VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business

5 B2B Email Marketing Takeaways from Tebow-Mania

Photo credit: Jeffrey Beall

If there's anything I've learned from the Tim Tebow craze, it's that giving the right pitch to the right (or wrong) audience can get your name out there, for better or for worse. If your message is irrelevant, if it is controversial or if you're too aggressive in the delivery, you may end up polarizing your audience or losing followers. Being known for something, whether it's good or bad, may be beneficial in the media world, but in business communications being infamous can hit you right in the pocketbook. In order to keep your business in the best light, follow these five B2B email best practice tips.  

1. Connect with your receivers - We've all got a lot of interesting things to say about our business or industry, but bombarding your recipients with too much information will overwhelm them and most likely make them sack your message (otherwise known as delete or unsubscribe). Create your message with relevant and engaging headlines and digestible chunks of content so busy readers can easily scan for valuable information.

2. Get them into the end zone - Design your message with a clear purpose in mind. Whether you want recipients to sign up for a free trial, attend an event or visit your website, the next step should be evident. Each message should have a main call-to-action. Including the same call-to-action more than once can help reinforce the end goal by giving recipients multiple opportunities to take the next step.

3. Target your fans - It's tough to create one newsletter or promotional email that will successfully engage members of multiple industries, titles and interests. Make your message relevant by segmenting your lists to offer useful and pertinent information to distinct audiences.

4. Spread your coverage - Include social sharing and forward to a friend links in your emails. This allows you to leverage your current customer base and their social networks for referrals and new business. You can also track how popular your emails are by tracking link clicks and social shares.

5. Run the drills - The best way to create effective emails is to examine your analytics and reporting to see what's working and what's not. Continue to make your messaging more effective by refining subject lines, calls-to-action, image placement, headlines, send times, cadence and more!

Using these tactics can help you score big with your readers. Do you have a particular tip or practice you've found beneficial in your B2B communications?

Posted by Savannah Stewart

Savannah Stewart is a Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

 

Related Posts:

29 Great B2B Subject Lines

Email Delivery: 6 Tips for Delivering B2B Email

Has Communication on Twitter Gone to the Birds?

I don’t want this to be one of those nostalgic posts that remember the “good old days” on one of the more popular social networks. No, I just want to share some very unscientific findings that made me scratch my head.

See, I’ve been on Twitter for almost four years now. Not as long as some of the more pronounced early adopters, but long enough to see the changes in the social network for better or worse. Like I said earlier, this is not a post to bash on what Twitter is today, but just to bring to light what those changes are and get input from other users to see if they're observing some of the same things.

So, to set the stage, let me tell you a little about the Twitter environment I reside in. As of this publishing, I have tweeted 25,406 times, I have 5,652 followers and I follow 607 people. And the makeup of those 607 people equate to some of the most socially savvy people in the Twitterverse.

To obtain a sample for this post, I categorized 100 tweets in my stream starting at 1:12 pm on January 23, 2012. I broke them into fairly distinct categories, but you will see that a few could have been combined (i.e., Foursquare, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.). I chose to leave them as separate categories, though. The tweets broke out as follows:

Type of Tweet                                                             # Tweets

Links (a tweet with a clickable link)	53
Conversation (tweets with people actually conversing)	15
Status Updates	13
Retweets	11
Foursquare Updates	4
Spotify Updates	1
Pinterest Updates	1
YouTube Links	1
Instagram Updates	1

So what are my observations from the findings? Well at least in my world, conversation has taken a back seat to sharing other pieces of content in a big way. Not to say this is a bad thing. After all, I'd be the first to admit that I source a large percentage of my content consumption via Twitter. I do, however, miss those multi-person conversations that would be moving so fast it would be hard to keep up. They were entertaining and provided different points of view on a multitude of subject matter in one easy to digest package.

But enough about my Twitter experience circa 2012, I’d love to hear your observation of today’s foremost micro blogging network! Let me know your thoughts.

 

Posted by Derek Overbey

Derek Overbey is the Senior Social Media Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with him on Twitter at @doverbey.

How to Customize Your Email Marketing With Little to No Effort

This article originally appeared on iMedia Connection, an online resource covering the latest and greatest in interactive marketing.

