will keep your subscribers engrossed in your future emails!
1. Give yourself time. If you know when you are planning to send your next campaign, allow yourself the time to work out the content, come up with new ideas and maybe even give your template a fresh look. If you are finding that your campaigns are a little stale, then your readers certainly will. SimplyCast can help you out there with over 1000 HTML email templates to choose from with new additions all the time.
2. Keep a diary or notebook with you all the time. If you are like me you have 57 things on the brain each day and a great idea is easy to forget. Write down the ideas when you think of them and stop having to remember them two days later when you are trying to write about it. On days when I know I have to write some copy for a promo or newsletter, I listen to the radio in the morning and write down any hot topics or timely news. By incorporating this current information in your writing, your subscribers will be more likely to find it interesting. It can also give you the chance to add a bit of human element to your campaigns.
3. Mark out some creative space. Where do you tend to think up your best ideas or concepts? Some of my best ideas come while I’m walking the dog or driving into work. This is not to say you should base your next campaign on something you dreamed up in the park but you never know when genius will strike. Maybe a room at home or a different room at the office will unlock the door to the perfect campaign.
4. Create a relaxed mood. I know that is easier said than done at work because most business environments are not conducive to relaxing. But if you are in charge of writing press releases, email newsletters or the next big campaign for your company, you need to be on your game. Try out music to inspire creative thoughts. Go and have a chat with a coworker, ideally about something that is not work related. Of course we all have deadlines but even the most high-energy writer has to create the best environment for what needs to be done.
5. Step outside your comfort zone. Try writing about something you wouldn’t usually touch on. Once you start to research and branch out, you will be amazed at how many new ideas come to mind. The best part is this process usually produces several new topics that can keep you writing for many weeks. Go to sites like Twitter, Facebook or Digg and see what everybody else is talking about. By doing something different your subscribers won’t just associate your emails with your business but with quirky features they wouldn’t mind forwarding to their friends. Once this happens, all of a sudden your readership will grow exponentially.
Hopefully these pointers will help you beat writer’s block, and if you have some ideas of your own, please share with us. There are so many different ways to get the creative juices flowing, I bet we can build quite the list.
1 comment November 4, 2009
Tactics to help retain your email subscribers
With the World Series starting tonight in New York, it is hard not to have baseball on the brain.
This reminded me of a post I wrote way back in April that compared baseball with the different ways for you to retain your subscribers.
As the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies battle it out for the MLB title this week, I thought it was a good time to revisit this post and list all the key points to help you out.
Tactics to retain subscribers
• Remind subscribers of the value and benefits of remaining on your list. Don’t be shy. Brag about how great your service is and all the top features you offer. By making this clear, a subscriber will be more likely to stick with you.
• Survey your list of inactives regularly to see if you can return them to active status before making that final cut. If they show no interest, at least you tried your best and can move on.
• Sell them on the benefits at the point of sign-up. Make your message as enticing as possible.
• Stay on the top of subscriber’s minds through regular mailings. If you don’t keep in touch often enough, you will certainly fall out of memory fast.
• Promote other communication channels to allow your subscribers to follow you in other networks, besides email. Include your network accounts (Facebook profile, Twitter ID, etc.) in the administrative footer of your messages and feature them prominently in your welcome programs.
• Always show interest to your clients. A personalized message can do wonders when trying to retain customers. Ideally your product or service will speak for itself but anything extra that makes a customer feel special and appreciated will go a long way.
• Increase the choice a customer has by providing more information beyond your usual service. In terms of your business, this could include offering complimentary services, discounted rates or sneak previews of upcoming features if they remain on your list.
Reasons you need to focus on inactive clients
It is very important to focus on inactive subscribers and decide how you will go about retaining them or moving them to the inactive list for good.
First of all, you are spending your money to send them emails that they don’t even open. Save the extra credits for those clients that open your emails.
Secondly, repeated mailings to inactive mailboxes are a bad email practice. How often marketers send emails to non responsive users is one of the factors that determine the sender’s reputation with your ISP (In this case SimplyCast).
To learn more about how SimplyCast’s email marketing service can help you boost your email marketing efforts and retain subscribers, please visit SimplyCast.com.
Oh and in case you were wondering – Yankees in six.
Add comment October 28, 2009
SimplyCast’s Halloween special – Save 50% Off
With Halloween only a few days away, SimplyCast’s team of witches and goblins have concocted a spell that will help you save big when using our email marketing service.
Enjoy this special offer today and save 50% OFF one month’s subscription. This includes all new sign-ups and upgrades. Go to SimplyCast.com and enter Coupon Code SPELL50 at point of purchase and SAVE. Act now! This treat of an offer expires on Halloween night (Saturday, Oct. 31st) at midnight EST.
Do you think a friend or a business colleague could benefit from this amazing deal? We encourage you to SHARE this offer.
Annual Plans
Looking for even more savings? Check out our annual subscription packages.
| Plan | 3-Months | 6-Months | 9-Months | 1-Year | 2-Years |
| Savings | 3% | 5% | 10% | 15% | 20% |
Why should you switch to SimplyCast’s email marketing solution?
Here are a few reasons:
Over 1000 free HTML email marketing templates.
Simple and elegant interface.
Every account is assigned to a dedicated account manager.
Get a free Dedicated IP address.
Ability to remove the SimplyCast logo from the bottom of emails.
Access to create Email, Survey and RSVP campaigns.
Compatible with IE, Firefox, Opera and Safari.
A cross-browser, cross-platform WYSIWYG online HTML editor.
Ability to import HTML from Microsoft Word.
Industry leading customer care team that can be reached by phone, email or live chat.
And many more.
The SimplyCast team is working hard for you. Email our customer care team today with your request for new features and enhancements.
Thank you,
The SimplyCast Team
1.877.312.4979 Ext 1
sales@simplycast.com
Build your Twitter following today – Follow SimplyCast.
**The above offer is only valid on single month purchases made after October 26th, 2009 and cannot be combined with multiple coupon codes**
Add comment October 27, 2009
