Online marketing solutions

What is Email Harvesting? Email harvesting is the process Where your email address lists are obtained, without your permission or knowledge.  They are used in various bulk and direct email marketing campaigns, usually labeled as spam.  Through spiders, spammers have obtained programs which look through web pages for email addresses, as well.

How does this affect you?

Email address harvesting is not a good thing.  Once your client’s email address is stolen and is now in the hands of a spammer,  your client will get flooded with spam and trash – almost immediately.

You could even be held liable, especially if your email address is displayed somewhere in that spammer’s email.  Your client will think it is from you and soon you may be trashed, and spammed.  The implications and results will be chilling.  Imagine  having to cancel and create a brand  new business email address?  Think of all the clients, associates, and prospects who are already signed up and linked with an email address taken years to build!

Why are they doing this?
Their one goal – to sell something or to conduct some illegal activity benefiting them with some monetary gain, all at your expense.  You have inadvertently become a target of their bad intentions now that they have your your email address list.  Some, just collect email address lists and sell them to marketing companies.  Pretty upsetting don’t you agree?

Reunion.com – Reunion.com dupes new members into signing up by sending them an email that pretends to be from an acquaintance who’s been looking for them (on Reunion.com, naturally). After signing up, the site extracts your contacts and immediately begins spamming them to join by sending out a similar email.

More and more companies have been considering engaging in marketing campaigns that involve “address book scraping, (address book harvesting)”  in which a user is asked to import his contacts (i.e., the e-mail addresses he has stored in his e-mail account address book) into his social networking Web site or other online service so that a message can be sent to those contacts inviting them to join the social network or to participate in a joint offering of the company and its partner.  In some cases, the user is asked to provide the username and password for his e-mail account so that the import can be done transparently.  Read Full Article

Legitimate sites use deceptive email marketing tactics as well.
Upon my research, I came across an article about a site known worldwide called “Classmates.com” which promises to hook you up with former classmates who just might be looking for you, if you upgrade to their gold membership.

Classmates.com Agrees to $9.5 Million False Advertising Settlement
Classmates.com — the website that promises to reunite people with their mullet-haired friends of youth — has agreed to pay out a $9.5 million settlement for a lawsuit dating back to 2008 accusing the company of “false advertising” through “deceptive” marketing e-mails.

OK – You  have convinced me – What should I do?
First, for those of you who want all the technical ways to protect your email lists online, please see:  Effect Methods of Protection.

As for me, I am a simple kind of gal living by the rules of  “make it simple – PLEASE!”.  After my research in this topic, one thing is for sure.  I will never import my address list anywhere, on any website, EVER AGAIN!

If you know a better way, please share.

If you have chosen to try email marketing, you have chosen a good path.  Email marketing is still one of the most cost-effective ways to promote any business.  While balancing your business and life in a tough economy, the tough need to be creative and resourceful.  Using email marketing campaigns enable you to be creative, while learning who your niche market is.  As you know, with any serious investment risk, planning and strategy need to be included to achieve successful results.

How do you Get Started?
There is a learning curve when it comes to sending out direct email marketing campaigns.  You may find yourself having difficulty trying to figure out your first step.  We have anticipated that question and hope that this article will help provide you with good basic starters to get you up and running.  There are no pat answers, so you need to see what will work for you within your budget and time frame.

Mailing Lists for Targeted Email Campaigns

Without a mailing list, you have no one to send your e-campaigns to.  But how do you start?  Normally, there are three options:  Buying a list, renting a list, or creating your own.  If you are a new business, the last choice may be impossible, even though it is the best one.  You may not have time to wait, and need to start somewhere.  Here are your options:

1.    Renting an Email Address List
Renting an email address for direct email campaigns can be very cost-effective.  Whether obtained from email campaigns, direct bulk email marketing, or an email newsletter subscription, these email address lists are a valuable source of sales and leads.

2.    Buying an email address list
The alternative to renting an email list is to buy the list.  Once bought, you have full control over your list sending out your own promotions, whenever you want.

3.    Building your own mailing lists
Building your own mailings lists takes time.  Your reward is the fact that you have managed to create a list of prospects who want to receive your information and e-newsletters.

An Optimized Website:

Getting on board with SEO: How do get started?  Here are some of the key things to know:

Keywords and key phrases: Know the right key phrases or key phrase optimization.  These are the words and phrases that will be picked up by the search engines when someone does a query.