In a market that’s saturated with mass email campaigns for every product and service known to man, being able to consistently strike a chord with your customers isn’t easy.

High-level customization of email marketing campaigns usually requires collecting various types of data on your customers, segmenting your lists and using (and paying for) complex enterprise-level tools. But for many of us – especially the small agency or small business marketer – we need to start our email marketing efforts pronto without spending a whole ton of money.

Thankfully, there are ways to make it seem like your campaigns are customized even if all you have are the basics. How? Take your content cue from seasonal shifts, news headlines and even weather fluctuations.

Here are a few examples from big brands where this type of approach works well:

Baskin Robbins: To combat an inevitable dip in ice cream sales during the chillier months, they served up a double scoop of savings with a BOGO coupon (Buy One Get One Free) for their aptly-named Bobsled Brownie cones. Subject line: "Slide into Winter with December's Flavor of the Month."

Cole Haan: Their post-Black Friday campaign offered exhausted holiday shoppers a chance to both pamper themselves and score a year's worth of freebies. (In exchange for an email address, of course!) Subject line: "TREAT yourself: Enjoy 25% off AND enter to win 12 months of shoes."

Kaiser Permanente: The healthcare provider's December e-newsletter got a timely (and flavorful) boost by including a heart-smart winter soup recipe. Subject line: "Warm up your holidays with our lentil soup."

Recyclebank: They gently nudged members to earn extra points redeemable for free stuff by either pledging to reduce energy consumption and consumer waste, or by playing the latest, seasonally-themed game called “Green Your Seasons.” Subject line: "Last Days! 'Green Your Seasons Winter' is open, did you get your 90 points yet?"

Of course, you can kick it up another notch by automatically including the subscriber’s first name in the subject line, if you collect that information; most email service providers offer this feature.

Have you spotted any examples of “customized” marketing based on timely happenings or seasonal trends? Let us know!

 

Posted by Janine Popick.

Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter and check out more of her iMedia Connection columns.

How to Put the Love in Your Valentine's Day Marketing

Valentine's Day 2012 is coming fast! According to the experts at the National Retail Federation, retail spending for the holiday will increase nearly 13 percent this year - that's huge! On top of this, the average person will spend $116.21 on traditional Valentine’s Day merchandise this year, an increase of 12.8% over 2011’s total, with expenditures on jewelry and clothing expected to rise substantially.

This makes this Valentine's Day the fourth most popular shopping holiday of the year, just behind the winter holidays of Christmas/Hanukkah, Back-to-School and Mother’s Day.

How can you share in the love-fest and reap the rewards this Valentine's Day? The good news is, no matter what industry you're in, or kind of business you have, you can capitalize on the theme. And, the time to get started is now!

Here are a few quick tips and tactics to get you and your readers feeling the love:

Work with the theme, but be a bit unexpected - Since everyone and their brother will be sending out emails with hearts, cupids and roses on them and subject lines with references to love, you'll want to ensure your emails and direct mail pieces stand out from the crowded mailboxes both online and off.

One way to catch your subscribers' attention is to put a creative spin on the theme and use the basics of content marketing 101 - tell a story to connect with your audience. For example, if you sell jewelry, tell a story behind symbolism of a particular precious stone that's used, or share a story of how a piece is created. You can even share the meanings behind Valentine's traditions or fun facts, like how many roses or how many pounds of chocolate will be sold this year. (The answer? 110 million roses and 1.1 billion boxes of chocolates will be sold throughout the U.S.) This way, you'll draw your recipient in and will hopefully get them to react.

Gift guides make shopping easy - Send an email marketing campaign or direct mail postcard with gift ideas by price point for him and her. If you're sending an email, try including a call-to-action button that encourages your readers to Buy Now. You can also use this free tool to make your own free custom button.

Use social to share the love - It's easier than ever to extend the reach of your messages to potential and new customers by sharing your email content on your social networks. Check out Roost by VerticalResponse, a free tool that lets you easily and quickly create a campaign of posts across all your social networks. The best part is you can do it all from one place and not have to log into Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn separately. You'll have your Valentine's Day campaign ready in a flash! You can also extend the life of your email campaign by sharing the hosted version to your social networks. You've spent the time to create it, now make sure as many people as possible can see it.

