VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business

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.

How Williams-Sonoma Rolls out the Welcome Mat with Email & Direct Mail

While preparing for a recent move, I contacted the US Postal Service to change my address. While doing this, I was given the option to update my mailing address on a few catalogs and magazines I receive. It's pretty smart for publishers and retailers to pair up with USPS on this one. I chose to update my mailing address for the Williams-Sonoma catalog because I love receiving the recipes and seeing all the new swanky cookware.

About 3 days after my move, I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email in my inbox (I was opted in already) with the subject line: Congratulations on Your New Home! The email had a cheery, welcoming feel and tempted me with this line: As our housewarming gift to you, a special offer will arrive in your mailbox soon.

I was impressed with the connection they made between the update to my mailing address, sending me a targeted email, and tying in a direct mail piece.

A few days later this arrived in the mail:

Nice! There was a consistent look and feel to the direct mail and the email I had received, so I remembered it. The 10% discount offer was a nice touch and an incentive to encourage me to buy. Their efforts paid off. I purchased some new wine glasses to toast the new pad and am a loyal customer. Win-win for Williams-Sonoma.

What can you do to roll out the welcome mat for your customers?

Related Posts:

• Lifecycle Marketing: What it is & Why it's Important to Your Business
• How Virgin America Soars with Proactive Communication
• This Holiday Season, Say it with a Postcard

 

Posted by Kim Stiglitz.

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

This Holiday Season, Say it with a Postcard

Email marketing is a great way to keep your company, products or service in front of your customers. But this time of year the inbox starts to get pretty crowded. How, then, do you get your customers' attention without breaking the bank? Postcards! VerticalResponse offers a postcard feature, and yes, it's a real postcard sent through the USPS, not an e-card.

Here are some holiday inspired ideas to get you started with direct mail postcards:

Give Thanks: Use this as an opportunity to give thanks to your customers for supporting your business. It’s been shown that a simple "thanks" goes a long way toward increasing customer loyalty. Your customers will thank you in return by patronizing your company this holiday shopping season. You can go one step further and have a special "Pre-holiday" or Holiday Thank You open house and invite your customers to visit your business for some socializing and refreshments. And maybe a special deal or two.

Stand out from the crowd: Since inboxes are pretty crowded this time of year, try sending a postcard to entice your customers to shop with you. Include special gifts or new products that your customers may want to know you offer. Or include gift card or stocking stuffer ideas for those last minute shoppers. Include a URL where your recipients can find the products you offer on the postcard. If you don't have a website they can shop at, ask them to bring in the postcard for a special deal on the product or service. As a bonus, you'll know how many people responded to the postcard offer if you ask them to do this.

Service Reminders: Not all businesses offer products for sale, but this time of year is great for service-oriented companies. Let your customers know you are there for them, especially during the holiday season. Whether you have a plumbing, gardening, catering, restaurant or spa business, you offer services that are a must this time of year. A holiday party wouldn't be the same if the plumbing didn't work, so let your customers know ahead of time that your company is there when they need you.

Bounced email address: Start the New Year off right with updated email addresses. If you had some email addresses bounce in the last few months try sending a postcard to get your recipients to update their information. Ask them to go to your website, call or visit. You can even try offering a 10% discount on services or products if they give you their new address.

Save The Date: Keep in mind there are mailing deadlines because postcards need to be printed and mailed through the USPS. To ensure your postcard arrives when it should, click the launch button by these dates:

And, between November 1 - November 20th you will get 10% off your postcard purchase, automatically!

These are just a few examples of how postcards can boost your holiday business. How do you plan to use postcards this year?

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

Save the Date! - Holiday Mailing Deadlines You Don't Want to Miss

Let's just throw it out there and admit the holidays are a little hectic. Malls are crowded, lines are long, and "Santa Baby" is inevitably going to be branded into your brain for the next 3+ months.

One of the more stressful aspects of the holidays is the instability of good old-fashioned ‘snail-mail.’ Will your packages or cards arrive in time? Will they arrive at all? Email volume alone increases by more than 45% during the holiday season; but more than 20 billion letters, postcards and packages are sent during this time via 'snail-mail.' Knowing when exactly to send something, so that it'll arrive at the right time, is key.

Luckily, we've done the research for you! Choose a package, a place and a desired arrival date and presto, your holiday mailing deadline has been assigned!

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

 

A Happy Mailbox Surprise

Checking my mailbox doesn't have the same allure it did when I was younger. What once brought letters from pen-pals, birthday cards with checks, and gifts from Nana, now brings bills. And more bills. But, I was pleasantly surprised earlier this week when I received an extra-special postcard and a happenin' catalog. Here's what brightened my day - and why. 

