Category Archives: Email Marketing
Research Unveils Best Time to Tweet, Blog, Email and Update Facebook
by Ashley Webb on April 12, 2011 | no comments
in Blogs, Email Marketing, Social Media
HubSpot recently hosted a webinar with Dan Zarrella, HubSpot’s Social Media Scientist, on the “The Science of Timing” where he shared findings from his more than two years of research on the best days and times for marketers to Tweet, blog, email and update Facebook.
Here are some of the most useful takeaways I gathered from the presentation:
Twitter and Facebook:
- Re-tweeting is at its highest between 2-5 p.m. EST. Tweet later in the day and later in the week for best results.
- Saturdays and Sundays are amongst the highest days for Twitter click-through rates.
- Don’t be afraid of tweeting too much. Tweet more!
- Weekends are the best time for sharing things on Facebook.
- Facebook pages that post every other day perform better.
- There is little difference between the B2B and B2C consumer when it comes to social media timing communications.
Email:
- Emails sent on the weekend have higher open rates AND higher bounce rates because people have time to pay more attention to email.
- Send more emails. A higher frequency of emails sent doesn’t correlate with a higher rate of unsubscribers.
- Your newest subscribers have a higher click-through rate.
Blogs:
- Men tend to read blogs at night more often than women.
- Blog post views are highest on Mondays.
- Blogs posted on the weekend tend to have more comments.
- Links to blog posts are higher between 6-7 a.m. EST on Mondays and Thursdays.
While there is some very actionable data presented in Zarrella’s research, it’s important to remember that every industry is different, which is why it’s imperative that you know your audience and experiment with different times and days of the week.
Make Data the Foundation of Your Next Email Marketing Plan
by Ashley Webb on December 9, 2010 | no comments
in Email Marketing, Marketing, Measurement
The concept of collecting data isn’t new. Using it is.
Marketers inherently know that data should fuel marketing plans and overall business decisions. Thus, collecting data from customers has never been a problem, but, achieving visibility and usability with that data has not always been possible.
Today, interactive companies like, Emma, Mail Chimp and Blue Sky make it easy to collect data and analyze your campaign results. But you shouldn’t stop there. Implementing the following tactics will help you easily utilize the customer/subscriber information you’ve compiled.
Assess your data
Making a change to the way you currently use data starts with an assessment. What data do you have access to? Where is it coming from? Understand what tools you have to work with before you take action.
Implement a program
Decide how you’re going to use your data. What do you want to accomplish? How often will you revisit your data? Taking action starts with specific goals.
Measure often
After you’ve begun using your data, don’t forget to measure your program’s effectiveness. Measure often, adjust often, and test, test, test. What’s “moving the needle?” What’s impacting your bottom line? If you’ve sent a communication to subscribers that doesn’t seem to be impacting your business, discontinue it and try something new.
Investigate
Use your data to work backwards. Track how many of your customers are clicking through to content, browsing online, making purchases, etc. By understanding what information is driving your click-through rates, you can find out what it is your subscribers are clicking through to. From that point, drive conversions using that content.
The most sophisticated messages in the world won’t resonate with your customers if you don’t understand their preferences and behaviors. When your interactive marketing campaign is built on data – instead of using it as a simple afterthought – programs are more effective, more targeted, and more successful.
How are you using data to improve your interactive marketing campaigns?
Turning a Loss Leader into a Repeat Customer
by Paula Lovell on October 14, 2010 | 5 comments
in Advertising, Email Marketing, Organizational Behavior
Hint: Don’t Gripe to the Customer About the Discount You Offer
I am a big fan of Groupons, the email coupon offers delivered to my inbox every day. I’ve purchased several over the last year and have visited a few new restaurants, shops and spas as a result.
While I have had a few great experiences, I’ve also been absolutely mystified by some of the businesses I’ve visited to redeem a Groupon I’ve purchased.
More than half the time, when I present the Groupon, the salesperson (and even the business owner!) rolls her eyes and starts complaining about the Groupon. I can’t believe that, instead of asking me if it’s my first visit to the store or just engaging in a friendly conversation with a customer, they whine to me about how much money they are losing on Groupons and how they can’t wait till the expiration date rolls around. It’s very awkward.
Somehow, I’m made to feel like I’m taking advantage of someone. Never mind the fact that I paid good money for the Groupon; never mind that the business entered into the coupon arrangement with full knowledge of the discount they were offering, I’ve gotten to where I’ve started to apologize for buying anything with it.
Instead of thanking me for shopping with them and trying to establish a relationship, it’s clear they can’t wait to get me out the door. It strikes me as such a loss. They’ve essentially “paid” to get me in there, and now they appear to resent the fact that I had the nerve to actually use the discount they offered.
I think Groupons are a great way for a business to promote its products and services for a relatively low marketing investment. Unless the proprietor is completely incompetent at pricing, businesses have to be making at least a small profit. And, even if they aren’t, they can use this successful bit of advertising to engage with the customer and let them know more about the services or products available.
Ask for my email addresses. Invite me back for a future sale. And how about this one: Say thank you for my purchase instead of huffing and sighing at the cash register.
I can name at least eight businesses where I will never again darken the door because of the way I was treated when using a Groupon. Did nobody ever teach these people anything about marketing – or customer service? A happy customer is a loyal and frequent customer. An unsatisfied customer tells ten people. Or, in my case, maybe a lot more.
Are you having this same experience with these Groupons?
Email Marketing: It’s All About the List
by Robin Embry on September 2, 2010 | no comments
in Corporate Communications, Email Marketing, Marketing
In our latest e-newsletter, Ashley discussed how to boost email marketing ROI and stressed the importance of not bombarding your readers’ inboxes with unnecessary messaging. This is so true…especially if you don’t have a quality list. Let’s face it, we’ve all huffed and puffed at emails that show up in our inbox uninvited.
Just this week we worked with one of our clients to straighten out an issue that was brought to our attention by our e-newsletter provider. They received a message from someone off our client’s email distribution list who was slightly disgruntled about receiving unwanted e-blasts.
We typically provide ideas on how to populate quality lists but the list in question was gathered using established methods created by the client, so we immediately worked together to determine how this happened to ensure it didn’t happen again.
During our research we discovered if you ask yourself the following two questions, you will increase your chances of maintaining a quality list.
1. How old is your email list?
I realize an email list grows over time which is why it’s good practice to date stamp all new sign ups/opt ins, etc. in your spreadsheet so you can keep up with how long people have been on your list. If it’s been more than 18 months, consider sending a message that asks if they want to continue receiving your emails.
2. What is the time between consent and first communication?
If someone agrees to accept your information/emails, you can’t expect them to remember you a year later. You should try to respond to that person immediately, but if that’s not possible try to send something within 6-8 weeks.
In addition to the questions above, I also recommend you become familiar with the CAN-SPAM act that provides businesses with a list of “can and can’t dos” in email marketing.
