VerticalResponse for AppExchange Blog

Don't Get Lost in the Cornucopia of Inbox Offers

As Black Friday approaches, our inboxes will undoubtedly start to fill with offers from our favorite retailers, reminding us of holiday discounts and promotions we won't want to miss. We've compiled a checklist of basic facets every email should contain to help you get your point across this season. Read the list, and check it twice, to ensure your message won't be lost amongst the cornucopia of inbox offers!

• Refine Your Subject Line - With emails flooding inboxes, creating a quality subject line is more important than ever. You'll want to give your email a subject line that entices an open by including a sense of urgency but avoids sounding spammy. So skip the exclamation marks, but don't be shy when it comes to stating what recipients have to gain by opening your email and how long they have to gain it.

Subject Line Examples:  "5 Days Left to Use Promo Code..." or "Order by Midnight Tonight for ..."

• Include a Preheader - A preheader is a small section of text that is included at the top of your email above the header and main content of your message. Since many email providers display the preheader in the inbox, they are a great way to deliver a compelling summary of your email to engage recipients and get them to continue reading. Since many busy recipients scan content for valuable information, an email that delivers the goods in a preheader can be much more effective than one that buries it in the body. 

Preheader Example -

• Provide a Call to Action - Whether you send an email to inform individuals about your company, to increase customer sign-ups, or to promote a particular product, providing a clear call to action, is essential. A call to action in the form of a button, hyperlinked text, a widget or an image will not only help increase engagement but will also get recipients to quickly take the desired action before they lose interest or become distracted.

Call to Action Examples:

  Check out our website!    

• Follow the 80/20 Rule - If your recipients wanted to read a book, well, they would read a book. To prevent readers from being overwhelmed by too much text or too many images, follow the 80% text to 20% image rule. And, limit the overall amount of text your email contains while varying text size and color.

80/20 Example: Bold important facets of information, break content into digestible chunks and illustrate each content block with an image.

• Hyperlink, hyperlink, hyperlink - Don't forget to link images, mentions of your company name, and any text that states a call to action. As the holidays approach and your recipients' schedules become increasingly busy, you'll want to take advantage of any opportunity to get them to sign up, contact you, make a purchase or visit your website. And, hyperlinks are a great way to make sure those who are interested can easily get the information they're looking for with just one easy click.
  

Hyperlink Examples: Link an employee name to their email or Twitter page, or insert a login link to any mention of your company name or website.

Visit VR's Everything Holiday Site to help you check off these email essentials and stay holiday-relevant this season.

Relevant Posts:

Snacks, Lemonade, and Peas: Why First Impressions Matter

Increase Customer Engagement With LESS Content?

 

Posted by Savannah Stewart

Savannah Stewart is the Partner Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse and blogs here about all things related to marketing and B2B communication. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

How VR Postcards Enhance Email Marketing Success

 
While we spend a lot of time discussing the many advantages of Email Marketing, there is still a time and place for Direct Mail. Did you know  VerticalResponse for AppExchange includes an integrated Postcard tool? Adding Postcards to your outreach efforts can help boost customer engagement and grow your email lists. See our top tips on how postcards can enhance email marketing success:

1. Expand Your Reach
   Not everyone reads their email. Reach a new segment of your contacts who may not see the email messages you send.
2. Cut Through Online Clutter
   Distinguish your brand and message by sending a tangible reminder to your online contacts outside of your normal email conversations.
3. Stay Top-of-Mind with Greetings
   Postcards are a terrific medium for greetings and thank you notes. Send existing customers an annual holiday or birthday card, or send a thank-you card to your newest customers. Both are terrific ways to boost repeat business.
4. Reconnect with Lost Contacts
   Customers' email addresses change more often than their physical addresses. Send a postcard asking bounced or unresponsive email contacts to visit your website and update their contact info online.
5. Grow Your Customer Database
   Unlike email list rules, it's perfectly acceptable to rent or buy Postal mailing lists. Use a reputable list vendor such as D&B or InfoUSA to gain access to a whole new population of contacts. Be sure to ask new postal contacts to opt in to your email lists.

