Online marketing solutions

The digital age has changed the way we do business.  People live on email, social networks, and Starbuck’s coffee.  Our mornings begin and end with the Internet.  But something interesting is taking place.  I wonder if you have noticed the growing desire and compulsive need being expressed – people want to have personal conversations with total strangers.

Privacy and anonymity seem to be a passing fad, a priority of the past.  Guards are down as people share their most private experiences, thoughts, and relationships to a global market.  The need to talk, question, and comment, may sometimes borderline obsessive behavior, but is actually a blessing in disguise for those email marketers who integrate their marketing campaigns with social media marketing.

As we engage our clients in blogs, twitter, and facebook, we want to have a discourse in meaningful and influential dialogues, furthering the discussions on a positive and informative note.  Our strategies are to develop trust and respect for our company, product, or service.  Without which there is no loyalty or repeat business.  But what happens when a negative comment is made on a blog or email communication?  Does it spiral out of control?  The need to learn how to respond in an open, unmediated arena will reduce that fear.  Learning to adapt to the continuing dynamics and constant challenges of the social Web is a daily experience.  Our attitude towards any criticism, however, should be to learn and grow from every experience.

Is the Comment True?

Whether a negative comment comes from a colleague, friend, relative or customer online we must ask ourselves is it true?  Don’t go into combat mode, as if you are being assaulted.  For some of you, honesty has always been an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience when dealing with negative remarks.  The world is filled with dishonesty.  Salespeople lie about their products, employees make excuses for their mistakes, and customer service people lie about when the product was shipped, and on and on.  It seems that telling a lie is easier than admitting a fault or product defect.  So we practice this thinking when dealing with our clients online.  But, that is not the way to go.

Having smart conversations with people who have something important to say, is being wise.  Productive criticisms about your product, service, website, or support, can only lead to improvement on your end and trust on theirs.  Being honest is being vulnerable.  But how can we develop loyalty and trust, if we cannot institute that in our own actions and lives?

Remain honest and straightforward. Most of your clients have been around the block.  They know when they are not receiving honest, straightforward responses.  Don’t try to impress, but address their issues honestly and respectably.

Be a proactive communicator. Keep your communications alive.  Many email marketers send communications when a new project or client has come on board.  Make sure you are both on the same page.  Never assume.  Question what is not clear, or what you might have missed.  Strive for excellence.  Email your client on a periodic basis.  Let them know they are very much alive in your thinking and planning.  Even if it seems redundant, keep the good vibrations going out to them.

Communications are a lifeline to business and client alike.  Honest communications today, build loyalty and trust offering a better bottom line tomorrow.

The Internet has truly been the best thing that has happened for anyone involved in e-mail marketing strategies and e-mail marketing campaigns. With the emergence of the Worldwide Web and a constant growth and expansion of our state of the art technology, a more innovative, creative and more accurate e-marketing keeps evolving, with every campaign and new market segment opportunity found.

No longer for the young, the geeks, or the techies, technology has integrated itself into all our daily lives.  People rely more and more on e-mail and the internet as a source of information and survival.  No longer a luxury, the Internet is a real necessity, essential in everyone’s life. Using the Internet and e-mail to market, generates more sales than the older traditional ways of print, snail mail promotions, and announcements. Nevertheless, any good marketing campaign requires skills and tools to create successful and profitable results.

Whether you are a minor or major player, small or medium business, e-mail marketing has a great appeal to all and is constantly gaining popularity.  E-mail marketing is still the most cost effect tool a marketer has at their disposal allowing for lower costs while resulting in higher conversion rates.  So, how does one effectively use e-mail marketing to market?

Building an E-Mail Marketing Address List
Whatever your profession, an e-mail list plays a very integral role.  Your list will be the heartbeat of your strategies.  Building an accurate list, based on accurate demographics, along with researched behavioral data, will enable you to communicate market your clients, with relevant and interesting information pertaining to their interest, age, gender, and lifestyle.  Whether someone is buying your products, wanting further information on your company, or is visiting your website, you need to build a finely tuned e-mail marketing subscriber list.

Good Content or Just Another Sales Pitch?

Content – Every direct e-mail marketing campaign needs good copy.  Remember, your client may never meet you.  Your content will always reflect your voice, whether it is personal or just another sales pitch.  Their responses and decisions will be solely based on what they see, read, and perceive.  Realistically, both content and a good sales pitch are needed.  Without good copy, no one will read past your first paragraph.

Sales Pitch – Without a good pitch, you may never see any click through results.  But as we have said above, your content needs to be relevant and targeted to a specific audience.  Once size does not fit all.  Demographics and behavioral research proves this out over and over again.  While focusing on relevant and dynamic content, the average user is scanning their inbox using only seconds when deciding to read, keep, or trash their e-mail.  Use that window of opportunity wisely.

