Josh Nason, one of our good friends at SendLabs (check these guys out) recently wrote a post about inbox exhaustion. Josh defined inbox exhaustion as "you send to your list way too much, wearing them out and causing them to unsubscribe or worse, file a spam complaint." If you haven't read their post, check it out!
Why is this whole concept of inbox exhaustion important to understand? One word: TRUST. Especially if you're a small business. These days, people expect to get bombarded by the big box stores with deals and offers. Most customers don't have a personal relationship with these businesses. They (customers) just want the next great discount from a place like Kohl's.
Small businesses, on the other hand, work very hard on a daily basis to build relationships with their customers to gain trust. Once you have a customer's trust, you work even harder to maintain that trust. You nurture that trust like you would nurture your own child. So avoiding inbox exhaustion in your small business email marketing strategy is all about nurturing your subscribers' trust to continue winning their business.
So, how can you tell if you're creating inbox exhaustion? And, more importantly, how can you mount a coordinated effort to stop it? Josh touched on these, but we want to drill them home. Here are 3 signs you've created inbox exhaustion and 3 strategies to combat this "disease".
3 Signs You've Created Inbox Exhaustion
- Steep decline in open rates - Many email marketers would argue that open rates are not a good KPI (key performance indicator) by which to measure email marketing success. Quite the contrary, especially when you're trying to determine if you've created inbox exhaustion. Keep a vigilant watch over your open rates for each campaign you send. If you've built your email marketing list organically (signup box at checkout, website signup, etc.), then it's reasonable, based on our experience working with clients, to expect to see open rates that exceed the "industry standard" of 15-20%. If you notice a steep decline in open rates across 2-3 email campaigns, that should be an immediate red flag that you've started to create inbox exhaustion.
- Steep increase in unsubscribe rates - This is as obvious as the nose on your face. If your subscribers are opting out faster than a cat runs away from water, you need to immediately stop sending campaigns on the "schedule" you've developed.
- Steep increase in spam complaints - Spam complaints are death in email marketing. The more spam complaints you get from subscribers, the quicker you will end up on the ISP (internet service provider) Black List. Once you've hit this list, you have a bigger fight on your hands than you can handle. You'll need to work with your ESP (email software provider) to work with the ISPs to get off the list. But, you can avoid this "near-death sentence" if you exercise good judgment from the start of your email communication efforts.
Ok, now you've identified inbox exhaustion in your email marketing strategy. Now, what can you do to start combating this disease? Here are 3 strategies you can deploy stat.
3 Email Marketing Strategies to Combat Inbox Exhaustion
- Focus on rebuilding your list - As people start to unsubscribe, you start seeing your database decrease in size. You're reaching less people with your email messages. All hands on deck. You need to develop a list building strategy to acquire new subscribers who are interested in your business/products/services. Check out our blog post for 3 easy tips to start collecting email addresses.
- Less IS more - First, stop sending email campaigns for a month. It's crazy, and some would argue it's a waste of time. Use the down time to regroup and create a schedule of when you're going to send your campaigns. We would recommend no more than 2 emails per month, one at the beginning and one at the end of the month.
- Shock & Awe - Finally, do something that will get your unengaged subscribers' attention. We recently did something like this with a client and provided the details of the effort in a blog post. Check it out. Don't be afraid to give something away. Something big. Remember, you're trying to get someone's attention that is ignoring you and immediately deleting every single email campaign you send. Start with the subject line and work from there.
What other signs have you experienced that you're creating inbox exhaustion? What other ideas do you have for combating this dreaded disease in the email channel? We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!
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Few movie scenes tickle my fancy quite like the legendary scene from Good Will Hunting that spawned the phrase "how you like them apples." For those of you not familiar with the scene, give it a quick watch! It's only 40 seconds.
Good Will Hunting first hit the big screen in 1997, and even after 13 years of technological evolution, businesses across the country are still struggling to ask the "pretty girl" for her number.
Ok, so times have changed and in 2010 no one would write a girl's number on a bar napkin unless their smart phone was on the fritz. Today it isn't a phone number that businesses want from the "pretty girl," it's their email address. According to a 2009 study, "View from the Inbox", conducted by Merkle, Inc., email is the #1 preferred method of communication from companies among people ages 18-65. And to be honest, it's not even close! Here are the numbers to prove it!