You need the specific key phrases that describe your services or products, strategically placed within your content, thus allowing your site to show up on the first results page, of a search query commonly referred to as the (SERPs).  If you are not sure what those words are, go to Google AdWords – this site will help you determine what words come up in a search.  You can also put your competitor’s website URL in the search to see what keywords they are using.

Back links: Back links are links on one website that lead back to another.  Creating back links to your site is another way to be found.  Here are some suggestions:

1.    Articles: Write articles – get them published with your website and name as a signature.  There are at least 100 websites called Social News and Social Book Marking.  Write an interesting article about your field or something you feel strongly about.  Once published, your article will be parsed in the Search Engines and come up under the right keywords, as well.

2.    Press Release: If you are new and have newsworthy information to share, write a press release about your company or product and get it published on as many press release submission sites as possible.  Remember, it must have a common interest to your targeted audience.

3.    Reciprocal Relationships. Find products that compliment what you do and agree to put their link on your site, with a reciprocal back link to yours.

Networking and Sales Leads: Join Yahoo Groups that align with your goals and business objectives.  Answer questions poised by other members.  Show your knowledge and get your name out there.  Attend different events that partner with other organizations.  Make contacts as you create new leads.  Do not let them grow cold.  Reach out in someway.  Keep your name and company in the front of their minds.

Company Blog: Not only is this a great way to share information about your company or service, but you are communicating to your audience in a person voice.  Blogging is huge, and people love to share their opinions.  Start a conversation with your clients and prospects.  Let them know you are a person, not just a company.

Landing Pages: Before sending out any email marketing campaign, you must have a matching landing page.  This is page will have a specific and clear call to action.  Your page should match your campaign and create a strong sales pitch to the prospect upon landing.

Communication and Permission Email
Before sending any of your leads any email newsletters or campaigns, reach out to them in a personal email or phone call, asking them if they would be interested in joining your newsletter or reading your blog.  Don’t be labeled as a spammer.  Your reputation represents your company, product, and service.

Get informed. Any email campaign marketer needs to become familiar with The federal CAN-SPAM Act protects consumers against unwanted e-mail.

Becoming an email marketer is easy.  Becoming a successful one takes research, time, and planning.  Before taking the plunge, make sure you know how to swim.

Whether you create targeted direct email campaigns or are the recipient of them, there is one point on which we can all agree, we want and demand our freedom of choice.  This passion for options and choosing is instilled within all of us.  That is why the opt-in plays such an integral part of our HTML or e-newsletter email campaigns.

Opt-In Email Marketing is a powerful marketing tool when we want to reach a very specific and centered audience of possible purchasers.  If understood and implemented correctly, you will be building a top quality client base to interact with, while rewarding them with valuable offers and service.

The Right Attitude Attracts the Right Client

What are your goals when you send out your e-campaigns and e-newsletters?  Your two primary goals need to focus on building your opt-in subscriber list which in turn, is building a solid client database.  This will be the most valuable resource you will own, as this list will represent those clients that are waiting for and anticipating your email on a somewhat regular basis.  These are not lists bought and rented; they are yours and yours alone.  Clients that opt-in are exhibiting trust and a willingness to see what you are offering.  A client base built on opt-ins opens up the door for honest and open communication and a future list of loyal subscribers and buyers.

What’s in it For Me? – Where’s the Beef?
Do you remember that great TV commercial by Wendy’s?  People advertise value, but what they receive is not what was promised.  Going into a restaurant anticipating a large and juicy hamburger, then receiving one that can hardly be seen, creates distrust while pushing away a possible loyal patron.  What a great parallel example to your e-mail campaigns.  What valuable offer have you promised your recipients?  When your e-mail is opened, will they be disappointed having expected much more?

According to MarketingSherpa, “consumers want special treatment. They are giving up their precious time in exchange for the benefit of content – so that content should convey some real benefits.”  In a sampling of over 1,400 nationally representative consumers, most wanted to opt in if there was a worthwhile exchange.”

Value Added Tips

•    Sell to help – not just to make money: Your service or product should answer a need.
•    Offer valuable information or tips your recipients can use
•    “How To” instructional type tips are very well received
•    Offer discounts to first time subscribers
•    Offer special sales and discounts to repeat buyers
•    Create interesting content that appeals to your entire target audience
•    Always encourage feedback.  This creates an ongoing dialogue with your customers.
•    Follow up is a Must!  Once a sale happens, that is just the beginning.  Communicate with your client.  Let them now they are valuable and you are standing behind your product or service.  We all appreciate the personal touch.  You can’t communicate with an office or building.  Let them know that you are a real person and can be trusted.