 Download Our Postcard Tips & Tricks

View Our Text Tutorial: "Why Use Postcards"

Email Etiquette Dos and Don'ts

When I was growing up my dad would pull out Emily Post's Etiquette for serious dinner table discussions - like proper manners for formal dinners, introductions, greetings, clothes, thank you notes, weddings and more. He had the first edition from 1922, and a lot has changed since then...a biggie being the internet, and how it has transformed our lives at work and home.

So, I thought it would be fun to talk about email etiquette for the modern day. Whether it's a personal email, work/company email, or an email marketing message going out to your customers, there are general guidelines to follow that will strike a friendly chord with the person on the receiving end.

Email Etiquette Dos and Don'ts: 

1. Before you get started, ask yourself why you're sending this email. What's the purpose?
2. Do remember there's a person on the other end of the email.
3. Don't send an email out of anger.
   
4. Do ensure the subject line relates to the email content.
5. Don't address the recipient incorrectly (i.e., your personalization should be accurate).
6. Do spell check.
7. Don't send or launch before you edit and proof.
   
8. Do check the tone - how will it be received?
   
9. Don't write a novel.
10. Do communicate clearly and concisely.
    
11. Don't lose your message or point.
    
12. Do use scannable bullet points and short paragraphs.
13. Don't write in ALL CAPS.
14. Do use images.
    
15. Don't use too many images.
    
16. Do have a friendly salutation and a sincere good-bye.
17. Don't hesitate to say thank you.
18. Do make sure you have the correct recipient (i.e., check your mailing list).
19. Don't include incorrect or broken links.
20. Do provide a signature, contact information and company website.
21. And finally: Type unto others as you would have them type unto you (phrase compliments of 101 Email Etiquette Tips). 

There are lots of resources and email etiquette tips across the web. What are your favorites? Do you have a pet peeve?

Related Posts:

• Adding Links in Your Emails - Why, What, and How?
• RELEVANT Content is King
• Top 10 Things to Test to Put Your Email on the Top 10 List!
  

Posted by Amber Ricchetti

Amber Ricchetti is the Lifecycle Marketing Manager at VerticalResponse. She blogs here about all things related to marketing & copywriting. Connect with her on Twitter at @Gldnamby.

Essential Fall Holidays to Recall

What is it about fall that’s so appealing? Is it the crispness in the air, the vibrant oranges and yellows that emerge, football season, or the slight hint of cinnamon in just about everything? Whatever it is, fall is here and we've just hit the tip of the holiday iceberg. So, compiled below is a list of fall holidays and observances for you to warm up to. Send an email with a frighteningly good sale, holiday happenings or turkey tips - all with a little sugar and spice!

October:

• 10/15: National Poetry Day
  
• 10/16: National Boss’ Day
• 10/31: Halloween

November:

• 11/6: Daylight Saving Time Ends
• 11/8: Election Day (US)
• 11/11: Veterans Day (US)
• 11/24: Thanksgiving (US)
• 11/25: Black Friday
• 11/26: Islamic New Year
• 11/26: Small Biz Saturday
• 11/28: Cyber Monday

VerticalResponse Postcards Holiday Submission Deadlines

*Note: Postcards ordered from VerticalResponse must be completed and sent to the printer by October 17 to be delivered by Halloween and November 10 to be delivered for Thanksgiving.

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

Why Your Email Should Resemble A Picture Book

Remember reading picture books as a child and the happy, warm and enjoyable emotions that usually accompanied the process? Whether it's reading a picture book to yourself, to your child, or to a group of eager 2nd graders, it's hard to feel anything but positive emotions while projecting playful sentences or turning the book to display the vibrant images. And it's usually those positive emotions that keep everyone interested, entertained and captivated.

We know what you're thinking...how do picture books relate to email marketing? Well, much like a picture book is designed to gather and keep readers' attention, emails should also be crafted to enthrall their audience. This is not to say that your recipients are equivalent to a group of 2nd graders, but with busy schedules and workdays their attention spans certainly may be. Below are suggestions for designing your email to captivate your audience.