Unfortunately for business owners, customers have been bombarded by countless organizations trying to push their message through to their inbox involuntarily. This has made people extremely hesitant to hand their email address over to just anyone.
Much like when you were dating, it is easy to strike-up a conversation with a potential companion, the problem lies in knowing how to ask for the crucial contact information. You want to be sure he/she knows you're interested, but you don't want to be the "Stage 4 Clinger" who thought dinner and drinks would lead to a trip down the aisle.
If getting email addresses is as complicated as post-pubescent dating, how can businesses effectively obtain customer email addresses? The answer is simple; ask politely, but don't be pushy. Don't be the guy or girl who calls with nothing to say, be the company who uses customer emails to provide an engaged audience with valuable information. Don't use shady antics to trick your customers into opening an email for a false promotion.
Over 83% of North American email users view false promotional items just as invasive as spam. (Source: Epsilon Global Consumer Email Study) Once you have lost the trust of your audience, whether it is a pretty girl or a list of current customers, regaining that trust is an almost impossible task; and with a single email address being estimated at a $47 value, you can't afford to break customer trust.
When trying to grow your email marketing list, stick to the basics. The more customers feel a personal connection to your brand the more likely they are to give you their email address. You wouldn't walk up to the most beautiful person at the bar and ask for their number right out of the gate, don't do the same thing with email addresses. If you want the pretty girl to give you her number, you have to prove your worth. The same thing can be said for customer email addresses.
The next time you or your organization think about asking for a customer's email address for your small business email marketing, think about Good Will Hunting. Think about how Damon did it. Prove your worth, be polite instead of pushy, and the emails will come to you. Then you can ask the competition; "how you like them apples?"
We work with a variety of clients and provide a big portion of them with email marketing services. One of our clients, a city government in North Central Ohio, has been working with us to send weekly email newsletters to citizens and business owners during the city's Downtown Revitalization Project. The newsletters are designed to keep subscribers informed about the progress of the project.
The most recent email newsletter included information about some damage that was caused to a certain portion of the project, along with a request from the city's Mayor & Service-Safety Director asking citizens to respect the barricades and not enter the work area. A side note about the city's newsletter statistics. They've seen a pretty strong open rate, as we expected, because of the nature of their newsletters and the information they provide.
Here's where it gets interesting. The local newspaper, who's reporters are subscribed to receive the city's newsletters, ran a story with the headline "Damage prompts plea from mayor". In the article, the report not only mentions where the information for the story was found, he also quotes verbatim the content that is in the body of newsletter. The reporter used the email newsletter and its content to create a story for a traditional media outlet.
Moral of the story. Email marketing and email newsletters can be a great tool for customer retention, lead generation AND public relations. If your email newsletter content includes news about your business or your employees, send a personal email (from your email address) to reporters and invite them to signup for your email newsletter campaign. You never know when a story from your newsletter might show up as a front page headline in the next edition of your hometown newspaper!
Now, go forth and email!
Statistics abound when discussing the impact of social media on websites and blogs. The whole premise of inbound marketing is to use social media to drive an increase in visitors to the great content you've created on your website. While inbound marketing methodology is obviously more complex and more involved than the very brief synopsis above, it stands to reason that the impact of social sharing on email marketing could be monumental, especially for small businesses that implement an inbound marketing strategy.
According to the "2010 Email Marketing Trends Survey" from GetResponse, only one of every 4 marketers (25%) was placing links to email campaigns and newsletters on social media pages, or including a "share" option in their online communications. Conversely, 90% of respondents in the same study said they planned to integrate social media into their email campaigns. 2010 is almost half over. There's a big gap between 25% actually implementing some aspect of social media in their email marketing, and 90% just making plans. What in the world are you waiting for? An invitation?
Well, consider this your invitation for 3 simple reasons.
- Social media/networking is growing. Facebook, despite their recent privacy mishaps, has breached the 400 million user threshold. According to comScore, Twitter had 75,000,000 unique visits in January 2010 alone, an increase of 1,105%. LinkedIn currently boasts a community of over 65 million professionals. Why would you not want to give your subscribers an opportunity to share your email with these networks?