Lastly, use all communication and feedback received to help you continue gathering a more accurate and detailed personal demographic profile for your email database.  This gives you the ability to create a more targeted future campaign, helping you become more successful; one campaign at a time.

Using these techniques effectively will increase your sales and opt in subscribers.  With the power of the internet and viral marketing, word of mouth will spread quickly from one happy customer to another.

What are you waiting for?  Get out there and build some long term trusted relationships right now.

Keywords have become the foundation of any email or online internet marketing, including social media.  Without adding the right keywords and phrases in your website, you might as well set up shop in the desert. The whole goal is to be found.  Sounds simple, but it is not.

Understanding how keywords work, takes a bit of time and research.  The good news is, the Worldwide Web has all you need to know – and that information  is available, at the click of your mouse.  Here are a few simple strategies.

• Know How your Audience Thinks: Hey, I am  not advocating mind reading.  But you need to anticipate words that people might use when looking for your product or service.  It may not be the exact words you would have used for your product or service keywords, but if you don’t test your words, with the right tools, you could miss a sale.  At the end, it’s all about your target audience.  You need to understand how they search and think.  For example, a furniture company discovered the search word being used for sofa was the word couch.  They immediately updated their keywords and made an immediate sale.

• Relevance: When we search online, we have certain ideas and expectations of what our keywords will bring us.  If you are like me, and you start getting responses back that are not exactly what you had hoped for, you keep revising your search word and search phrase to get that perfect result. Your website content should match the keywords people are searching for.  If it doesn’t, they will leave your site and you will lose a possible prospect.

Here are some free tools related to keyword research and tracking:

• Social Media Keyword Research:   Social media is a great tool.  Find out what people are talking about and what words they are using that relate to your market.  You can create a list of those targeted words to use on your website.
  • TweetVolume: Enter keywords to see their frequency within Twitter
  • YouTubeKeyword Tool:  Find video related keywords and tags used – similar to the Google Keyword Search Tool.
• Google Trends: With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your niche market.
• Google Insights for Search: Compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.

Keyword research is vital for your search engine and website optimization goals.  Your site must target the right keywords for a high ranking performance.  As important as it is to be found, you need to be found by the right people. This takes thoughtful planning and strategy.  Using the right tools can give your website a strong online presence.

Remember:  Don’t just spend your time and energy on the aesthetics of your site.   That would be like cooking a spectacular meal, with all the trimmings.  It may look and taste fabulous, but what good is it if no one shows up for dinner?

Website Optimization is the process in which you specifically design and fine tune your website content to receive a high ranking in the Search Engines.   E-mail and internet marketers know, that this is no longer an option if you are seriously marketing your business online.  It is an absolute must.

Whether you are starting a new site, or re-evaluating the old, you need to know the building blocks of success.  You are building an Internet presence and becoming a worthy competitor in this savvy, hi-tech world.

Where to Begin? Keywords, phrases, title, images, and text  all play an important and integral role in determining website rank.  Your content needs to be keyword rich.  What are keywords?  Simply put, keywords and keyword phrases are the words you want to be found under when people search.  Don’t make them up in your head!  If you want to see how people search for your product or service, there is a free and powerful tool called “Keyword Tool” by Google.

Another way to be “keyword creative” is to list the brand or model name, as well as the keyword.  If you sell telephones, you should also list the brand names like V-Tech, Panasonic, and Uniden.

Placement of Keywords: Place your keywords throughout: header tags, titles, first paragraph of your body text, and the ALT Attribute of image tags.  The ALT attributes help get your images ranked higher for image searches.

How many Keywords/Phrases per Page? There is no right or wrong answer.  After researching this specific question for myself, the general consensus seems to be one keyword and phrase per page.  Others have suggested several more.  You will need to research your niche and see what others are saying and what their experiences have been.  You can also use the Google Keyword Tool to extract the main keywords of your competitor’s sites.  This will help determine what words they are using for a higher ranking.

