Currently viewing the tag: "email marketing"
When hashing out a marketing plan, most small business owners struggle to decide where to focus their efforts. Email marketing or social media? While both on their own are great, utilizing them together is where many SMBs find success.
A recent Constant Contact study analyzed data from small businesses that combined their email marketing with social media marketing and compared it to those who use email marketing alone. It’s clear that SMBs should do both. Smallbiztechnology.com summarized the study’s key takeaways:
Faster list growth: From June 2010 through August 2011, those using both social media and email marketing saw 14.43 percent list growth, while those using only email marketing saw 8.96 percent list growth.
Larger average list size: Those using both tactics have email lists that are 53 percent larger on average than their email-only counterparts.
With a larger list, you can begin engaging more contacts that are aware of your brand which in turn will help your click through rates:
The average click-through rate for those using both email and social media marketing was 59.3 basis points higher than for those using email only.
It has become apparent that focusing too much on one aspect of your marketing can limit your potential. Why exclude one outreach channel when you put extra KAPOW! in your marketing by using email and social media?
Holy return on investment, Batman!
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This press release about our upcoming partner contest, Grow Big in 2010, hit the wire this morning.
The contest is meant to help our partners shake the holiday doldrums and start the New Year in a fast, furious and focused fashion. And to keep things interesting, we put together a list of great prizes. What kind of prizes, you ask? A Ninendo Wii (bronze), Amazon Kindle (silver) and a 46-inch plasma TV (gold).
The rules of the contest are as follows: Partners must use the Kutenda toolset to create and launch an email marketing campaign that incorporates proven best practices, such as integrating a tailored landing page with the campaign. The partner that generates the most response from his or her campaign will take home the gold, and those that meet key milestones along the way will be eligible to draw for a Wii or Kindle (there are two of each).
In part one, we covered designing an email campaign, avoiding the spam filter and improving your open rate. This process is analogous to getting your serve in play in a tennis match—it’s essential if you want a chance at winning the point, let alone the game, set, or match.
And I tried to put email marketing in context by pointing out this juicy statistic from the Direct Marketing Association: For every dollar the average business invests in email marketing, it gets $48 in return. Today we’re going to discuss the following: optimizing your layout for the preview pane. As you read this post, keep that $48 figure in mind!
It’s no secret that email is a great way to draw large numbers of leads down your sales funnel. Not only is it easier and cheaper than other lead-nurturing methods, it’s incredibly effective. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email returns $48.56 for every $1 you invest.
But great ROI is not automatic. To fully realize the potential of email as a sales tool, you need two things: (1) knowledge of email best practices and (2) a well-reasoned strategy for success. These are the things we’ll cover in this two-part email series.
First let’s make sure we’re on the same page: We’re assuming you already have a targeted list of leads that you’ve collected yourself (as opposed to a list you purchased). If you’re not at this point, don’t worry: Robin’s post on building your opt-in list is a great place to start. Read it, start implementing it, then come back here. (We’ll wait…) OK, let’s go.
Summary: Email is a powerful advertising medium, but it won’t do a thing for your small business unless your messages actually get delivered. The key to avoiding the spam folder? Follow federal CAN SPAM regulations and obtain permission from your recipients.
