Social Media Invite Emails That Are a Marketing “Do”

 Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, the list of social media networking sites continues to grow. And, once you’ve created your account on the latest social network, or even if you have an established account, how do you get people to find it? Email marketing, of course! Sending an email invitation asking readers to follow your business on a social network may not seem intuitive, but it can be an effective and easy way to grow your following. Your email list is full of people interested in your biz, and getting them to interact with you on social media can help build your relationship with them and keep your business top of mind.

Before we jump into some excellent social media email invite examples, here are a few tips for creating an effective invite. Now it may seem obvious, but always make sure (in any email you send) to include a link and/or a call-to-action button that entices readers to follow you. Also, make sure the email is:

• Informative – Let your readers know what they’re going to get or find if they do start following your business on social.
• Easy to read – Remember to include all the social sites you’re on and link to each one – Some people prefer different social sites.
• Short – Just like any invitation, give important info, make the copy fun and personable and that’s it. Keep readers focused.

Now that we’ve discussed some tips, let’s take a look at a few “do” examples:

The Container Store – The Container Store’s social invite email focuses purely on their social networks, so it’s easy for readers to know what to do. It’s short, fun and shares the different things one can expect to find at each social site (i.e., time-saving tips). Plus, they include calls-to-action in the form of a “Go” button!

Zulily – Zulily created a charming graphic for their social invite email email which calls out each of their social networks. They also have a catchy headline: “Calling all social butterflies.” Plus, they provide a compelling reason to follow them on each social site (i.e., get inspired, share & shop).

CETFA – This non-profit included a single, funny and attention-grabbing image in their social invite email. They share their new social sites, plus the ones they’re established on and they give reasons why to follow them on each one.

The most important thing to keep in mind when creating a social media invite is to answer the following questions: “How can I provide value to my readers and followers?” and “What’s in it for them?” Then, keep followers coming back for more with engaging posts and conversations.

Looking for a little more on this subject? Jay Baer, the social media guru and author of the best-selling book Youtility, has a popular keynote entitled Why Email is Madonna and Facebook is Lady Gaga. Baer talks about how email and Facebook marketing are really very similar. Check it out for more inspiration.

Have you used email invitations to grow your following on social media? Share your experiences or invites in the comments.

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How to Write a High-Converting ‘Start Here’ Page

 I have fallen in love with a travel website.
It’s called CheeseWeb, and it’s a blog dedicated to “slow travel.” Slow travel is staying in one place for longer periods of time while you’re on the road and having full experiences in each place you stay.
When I stumbled upon it, the incredible photos and gorgeous design of the site made my mouth water. As an armchair traveler, it has now become one of my favorite travel sites.
One of the reasons why the site appealed to me during my first visit was CheeseWeb’s amazing “Start Here” page.
The page told me:

• Who the main CheeseWeb writers are
• Why they started a slow travel blog
• Where I could find their best content
• How I could connect with them via email and social media

By the time I was finished reading the “Start Here” page, I had become a die-hard fan of the site’s main writers, Alison and Andrew.
Since becoming a fan of their site, I’ve noticed more “Start Here” pages on various sites around the web. I’m now fascinated with this effective way for content marketers to create fast and valuable bonds with new readers who cross their paths for the first time.
Let’s talk about what a “Start Here” section is, why it’s important for your digital business, and how to turn yours into a high-converting page.

A powerful tool for bonding with your readers

A “Start Here” area is a page on your website that helps people have the best possible experience on your site. It assumes that people don’t know who you are and have never visited your site before. It also gives them a brief introduction to your site’s purpose and exactly what their next steps should be.
Here’s CheeseWeb’s “Start Here” page:

An effective “Start Here” page is like rolling out the red carpet for your visitors and giving new people a positive first impression of you. It’s a smart way to communicate:

• Who you are
• What the purpose of your site is
• Where new visitors can find your best content
• How they can connect with you via email or social networking platforms

That’s a big job for one page, right? But “Start Here” pages do that job beautifully (when they’re done well) and that’s why they’re so powerful.

Give every visitor a great website experience

It’s important to have a “Start Here” page on your site because website visitors — especially new visitors — are often like timid little birds when they land on your virtual real estate. They’re cautious and looking for any opportunity to fly the coop, so you need to be gentle with them.

Your “Start Here” page allows you to be a patient, nurturing, non-threatening tour guide who’s on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But your “Start Here” page never needs to take time off. It’s on duty forever and waiting to give new visitors a great experience, every single moment of every single day.

A “Start Here” page might also be called “[Your Site Name] 101,” “Begin Your Journey,” “Getting Started,” or any other name that informs new visitors that the page is an initial jumping-off point for your site.
Regardless of what you call it, a great “Start Here” page can earn you repeat visitors, convert more visitors into subscribers, increase your social media following, and bring in more sales.

7 elements of an effective “Start Here” page

Here are seven elements you should consider including in your own “Start Here” page.
You don’t necessarily need to include these elements in this order, but make sure your “Start Here” page is organized in a clear way that takes your reader on a journey from first-time visitor to educated site veteran.