Creating a Site Map: Site maps provide search engine spiders an easy access to site pages, as well as giving easy access to your site visitors.  Because search engines and visitors access your site map differently, different methods need to be applied that are friendly for both engines and search spiders. Google’s Tutorials on Creating and submitting site maps.

Search Engine Friendly: JavaScript and Flash navigation menus are cool, but  search engines don’t read JavaScript and Flash very well. Therefore, a workaround would be to have simple HTML links at the bottom of the page.  This guarantees a friendlier search engine page.

Submission to the major Search Engines and Directories. For a list of free directories, please visit:  Free Web Submissions.

Submission to Social Media: Social Media Sites are growing daily with thousands of new participants.  Submitting articles to these free sites, increases your Search Engine exposure.  Do you have a blog on your website?  It is time to create one.  Reaching out to clients and prospects with your personal voice puts a name and face on someone they can contact and respond to.  This is the age for personal communication.

Content is Still King: Nothing but nothing takes the place of  relevant and interesting content.  What good is it to have people find your site, and then click off out of boredom or frustration.  Is your content self serving?  No one cares if you think your company or product is the best thing since sliced bread.  People want to know, what’s in it for me?  Make sure your call to actions are clear and your text is to the point.  I personally hate going to someone’s site and having to keep scrolling and clicking to find out what I need to know.  Your most important information and capture leads, should be on your home page – standing out – easy to find.

Website Appearance:  I have been to many websites where the background was too distracting.  Make your site clean, use web safe colors.  Too many graphics and textures within your site make it hard to read and parse.

Lead Links: The most important links for any prospect to click on should be on your homepage.  Try to have your main links in plain sight.  I have seen websites that are literally over linked, if that is a real expression. Remember, most surfers have short attention spans and if they cannot see what they want quickly, they will most definitely find it somewhere else.

Promoting Your Business Online.  Today, many people search for local businesses on the Internet. Make sure they find you.  There are several ways to put your business and services online.  Please see our article entitled: Google and Yahoo Local Maps for Online Marketing.

Having done all, visit Google Webmaster Central and learn all you can directly, from the masters themselves.

As e-mail marketers know, life is constantly changing.  The ever growing global population relies more and more for its knowledge and communication on the Internet, as its heartbeat and sustenance.  From interest to need, from hobby to livelihood the years have produced great change in the world around us.

A large part of that change includes our prospects and clients that we target and communicate with through our direct e-mail campaigns.  We spend many hours compiling data, information, stats and studies in order to create compelling and valuable targeted messages, worth opening and reading.

E-Mail Overload

As we plot and plan our next e-campaign strategies, we join hundreds of others desiring the same goals – walking the same path – turning prospects into clients, turning clients into repeat sales.  Daily, all of our in-boxes are constantly being bombarded not only with legitimate mail from our friends and family, but with the latest announcements of sales and specials from so many other companies.  Illegal spammers create stress and annoyance, affecting even those whose campaigns are legitimate and anticipated.

With all our good efforts, the surveys still assure us, that people are going to unsubscribe at some point in time.  Marriage, divorce, children and relocation, play a large role.  Our e-mail preferences change along with our new perceptions of e-mail and its relevancy to our daily lives.

Just give me the facts and stats

So what can we do?  Can we change or influence the number of unsubscribers?  Yes we can.  Knowing all of this is important, but applying these truths, must be done knowing the facts.  If we have to invest our time and money, making costly decisions and revisiting our strategies, we need to know that we are not wasting our time on someone’s opinion.  Here are some of those facts from MarketingSherpa.  Make it work for you.

Why do consumers unsubscribe? According to MarketingSherpa, people unsubscribe for the following reasons:

Relevancy:  One Size Does Not Fit All.  If we do our due diligence with our e-mail list demographics, it is obvious.  Each campaign must have its own targeted segment.  Age, gender, and profession are strong influences in a purchase decision. Our offers must fit their interests and lifestyle.  Make your campaigns meaningful and valuable.

E-Mail frequency:  How many e-mails constitute too many?  The consensus seems to indicate that keeping in touch at least monthly to maintain a dialogue with your clients is good.  The most important rule is to keep your communications fresh, relevant, and timely.

E-mail bankruptcy: (a form of e-mail mental breakdown.) There are consumers that have reported they are just overwhelmed and overloaded in their in-boxes.  They have had enough.  In one swoop, they decide to unsubscribe to every mailing list that they see.