Be careful with your subject line - This is a great tip from our pals at the Retail Email Blog about not shortening Valentine's Day to V-Day in your subject line or tweets to save characters. V-Day has a number of meanings and associations, generally violent. Email marketers are always looking to trim characters from their subject lines, but this may not be the best way to shorten "Valentine’s Day."

How will you message your audience this Valentine's Day?

Posted by Kim Stiglitz.

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

Calling All NonResponders - Don't Give Up on Them Yet!

Who and what exactly are nonresponders? These are subscribers who continue to get your emails, but haven't opened, clicked or responded in a long time, if ever.

We've all read the advice to clean up our email lists and get rid of the "dead weight," the unengaged, the nonresponders. But wait! Have you tried to reengage them before you cut them loose?

More than 90% of consumers unsubscribe, “unlike” or stop following brands because of too frequent, irrelevant or boring communications.

Did you read that, 90%! And that b-word...BORING! I'm sure you've never, ever delivered said boring content and only provide the most timely, relevant information exactly as you promised your subscribers when they signed up for your list. But, if you've ever been guilty of not delivering on your promise (ahem, guilty as charged) then read on and we'll explore how to come back from the dark side and reengage the people on your list who may have gone quiet.

Provide Value with a Capital V: Are you providing value for your subscribers? Your goal is to make sure that your content meets or exceeds subscribers' expectations. But how to know that? Do you guess? Make assumptions? No! Send a quick survey to your subscribers and ask them questions related to why they subscribed and how the content you provide meets those expectations. If you find a disconnect between what you're providing and what your subscribers expect, it's time for a change. Remember that people opt in for different reasons and want different content. You may need to look at segmenting your list and content to provide the most relevant information to keep your subscribers coming back for more.

A great example of this is an email I received recently from Open Table reminding me of the restaurants I visited by booking though their system in 2011. All my visits were merged in the email. Great use of personalization and targeted messaging.

You can also send a specific email to your nonresponders reminding them of the value and why they subscribed in the first place. Just ensure you're delivering what you promised!

Test It! Try taking the last email campaign you sent that had a decent open and clickthrough rate and download your list of nonresponders (Sent emails - Reports - Download Lists - All nonresponders). Now, make a copy of your last email and try changing a single element, the easiest and fastest being the subject line. Now resend it to just your nonresponders and see what happens. Check out our recorded webinar Testing Your Email & Lists for Success for more tips. And, we also have a killer marketing guide: Testing, Testing 1,2,3 here.

Change the Channel: Going after nonresponders through email alone might not be enough, but have no fear because you can use email's best friends, direct mail and social media. How? It's pretty simple really. You can print up some simple inexpensive direct mail postcards and ask your nonresponders to come back and update their email address. Up to 30% of your email list can go bad in a single year alone due to people changing their email addresses. You can also reach out via your social media channels like Facebook & Twitter and ask people to visit your website and re-opt in via your opt-in form. Adding a special offer to this like "come back and save 30%" can provide a little incentive and reward to your subscribers for making the effort as well. 

Reactivating nonresponders can take a bit of effort, but if you get them back, you will regain a valuable resource.

What have you done to reactivate your nonresponders? I'd love to share your tactics.

Posted by Kim Stiglitz

Kim Stiglitz is the Director of Lifecycle Marketing at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @Stiggy1.

Why is Google's Logo Blacked Out Today?

You may have gone to Google today and got a bit of a surprise, the site's logo is blacked out. Wikipedia and many other sites also have their home pages altered. 

What's going on with this? It's an online protest to two bills: Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House. You can find full text of these bills in PDF form here for SOPA and here for PIPA.

Both of these bills are designed to tackle the problem of websites that distribute pirated content like movies and music. The problem is that most of these sites are located outside the U.S. Because it's tough to police sites outside the U.S. for this pirated content, these bills put the onus on sites like Google to make it hard for people to find these sites, and sites like YouTube to police what people post to their networks. The bills would effectively enable content owners (think movie studios and record labels) to shut down sites that they believe are violating copyright.