1. Brief definitions of the key terms you use on your site

To avoid confusion, briefly define key terms you frequently use.
For example, Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income defines the term “passive income” close to the top of his “Start Here” page:

2. A concise statement about you and your mission

If you’re a solopreneur, this will include your individual story (and might include details about why you started your business or website).
If you are a larger business, you can explain the origin story of the business and talk about the mission of your company. Keep this story brief — you can use your About page to give more details or publish your official bio.
Food blogger Lisa Leake delivers a short version of her story on her “Start Here” page:

3. A clear message for your ideal reader or visitor

People need to know whether the information on your site will benefit them. They want reassurance that your content will meet their needs.
Show that you understand your ideal visitor’s issues and problems, and let him know he’s in the right place to get solutions.

4. Links to your best content

Your “Start Here” section is the perfect place to link to your best content — especially your best resources for first-time visitors.
Don’t go too crazy here. You want to include enough links that new visitors will find value and get lots of information, but not so many that they get overwhelmed and click away.
Consider organizing your links into categories if you have a lot of them. Put yourself in the shoes of a new visitor and choose categories that make sense for that person.
Here’s an example from Michael Hyatt’s “Start Here” page:

5. A prompt to join your email list

Your “Start Here” page should always include a strong call to action, so use that CTA to ask people to join your email list.
Explain why they should sign up and possibly offer a tantalizing incentive.
CheeseWeb invites you to be part of their community:

6. An invitation to connect on social networking sites (optional)

If you’re active on any social networking platforms, you can include links that allow people to connect with you on those platforms.
Clearly label the links and include directions on how to connect with you.

7. A link to an entry-level product offer (optional)

If you have an entry-level product, consider offering it on your “Start Here” page. Include this offer toward the bottom of the page.
Discuss the benefits of any paid product you offer here in detail, so the reader knows why it’s a good place for them to start. You want to avoid scaring away your new visitor and sending the message that you’re just trying to make sales.

3 perfect entry points to your “Start Here” page

Where should you put links to your “Start Here” page? Here are three options.

1. In your top navigation bar, preferably on the far left side

Your visitors will naturally look at your navigation bar when they start browsing through your content, so put a link to your “Start Here” page in that bar. The “Start Here” or “Getting Started” button lets people know exactly where to begin on your site.
Adding it to the far left side of the navigation bar ensures that it will be one of the first things people notice, as seen here on Lisa Leake’s site:

2. In a widget, slightly lower down on your home page

CheeseWeb’s home page has a “Start Here” widget that includes a welcome message and a prominent “Start Here” button. This technique also works well because it grabs the attention of people scrolling through the home page of your site.

3. Make it your home page

You can even consider making your “Start Here” section the home page of your site. The Copyblogger home page orients people to the site’s offerings.

Create your own “Start Here” page

Your “Start Here” page can create the perfect welcome for your new visitors and help them make the most of your site and your offerings.
Take some time today and outline the information new visitors need to know about your site when they first arrive. Then draft an original, friendly, and educational “Start Here” page.
Publish your “Start Here” page as soon as possible. Your prospects will be grateful for the warm welcome!
Have a favorite “Start Here” page? Share it in the comments section below.


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How to Build a Social Media Marketing Funnel for Bloggers

Are you using your blog for business?
Wondering how to combine blog posts with social media content to move people through the sales cycle?
In this article, you’ll discover how to use blog posts to create social media content at every stage of your marketing funnel.

#1: Define Your Marketing Goal

Creating a social media marketing funnel is directly tied to your marketing goals. To begin, think of one marketing goal you want to accomplish. Beginning with a single short-term goal is much easier than tackling long-term goals. Also, choose a realistic, measurable goal so you can identify whether you’ve reached it.
Here are a few examples of goals that would make a great starting point for a social media marketing funnel:

• If you’re launching a new online course, aim for a specific number of pre-orders before you launch.
• If you’re opening a restaurant, focus on making a certain number of reservations for your first quarter of business.
• If you want to grow your email subscriber list, concentrate on increasing your rate of new subscribers from 8% per week to 10% per week.

#2: Publish Six Blog Posts to Create a Funnel to Support the Customer Journey

After you identify your goal, you want to ensure you publish content that leads people toward that goal. To do that effectively, your content must cater to people at different stages in the funnel. For each stage, write two blog posts that support your goal at each stage: awareness, trust, and conversion.

Your content should cater to people at different stages in the buying cycle.

Stage 1: Blog Posts That Create Awareness
To create awareness, think about blog posts that would attract new people to your brand and demonstrate what you can offer. Also, if your blog posts give people a quick-fix solution to a problem, you’ll earn enough trust for them to hang around and learn more.
In this first stage of the buying process, these types of blog posts work well:

• Top resources post: Share your best resources with your audience.
• Product and gift guides: Share about and rank products, gifts, and/or services that suit a specific purpose.
• How-to posts: Present a problem and demonstrate a solution (or many solutions) to that problem.
• Question-and-answer posts: Write a post in Q&A format to answer your readers’ burning questions about a product.

For example, Jane Friedman’s website helps writers navigate the publishing world, and this how-to post about how to publish a book explains a topic that would appeal to new authors who aren’t familiar with the process. The detailed post establishes her expertise in her field and offers an easy way to understand the traditional publishing process.

