Learning Spider Language Can Really Boost Your Website Traffic! Let Us Teach You How…
About Basic List Building
One of the most important things in an Internet Marketing business is a list of contacts. Just as in any other business, online businesses also need to build relationships with their customers. Subscribers are the contacts on your lists that are the most valuable asset of your online business. Therefore, list building leads to building relationships, which in turn encourages prospects to visit your website, sign up and get closer to buying your offer. But people are not just going to flock to a website and leave their contact information! To attract them, they must perceive some value. The first thing they are going to think about is how they will benefit from giving you their contact details. That’s why every business that does online marketing must build its own lists, targeted at specific prospects. It is time consuming. You have to work really hard. But in the end, you will directly enjoy the fruits of your efforts.
Lists – The Online Marketer’s Treasure
Everyone talks about his or her ‘optin’ lists. It’s their treasure. They are always looking for new and innovative ways to build their lists to keep visitors coming to their sites continuously. They offer various things to the prospective customer like free reports, ebooks, software, memberships, services etc. just to get their email address and other identifiable information. It is essential to keep following up with people who might be interested in what you are offering. Only when you have a growing list can you facilitate your users to visit your site. It grabs their attention and takes them to those areas of the site that are of particular value to them.
Why Have A Growing List?
Is it not sufficient to have a few hundred contacts? In online marketing, not every visitor buys from the site he or she is visiting. Sure you may have built a huge database of contacts, but unless each one is a qualified contact, there is no guarantee that they will take any purchase-related action when they visit. Even in the offline world, you usually cannot get a buying decision out of your prospect right away – it takes not less than 5 visits unless they are desperately in need. Again, if you deal with more than one product, different visitors may be interested in different products. That is why you have to get your visitor’s email id and name as they browse through your site. This will let you plan a frequency at which you can remind them and keep them updated about current offers to keep the sales coming in. You must use ethical methods to build your lists. The worst thing in Internet marketing is acquiring a bad reputation, because that will ensure that you can never do business again.
You are Awesome!
~~Dave
In this lesson we’ll look a little further into how you can create the perfect email marketing document. Before you send it out, you’ll want to make sure that you hit all of these bases first. Then – and only then – will you be ready to press “send” and release your sales message into the world.
Creating an e-mail marketing document
The first consideration you want to make is in what format you will be sending it:
• Text
• Html
• Link-based
• PDF
Undoubtedly there are others, but these are the most common.
Text-based email marketing documents are one of the simplest to create. You simply type something into a document-creator like Notepad… or directly into your email content window. Text-based messages were very popular for a long time because most people used a dial-up system to access the internet and text-based messages were small files and could be loaded to the screen quickly. They are still popular, but are falling off, as people prefer something a little more visually appealing. You should consider, however, offering a text-based message as well, in case someone prefers that method. If you want to think of an offline comparison, you might think of a newspaper article: colorless but filled with information.
Here is an example, including the text and an embedded advertisement and link:
It’s almost time for spring gardening!
We’ve developed a comprehensive list of things you want to do to prepare your garden bed for planting. And later, you’ll discover the 3 tips that can help you determine which ones are weeds and which ones are plants you want to KEEP in your garden. And if you check out our website, we’ve provided a regional analysis of fertilizers so you can get the right fertilizer for your area of the country.
But first, a word from our sponsor:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
DISCOUNT TULIPS. It’s time to get those tulips in the ground. We sell the cheapest tulips. Credit cards accepted. Click here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *How do you prepare your garden bed just after spring thaw? We outline the 6 steps you need to take to ensure that your garden
HTML-based email marketing documents are much less text-filled. They are more highly designed. They can use color, pictures, moving images, hyperlinks animation, and sound to convey the message. Many email marketing service providers (like the ones we covered a couple lessons back) offer html templates to help you build your message. You can also use Microsoft Word to build one, too, since later versions of the program will convert your documents to html for you. If you want to think of an offline comparison, you might think of a brochure: it combines text and images to convey the message.
Link-based. Although technically this email marketing type can be either a text-based or html based message, we have included it here under its own heading because it plays a different role than a text-based or html-based document. Text and html documents may contain links, but a links-based document has far less content within the document itself and far more links pointing someone elsewhere. If you are looking for an offline comparison, you might think of a menu: it describes an item and allows you to select that item.
We’ve included an example of a text-based linked message.
Spending too much time under the hood?
If you’re a mechanic, you get paid per job… rarely per hour. So you need tools that can do the job fast.
Make faster oil changes with this package of products.
Change a tire more quickly with this new tool.
Remove spark plugs AND clean them with this unusual device.
PDF document. This email marketing document sends little in the way of content within the document itself but rather sends an attachment – most commonly in PDF, although it could be in other formats – and the PDF document is meant to be downloaded and viewed at the audience’s leisure. The PDF document can be more like a catalogue or a newsletter or some other type of document that your audience might be inclined to save and refer back to again and again.
