Archive for the ‘Email marketing’ Category

We got a shout-out!

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

From the California State Univeristy Northridge, Deaf Education And Families Project e-newsletter:

the Deaf Education And Families Project launches a new website!
The Deaf Education And Families Project launched a new website in June. The website, www.csun.edu/deafproject, was designed by Counterintuity. Rachel worked with Amy Kramer, President and “marketing whiz” of the company, to redesign the DEAF Project site. The goal was to create a warm, family-friendly, and useful site for families and professionals who are looking for resources and information related to deaf and hard of hearing children. Visit our website and let us know what you think!

Check out their website here (www.csun.edu/deafproject)!

Posted in Email marketing, News | 1 Comment »

Do ads enhance your life?

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Daily life consists of so many details that can be lumped into the category of “minutiae”.  All those little things you hardly notice but subconsciously take in.  More often than not, advertising falls into this category.  From television, to radio, internet banners, pop-ups, emails, billboards, and especially all of the social media we engage in – the average American is exposed to hundreds of commercial messages every day.  We all say we’d rather do without them.  Many people pay for services that remove them like XM Radio or Tivo.  But do we really hate them?

I personally think that people have a love affair with marketing.  Though, I’m aware my opinion might be slightly biased.  After reading this article, I realized that these messages reach far deeper than simply getting people to buy.  Even if you don’t notice it outright, you probably let media influence you in more ways than one.  Marketing can inform and entertain, break up your commute or just provide an endless amount of conversation.  Now it seems that commercialism may even help you like your favorite show better.

Some of it is good, a lot of it is mediocre, and (let’s face it) there are some downright ugly messages out there in the world of marketing.  When was the last time you laughed or cried at an ad? How about the last time you bought a product after seeing their media? Do you think those commercial breaks help you enjoy your favorite show more? Let us know what you think.

Posted in Culture, Email marketing, Marketing, Sales, Social Marketing, social media | No Comments »

It’s all in how it’s packaged

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

With the regular mail bills moving to e-bills, paper newsletters moving to e-newsletters, newspapers becoming an extinct news source, and receiving e-cards rather than regular cards, it seems that “new” marketing is all on the internet. WRONG.

I loved typing that just now, and here’s why: the other day I received this envelope.
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What could it be? And who from?? (Lee hypothesized a secret admirer.) I guess I had to open it to find out! Oh the suspense! Oh the glee! It was my very own…marketing material from Staples sales rep Jairo. (Hi Jairo!) Definitely surprised, Jairo’s personally written introduction card made a positive impression on me. Soon after, Jairo followed up with an e-mail and phone call requesting the foot in the door sales pitch meeting that all sales reps would love to have. Granted.

Surprisingly, the next day, I received this other letter:
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I received this letter soon after receiving a call in which I notified them that we were not in need of their services. Not only was our business name blatantly misspelled (Counter-Ntuity), but their generic mail merge document was horribly written with many grammatical errors (and poor wording choices).

Obviously, I’m thinking of switching to Staples now. Jairo is creative, smart, and has what it takes to get me to be a Staples customer. My reasoning? Staples is going to make my job easier by saving me money (covered in the sales meeting), saving me time (notice how he saved his own time), and providing creative solutions to any needs we may have (demonstrated by the personalized print card solution, other marketing materials, and general creativeness in using snail-mail).

Posted in Business Etiquette, Customer Service, Email marketing, Marketing, Sales, branding | No Comments »

Don’t shoot the medium

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

photo by Gideon Tsang

photo by Gideon Tsang

This week, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal called Entrepreneurs Question Value of Social Media. The article’s subtitle is, “Marketing via Facebook, Twitter Yields Results for Some, Others Say It’s Overrated; ‘Hype Right Now Exceeds the Reality’.”

I understand the point the article is trying to make — Where are the results? I was promised if I engage in social media, I’ll be successful. Where’s my pot of gold?

Marketing and advertising are the means to gain awareness of you, your brand or your product. Yes, opinions are made on marketing alone but it’s highly unlikely that just marketing and advertising close sales. That’s the job of your website, sales people, store, phone reps, sales process.

You can have an incredible campaign (social media or otherwise) that drives traffic and grows awareness but if you can’t seal the deal, you’re out of business. If you’re using social media or email marketing get traffic from them, be sure to measure your results. What percentage of visitors are converting into customers?

What can you do to increase this rate? Look closely at your product, sales process, website, follow through. What can be improved? How do you share your benefit and value? Could your website landing page use some optimization? Does your online form look unwieldy? Are leads getting followed up on quickly enough.

If your traffic is growing but your sales aren’t, don’t shoot the marketing medium. Look in the mirror and see how you can take advantage of your traffic win.

How are you taking advantage of your social media marketing?

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Posted in Email marketing, Marketing, Sales, Social Marketing, branding, social media | No Comments »

How to use Social Media during a rain storm

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

It’s raining in Southern California! Really raining. Overheard, “10 inches in 5 days!” I just signed up to be on the e-mail list of the City of Sierra Madre the other day. Generally, Sierra Madre doesn’t have much news going on, so I didn’t think I’d receive anything of notice or much interest– or if I did, it would be infrequent at most.

This morning I received 2 e-mails. One alerting me that the Farmer’s Market would be closed. And the second alerting me that the Upper and Lower Sierra Madre Canyons would be evacuated. I’m not sure if that pertains to us, so I checked the link to the blog. Yes, the City of Sierra Madre has a blog!

More and more cities (remember La Canada, their use of Facebook, and the fires?) are using social media as a way of reaching the community. In our Social Media Seminar, Lee talks about how the “Big Campfires” are disappearing and new/smaller ones are appearing. This is a prime example– If I hadn’t signed up for the e-mail list, then I wouldn’t have found the blog or the evacuation plan.

(My other idea for this post was to tell you Social Media-ists about mashable.com, an informational website with lots of articles concerning Social Media and everything surrounding it. Enjoy!)

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Posted in Email marketing, News, social media | No Comments »

Click-through breakthrough

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

When I left you last decade, I was talking about the purpose of an email blast…

An email blast’s purpose is NOT to sell. Counterintuitive, I know. Email attention span is too short. The goal of an email is to get the reader to click-through to your website.

Emails need to be as quick paced as today’s world. It would be fabulous if the reader wanted to act from just the email but that’s too much pressure on a poor, little, albeit well-designed email. The average email reader spends a second or two before clicking or hitting delete.

Your email blast needs to be the aroma of the tasty treat that awaits on your website. The click-through should go to a dedicated page on your website (called a landing page) where the reader can learn, read, sign up, listen, watch, play, buy.

How do you get the click-through? Keeping with the metaphor – you need to whet their appetite. Share enough to intrigue, make them want to bite (too far yet?). Your email should contain photos or images – something to grab the viewer’s attention.

Most importantly, you need a punchy call to action to get the click.

click here might work.

Click & Save $200 will probably work better.

Anyone can send out an email. The majority get deleted. Your email blast must engage and excite to stand out in an overcrowded inbox. Take the time to develop a dynamic message and call to action. Your effort will pay off.

Extra tip: Have your call to action multiple times. Avoid the temptation to only have it at the end of the email. Also, have the call as text links and image links, this overcomes the hurdle of images being turned off in an email client.

Posted in Email marketing, Marketing, Sales | 1 Comment »