Create content that spreads awareness of your brand and attracts new followers.

Stage 2: Your Prospect Wants to Know, Like, and Trust You
At this stage, the word “want” is important. Marketers often assume that loyalty is hard-won. However, when you help people, they naturally want to like and trust you. Your prospect becomes eager to learn more and figure out if you can help. The higher the price tag, the more content you’ll need at this stage.
Here are five blog post types that work well for building trust, likeability, and loyalty:

• Customer case studies: Share a customer’s experience to show readers how your business helped that customer.
• Expert interviews: You might ask an expert to give insight into an issue that’s relevant to your readers.
• Inspirational and motivational stories: Tell a personal story to motivate and inspire your readers.
• Opinion pieces: Persuade readers to consider an alternative point of view by challenging conventional wisdom on an issue.
• Research breakdown: Analyze the takeaways from several current surveys or studies about a trend in your industry. Or summarize an industry report to help your readers understand how the information may affect them.

For instance, One Kings Lane sells furniture, décor, and interior design services. This expert interview about how to become more confident about choosing paint colors will appeal to an audience that’s interested in home décor and help prospects with a common problem.

Expert interviews are one way to help your prospects and build trust.

Stage 3: Your Prospects Are Warm and Ready to Take the Relationship Further
Conversion doesn’t necessarily mean asking for the sale. To illustrate, you might ask the reader to subscribe to your email newsletter so you can nurture the sale via email. However, it’s a myth that blog posts should never contain sales information.

When you’re in business, you’re supposed to ask for the sale. It’s absolutely okay and necessary for you to tell your potential customers how you can help them and why they should buy from you. Focus on attracting and nurturing relationships 80% of the time, but you can focus on conversions with the other 20%.
Here are three types of blog posts that work well for conversions:

• Call the reader to action: Run a challenge that motivates your readers to take action. You can organize a formal challenge where readers must sign up to participate or an informal challenge designed to foster a sense of community.
• Invite the reader to enter a competition/giveaway: Promote a product or service by enticing readers to enter a competition by writing no more than 25 words about a given topic.
• Launch a new product or service: Write a blog post announcing a new product and explain how the product helps your customers.

For example, when Buffer launched a tool that helps users tailor social media posts to various platforms, this blog post not only announced the new feature, but also explained the feature’s value. The post walks readers through all of the details involved in customizing posts, and then explains how the Buffer tool simplifies the process and saves time.

A blog post about a product or service can help you convert warm prospects

into buyers.

#3: Repurpose Published Blog Posts to Create Social Media Marketing Collateral

After your six blog posts are published, break your posts down into smaller chunks you can use on social media. Create graphics, videos, and so on to support each piece of content as you roll it out.
As a model, these six blog posts support the launch of a new blogging app:

• How to create a blog post strategy in 5 minutes or less (how-to)
• Ten tools for creating awesome images for your blog (tool roundup)
• How a business coach made $7K out of this mistake (customer case study)
• Why I dropped everything to found a tech startup (inspirational story)
• Create your content calendar in 7 days – Join the challenge (call readers to action by issuing a challenge)
• Small beginnings: Our content tech experiment has begun (product launch)

Because you’ve started with blog posts, you can easily repurpose the content in other formats for use on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other channels.

RealSimple created an Instagram story based on a blog post about how to choose 

produce; at the end of the story, viewers could swipe up to read the original post.

From content in each example blog post, you can create social media content chunks such as the following:

• How to create a blog post strategy in 5 minutes or less: Native video, SlideShare presentation, infographic, Instagram story broken into five short videos demonstrating each phase of the process
• Ten tools for creating awesome images for your blog: Instagram multiple-image post, short tips to share on Facebook and Twitter
• How a business coach made $7K out of this mistake: Video testimonial, quote graphics, Instagram story broken into segments throughout the day
• Why I dropped everything to found a tech startup: Behind-the-scenes video, inspirational quote graphics
• Create your content calendar in 7 days – Join the challenge: Lead generation ad with downloadable document, live video Q&A for each day of the challenge, Facebook group for challenge participants
• Small beginnings: Our content tech experiment has begun: Conversion ad with a call to action to purchase, recorded video that demonstrates the product, infographic that shows the product’s value

You can repurpose just one blog post for several social media platforms.

Notice all of the ways you can repurpose just one blog post. When Dustin Stout offered free downloadable templates based on a blog post, he not only gathered email addresses, but also created a YouTube video that explains how to use the templates.

Creating the Right Amount of Content for Your Prospects
Depending on your product, prospects may take their time to make a purchase, especially if what you’re selling is at a higher price point. In that case, it helps to allow a longer lead time in your marketing campaigns. Your audience’s tolerance for information frequency will determine your lead time.
For instance, a lower-priced product like a book or gadget may require only a one-week lead time and three pieces of content. A higher-priced product like a house or a pool may require a longer lead time and six pieces of content.

Conclusion
When you build a social media marketing funnel that supports a goal, you create more targeted and relevant content on both your blog and social media. Also, you can easily repurpose your blog posts for your social media marketing.
Remember to create content for each stage of the customer journey and adjust how much content you post based on your knowledge of your product and customers.