While these sites do agree with all content owners that pirated content is illegal, the main point that they're trying to make with their online protest is that it's impossible to enforce this legislation without promoting censorship and without completely changing the way their businesses run. Many of the protesting businesses do support legislation against piracy of some sort, but argue that SOPA and PIPA as written do not represent the best course of action. Even the White House has indicated that these specific bills are not the right solution.

How do you feel about these bills? Will they affect your business?

Posted by Janine Popick.

Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter.

Do Your Email Lists Deliver?

2011 has come and gone and it's time to take a look at your mailing lists and give them a refresh for 2012.

Mailing lists perform differently over time; some addresses become invalid, some recipients change their email habits and some continue to be engaged in your emails.

Using our segmentation tool allows you to easily find out what's going on with your recipients and create lists based on engagement. Ok, now you're probably thinking "I'm a busy, small business owner, I don't think I have time to do this!" 

There are a few compelling reasons to invest a little time in your lists: To help get your email to the inbox, you want to make sure your lists are clean and you understand how they perform. And, once your lists are set up, you can send out emails to target your recipients in different ways. Targeting parts of your list with information that they're interested in can increase engagement and help your business or organization grow. 

For example, if you're a winery, you can set up your lists based on your customers' favorite wine varietal (i.e., Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, etc.). This works for any business type and non-profits too; sort your lists by active donors, volunteers, or event participants.

Why should you do this? Your recipients will appreciate having an email sent to them that is tailored to their interests, and they'll be more apt to open the email and click on links. After you've sent out a few emails, take a look at your reporting to find out who's opening your emails consistently and/or clicking on links. You can use the segmentation tool to create lists of recipients who have opened your email and/or clicked on links. These will be your engaged recipients; the people who are eager to read your email when you send it out. You can send special offers, sneak peek information on sales, new products or services, and even mail to them more frequently. 

Here are some quick steps to get you started segmenting your lists, but there is more info on our How to Do Everything site.

First, segment by Campaign recipients.

 

 

 

 

Then select the campaign or campaigns you want to use for the list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you can make some choices based on what information you want. You can select just openers, clickers or both. Remember, if you select only openers you could be missing those who read the text version and click on links. And if you select both, your list will be smaller, but very targeted.

A little extra effort for a small business yes, but spending a bit of time on your list now can bring great results for your business the rest of the year.

 

Posted by Jill Bastian.

Jill Bastian is the Training and Education Manager at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter @Jillieb3.

Calling All Teen Entrepreneurs: Enter Our Next Teen Tycoon Contest and Win!

Bill Gates started his first company, TRAF-O-DATA, when he was sixteen. 

Sir Richard Branson launched two business ventures by the time he was fifteen – one growing Christmas trees and another raising pet parakeets.

And I started my first business at fifteen as well – my babysitting service dominated the neighborhood.

If history is any indication, today’s entrepreneurial teens could very well become tomorrow’s transformational business leaders. 

At VerticalResponse, we believe that you’re never too young to launch your own business. That’s why we’re excited to announce the VerticalResponse Next Teen Tycoon video contest – our search for America’s future business mogul!

Starting today, any teen between 13 and 18 years old can enter the contest by submitting a short 2-minute video explaining his/her business or business idea. Easy!

In addition to great public exposure, winners will get amazing prizes, including “seed cash” to help launch or grow their business ($4,000 for the grand prize winner and $2,000 each for two second-place winners), a trip to the Big Apple to attend the inspiring TEDxTeen conference and more.

Finalist videos also will get seen by seasoned entrepreneurs and small business experts who are passionate about youth entrepreneurship, including the founders and top execs of Teens in Tech Labs, Inc. magazine, Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, SmallBizTechnology and Duct Tape Marketing.

So if you are – or know – a teen who’s been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, enter now to share that awesome business idea with the world and win!