Wrong person – Wrong timing: Maintaining up-to-date database lists are the key to successful campaigns.  Using accurate metrics and stats will quickly help you see how each e-campaign performed and who your active and inactive clients may be.  Keeping accurate and regularly updated demographic e-mail lists, helps modify, target and optimize all future campaigns.

Social Media:  The report states that a small percentage of people have unsubscribed and are using text messages and social media to remain updated.  Maybe it’s time for a e-mail marketing coupon campaign?

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  Here are a few creative suggestions:

1. Reward your customers: Give them a special discount or bonus on their next purchase.
2. Awaken the Inactive Buyer: You can send a special sale to those who have bought in the past, and have not returned.
3. Prospects: Offer a special discount for first time subscribers.
4. Valuable Tips: We are all experts with loads of experience in some area.  Whatever your service or product is, offering some helpful tips or a “How to do” tutorial.  Free is always good – when it is relevant and meets a practical need

Do not fear the unknown little grasshopper.  Dare to be different and innovative.  Reach out to your mail recipients and ask them why they unsubscribed or stopped purchasing your product.  Listen and learn.  Everyone has an opinion and appreciates being heard.



I watch Fox News every evening.  OK I am addicted, I admit it.  Unfortunately, the economic news has not been very uplifting lately.  Every economist seems to have a different take on what we are experiencing.  But what we can ALL agree on is this one simple statement – the economy is not good.  Kind of depressing?  For small businesses or email and internet marketers that advertise and sell online, there is a light at the end of the tunnel – the news is not so dark.

This will be a good time to take a look at what people are talking about on the Social Networks.  Surf around on Facebook and Twitter.  Google blog posts for subjects that deal with your market niche.  What are the problems and concerns that are being voiced?

Offer Solutions that Meet a Need

Can you offer solutions and help?  Start spreading your internet voice and solve some problems for your clients and prospects that the current economy has created.   Are you up to and ready for a challenge?

Everyone loves tips on how to save money and time.  In our years of  experience and just living, all of us are experts in something.  Sharing your expertise and experience, without an agenda to sell, just might bring in an unexpected return.

The Economy is not a Crutch or an Excuse for Failure

Bad news is everyone and is affecting everyone.  It is times like this that you must rally within yourself and start your creative juices flowing.  Your goal is to be a catalyst – continuing to create interest in your services and products.

People are under a great deal of stress these days.  They are worried about their futures and hoping for better days.  So, here are some helpful suggestions to get you on a positive path towards creating  more opportunities to be seen and get noticed in a difficult economy:

Existing Customers are Crucial for Sustainability

All B2B and B2C businesses know that turning prospects into clients take time, planning, and trust.  But once you have created that trust, it is priceless.  The reason we exist is not because of a one-time sale, closeout, or discounted item.  The reason we can pay our bills is totally dependent upon our existing and repeat customers.

We all know how important building our customer base is.  But keeping your customers happy and satisfied is even more important.

Showing your appreciation to them, in tangible ways, will not only give them a lift, but keep you and your brand alive and in the front of their minds.

The Element of Surprise

Do you have a newsletter that you send out?  If you don’t, this would be an opportune time to do so.  How about offering a special deal or discount, just to your loyal repeat clients?  In a bad economy, any kind of valuable offer will be appreciated.

Reach out in a personal way.  Bring people in behind the scenes of your company.  An event, a promotion, or just some interesting comments from you on a personal note.  Let people know your voice.

Whenever I see a movie that I love, I always look for a special presentation called:  “Behind the Scenes” -  of that particular movie.  I find it fascinating to be able to find out what went on during the filming.  The stories are so interesting.  You start to feel that you know the actors and directors personally.

Be Generous in an Ungenerous Age

Donate some of your specials to a worthwhile charity.  People tend to have more respect for those organizations that give to worthwhile causes.  Don’t be surprised how wonderfully that will affect you and all those who work for you.

Create a Team Spirit

The most underutilized part of an organization is its employees.  Mangers and executives tend to forget that the “underlings”  are on the same ship, weathering the same storm and trust me, they don’t want to drown.

Call for a power meeting in your board or conference room.  Shock your entire staff  by sending out an internal email request, asking for some creative ideas for your marketing mix.  This is a win-win.  You will probably get some interesting responses but most of all, you have let them know that they are integral to your survival, and you have just created genuine loyalty and trust within your own organization.