What do you think? Does your content build a social media marketing funnel? Have you repurposed blog posts to create content for social media? Please share your thoughts and tips in the comments.

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4 ways to leverage email marketing with PPC

When it comes to the fast-moving world of internet marketing, everyone is looking for that competitive edge. If SEO and email marketing are already a developed part of your marketing campaign, PPC (pay-per-click) can be another useful tool to help grow both your conversions and your leads.

Use PPC to test email marketing elements

While we can use email marketing to increase leads in a variety of ways, PPC advertising offers a great way to test out the elements of your marketing emails, like landing pages or possible subject lines, before using them in a mass email. PPC gives you ample space to safely test out that edited copy, those new keywords or a new landing page and get an early peek at conversion rates. Using these tools can help optimize your message and increase its rate of success before sending it out to your entire list. That said, PPC ads are not only a great environment to test out elements of email marketing, but are versatile enough to try out nearly any element of your marketing campaign.

Build email lists with PPC

A great way for anyone to start introducing PPC into their campaign is by using it to grow your email list. While email can be used to increase both conversions and leads, PPC is a terrific way to boost both of those numbers even further. In this case, you can measure every email gained from a PPC ad as a conversion and a success toward this goal. Someone clicking on a PPC ad should arrive at a page that shows off the service or product one is offering, but with two possible ways of gathering potential customer information:

First, the primary focus of this page should always be the conversion itself. Part of this process will gather the customer’s email along with other information for things like receipts and contact or shipping information. Simple enough.

Then, you should always include a secondary call to action (CTA) that can still obtain an email conversion even if the person decides not to purchase. This shouldn’t distract from your main objective and should encourage potential customers to give you their email address and offer them something in return. An example of this might be “Sign up to be notified of future discounts” or “Sign up for news and tips” — anything that could appeal to someone interested in the ad but not quite ready to commit to what you’re offering.

Use your email marketing data to optimize your PPC ads 

The information you have gathered via sending conversion emails and looking at click-through rates isn’t just useful for your email marketing. While emails commit to a higher percentage of overall conversions for many businesses, PPC ads can be a powerful tool in gaining conversions themselves. The keywords, subjects, headlines and offers that have been successful in the past can likely be integrated into your PPC ads as well. At the least they are powerful starting benchmarks to help augment your marketing strategy. This can be great information in reaching out to a brand-new audience or wider market, and increasing your numbers across the board.

Plan PPC campaigns to boost email click-through rates 

A large part of successful advertising at its core isn’t just about the message itself and how strong it is, but about the amount of exposure to your message that your potential customers receive. Time and time again research shows us the power of the Exposure Effect, and how customers who are exposed to a product or service multiple times are simply more likely to commit to a purchase. PPC ads can provide more exposure to your message outside of your emails. You can do this by starting a PPC ad campaign that begins a day or a two before your email campaign goes out, and ends a few days afterward. The awareness and exposure of these PPC, ads coupled with your hard-hitting emails, can work well together to increase conversions.


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Email amassing? 24 more great ideas + 18 content tips

In our last blog, we helped brainstorm 50 actions you can take to build up a viable list of email addresses for marketing purposes. Here’s another instalmentemail with 42 more tips, including pointers that focus on creating relevant and appealing content that will attract and retain subscribers to your email campaigns.

1. Instead of implementing one-off ideas, develop an overall campaign strategy and timeline for accomplishing your goals.
2. Include room in your plan to experiment with new methods to find out what’s effective. If a certain approach is successful, maximize it (be aware that you are never done testing).
3. Let subscribers know from the get-go what kind of content to expect and how often you’ll be emailing them. Consider including frequency in the opt-in call-to-action so subscribers know it is a “weekly newsletter” or “daily update”.
4. Understand not everyone is familiar with email newsletters; sometimes you must explain the value in simple terms to your audience.
5. Don’t be surprised if methods you borrow from others don’t work for you; many factors may be involved across industries and business types.
6. Stage sweepstakes drawings for new subscribers, perhaps requiring they also follow or post about you on social media to enter.
7. Experiment with sidebars, headers, footers or pop-up boxes as opt-in requests. Options include floating forms that move with the user as they scroll down, slide-ins that move over about halfway down a page, or “sticky” forms that follow the user the whole time they scroll.
8. Consider a heat map test of your site using an online tool. The graphic displays show which areas of your site are most frequently scanned by visitors so you can strategize where to place call-to-action buttons.
9. Experiment with the timing of pop-ups. Some experts recommend waiting until a visitor has been on your page at least 60 seconds.
10. Make sign-ups easy by limiting the form to just one call-to-action: the email address itself.
11. Pay affiliates commission for finding interested subscribers (know your cost per lead to make that work).
12. Appeal to local customers by placing paid opt-in invitations in local publications and on websites they’re likely to frequent.
13. Take advantage of free publicity opportunities in local newspapers by pitching feature stories, sending press releases and/or writing letters to the editor that end with opt-in invitations.
14. Find complementary businesses with which you don’t compete, and cross-promote one another’s email lists.
15. Start a program in which customers can earn free or discounted products for referring friends.
16. Create or find a compelling image to post on Instagram along with an opt-in invitation.
17. Implement content upgrades or link magnets on your website that upgrade an information offer if the user provides email.
18. Fine-tune your controls so they vary the opt-in requests shown to the same customer in a 30-day span.
19. Offer opt-in to anyone who has commented on your blog or social media. Be sure to have your opt-in on the homepage of all your social media channels.
20. Take advantage of the bandwagon effect to promote impressive aspects of your business or newsletter in your opt-in offer. Options include subscriber counts, testimonials, endorsements, awards, certifications, social media follower numbers and/or media coverage.
21. Place an opt-in option on your website’s 404 page.
22. Maximize online sales receipts to offer a credit to those who refer subscribers to your list.
23. Have a real person respond by name to new subscribers, offering to answer questions.
24. Be gracious and quick with those who ask to unsubscribe. Include an option before the unsubscribe confirmation to decrease the frequency of emails or limit the content shared in an effort to keep them subscribed.

