We’ve all experienced those websites. The ones that deserve to be eternally damned to the lake of fire for indulging in that most damning of sins:
Automatically playing sound.
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Automatic Sound…Or How To Be Evil
Dear ‘Valued Customer’.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Dunelm Mill. Hold your hands up for a big ticking off.
What were you thinking?
'Valued Customer....really?'
The email, snipped here as it came into my in-box, was very disappointing. If Dunelm Mill did not have my personalisation data I could have forgiven them. But they have! D’oh! I have purchased from them. They have loads of data about me.
If I really am a valued customer, why they have just made me feel like a slice of data in a database? (Which I am, obviously). Why make it so obvious that this is a mass email when a ‘Dear Fiona’ or even ‘Dear Ms Debell’ would have made me so much more receptive to the message?
This is a very simple, easy fix. If you want to send a message, and want a good response, use your data well.
Oh, and do not even get me started on the subject line and email construction…Imagetastic!!! Not good.
If you want to understand how to create a good campaign, and utilise very simple techniques in best practice email marketing give me a shout. This is a rookie error - from a large organisation – who surely has a marketing specialist at their disposal.
2/10 for effort.
A personalised email message has a far better response – so too does a regular message. Dunelm – when did you last send me an email? I love your products, have no store near me and am about to redecorate the master bedroom at home….
Fiona
Posted in Best Practice, Email Marketing, General, Good Practice
Tagged B2C, personalisation
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‘So, What Does It Do, Like?’
As an expert in the world of email campaign software, I hear a lot of questions about our industry (granted, some of them are along the lines of ‘how the hell did you get into that’, but I ignore those people: they’re mean). Without doubt the most common one, though, is along the lines of ‘well, what will it actually do for me?’
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Posted in Email Marketing
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The QR Code & Email Marketing. Can it work?
There are many, many, many uses for QR Codes. But I want to look at Email Marketing and QR Codes here.
Firstly, I will say, they are not appropriate for EVERY campaign – in fact I am not entirely convinced they work at all in outgoing messages. Think about it. You get the message on your smartphone, so no option to scan, may as well just have a link to click. The laptop / smartphone scenario seems a little clunky to me.
That is not to say you shouldn’t use QR Codes – in fact they can be incredibly useful in driving traffic, but be warned, they should not be used for the sake of it. If you have an appropriate offering and a great landing page then use them – with caution.
QR Codes and Email Marketing: Use them off-line and use them on-line.
A BASIC and generic method using QR Codes when sending email messages is to enable recipients to perform simple calls to action, instantly. Perhaps to direct dial an enquiry, without the irritation of dialling, or add details to a contacts list using a V-card. Both actions not easily ‘doable’ from a link click – but both work on the premise that the recipient is viewing your message on a device other than their smartphone.
But my personal favourite, when it comes to the use of QR Codes in Email marketing…List Building.
You can use QR codes off-line in your printed materials, leaflets, brochures, t-shirts, whatever. Point people to your subscriber form and get them added to your opt-in list. Just make sure your landing page is simple to use and enticing – all the usual Email Subscription rules apply, but make the sign up is compelling in the first place.
Add the QR code to your printed sign-up forms, Menus, Posters or even add one to the end of your presentations – geeky, but kind of cool – the list is endless. Build your list.
Or how about this. Use QR Code Sign-ups via an incoming message. Create a QR Code linking to, (encoded with), an email campaign, when the QR Code is scanned, the email client on the smartphone will open, if the message is accepted the recipient will automatically be added to your campaign, but, NOTE OF CAUTION - make sure you make it clear that you are asking the scanner to ‘Opt-in’.
Use QR Codes on Web Based Sign-Up Forms. If you think your audience will cope with it, (will they know what a QR Code is?), add a QR Code, as an image, to your Web Page – giving the user the choice of either filling in the fields manually or scanning the code and sending the message. In my opinion this is clunky – but that is not to say it isn’t worth doing!
If you think about it, things you can use QR codes for just about anything… flyers, posters, adverts, on cups, stickers, sandwich packs, menus, business cards, receipts, carrier bags. The content can include product or offer details, event booking information, competition entry, vouchers, social networking IDs and so forth.
Used approptiatley QR Codes can do a great deal to promote your business. Just make sure you don’t bamboozle your audience. The QR Code is a mainstream secret in many senses.