Keep it positive! - No one likes to read a sad story or see unattractive images whether they come from a picture book or an email. Likewise, we certainly don't want any of that negativity associated with our company or brand. To avoid this, insert images that include smiling faces, vibrant colors or appealing scenery to your emails and use positive language wherever possible.

Example: Use conversational language within your emails or include a joke! It will not only make your messages more digestible but it may even give your customers a reason to smile.

Appeal to aesthetics - Much like a picture book appeals to its audience with a healthy balance of pictures to text, an email should include about 20% images and 80% text. Rather than overwhelm readers with an all text email, include images to draw-in your recipients' attention and encourage them to read the accompanying text.

Example: Include a complimentary image for each headline, title or section of your monthly newsletter.

A picture still tells 1,000 words - A reader's eyes will usually be drawn to an image first and then look to your text for an explanation. Make sure the pictures in your emails are relevant to your text in order to keep your message consistent. Similarly, relevant images can help to quickly convey the purpose of your email to recipients.

Example: Include a coupon or image that displays the total savings in promotional emails.

Credit the Author - After doing the work to create aesthetically appealing, positive and relevant messages you'll certainly want to your company to reap the benefits! Make sure the from label in your messages clearly references your company name or company owner and include a company logo in the header of each email message.

Example: To avoid entering the information in "Set Up" each time you create an email, you can save your company name, logo and address under the "Account Information" link in upper right hand corner of the "VR Email" tab.

Want more?  Check out the Image Library section of our help site for more information on how to easily find, edit and add images or attend our weekly VR for Salesforce live demonstration.

Posted by Savannah Stewart

Savannah Stewart is the Partner Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse and blogs here about all things related to marketing and B2B communication. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

5 Simple Tips to Engage Your Audience

Ever open up your inbox and see an email from an unfamiliar sender you don't remember subscribing to? Most of us have and the first reaction is usually to delete the message and perhaps even unsubscribe. If the sender hasn't been of value to you at this point, chances are they won't be in the future.

It's important to develop a rapport with your subscribers in order to add value to your emails. Below are 5 tips to keep your recipients engaged and coming back for more.

1. Consistency is key: It's important to follow a consistent sending schedule. With too little messaging recipients may forget who you are or forget they even subscribed to receive emails and if you mail too frequently, your audience may become overwhelmed and feel spammed. To avoid either scenario, create a schedule or a baseline for your minimum and maximum number of sends (i.e., at least once a month and no more than twice weekly). Stick to a schedule and your recipients will pay attention to your content and not the number of messages in their inbox.

2. Diversify your messaging: The last thing you want is for your recipients to be bored with your messaging or to feel the sole purpose of your emails is to sell them something. Rather than send the same promotional offer or product promotion week after week, change it up by sending a newsletter with industry tips, a company update or an employee profile. Having a good mix and variety of information with relevant content rules.

3. Reward your recipients: As many of us gathered in grade school, the best way to captivate an audience is by rewarding them for their attention. Are we suggesting you deliver each of your list members Red Vines, Tootsie Rolls or Jolly Ranchers for opening your emails? Not exactly, but you can reward your recipients by holding contests or randomly selecting a list member to receive a discount on your product or a free one-month subscription to your service.

4. Know your audience: When you notice a decline in open or click rates or a spike in unsubscribes find the cause. Ask your audience for feedback, send out a survey or encourage comments to find out what they're thinking. Put yourself in your readers shoes and ask yourself what would catch your attention or what would you find interesting? Then experiment with a test. Send two emails with differing subject lines, content or send times to optimize performance rates. 

5. Keep growing your list: After creating engaging emails you'll want to send them to as many individuals as possible.  You'll lost approximately 30% of your subscribers each year due to attrition, so you constantly need to grow your list. The easiest way is to include an opt-in form on your website, blog and your Facebook page or other social networks.

Follow these simple tips and your subscribers will keep coming back to the inbox for more!

Related Posts:

5 Ways to Get More Action from Your Call-to-Action

Want More Clicks? Tease Your Readers!