Finally, adding impressive numbers to your list is pointless if customers unsubscribe because your content doesn’t seem valuable enough. Here are 18 more tips for making sure that doesn’t happen:

1. Strive to offer different content from competitors so your brand stands out.
2. Build a calendar and strategy for offering discounts. Studies show a majority of users sign up to receive offers and sales.
3. Present content in a likable and friendly way so customers think of your brand the same way.
   Keep the tone conversational and avoid sounding like a telemarketing script.
4. Offer white papers or free downloads that offer helpful insight to your target market.
5. Give your newsletter a clever name instead of just “the newsletter.”
6. Keep the subject line of your emails as snappy and to the point as a tweet.
7. Make the design elements of your newsletter as appealing as your copy. Color, font and copy placement are important psychologically.
8. Add a WordPress plug-in that addresses visitors differently based on how they were referred and whether they’re new.
9. Avoid overly technical industry jargon that might scare away the uninitiated.
10. Strive for wording that’s emotional or sensory.
11. Include content from other sites and sources to establish yourself as a provider of unbiased info and build rapport. Don’t hesitate to refer subscribers to others.
12. Study your current followers for insight into how to gain new ones. Track what they’re clicking on and customize opt-in invitations accordingly.
13. Provide subscribers useful video tutorials.
14. Offer subscribers educational courses sent to them in installments.
15. Create appealing desktop wallpapers or customizable business card templates for subscribers.
16. Use graphics and cultural references that will appeal to your target audience.
17. Study popular click-bait sites like Buzzfeed that lure you in with fun, short and punchy subject lines and preview text. How might you incorporate some of these techniques into your own campaign?
18. In general, do subscribers a favor by helping them solve a problem, providing them inspiration, giving them direction toward a goal and/or quickly expanding their knowledge,

Be patient. Building a strong list of interested customers is a complex and timely process, but a viable email campaign can be an invaluable addition to your marketing arsenal.

“Don’t overlook the value that email offers for strengthening your brand’s relationship with customers and prospects,” advises Jodi Harris on Contentmarketinginstitute.com. “Email may no longer be a shiny new tactic on the content marketing scene, but with the right strategy and a little upkeep, it can still pack a pretty powerful punch.”


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Reignite the Fire with Inactive Customers

Whether you’re completing a brand overhaul or launching a new product, you should always have a reactivation email campaign working to win back old customers and keep them engaged.

As John Russell, President of Harley-Davidson, once said: ‘The more you engage with customers, the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing.’ When running your business, your efforts must be customer-centric, from first visit through post-purchase, to rise above the rest. Not only does the customer benefit from your investment in maintaining the relationship, over time your bottom line benefits as well.

One of the most important things to remember though is that your work is not done once you’ve made initial contact in the inbox. Beyond your welcome email, promotional offers, and confirmations, many businesses often underestimate the benefits to continued outreach to their broader customer base.

Like any relationship, a healthy amount of patience and communication is necessary. This is the point where reactivation emails come into play.

This type of email is useful after a certain period of inactivity within your list. Customers with an ‘inactive’ status could be nonresponders, non-clickers, or non-purchasers. Inactive could also include customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while, or those who only subscribe to your company’s newsletter.

Thinking about it from a statistics perspective, branding insights firm MarketingSherpa recently found that 75% of email subscribers become inactive within a year. This shows how critical it is to add a reactivation email campaign to your communication plan. It helps keep the fire going.
There are many ways to reconnect with customers. It’s not a one-size-fits-all mission. The easiest way is the direct “we miss you and want you back” email. This simple and straightforward approach is an excellent way to ensure your subscriber list is up to date and CAN-SPAM compliant.

In the ‘we miss you’ example below, New Hampshire-based dairy farm Stonyfield gives inactive subscribers the choice to either stay in touch or discontinue receiving communication altogether.



Find a way to offer customers the opportunity to remember how much they loved your company when they first engaged with it. From there, focus on the ones who want to stay engaged and can potentially grow with you

In this next example, children’s retailer Carter’s combines “we miss you” with a time sensitive offer in one email. This does a good job of enticing the customer by letting them know about the store’s current inventory. It conveys how long the offer will last and prompts a call-to-action (CTA).