Reality Check - Get out There
The same old just won’t work anymore.  Use this time to re-think, re-plan and  re-structure.  Dare to be different, and determine to be creative.  This is a good time to not only step out of the box, but to break the box open, completely.

Why Use Market Segmentation?

Segmentation helps guide us as we focus on the prospects that will be a good candidate to purchase our offer, service, or product.  As an arrow is carefully aimed at a target, positioned strategically to hit the mark, so must our campaigns be accurately focused and targeted for the greatest receptivity and results.

When direct bulk email campaigns are carried out properly, it helps insure the highest return for our marketing sales and expenditure expectations.  Whatever the service or product you are selling, who you sell it to, will define the design, content, and message.  Each segment has its own unique demographical makeup.

Segmentation strategies have traditionally been used by email marketers for years…Clients or prospective customers are classified according to different demographic criteria and are then selected for different types of marketing activities or communications. Models can be used and tested to predict which segments are most likely to respond to which types of e-campaigns based on their previous histories.  Identifying profitable segments to be targeted, results in a much higher return on marketing investments (ROI).

Defining the Main Areas of Segmentation

Depending on whether you are selling to individual consumers or a business, there are definite differences in what you will consider doing, when defining market segments for your e-campaigns. To apply this knowledge accurately, you need to devise a specific segmentation strategy, designed and crafted around your message according to your subscribers’ preferences and action history.

Each Segmentation Focuses on a Different Aspect of the Targeted Client

Demographic Segmentation: The focus is on who they are:

• Gender
• Marital Status
• Age
• Profession
• Income
• Location
• Education
• Family Size

Using demographic segmentation research to determine subscribers within a particular age range and income is a real eye opener.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, “women drive the world economy. They control $20 trillion in consumer spending, and that figure could reach $28 trillion in the next five years. Women make the decisions in the purchases of 92% of vacations.”

These stats alone might cause you to modify your next campaign and its focus.

Behavioral Segmentation: The focus is on what they do. For example, how to people purchase?  What are their criteria?

• Benefit Preferences
• Brand Loyalty
• Readiness to Buy
• Impulse Shopper
• Price
• Time Constraints
• Need

When studying the stats from your last email campaign, following the behavior of your recipients is crucial to improving the future effectiveness of your next strategy.  What link did they click on in your newsletter?  What links did they visit on your website?  Did they click on the call to action?  Did they visit your landing page?  Each site experience is different.  With the help of behavioral segmentation, you can personalize their experience.

Attitudinal Segmentation – The focus here is on what they think.  Attitudinal Segmentation categorizes target customers, grouped together by a shared set of attitudes.  How someone responds to the world they live in, the things that they buy, and the services they desire, is what makes a person tick.  This is the most interesting segmentation, because it crosses over every other segmentation profile.

How a person reacts or what their goals and drives are, helps create a persona.  Personas cross all industries, markets, and culture.  Personas are created as a guide to help the seller or service better understand how to relate and understand that individual.  Whether you are a restaurant owner, designer, technical writer or developer, you need to create personas to market the right tools, and services, to the right audience.

In Conclusion:  No matter how much data we may collect, it takes time to get insight into our customers, visitors, and prospects.  Using surveys online along with customer feedback, we can begin to understand our prospects and clients on all levels.  With the right understanding, we can continue to create and modify successfully targeted campaigns.  So what is the right segmentation to use?  The right segmentation is the one that works for you.



We are living in a tech savvy existence.  Our day-to-day activities revolve and depend upon our ever-growing digital world.  This is a perfect setting for increasing our email campaigns.

From the very onset of the first email campaign, email marketing is and continues to be one of the most important tools for B2B and B2C email marketers in the arena today.  It is still the fastest and most cost effective strategy, sending out hundreds of messages to our lead databases in today’s global market.

The Internet is a main source of survival, not only for the seller, but for the consumer, as well.  Worldwide communication, for the most part, emanates from the Internet.  Our correspondence, conversations, and documentation seem to be headed towards a paperless society.  Every area of our life is affected.  The digital innovators of this age continue creating more tools and applications, with a focused dependency upon technology, not only for business, but for our pleasures and enjoyments, as well.

One Size Does Not Fit All

I am sure you have seen this famous tag (One Size Fits All) on many items of clothing.  Whether you are a size 4, 6, 8 or 12, they are telling you, one size fits all.  It denies our physical uniqueness, size, and preference in one’s appearance and choices.