Building Relationships
Digital relationships are very fragile and need to be nurtured. Your clients and prospects are constantly being bombarded with aggressive email marketers looking to entice and lure them away, as they build their own successful email address lists.  This action calls for a smart strategy on your part, making sure that you are sending the right message to the right audience.  Bring your campaigns to a personal and dynamic level.  Let your audience know that they are important and their choices and opinions are respected and noted.  Do not give them an excuse to leave.  Loyalty is built slowly and consistency.  Trust does not come overnight.

Create a Secure Environment

Identify Theft is a very real threat.  With a majority of people giving out their personal information online, there is a need to be concerned.  In a report put out by e-marketer.com in March 2010, it was stated:   “Overall, consumers expressed the most concern about conducting financial transactions online, including banking and bill pay. E-mail was a greater concern than online shopping, perhaps because of the wealth of personal data contained in e-mail accounts.”

Never forget that you are marketing to real people, with lives, families, jobs, and responsibilities.  Respect their time and intelligence.  Send campaigns out that are relevant, valuable, and worth reading.  Make your communications worth waiting for and greatly anticipated.

Using effective and powerful tools, does not guarantee success.  Tools cannot do anything by themselves.  As a captain needs to steer his ship, keeping it on course with precise and accurate instruments, an e-mail campaign needs to be kept on course with good strategy, great content, and the right targets to bring in a successful ROI.

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.

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.

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.

According to marketingterms.com,  “viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.”

This type of marketing depends upon  passionate  individuals – passing on your marketing message,  increasing its potential of exposure and influence within seconds.  Like a virus, its ripple effect is passed on quickly, infecting hundreds and possibly thousands, in a relatively short space of time.

Of course, there was a time the expression “word of mouth” was sort of the same thing.  In a way, viral marketing is the Internet parallel, since most of us will be blogging, emailing, using SMS and Skype, to share and announce our latest and most exciting discoveries of products, resources, and specials.  With just the multiplicity of email, a company’s ROI can skyrocket within a matter of weeks.  With all this potential and power at our fingertips, we need to make our campaigns as effective as possible.

Viral Market Strategies:  Here are some effective components to include in your next Viral Marketing Campaign:

1.    Free is good: Free has a powerful pull, but free should never represent poor quality.  The free approach draws people in, after that; there are more opportunities for a sale, according to Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-commerce Consultant.

2.   Easily transmitted:   As a virus spreads quickly and rapidly from person to person in the right conditions, you need create and use the fastest and most seamless vehicle that will spread your message without delay.  Using email marketing campaigns to your targeted lists will help expedite that process.

3.   Backlinks and Affiliates: Network with different affiliates.  Get your links, ads and logos out there.  The more back links pointing to your site, the greater importance your site is deemed by the search engines, thus, giving you a higher standing in the Search Engine Results Pages known as the SERPs.

4.  Evoke Reactions: Your message needs to be a catalyst of emotions and opinions from your audience, piquing their interest and curiosity to read further, and know more.  Why not do something unexpected or different.  Catching people off guard with the unexpected is great marketing.

5.  Market the Social Internet Communities: The more accessible information can be shared, the more rapidly it will be spread.  submit your news on the social networking and bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon and Digg.  They have established niche communities.  Find yours.  Submit articles, make comments on other stories, be seen, be heard, and be out there!

Have you signed up with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn?  What are you waiting for?  With thousands of people registering per day, it would be foolish to pass up such a lucrative marketplace.

The tables have turned with the evolution of the Internet.  The power has shifted from the marketer to the consumer.  Within a matter of seconds, their opinions and voice are spread rapidly throughout the world by one single email.

So don’t be a viral marketing casualty as Laura Lake reminds us to:

1.    Mean what you say and say what you mean.
2.    Stand behind your product or service.
3.    Under promise and over deliver … always!

One of the best ways to increase traffic to your website is to combine email campaigns with SEO, by using the same keywords on your email campaigns as you use on your site. Now WordStream have released a new free keyword tool that can help you find the best keywords for your website. According to WordStream, “The Free Keyword Tool is continuously updating a database of over a billion of the world’s most popular keywords, aggregating over a trillion unique searches”.

Email marketers always look for more ways to collect email addresses and to enlarge their mailing list, in order to make their email campaigns more effective. VertcialResponse came up with 29 ways to collect email addresses. Few of the ways include:

• Put an offer on the back of your business cards
• Include a newsletter sign-up link in your signature of all of your emails.
• Make visitors sign up to your opt-in form before you give them something for free.
• Trade newsletter space with a neighboring business
• Offer “Email only” discounts

57% of consumers feel more positive about companies who send them email campaigns, according to a survey by Epsilon. The survey, which includes 1517 consumers, also say that 50% of recipients are more likely to buy products from companies who send them email, whether their purchases are online or at a place of business. Epsylon says that “Email builds loyalty and brand awareness and drives on- and off-line behavior”.

The welcome message you send to customers who just joined your mailing list is your opportunity to greet them and engage them with further activity with your brand. Here are a few tips from email transmit to make welcome email messages a great way to increase revenue from email campaigns:

• Thank them for joining by giving them some kind of a reward
• Add a link to your contact us form
• Remind them the value they are going to get from your email campaigns