Janine Popick, CEO, VerticalResponse

A Happy Lesson on Branding from Apple & Grouplove

Grouplove is an American indie rock band I encountered after attending a concert last September. They opened for Two Door Cinema Club, another indie rock band that has seen rising popularity in the indie music scene. Grouplove’s cheery disposition and uplifting beats in their debut album ironically titled, "Never Trust a Happy Song," is exactly what you would imagine listening to on a summer road trip. I was immediately enthralled and have since been following them around the Bay Area.

When I was home visiting family in sunny central California for the holidays, I overheard "Tongue Tied," a single from Grouplove's album, on TV. I skipped over to the screen to find their song was being used as the soundtrack for an Apple iPod Touch TV commercial, "Share the Fun" (say hello to the charts, Grouplove)! Apparently I wasn't the only one who found their beats contagious and their lyrics catchy.

Apple is known for putting bands on the map (Feist - 1234, Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl, and The Ting Tings – Shut Up and Let Me Go, to name a few) after featuring them in their ads. They're also known for having lighthearted and uplifting branding, particularly in their TV spots. Their ads usually include attractive individuals dancing and smiling while energetically using their Apple products to the sounds of catchy tunes.

Okay, hold the phone, what does this have to do with email marketing and businesses like yours? There are two important (but happy) takeaways from this encounter with Apple and Grouplove:  

1. Consistent branding is key - Grouplove's sound is consistent and the songs on their album are complementary. They can easily be described as happy, uplifting and upbeat. People can't talk about you if they aren't able to concisely describe your business. And, they won't recognize or recall you if your branding is all over the place. Someone at Apple heard Grouplove somewhere and it clearly stuck with them and it's definitely paying off for the band (Tongue Tied has been listed for 3 weeks on the US Singles Top 100). Establish yourself with a consistent logo, coloration, slogan and yes, we have to say it ... company name. And, keep your branding consistent on your website, emails, publications and across all of your social marketing platforms.

Email Tip - You can input your company name and upload your company logo in your VerticalResponse account (under the “Account” tab) to be included as the default in your email messages.

2. Get clever with your slogan - Make it easy for customers, potential customers and even employees to remember you and be able to recall and explain exactly what you do. Apple features catchy upbeat songs in their ads and these songs undoubtedly become stuck in our heads. As we happily hum the songs of Apple commercials past, we then think of Apple and all of the products showcased in their commercials. Great, now we all just need to run out and find an indie band to feature in our multi-million dollar TV spot, right? Not quite, but what you can do is make sure to include a contagious tagline or slogan in all of your communications (email, social media, print, online etc.) and branding which indicates exactly what you do.

Email Tip – Need a place to include your slogan or tagline? Incorporate it into your logo, place it in the pre-header of your email or use it as the alt text for your images.

Happy Branding!

Related Posts:

• Your Brand is Everything You Do
• An Email Marketing Lesson Not to Take from XFINITY

Posted by Savannah Stewart.

 

Savannah Stewart is the Partner Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

Blogosphere Facts – Can You Handle the Truth?

Did you know that the earth isn’t just comprised of four hemispheres, but there’s actually a fifth we’re living in? It’s called (cue dramatic music) …the Blogosphere! Did you also know that “blogosphere” is a real term? I’m not even making it up! The term was coined in 1999, as a joke initially, but is now used, in all seriousness, to describe blogs as a connected community or collection of communities.

The blogosphere is an ever-changing and evolving hub and Technorati, a blog search engine directory, has been examining the growth and trends within the blogosphere since 2004. Since then, they’ve been reporting and releasing their findings, which they collect through a series of surveys. The findings may surprise, interest, please or appall you. They reveal who bloggers actually are; what, where, when, why & how successfully they blog, and for the second year, the findings also discuss consumers. To get to the heart of the good stuff, here's a breakdown of interesting facts to note from 2011’s State of the Blogosphere findings:

BLOGGER DEMOGRAPHICS

• 65% of bloggers are ages 18-44; 1/3rd are over 44.

• 59% of bloggers are men (down from 64% in 2010).

• The annual household income of a blogger: $50,000+.
  

• Majority of bloggers are married and half of all bloggers have children.

• 1/4 of bloggers are self-employed, and just less than half are employed full time.

• 1/3 of bloggers have worked for traditional media, with a monthly magazine being the most common form (41%).