If you want a quality FREE QR Code Constructor, take a look here
Or add me to your contacts by scanning my QR Code.
Fiona
What is a QR Code?
O.K. so this post is not strictly about email marketing, but by understanding what a QR Code is, you can implement the technology into your campaigns.
What is a ‘QR Code’? A QR Code is a “Quick Response Code”, essentially like a bar code, but far more sophisticated and incredibly powerful for getting an off-line campaign on-line, or vice versa.
How? QR Codes are ‘read’ by Smartphones and QR enabled barcode readers. They encode all sorts of text and data, so when scanned they can jump to telephone numbers, contact cards, web pages, images, vouchers, event information and so much more.
What does that mean for Business? The technology can be used for many, many things, but a basic example would be…
Networking:
Mr Smith of Smiths Accountants regularly goes networking. Great way to drum up business. One day he meets Mr Cameron, of London.
Mr Cameron presents Mr Smith with his card:
Mr Smith simply uses his iPhone to scan the card and ping…everything Mr Smith needs to know about Mr Cameron is right here…saves on the elevator speech!
Or perhaps Mr Smith would like to be added to Mr Cameron’s contacts list?
Mr Smith hands over his card and with a quick scan of the QR code, Mr Smith is now proudly one of Mr Cameron’s contacts. Simple and clean, (in this mock up I have pointed you to my contact details, as Mr Smith is fictional).
Using QR Codes to publicise events is another fantastic use. Create a code that adds an event to the calendar, a reminder or a booking form – easy, simple and very, very effective.
Think about it – you are at your favourite restaurant, you see a poster for the upcoming ‘Champaign night’, or the menu has a QR Code to book, all you need do is scan the code and job done.
So how about using QR Codes in email? One of the simplest ways to build your email marketing database is to include QR Codes on your printed materials to enable people to easily subscribe for email or SMS alerts. Another tool is to connect your printed newsletter with online material – enable people to easily access additional information about a topic online – and sign up to your email updates at the same time.
The next blog will be all about uses for QR Codes – but for now take a look at the Q Web Development QR Code Generator. It’s FREE and you don’t need any technical savvy to create your codes. Or you could just scan the code below:
Happy scanning!
Fiona
Posted in Design, Email Marketing, General, Good Practice, Qmailer, Social Media Basics, Uncategorized
Tagged B2b, B2C, best ROI, Email Broadcaster, email campaign software, fastest email marketing, images, intelligent sending, marketing messages, organically generated list, tracking
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Timing is Everything
It’s amazing that more people involved in the different varieties of e-mail marketing don’t consider the merits of good timing. After all, timing is everything. If you don’t believe me, ask the radio DJ who came up to ask me about ‘National Smile Week’ the day after United had lost to Barcelona and promptly received a volley of expletives that would make Gordon Ramsay go white and steady himself on the furniture.
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Apps Being Outranked By Email Marketing
Whatever you might think about modern technology, there’s a lot to be said for mobile phone applications. After all, I’ve never found any substitute system that enables me to instantly check the state of the underground, translate menus into English instantly and enable me to waste time throwing digital paper into digital bins all at once.
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E-mail Marketing Continues To Grow
In yet another excuse for me to feel a little smug about things (not that you need help in this – Ed), yet more news has emerged to confirm that, yes, e-mail marketing remains a top-notch way of improving your marketing results. Continue reading
The Unbreakable Rules
If you, like me, see the above title and instantly think of Harry Potter, then I’m afraid you might be disappointed to discover this blog has nothing to do with the boyhood wizard, and more to do with how to keep your email marketing concise and relevant. Both myself, everyone at QMailer and many other experts in email marketing advice believe there are three priceless rules when it comes to keeping those e-mails watertight and top-notch:
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Posted in General
Tagged email campaign software, email marketing, email marketing advice
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Understanding Mobile Email Marketing
If you’ve been keeping up with my posts on this blog (thank you, I’ll always love you), then you’ll know that I’ve been ranting and raving about the merits of email marketing for mobile phones. Whilst this area of marketing is undoubtedly on the up, there’s probably some of you who’re unsure on the right way to go about it. That’s why I’ve been absolutely lovely and come up with these tips on what to consider when branching into this area:
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