Oceanic Realty Postcard: Oceanic Realty in Stinson Beach, CA, sent a direct marketing postcard to customers who used their vacation rental services, and offered a discount on their next stay. This postcard is truly effective because it bridges the gap between offline and online marketing.

• They provided the coupon code "STELLAR" which is redeemable on their website, via email, or by a good old fashioned phone call to their office.
• They included their Facebook info so customers could "Like" them.

So, I immediately went to their Facebook Page to Like them, and spoke to my husband about planning our next weekend getaway to Stinson Beach (it's a special place to us because it's where we got engaged!). What kind of postcard promotions can you do for your business?

Crate & Barrel Print Catalog: There are a few retail catalogs that I really like, and Crate & Barrel is one of them. This particular edition had inspiring products and pretty pictures as usual, but what really stood out was on the back cover. Similarly to the Oceanic Realty postcard, Crate & Barrel included:

• Links to their social media sites
• A QR Code with "Scan this QR Code to sign up online for email news from Crate & Barrel, and you'll automatically be entered in our Shop Card Giveaway."

Great job on growing a mailing list, and offline folks to an online presence. It was a no-brainer for me and I quickly scanned the code with my iPhone and signed up for the chance to win a $500 C&B gift card. Would you scan the code? Why or why not? What methods do you use to grow your mailing list?

 

Related Posts:

• The Ultimate Direct Mail Lead Generation Piece
• Why Direct Mail Still Works - 5 Reasons to Use It Today
• QR Codes - What They Are & What They Can Do for Your Business
• The Laughing Cow Does Cause Marketing, Building Email Lists, & Social Media in One Great Promotion
• Growing Your Email List Can Be a Piece of Cake

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.

The Ultimate Direct Mail Lead-Generation Piece!

Let's face it, we all get a lot of mail. Some we read and others get the circular file treatment, IF it even makes it to our desks. Hey, in my opinion there is still a place for direct mail - for some businesses it just make sense, especially business-to-business where you have to generate leads for your sales teams.

Last week I got the CRAZIEST (and by crazy I mean BEST) piece of direct mail I EVER received in my life. It even tops the $50 bill I got from a company that "teaches managers how to manage" (and I sent back, read the story here), and the win-back piece I got from ADP with a lovely coffee cup and coffee grounds. It also tops the two piece mailer from American Express, one was the remote control helicopter and you got the actual remote control if you signed up for a credit card.

On this particular Monday morning there was a box sitting on my desk. Not a big box. The box was wrapped in tape (that was  pretty hard to get off by the way, I had to work it). So I started to talk to a colleague at work while I got the scissors out to open in.

The entire time I'm thinking "Why am I working so hard to open a box from someone I don't even know?" Maybe it was because this company went the extra mile to send something to me in a "box". Am I that shallow?

Finally I get the thing unwrapped to find a plain grey, nondescript box from a company called "EaGiL." I've never heard of them, but now since I've worked so hard I'm intrigued to see what I've almost cut myself 3 times over.

I take off the top and find a letter with a business card on top, and something underneath wrapped with a sticker. (Pen shown for size and an attempt to show the VerticalResponse logo.)

The simple letter talked about how this company specialized in creating "Tax Free Dollars" and that enclosed were 100 examples of their work. At this point I'm still not quite sure what they do exactly. The gentleman who authored this letter also wrote that he'd be calling me in a few days to set up an appointment, which frankly I always think is a bit presumptuous. But OK, I'll bite.

I unwrapped the contents underneath the letter and I saw a wrapped dollar bill. Huh? "Real freaking money," I don't think so. I pulled this dollar bill out to find it wasn't a dollar bill, it was a STACK of dollar bills with a personalized wrap on it. The first thing I thought, "Are these really real?" So I smelled them and fanned them to find out they were!

I showed this piece to EVERYONE I knew and they were as equally as astonished as I was! One of our Customer Service leads Topher even noticed that not only were these brand-spanking new bills, they were sequential!

Impressive? Yes. And what a way to start off a Monday! Here are the questions everyone here at VR had:

• Is it real money?
• I wonder how many went out?
• What's the hook?
• Are they crazy?
• How many of those do they have to turn into customers before it pays off?
• How can I get on that list?
• What are you going to do with the money?
• What about the mailrooms that chuck all "junk mail" before it gets to your desk? And if they do is that a federal offense?
• Are you going to take the appointment?
• What mailhouse did they trust to put this together?

Do you think that EaGiL is crazy? I dunno. I've just exposed them to about 30 people, then I wrote this blog about them exposing them to even more. And who knows, when they call I just might take the appointment, if nothing else, to get to the bottom of some of these questions.