Get More With VR Statistics

Many of you have become pros at creating attractive emails, uploading perfectly formatted lists and launching your campaigns like clockwork. Great, except one thing may be missing. Reporting! VerticalResponse for AppExchange has great reporting resources to help you determine everything from most popular send times to your most social email. Below are some tips on how to get the most out of the VR Statistics tab in your account.

1. Compare emails- Choose any 5 emails from any time period and see a side-by-side comparison on opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes and social media likes and shares. Example: Use the compare emails feature to determine your most successful send time or best performing newsletter design.

 

2. Create a List- Use results from a recent campaign to create a targeted mailing list. Simply click the campaign name in the VR Statistics tab then the "Create Mailing List" option to build a list of recipients who clicked a link, opened the email, converted, or shared on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Example: Use the "create a list" feature to download a record of all non-responders (those who did not open the email) and send a follow-up message.

 

3. Measure Email Performance- Quickly determine the performance of a particular email over time by selecting the email in the VR Statistics tab and choosing the desired time since launch under "Activity". Example: View open and click trends from 6 hours to 2 weeks after the launch of an email to determine when response rates are the highest and schedule your next email accordingly.

Quick Tip: Don't forget to select "Update Statistics" for recent emails in order to maintain the most up-to-date statistics for your leads and contacts. Next use the "VR Email History Object" to view exactly which emails an individual Lead or Contact has received and see exactly what they did with each of those emails.

Want more on reporting? Visit our Salesforce Statistics page to access video and text tutorials or sign up for our weekly VR for Salesforce live webinar.

The Social Future is Here!

In the old days there was a pretty limited set of options to spread a message far and wide:

1. You could climb to the top of a mountain and shout to the people below.
2. You could tell some guy on horseback to ride from town to town and yell it to people he passed.
3. You could pay people to hand-copy something you wrote and hand-deliver it all over the place.
4. And in the more recent past, there were fliers and phone trees (which were admittedly kind of fun).

While each of those options could help get the word out (and in some cases have awesome fitness side effects), reaching a large audience was no small feat.

Email marketing (along with a few other technologies) changed that. And in the last few years, social media has completely revamped the game. Today, the rules change again:

VerticalResponse for Salesforce is happy to introduce our enhanced social media features for email marketing!

You asked for it and we delivered. We've been working on our new social features for several months, taking great care to build what you need. In the last couple of months we introduced you to the basics of the new features which give you the ability to:

• Include social sharing icons in the emails you create
• Share your email on Twitter and BOTH your Facebook Profile AND business Page(s) when you launch your email
• Track the social activity generated by your email

And, we also discussed a couple of finer points of the integration:

• Clicks vs. Social Reach: Who clicks on the icons in the email they receive from you, and how viral it becomes once it hits the social networks
• Facebook Graph API: The latest and greatest from Facebook that enables almost all of our new features

Now it's time to give this new stuff a try! We enabled sharing icons by default in any new email you create, and you can share your email right from the launch page, so it's easy to start sharing right away. And as we all know, sharing is caring (enough said).

So sit back, create a new email, and easily share it with the world (and let others do some of the sharing for you). You'll be glad you didn't have to climb a mountain to do it (unless you're into that sort of thing).

Snacks, Lemonade, and Peas: Why First Impressions Matter

It can often be difficult to stand out in an endless list of unopened inbox emails. An online marketing company recently sent an email with the following subject line: "Snacks, Lemonade, and Peas: Event Tips, and Beyond." Why is this particular subject line so attractive?

First of all, who doesn't love snacks and lemonade? And, while not everyone loves peas, they can certainly appreciate their nutritional value. Second of all, the email was sent at 12:19 PM, just around the time when our stomachs start grumbling and we're ready for lunch. The company applied two clever tactics, they used the right verbiage and they did it at the perfect time. They spoke to our subconscious appetites and yelled who wants snacks, lemonade, and peas?!

What can we take from this encounter with Snacks, Lemonade, and Peas in the inbox?

1. First impressions still count! In a fast paced environment of reality tv, tabloids, and twitter, we have become accustomed to being entertained, excited, and drawn in with a hook. Although we may not always have something exciting to offer, we can still offer it in an interesting way. Use attractive verbiage, find clever ways of phrasing a subject line, and be unique! 

