Discover the answers to all of these questions plus email marketing strategy, tips and interesting statistics in these blog posts and articles, some of the best from the last 12 months on the topic of email marketing.
7 Tips for Increasing Your Open Rates and Site Traffic by Web Worker Daily
Dian Schaffhauser offers practical guidance for maximizing the value of email newsletters, such as making your newsletter and website complementary, and crafting headlines that are short, direct and honest.
Profit Week: E-Mail Marketing by MineThatData
Kevin Hillstrom provides a thought-provoking look at the current state of email marketing, where "we celebrate a 0.15% response rate" and concludes that the model is broken. He then suggests an entirely new approach focused around indirect value generation. Hillstrom acknowledges that his ideas may not work, but as he concludes, with only "one in seven hundred customers buying what we have to sell today, what do we have to lose?"
Email is STILL the most effective online marketing tool by Marketing Tips Blog
Mike Alvero reports on a pair of studies showing that email marketing to house lists is the most cost-effective marketing tool available. SEO is #2. Neither of these findings is particularly shocking, but sometimes it can be helpful to have the data to back up your gut instincts.
Learning a Little About Email Marketing by SEOmoz
Though claiming with what I suspect is false modesty to "not know a whole lot about email marketing," Rebecca Kelley nevertheless manages to pack a lot of information into this post. She shares some SEOmoz experience with email marketing, industry statistics (e.g., "80% of marketers say that email is the strongest performing media buy and that it has a higher ROI than search"), her mother's resistance to using the Internet (I can totally relate; my mother is the same way), the most important elements of the CAN-SPAM law, and a few helpful tips for improving email marketing success (e.g., "Don't use (or limit the use of) SPAM filter catch words, like Free Viagra Sex Guaranteed with Credit Card! Though I must admit, that sounds like one hell of a deal...").
Email marketing's 8 deadly don'ts by iMedia Connection
Chris Marriott advises email marketers to avoid several common mistakes. Though aimed at retailers, his points apply equally well to brand and b2b marketers: don't overmail, don't forget to use segmentation, don't assume that creative design that's effective for other types of collateral will work well in an email messageâ€"and don't miss Chris' post for more tips on email marketing practices to avoid.
How to craft irresistible subject lines by iMedia Connection
Leah Messinger offers practical advice backed up by real-world email success stories from a variety of sources. Among her tips: be direct; highlight a benefit; beware of spam filters; consider mobile devices; and, if appropriate for your audience, use alluring keywords such as "tips," "tricks" or "secrets."
31 content tips and ideas for your B2B email newsletter by Email Marketing Reports
Email marketer Mark Brownlow delivers a huge list of tips on both how to generate content ideas (top tips, case studies, reviews, predictions, "best of" lists...hmm, that sounds oddly familiar) and how to manage content (keep a folder, develop reserve content, etc.). A great post to keep handy for when your muse is slacking off.
Are You Scared to Click the "Launch" Button for Your Email Campaigns? by VerticalResponse Marketing Blog
The brilliant Janine Popick provides a vital resource for evert email marketingâ€"a checklist of all the details to walk through before actually launching a big email campaign. Did you remember to remove the word "test" from your subject line? Add alt text for all images? Double-check your links? She's even left space at the bottom to add a couple of your own checklist items; mine would be "get it proofed" and "make sure HTML and plain text versions are in sync."
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