Love to hear your thoughts!

Related posts:

We Want You Back! Winning Back Customers Who Have Left You
Interesting Lead Generation Idea; The Good, Bad & Ugly

Complement Your Holiday Emails with Direct Mail Postcards

According to a 2010 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season, more than 83% of online retailers increased their email volume during November and December of last year. Because competition is high for audience attention, there's no better time to supplement your email marketing with direct mail postcards.

We've seen a lot of great uses of postcards coming through VR for the holidays, and I want to share some examples with you.

1. Selling a product or promoting a service for the holidays

2. Promoting a Sale

3. Saying Thank You

 

4. Giving Happy Holiday Wishes

 

 
5. Sending General Reminders and Announcements

Some other great ways to use postcards for the holidays include holiday cards, invitations to holiday parties, and entry tickets to holiday events. How are you using direct mail postcards for the holidays?

 

 

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Great Example of How to Use Direct Mail Postcards

With all of this talk about social media and email marketing these days, we sometimes forget about the "old school" way of marketing. Direct mail still works for a lot of businesses so you shouldn't discount it totally, especially if you don't have email addresses for some folks and you are sure that they're not following you on Twitter and Facebook.

I took a look at some of our recent postcard campaigns sent by VerticalResponse customers (did you know you can create and send postcards using VerticalResponse?) and boy are they creative. Not only that, but I thought the most creative ones had to do with non-profits or donating to great causes. Take a look.

Cleavage Creek Winery - What a great concept for wine. This winemaker sadly lost his wife to breast cancer and is donating 10% of gross sales to research and support. What's even cooler is that all of the women featured on the labels have survived breast cancer. What a great story and what a great cause.

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Western Youth Network - This is clever because it almost reads like a press release where one of the employees is going to run across the state of North Carolina BAREFOOT to raise money for youth programs. Great visual showing his feet, don't want to see what they look like after the run!

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This was a great idea to have blank lines which make a reader think to fill in which level of support they'd like to give, pop it into an envelope and send it back. Even better? They include their web address where you can also donate.

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What is New Orleans known for? Music of course! Sweet Home New Orleans is a non profit that raises money to help New Orleans musicians get on their feet, get to work, and revitalize the community and the cultural economy of New Orleans.

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They've partnered with someone who is apparently matching all donations which is a great thing to call out on the back of this card.

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Are you doing any marketing using postcards? Tell us how you're doing!

5 Tips for Winning Back Customers

If you've got customers that have never left you for another competitor good for you! But I  don't believe you. It happens to the very best of businesses. Business should always be focused on getting new customers but winning back customers from days gone by could be very beneficial (and cheap!) for your business.

The first thing you need to do is assess your customer's behavior. Off to the data you go! If you've got your customer purchases in Quickbooks, Salesforce or your ecommerce platform, see if you can run a report on all of your customers to find out the last date they've purchased. If it's more than a year, you may want to get on it!

Here are a few ideas you can use to win those customers back now.

1. Call Back Campaign - Get a list of phone numbers and get to the phones! Develop a script because 8 out of 10 calls you'll probably get their voicemail. Make sure you address any issues you may have corrected or products newly launched and tell them you want them back! Give them a coupon code, or something free with an expiration date. Carve out 30 minutes a day for you, or an intern to start calling.

2. Surveys - You might want to find out first why your customers have not come back to you. Send them a link to an online survey with a few questions you may want ask about their satisfaction with your company. Make sure you leave a box where they can include "other" information in a freeform fashion so that you can read through the comments. You might find that you now offer something they were looking for and you can follow up with them and let them know via phone or an email marketing campaign. Check out How to Create a Great Survey.

3. Email Marketing - Create a version of your regular newsletter and include an introduction telling your forgone customers that you want them back!  Give them a special offer, and if you know the particular reason they may have left and you've corrected an action or now offer different products or services, tell them you heard their request. You can even personalize it by the last product they purchased and give them a special offer on a complementary product or service.

4. Direct Mail Postcard - Go old school and send a "We Miss You" postcard campaign. Then get them back in your store, restaurant or site with an offer they can't refuse. A postcard campaign is also great as a lead in to a phone call as well.

5. Send a Gift -  If you have samples of a product you sell, that's a great way to get your customer's attention. But if you don't, or you sell services you can also go a bit zany and throw a bunch of fun things in a box to get their attention too. Include a postcard with an offer that's sure to get your customers back.

Getting a customer to come back is a lot cheaper for you than getting new customers, so give this a try and make it an ongoing campaign! Any ideas of your own for getting a customer back?