2. Keep it above the fold. As often as we hear the phrase "you can't judge a book by its cover" the truth is, we all do, whether or not we are aware of the fact. Within seconds of seeing a subject line, title, or opening sentence of a blog post or email we decide whether or not to continue reading. So, make your first few lines count. Deliver your call to action, purpose, or message above the fold (upper half of the page). Don't make readers dig for the goods because 9 times out of 10, they won't.

3. Ask yourself, would I read this? We rely on first impressions to help us quickly determine whether or not we will find something useful and interesting much in the same way we watch a movie because of its preview or buy a magazine for its cover. There is limited time and space to draw in customers. Put yourself in the shoes of your readers and ask yourself, would I find this enticing?

4. Timing is everything. When sending an email, timing can have a huge impact on open and click rates. Perform a split test or examine the reporting on your last few sends to determine the times when your emails have the highest open and click rates. Like the marketing website did with snacks, lemonade, and peas at lunchtime, coordinate subject lines and timing to optimize open rates even further.

We can spend hours creating interesting content and incredible offers but if our readers never get past the subject line, our efforts become futile. In an age where everything is animated from billboards to buttons, we have to compete to captivate our audience from the start. The first few seconds of introduction determine whether our users will remain engaged or make a dash for the delete button.

Learn more about Salesforce reporting! Learn how you can use your customer data to send relevant, timely and exciting messages with VerticalResponse. Sign-up for our weekly VerticalResponse for Salesforce live demonstration, Wednesdays at 10 AM PDT.

Savannah Stewart is the Partner Marketing Coordinator at VerticalResponse and blogs here about all things related to marketing and B2B communication. Connect with her on Twitter at @savannahstewart.

Want More Clicks? Tease Your Readers!

If you’re using social media for your business, good for you! Hopefully you're paying attention to which messages you publish to social networks like Facebook and Twitter get the best response. But it’s important to understand what messages you publish are most interesting to your fans.

No matter which social network you use, it’s crucial to grab your reader’s attention with a compelling hook. And your introductory message can be the difference between your content being shared or completely ignored so you need to get their attention with a "teaser."

We took a look at a recent activity report for the VerticalResponse email marketing Twitter account, @vr4smallbiz, to see what takeaways we might be able to give you about our own teasers. Looking at the top five most clicked links over a two-week period in March, we saw some interesting themes emerge that can be applied to how you might use social media. Check them out:

1. How-To

Using the words "how to" clearly communicates to the reader that they will be getting information that's useful to them and actionable.

2. Numbers/Lists

People love numbered lists. By including a list in your teaser, your reader knows exactly what to expect when clicking through.

3. Rewards/Offers/Exclusives

Using "Top Lists Of..." will always be successful whether it's informational or a list of "Top Products Purchased" this week. This tweet promoting VerticalResponse's free downloadable guides has continued to be one of our most clicked through teasers nearly a month after posting.

4. News/Announcements

Have some exciting news about your company or industry? Make sure to use it in your teaser. You might be surprised how many people follow you on social networks for access to the latest information about your brand or business.

5. Charlie Sheen (or any topical reference)

Well okay, not just Charlie Sheen, but you can go ahead and call it the "Sheen Rule of Social Teasers". Using humor, drama, and timely topical references do a great job of commanding attention. Just be careful with this one and make sure that it does somehow tie back to the content you're sharing...you don't want to make your fans feel like they've been conned. The Sheen Rule of Teasers reminds us that it's perfectly okay, even encouraged, to have a little fun with your social teasers. Social media is the perfect place to get your personality out there.

Bonus!

You may have noticed that social teasers have a lot in common with the subject lines you craft for your email marketing campaigns. In fact, many of the practices that we recommend for writing email subject lines can be applied here as well. Check out our 29 Great B2B Subject Lines for some ideas. Also, if you're not using the VR for AppEx Social Sharing feature to post your newsletters to Facebook and Twitter, you might want to revisit our recent blog post about how to make the most of social media for your business. 

Want More?

Check out our Spring Webinar Series to sign up for helpful live demonstrations on what you can do with email and social media.