We haven’t included a PDF example simply because it can take so many forms.
How do you decide which one to choose? Choose the one that works best for your products and audience. Here are some thoughts to get you started
~ If you have an audience that doesn’t have a lot of time to read, don’t bother with a wordy document; consider a short text or html document or link-based document.
~ If you have a product that really needs to be seen in action to be appreciated, consider a linked based document that can take them to a page with an animation of your product in action.
~ If you have a product that looks good and there are plenty of great visual of people enjoying it, consider an html document or PDF file.
~ If you have a message that is very helpful to people and can be referred to over and over, consider a PDF file.
Summary
Your message can take on different forms (including more than one from the above list) depending on who your audience is and what kind of message they’d be most responsive to. Feel free to create a few different versions of your newsletter and ask around for opinions on which one is more effective.
Remember to take action…
You are Awesome!
–Dave
In this lesson, we’ll begin to explore the basics of creating an email marketing document. Email marketing has some similarities to other types of marketing, but it also has some differences. We’ll elaborate those differences and give you a chance to start creating some of your own excellent email marketing ideas.
Creating an e-mail marketing document: The fundamentals
The most important thing to know is the basics of building a powerful marketing document. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a newsletter or you are writing an occasional sales update… or some other kind of email marketing content. Generally speaking, these are the things you will want to accomplish in every single outgoing marketing document.
Benefits versus Features
There’s an age-old adage in sales: “features tell, benefits sell.”
Features are the things that describe a product. The benefits are the good things that come from using a product. The truth is, people simply don’t buy products based on the features they offer. Instead, people buy products based on the benefit it provides them and on the way that product fulfills their needs.
Think of the last time you bought something. Did you buy it because it had a an inline locking mechanism or because it made your life easier?
Consider this example in which we compare two fictional advertisements for the same product:
XYZ Clocks Traditionally designed gears turn at various speeds, based on your winding, and those gears turn other gears that ultimately move a second hand, minute hand, and hour hand around the face of a clock. The face of the clock contains 12 numbers. The gears are made out of metal. The clock itself is burnished and the face is white with black numbers.
Pretty boring stuff, isn’t it?!? Compare that to this ad:
XYZ Clocks Never be late again with this accurate, easy-to-read clock. It’s also easy to maintain.
The second ad is simple and full of benefits. Write ads that are benefit laden and you will sell more products. People never buy something because of a feature. They will always buy something because of the benefit it brings them.
AIDA
AIDA is an acronym used in sales and marketing writing. Standing for “Attention, Interest, Decision, Action,” it provides a powerful technique to help you write great copy each and every time.
Attention. Your email marketing material needs to grab their attention effectively or else they will pass your message by as they scan their already-full inboxes. Typically this needs to occur in the subject line, since that is what people usually see first. Marketers try to use a variety of tricks to get people to read their messages. Some less-than-legitimate attention-getting devices include all caps, plenty of exclamation points, or a subject line that doesn’t seem to actually be from a business, but rather from a friend. Here are three examples:
~ BUY BLUE WIDGETS TODAY
~ Widgets. You want one!!!!!!!!!!!
~ It’s been a while, buddy.
While these methods may have been unique and attention getting long ago, they are now tired and old and often over-used by businesses that are more closely linked with spam. If you want to get someone’s attention today, here are two better approaches: ask a question or give the title of your article.
~ Want to live the good life?
~ 3 reasons why everyone needs a blue widget.
Be sure that your article answers the question asked in the subject line.
Interest. Once you have their attention – likely from the subject line – it’s time to keep it with your message. If you have a newsletter, you’ll want the first few paragraphs of your newsletter article to highlight a problem and then the second last paragraph should show how your product or service solves the problem. We’ll get more into writing newsletters in the next lesson.
Decision. Although you should provide helpful information in your email marketing newsletter or e-zine, there is nothing wrong with asking people to make a decision to buy your product. This should be done in the last paragraph of your message. Although they may have read some high quality, helpful information throughout the article, the last paragraph can bring home the point that they need whatever it is you’re selling.
Action. It used to be that marketers would have to put in a memorable phone number or address into their direct marketing in order to get people to respond. Now, you can simply put the words, “buy it here” (and “here” would be linked to your site) and people can click on it to be taken to your site if they want to purchase it. The Internet has made it so much easier! Even though it’s so easy, people still need to be told what action to take. It reminds them why they’re getting the newsletter in the first place. And, if they save the newsletter, it’s an easy visual reference they can use if they ever decide later to buy the product.
Summary
This lesson seems to be a fairly basic “marketing 101” lesson to remind you that the rules of marketing don’t change for email marketing campaigns. If you create great marketing content that is filled with benefits and uses the AIDA method, you’ll be sure to create strong, highly effective marketing campaigns each and every time. In the next lessons we’ll look at specific ways you can incorporate these principles into your marketing.