This type of thinking may have crept into our email marketing campaigns.  Demographic studies show this just can’t be true.  Our target segments are constantly changing in age, marital status, preferences, physical locations, and professions.  Sending out generic mass emails is ineffective and may cause the loss of subscribers in the process.

I remember joining a cable company.  Spoke to and met the representative.  Long conversations and then we closed the sale.  Many times after that, I kept receiving mass  notifications under my door to buy their plan and get better deals.   They were generic advertisements absolutely nullifying my being a client and having met with and reached out to their client representative.  It really made me angry.

Generic Emails do not Differentiate between Clients and Prospects

•    Generic emails give a strong disconnect message to the recipient of any prior buying or contact history.  It is as if it never happened.  They are impersonal.
•    Generic emails discount the tracking history and stat results of prior campaigns.  You are shooting in the dark.
•    Generic emails fail to create value and interest, since they are not based on demographics or history.
•    Generic emails do not create, nurture or encourage a personal dialogue or feedback.
•    Generic emails show a lack of appreciation and value to your clients.
•    Generic emails make everyone a prospect, never acknowledging the client.
•    Generic emails create irrelevant messages which can lead to unsubscribers, spam, complaints or inactivity.

As smart marketers, we need to follow the formulas that work – sending the right message to the right subscriber at the right time.  Our clients are the reason we exist.  They need to feel special, and more importantly, acknowledged and appreciated.

This type of parsing can only come from demographics, stats, and history.  Without careful segmentation, you can push away good customers, who just might take their purchase potential with them somewhere else.

Remember: Prospects and clients need different email campaign strategies.  Generic email campaigns tend to make everyone a prospect, resulting in ineffective and irrelevant messages and unwanted results.

BizReport: Mobile Marketing: March 17, 2009

A chain of fashion clothing stores in the U.S. used mobile coupons to bolster sales.

The coupon campaign was promoted online via the store’s website, blog and on various mall websites where the store was featured. Offline, the campaign was promoted via signage in all Planet Funk stores that displayed the shortcode and corresponding keyword.

The results were phenomenal. Planet Funk created over 20% of their total December revenue via the mobile campaign. Nearly 2,000 coupons were generated and 91% were redeemed. In addition, 15% of those that redeemed coupons opted-in to receive future mobile campaigns.

According to BrandWeek: A new study finds that 72% of consumers are using more coupons than they did six months ago.   While newspapers and magazines were the primary source of coupons for 51% of consumers, 39% said they wanted to receive their future coupons via direct mail, while 26% said e-mail, either direct or through newsletters, would work. Another 16% preferred Web sites.

We all love a bargain – and so do our prospects and clients!

Coupons are highly effective and should be added to your marketing mix and coupon strategies.

Why Use Coupons?

• Coupons can reactivate your old customers. Give them a good reason to start buying from you again, rather then going to your competitors.

• Coupons can be a catalyst to other sales.  Offering a bargin or discount on one product, gives you opportunities to sell something else.

• Customer Feedback.  Reach out to your customers and prospects.  Ask them for honest feedback.  See what they want and are looking for in a sale or discount.

Make your Coupon Campaign a Success

1. Customers want to know exactly how much money they will be savings.  Do not be ambiguous.  Specify the dollar amount.
2. If you are using a discount in percentages, use the higher percentages as in 25%.  Lower percentages give a cheap display.
3. You can offer the buy one, get one free or buy one get half off on your second purchase.
4. Make sure you are clear in your advertisement.  We all want to know exactly what are the discounted items.
5. Use graphics and pictures  of the item on sale – this will help support the text and leave no room for confusion.
6. A strong call to action.  Have an urgency with an expiration date.  You want them to act immediately.
7. Use coupons to obtain subscribers to your newsletter.  Give them a small discount for signing up.
8. Put your campaign on your company blog.
9. Use social media.  Advertisement on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.  You can assume your targets are already using these tools.  This will enhance your Web exposure.  Create a strong buzz.

Demographics

When designing your coupon campaign, you need to know:

• Who your target audience is?  Prospects, clients, or wanting to reconnect with old and inactive clients.
• What is the focus and goal of your campaign?  A clearing house special, a new product, an upgrade?

Don’t forget to track your campaign results. Tracking campaigns results is the only way to measure success.