• Of the 14% of bloggers who earn a salary for blogging, the average annual amount is $24,086.

• States with highest concentrations of bloggers: California 15%, New York 7% and Texas 6%.

BLOGGER TYPES
 
1. Hobbyists – 61% of bloggers within the blogosphere are blogging “for fun,” and don’t report any income from blogging.
2-3. Professional Part and Full-timers – This group makes up 18% of the blogosphere and are independent bloggers. Most of these bloggers don’t consider blogging their primary source of income and tend to blog about personal musings and technology.
4. Corporate – 8% of the blogosphere. They blog as part of their full-time job, or blog full-time for a company they work for. They primarily talk about technology or business.
5. Entrepreneurs – 13% are entrepreneurs or individuals blogging for a company they own. 



BLOGGER HABITS - WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY & HOW?

• 70% of bloggers write to share expertise, 61% blog to gain professional recognition/personal satisfaction and 52% blog to attract new clients.

• 60% of bloggers blog up to 3 hours a week and 40% blog more than 3 hours a week. Professional full-time bloggers (26%) update their blog at least 3 times per day. Majority of bloggers update their blog 2-3 a week.

• 80% of bloggers have been blogging for at least 2 years.

• 79% describe their blogging style as "sincere," 67% describe their style as "conversational." Professional, Corporates, and Entrepreneurs also describe their style as "expert."

• Wordpress is the most popular blog hosting service among all respondents, used by 51% of them, followed by Blogger (21%) and Blogspot (14%).

BLOGGER MOTIVATON & SUCCESS

• What's the leading metric of success? Among Professionals, Corporates, and Entrepreneurs, they gauge success according to the number of unique visitors they receive. 69% of Hobbyists say that personal satisfaction is a way they measure the success of their blog.

• 54% of bloggers say they’ve made friends through their blog, and have become more involved with their passion areas as a result of blogging.

• More than 60% of Corporate and Entrepreneur bloggers have gained greater visibility in their industry through blogging.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• 82% of bloggers use Twitter, 89% use Facebook.

TRAFFIC & REVENUE

• Across bloggers, Google Analytics is by far the most popular service used to follow blog traffic.
  

• 50% of Professional bloggers receive more than 10,000 views per month.

• Display ads, affiliate marketing links, and search ads are the most common ways bloggers generate revenue from their blogs.

• 60% of Corporate bloggers said they do not have any advertising on their blog.

• Overall traffic drivers to blogs: Twitter, Facebook, and blog tags.

BLOGGER INFLUENCES 

• Number one influence for bloggers regarding the topics they blog about: Other blogs (68%). Second and third most influential for blog topics: Conversations with friends and social media.

CONSUMERS
 
Blogs continue to outpace other social and traditional media in terms of gaining consumers' trust and generating their recommendations/purchases. Almost 40% of consumers now believe blogs are being taken more seriously as a source of information. "Facebook remains somewhat influential, but less so than blogs, and Twitter has seen a drop in influence over the past year."

TAKEAWAY

Now that we know the depths and demographics that make up the blogosphere (if you’d like to dive in further, you can find the full report here), does anything surprise you? One of the most important aspects to note is that 60% of Corporate & Entrepreneur bloggers have gained greater visibility purely from blogging. This means, if you don’t currently have a blog, it’s probably an excellent time to jump on that blog bandwagon (plus, it's pretty fun too!). And, while most of us won’t be living purely off a blogger’s salary alone, the blogosphere as a whole is still strong and striving. Blogs also continuously climb the ranks as a trustworthy reference for consumers.

If blogging charters unfamiliar territory for you, have no fear, there’s a webinar for that! Join us on Wed, January 25^th at 1pm (PST) for Getting Started with Blogging, and soon, you'll be a blogging fool, too (in a good way, promise!).

Related articles:

BlogWorld Expo: Optimize Your Way to Business Blogging Success,

Top 11 Blog Posts of 2011

Posted by: Colleen Corkery

Colleen Corkery is the Lifecycle Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse. She writes and reaps about all email-related things. Connect with her on Twitter at @youcollme.