Keep Moving Forward!
–Dave
Introduction
In this lesson we’re going to answer two questions: Why & How? Although we touched on the issue of why and how in the last lesson, those were generalities. In this lesson, we’re going to examine – hands-on – the why and how of email marketing for your business.
Why would you use it?
Every business decision should start with this question. Put another way, you might ask the age old WIIFM (“What’s in it for me?).
If, after analyzing its potential value, you discover none for your business, you should scrap the idea. Don’t waste your money or time on it… especially on a plan like this that generally requires a long-term commitment on your part.
Weigh the pros and cons to your business and ask a few trusted friends what they think of the idea first.
Not everyone will find it useful. Some will and some won’t. If you don’t think you’ll find it useful, then there’s no point in using it. However, many businesses – both for-profit and non-profit are finding ways to use email marketing. As well, the internet is constantly changing so you might not find a use for email marketing in your business today… but you may just a few months down the road!
Why use email marketing? The first reason is fairly simple: unlike direct mail, which costs per person, email marketing has lower per-person costs because the cost to send an email to 10,000 people is roughly the same as it is to send it to just 10 people. But more than the cost, there’s another reason: Asking for permission (by getting someone’s email address) is a way of discovering and marketing to warm leads.
Business is all about leads.
Cold leads are the ones who have absolutely no interest in buying from you. Perhaps they typed the wrong word into the search line and ended up at your store. Maybe they thought they clicked on one link and ended up clicking on your URL instead. They are the mall-walkers to stroll past your store and – when asked by your staff if they can be helped – they say, “no thanks, just looking.” Cold leads have no interest in buying from you and require a lot of work to convince that they should buy from you.
Warm leads, on the other hand, are people who may have some interest in buying from you… or, at the very least, they want to know more. They are the people who show up on the car lot and ask the car salesperson questions about a specific model of a car. Warm leads may not be ready to buy yet, but they’re more likely willing to listen to your sales message… and they’re more likely going to buy when they have a need and the price is right. They require a lot less work to get a warm lead to buy from you than a cold lead.
How do you get warm leads?
There are several ways. One way is through appropriately placed text ads, like Google AdWords. Another way to get warm leads is by asking your happy customers for referrals. But one way to get a lot of your warm leads is from permission-based email marketing.
So email marketing, then, is a way to find warm leads and continue to market to them over and over.
While many business do try to survive on cold leads (and if you’re on the internet and not using email marketing or Google AdWords, for example, you’re trying to survive on cold leads, too) many businesses can do so much better with so much less effort by marketing to warm leads.
By putting an email capture line on your website, you’re basically asking people to self-identify as warm leads. And, depending on what you offer in exchange for that email, you can control the amount of warm leads you get.
How would you use it?
There are all kinds of ways to use email marketing. We’ll try to cover the gamut of the most popular ways, but there are more ways and technology is always changing and you may yet find new ways that are more appropriate to your business.
Here are two of the most popular ways to use permission-based email marketing:
• Email-based newsletters are one of the most popular forms of email marketing out there. It’s a great way to get your prospects to sign up (and you can automatically enroll your customers at the same time). Newsletters are popular only if they are useful. By useful, we mean that they have to be informative, helpful, and not packed with sales messages. People don’t mind receiving an email-based newsletter from someone that does have sales messages in it, but there should be some good, useable content. One example might be a newsletter from a vacuum cleaner sales company… they may put small ads in their newsletter about their vacuum cleaners, but they might also put in really useful tips about house cleaning or running a cleaning business. The key is USEFUL. Email newsletters should be interesting and regular.
• Another popular email marketing is more popularly used for customers (as opposed to prospects) although there’s no reason why you can’t use it for both. This email marketing method is to send out periodic messages about upcoming sales or end-of-the-season blow-outs. The idea here is that it is clearly a highly sales-oriented email. If people sign up for it, they are likely more willing to receive sales messages.
Which one is better?
Here are the pros and cons:
Newsletter
Pros
• Regular… customers come to expect it.
• Helpful… readers will save it and turn to it again and again.
• Subtle… readers will read sales messages without realizing it.
• Reach your target audience BECAUSE THEY ASKED FOR IT.
Cons
• More work… there’s an element of design and the regularity needs to be maintained.
• Your sales messages may be too subtle to be effective.
Sale update
Pros
• Clear, distinct sales message.
• Not a lot of work.
• Biggest sales get you noticed by more people.
Cons
• No reason to save email.
• Could be confused with spam.
Summary
Email marketing is a great permission-based method of marketing. It’s basically the process of asking prospects to identify themselves as warm leads and when they’ve done that, you can continue to tell them about your products or services. Two of the most popular email marketing strategies are the regular newsletter or the periodic sales update… these strategies are both used effectively by businesses and non-profits to market to their warm leads.
Watch your email for lesson 3 in a couple of days…
You are Awesome!
–Dave