Whether you design your reactivation email to confirm continued communication or inspire another purchase, it’s well worth the effort to keep customers engaged.

Consider this: In 2012, the Direct Marketing Association reported how much more cost-effective it was to cultivate existing customers versus acquiring new ones. It found the median return on investment for existing customers was $28.50, compared to a mean customer acquisition cost of $55.24.

In summary: reactivating customers pays off.

Going back to John Russell’s quote, a reactivation email focuses you on the right customers. By keeping an ongoing dialog, you create a valuable relationship and an exemplary customer experience.
Have you recently tried to re-engage a contact list? Tell us about your results.


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3 Tips to Extend Your Email Reach with Social Sharing

Tracking how many readers share your emails on social media is easier than ever. Any email service provider worth its salt lets you monitor social interactions (we do!) such as likes, comments, shares and retweets in your email report.

But how do you get your readers to share your email in the first place? Read on for a few tips and best practices for maximizing your email reach through social sharing.

1. Add social share buttons to make sharing easy

A good email will include a call-to-action (CTA) that makes the next desired step clear. When you add social buttons to the email header, you create a secondary CTA without detracting from the primary one in the main body.

VerticalResponse’s editor allows you to drag and drop sharing buttons anywhere in your email. If you’re worried about distracting readers from your central message, try testing button placement in different areas of your email. Here’s an example.

2. Dedicate an email campaign to your social pages

An alternative approach is to make connecting on social media the primary call-to-action of your email. While email still provides the highest return on investment by far, staying active on your business’ social media accounts has its perks.

For one, social media often serves as a de facto customer support tool. It’s a great medium for retaining happy customers and reconnecting with former ones. Also, you can boost your search rank by having profiles on Facebook and Twitter.

3. Give them an incentive to follow you online

Keep in mind some customers may be reluctant to follow you on social media if you already have access to them via email. Whether you want them to like your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter, give them incentives to connect with you.

Let them know up front what they’re missing, like social-exclusive offers and content. Then, be sure to deliver on that promise.



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Show ’em What You’ve Got – Send These Demo Emails Today

 Wouldn’t it be great if you could give everyone a demo of your product or service? You can through email! “Product use” emails or “product demo” emails are some of the most effective ways to teach people about the products and services you offer.

Jeff Kear, who owns an online software company, Planning Pod, uses demo emails to show his customers how to use his event-planning app. His emails include links to video tutorials as well as links to set up an appointment with a member of the sales team. 

How successful are these emails? Kear says the videos get about 500 views a month, the sales teams gets about 50 requests a month, and overall sales jumped 42% within three months – all because of product use emails. 

Now that we know product use emails are effective, let’s talk about how to create one. Here’s an example from the Planning Pod email stash. This email encourages customers to schedule a 30-minute demo of the software. We’ll use this to look at a few must-have components.

Personal touchesDepending on the information you gather in your opt-in form, if you have the email recipient’s name, use it in your greeting. In the top portion of this Planning Pod email, they also introduce a staff member and include his picture. It seems like a personal letter, not a robotic “Try this software” email. Plus, the photo lets the customer know that they’re dealing with a real human being. 

Make it about the readerThe demo email should reference “you,” the reader. You don’t want your email to sound like a sales pitch. Instead, tell your reader’s how they’ll benefit from your product. The text above illustrates how the trial is a team effort – the reader and sales staff will work together to learn about this new product. 

Include a call to actionWhether you’re including a link to sign up for a trial, to watch a demo or inspiration video (non-profits), or to view a step-by-step photo guide, always include a call to action that leads back to your site, blog, Facebook page, etc. If you’re leading recipients to a video, include a screen shot of the video including the play button to entice a click.

Stellar videos or picturesIf you’re going to show people how to use your product, you need great visuals. Here are a couple of video examples from Lucidchart demoing a new iPad app and Vidyard explaining their integration with Salesforce.

Even if your product doesn’t require a demo, you can still show customers how to use your product through email. 

Take a look at the example below. This online site sells scarves, so this email shows customers how to tie one – Handy!

The electronics store below sent this image to new iPhone customers. It highlights some of the main features of the phone through an easy-to-read picture.

This email from online retailer, ModCloth shows email subscribers what to pack for vacation, and how to wear 15 items 10 different ways:

These emails are all about being creative. Whether you sell handbags, power tools, or online software, showing customers how to use your product is a win-win. 

Does your company send product use emails or product demo emails? How effective are they for your company? Share with us in the comment section below. 

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3 Emails Your Business Should Be Sending

 Are your emails scheduled and sent like clockwork, or are they a little sporadic? (Don’t worry, we won’t tell!) Do you only send out one type of email, or do you have a variety of emails for every transaction or occasion? You don’t want to inundate your customers, readers, and/or leads, however, you do want to establish a relationship, build rapport, educate and of course, make some money. So, how do you accomplish all of this? By consistently sending out these three emails below – We’ll also tell you how often to send them and the best ways to execute. Let’s dive in:

1. Welcome Email
Are you rolling out the red carpet for your new customers? A recent study by Return Path found that 80% of companies now send out welcome emails, up from only 40% in 2008.

