Vox Fortis Communications

I have come to a realization recently about my career path that has started living and breathing on this blog. (Ok, I know it hasn’t been breathing much lately…I told you to give me some time.)

Since I went freelance last year, the bulk of my work has been in SEO. How this happened, I’m not entirely sure, given that I was originally a web copywriter and project manager type. Don’t get me wrong, I have an extensive background in online marketing, but it wasn’t really what people were hiring me for…however, it’s served a unique purpose it seems, in SEO.

Looking back on some of my entries, it might sound like this is the end-all be-all of what I believe online marketing should be. Believe me, it’s certainly not. As good as I’ve gotten with SEO, I find myself missing the other avenues of online marketing that I used to do daily when I worked for bigger companies. From time to time, I encounter companies that are pursuing these other mysterious worlds on their own: email marketing, blogging, social networking. The list is practically endless.

And also, from time to time, they mention in passing they’re trying one out now, or that they tried one in the past and it didn’t work at all.

That said, because I’m getting tired of writing about SEO in here, let’s examine some other avenues. Today’s topic? Email marketing.

It’s just spam. No one uses email marketing effectively.

Boy, it would be nice to have some form of monetary something-or-another every time I heard that.

Let me assure you, email marketing DOES work…but like any form of marketing it has to be done effectively. A lot of the clients I’ve heard this from will drop ten times as much on a direct mail campaign as they will on an email one because they have a preconceived notion that it’s physical and somehow more effective.

While you can certainly track many forms of direct mail success, one of email’s strengths (like any online marketing vehicle) is that you can measure e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. It’s also its downfall, because people will try and send one or two, and get frustrated and give up when they don’t get the open rate they want, the website traffic they want, or the number of sign-ups they thought they’d have in a few weeks. (It’s also worth noting that just because a medium is less measurable, it doesn’t mean it’s less effective)

So what’s the deal with email? Why do companies invest millions in the people, the technology and the patience? Let’s review the basics to a strong email program:

Don’t expect what email marketing won’t give.

Email marketing is primarily a retention tool. So many companies get frustrated when they spend thousands on an email list, send a generic blast and get bupkis in return. Guess what? Those people might have unknowingly missed the little checkbox on whoever’s site they signed on for that said, “Yes, I want to hear third party offers” or something of the kind. They don’t want to hear from you. (I’m sorry, I know that kinda sucks to hear.)

Approach email as your friendly salesperson if you had a storefront. (Maybe you do. And if your store people suck, now’s your chance to raise the bar!) Reach out to the people that have purchased, let THEM invite others to hear what you have to say…which obviously means, you better make it good.

No one opens my emails.

What do you see when an email pops into your inbox? Two things, usually: a “from” field and a subject line. If your subject line is the same everytime, or has zero compelling copy in it, I wouldn’t open it, either. Take a step back from your email and look at it later. What’s the most compelling thing in it? 80% off your entire stock? 10 secrets to withdrawing from the Satan-creator of Starbucks’ addictive recipes? Think like a consumer. What would make them care enough to doubleclick on YOUR email?

Test it. One of the most frequent tests done in email marketing is subject line testing. Split your audience in half, send the same creative version of the email but with two different subject lines. Your consumers will tell you what they care about if you take the time to gather some data.

No one clicks on my emails.

Um, ok. I know this is going to sound really lame and obvious, but I have to ask it: are you giving them something to click through on? If you’re trying to drive traffic to your recipe website, don’t fill your email full of recipes. If you give me everything in the email I need, I have zero reason to click through. Use it as a marketing vehicle for your site. Give teasers for the dishes that have recently appeared on your site with photos. Give the START of a recipe with a link to click on to see the rest.

People want a reason to come to your site, you just have to give it to them.

I’m not acquiring emails on my site.

I have to start by saying that if your traffic stinks, then don’t worry about the rate at which you’re acquiring (or not, acquiring, apparently) email addresses. Remember, we’re approaching email as a retention tool….there have to be visitors there to retain! But let’s pretend you’re pretty happy with your website’s traffic, in general. Why aren’t they signing up?

First, where is your email capture field? Is it below the fold? Check click overlay patterns on your site and see where people are going the most and position the field there.

Second, do they understand what they’re getting? You can’t just have a capture field in there with generic text about “sign up to receive updates.” I don’t know what that means, and if I don’t know what it is, I don’t want it coming to my inbox.

This sounds basic.

Sure it does smartypants, but you’d be shocked how many people get really upset and give up after a month. That’s not to say that these simple things would solve everything for them, but in over half the cases I’ve seen fixing just some of these issues result in a dramatic difference. And you know what? I worked in a huge dot com, pushing millions of dollars through the email channel, and really….it all came back to basics. Yes, we had some pretty flashy resources and technology at our disposal, but we were held to the same metrics that any small business owner would be: open rate, clickthrough rate, and conversion rate.

Millionaire corporation or not, they’re still your customers - how are you talking to them?