What to include in your welcome email:

• What to expect. Warmly welcome readers to your mailing list and set expectations immediately. Let your readers know what you’ll share with them in your future emails, and how often. For example, you may offer advice and how-to articles, as well as some promotional offers. You may send bi-weekly, monthly, or another frequency. Stay true to whatever you promise! (You can get even more tips on send frequency here.).

• A special offer. Want a little more love? Give your new subscribers a discount, offer, or gift for simply being a subscriber. Then, let your new subscribers know that as a subscriber, they’ll receive special email-only offers they can’t get anywhere else just by being on your list. They’ll be far more likely to open your future messages for enticing discounts.

*Timeliness is key when sending a welcome email. You want to send it out to your new subscribers as soon as possible after they subscribe.

2.  Newsletter
Many of our customers ask us about the difference between an email promotion/campaign and an email newsletter. The words are often used interchangeably, but an email promotion or campaign tends to communicate one single topic or idea, such as your current sale, or a new product, while an email newsletter often has multiple topics and tends to educate (vs. sell) and builds rapport with your readers. Your newsletter should always offer readers valuable information.

What to include in your newsletter:

• News. Press releases, blog articles or other publications that will help your readers. (It’s a good idea to summarize longer articles in a few short sentences and create a call to action button for the reader to view the entire article on your website or blog.)
• Upcoming events or webinars. These may be events you’re hosting or participating in. You may also announce speaking engagements such as interviews with your executives on radio shows, at college campuses and the like.
• Important announcements. Include improvements to your products or services, new management, or new business practices. (If you are letting your customers know you are responding to their feedback and improving something for them, that’s always great news!)
• Ways to connect on social media.  Include social networks you’re actively engaged on and updating regularly, as this is added value for your followers.
• Images. Keep your newsletter interesting with images relating to your content.
• Calls to actions.Tell your readers what you want them to do with clear calls to action such as read more, learn more, and register now. You can easily create call to action buttons for your website or emails and newsletters here.

Even though the word “newsletter” suggests a more lengthy communication, remember it’s still  an email amongst many others in the inbox! Try to avoid including too much information and text in one email. A good rule of thumb is no more than would fit on one page of a word document. Because newsletters are more comprehensive, once or twice a month is typically a good practice, however, depending on your business, and how much content you produce, weekly might work as well. If you want more information about newsletters, we have a handy webinar titled: Creating a Significant Email Newsletter

3. Promotional Emails
Everyday, most of us receive tons of emails from various companies and let’s be honest, most customers want to know “What’s in it for me?”. If you don’t provide real value, it’s very easy for subscribers to click that little unsubscribe button! How can you help avoid that? Offer something valuable and unique…

What to include in your promotional emails:

• A NEW offer. Emphasis on the word new. If you offered 10 percent off all window frames last month, it’s old news this month! If you do repeat a certain offer, don’t repeat it back-to-back or multiple times in a row (you’re readers will think you’re a one trick pony!).
• A compelling offer. Discounts are great, but does the discount you’re offering compel your readers to click through all the way to the shopping cart? Try testing different offers to see which ones are the most effective. Enticing customers with specific products or services can be more effective than a set discount amount off all items or services. This is especially true of seasonal items.
• Clear calls to action. Make it as easy as possible for the reader to get the promotion. This may mean buttons leading to a shopping page on your website or links to pages with already inserted promo codes or registration forms. Just make sure as few steps as possible are involved in going from reading your email to purchasing the product. Don’t make it hard to buy.

*Be cautious not to send promotional emails too often. Once every 2 weeks or once a month are good general practices.

By including these three types of emails in your email marketing plan, you can help keep your subscribers engaged, loyal and spending. You can get more helpful email marketing resources here including free guides, webinars are more.

Are there any other types of emails you think are important to include in your email marketing plan? Share in the comments!

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4 Big Tips for More Email Clicks

 You’re sending your emails, checking your stats; everything is clicking along for your email marketing. But wait, no, things aren’t clicking along; in fact, your clicks seem low compared to the number of people who opened your email. What’s one to do? Well, you shouldn’t write off the importance of click throughs, because they represent email readers who are interested and engaged in your business. Email opens are important, but once someone’s read your email, you also need him/her to take action (sign up, buy, donate, watch, read) and that requires a click to your website. So how do you get readers to click through? Here are 4 big tips:

1. Include More Links – Many people simply don’t add enough links within their email to give readers the opportunity to click on. Add two to three links per section or paragraph, and link all of your headlines and images. Make sure your links go directly to the product or article you’re speaking of – don’t drop them on the home page of your site and hope they find the product/service/blog post you want them to see. They never will, and will leave your website not having taken the action you desire. Try linking these elements in your emails to increase your clicks:

• Headlines and subheads
• Pre-header
• Call to action buttons
• Table of contents
• Logo
• Header/footer
• Images
• Keywords or phrases (ex: practical tips, here’s how, 5 ways)
• Text appropriate for a link (i.e, product name, company name)
• Testimonials or customer ratings

2. Improve Your Call to Action (CTA) – No matter what kind of email you’re sending, there’s a purpose or action you want your readers to take. This is your call to action – the action you want your recipients to take. If you’re seeing lower click through numbers than you expect, check out your CTA, as it could be the culprit. If you haven’t given your readers something to do, say, “Read More!” or “Watch this Video,” it could be that they don’t know how, or aren’t encouraged to get more info mentioned in your email.

Keep your CTA clear, to the point and have one ultimate call to action per email. Don’t add too many conflicting main call to actions in your email (ex: Sign up here, watch this, buy now, read this). If you give people too many options, they won’t choose anything! One easy way to draw attention to your CTA and help encourage clicks is to use a button. You can have your button say whatever you need it to say, but again, make it clear and concise. We have a free button tool to help you create the right button for you: buttons.verticalresponse.com. Here are some fun and effective examples of CTA buttons:

3. Mobilize Your Email – Your readers want your email to be full of great info and easy to read. About half of all emails are now being read on some kind of mobile device, so you need an email that works well on any platform it’s being read on. So be sure to use a mobile friendly template if you’re using an email service, or keep your email to a one-column layout at the very least. Using CTA buttons can help your mobile readers a lot, as it’s much easier to tap a button on a smaller screen than it is to touch a text link. And again, keep your CTA clear because your mobile readers won’t spend as much time reading your email on that small screen, so tell them what you need them to do right away.

4. Work on Your Subject Line – While your subject line is a big part of what gets your emails opened, it can also contribute to your click through if it’s compelling enough and has a call to action. Try adding a call to action in your pre-header text as well, to give your readers a reason to open your email and click through. And while you’re at it, double check that the info you include in your email is what you promised when your readers signed up for your list. If you’ve started to wander off topic, it could be that your readers have lost interest in the email, and aren’t clicking through.

Try one, or even better, all of these suggestions and see if your click through numbers go up – We bet they will!

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The 6 most popular email templates for small businesses

You know the feeling. The deadline is coming up and you need to create a beautiful new email marketing campaign. Your computer screen stares at you, waiting for that first click or keystroke. Face it: you have writer’s block. Or, perhaps worse still, a full creative brain freeze. Where to begin? What should your email look like and what should you say?
Have no fear! While we may not be able to tell you exactly what to write, we have an arsenal of creative subject lines suggestions and email templates to help you get started.

Types of email templates

When beginning your email campaign, you likely already have a goal in mind. Whether you’re just getting started with a “we’re open!” announcement, sending a seasonal promotion, or following up with customers, VerticalResponse has email templates customized for every campaign. Let’s take a look at six of the most popular templates on VerticalResponse.

Announcement

Any small business can make an announcement: new hours, new locations, holiday greetings, or seasonal changes, to name a few. Our Announcement template puts your brand (and logo) front and center, and catches attention with a bold placement for your news. Customize colors to match your logo, image, or the occasion.



Announcement Tip: No announcement is too big or too small to celebrate with your customers. They’ll appreciate the outreach.

Coupons

With 65 percent of people opening emails on mobile devices in 2016, cutting coupons is becoming a practice of the past. Instead, send your customers digital coupons via mobile so they can have them handy wherever they go. Customize our Coupon email template with dollars off, discount percentages, expiration dates, or date ranges.



Coupon Tip: Don’t forget to include handy social sharing buttons to help your customers share the deal with their networks – word-of-mouth is still a great way to grow your customer list.

Invite

Are you hosting an event soon? Don’t forget to send an invite! Businesses of all industries and specialties can put on noteworthy events. Whether you’re having a special after-hours cocktail event, hosting a book signing, demoing a new product, or presenting a panel of experts, our Invite template makes it easy to send invitations to your VIP customers or to a larger audience.



Invite Tip: Make sure you include the “when, where, and why” in your invitation, and remind folks to RSVP if space is limited.

Newsletter

Perhaps the most popular type of email to send, a good newsletter template is as versatile as it is classic. You can pick and choose your content blocks in our template editor, adding as many sections as needed. Once you have a layout you love, replicate it for all your future newsletters, plugging in new images and copy as needed.



Newsletter Tip: Because newsletters are typically sent at a regular cadence, be sure to give your newsletter a recognizable name so your customers can look out for it and know to open it.

Products

New product or feature releases aren’t exclusive to technology companies. If you’ve produced a new line of jams, started offering summer landscaping services, or are now selling a special brand of cosmetics, your customers want to know about it. Showcase your new releases with the Product email template, and drum up excitement (and sales) for your business.



Product Tip: If you have your email list segmented into customer types – like VIP and regular, for example – you may consider sending “early access” product emails, or “sneak peek” subject lines to add hype and drive awareness.

Promotion

Promotion emails are so popular Gmail even has a separate tab in your inbox for them. How can you make yours catch your readers’ eyes? Our Promotion template showcases one standout deal. Are you launching a one-time discount, or sending a last-minute free-shipping promo right before a holiday? Grab attention front and center with a big, bold special.




Promotion Tip: Consider changing the color of your call to action (CTA) button so it stands out and encourages customers to click.

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