- An opportunity to increase sales. Here's a scenario. Sally just received your email and is super excited about the big sale next week at your store. She has 500 friends on Facebook and 300 followers on Twitter. Sally decides she is going to share your email with her social network because she knows her friends & followers like the kind of products your business sells. Sally's social network of 800 people represents 800 potential customers for your business. Why would you not want Sally to share your email with her networks?
- An opportunity for list building. In the last scenario, Sally just shared your email with the 800 people in her social networks. Let's say, conservatively, that only 5% of her friends and followers share her interest in the products you sell. Offer a special discount, or other incentive, to viewers who are seeing the shared version of your email to get them to sign up for emails from your business. If 40 people sign up for your emails, that's a 5% increase in your email marketing list. Now, you'll say, "It's only 5%". Look at it this way. That's 40 new people in your email list. 40 new potential customers. And all you had to do was implement a social sharing feature in your email. Why would you not want to implement social sharing in your emails?
If you need more than 3 reasons to start implementing social sharing in your email marketing, you might need to rethink your overall marketing strategy. When implemented with a purpose, social sharing can have a tremendous impact on your email marketing efforts and your business.
Oh, and if you don't know how to implement social sharing in your current email marketing software, contact us and we'll show you how easy it is to implement with our software. Plus, we might just give you a few more ideas to make social sharing more impactful in your email marketing efforts!
Now, go forth and email social!
Image courtesy of SendLabs
In case you've missed it, people are sharing content like CRAZY on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media platforms. Facebook recently introduced the "Like" button for websites. Since its introduction, the "Like" button has appeared on over 100,000 websites. Facebook is pushing 500 million worldwide users, and, while they don't release user statistics, Twitter growth rate is just as strong.
Many of the email software providers (Constant Contact, Exact Target, etc.) have introduced social sharing in their platforms. While it's good that they've added the feature, it could be better. Well, better is here. Add SendLabs to the list. And they've built a better mousetrap!
As a SendLabs email marketing agency partner, we're excited to have this new feature in our arsenal for current and prospective clients.
So, the question is: "What are the implications of Social Sharing for Email Marketing?" Simply stated, it gives your subscribers the ability to share your email with people in their social networks. Thus, giving your email the opportunity to be viewed by more eyeballs than just those in your database. Think about it. One of your subscribers is on Facebook and has 500 friends. This subscriber shares your email with her Facebook Friends, and you now have the opportunity for 500 more people to not only see your email, but potentially sign up to receive your emails to their inbox.
This new world in email marketing also presents new challenges. Is your content compelling enough that at least one subscriber will share it? Is your email optimized to allow those viewing the shared version to sign up? Are you using compelling calls-to-action to drive shared viewers to a landing page on your website? These are all topics we're going to cover in future blog posts.
For now, revel in the simplicity of SendLabs' new Social Sharing feature. Simple, and highly effective because it gives subscribers the ability to share it on the most widely used social media platforms.
One of the most common things we hear from many small businesses, especially those in small towns & rural areas, is that they're hesitant to start using email to communicate and market because they don't have email addresses. That's a pretty strong reason to not pull the trigger and start using email marketing for a small business. Don't let that stop you.
One of our earliest clients, a small Amish furniture retailer in North Central Ohio, was in that exact boat. We first talked to the owner about the immense benefits of email marketing. Targeted, direct, trackable. You know the benefits. But, one of the biggest challenges for this business was that they hadn't been collecting customer email addresses since they opened the doors. Did that stop them from starting 2 years ago? Nope. The owner, and his staff, followed 3 simple steps that we gave them and started collecting email addresses in droves! The 3 steps were:
- Setup a collection box with signup sheets NEXT to the register - one part of our email marketing services that are very valuable, especially for a small business that doesn't have a website (what are you waiting for???), is that we provide a hard plastic drop box and 1,000 signup sheets for in store promotion. You don't even need a fancy drop box. Go to the pet store and buy a fish bowl. Make a sign to put on the front of it to tell people why a fish bowl is sitting in your store. While you're making the sign, make a signup sheet that people can fill out with their first name, last name and email address. That's all the information you need to start using email marketing for your small business.
- Get the ENTIRE staff on board - this is probably the most critical element for success in email marketing, especially for a small business. Every member of your staff needs to understand that it is THEIR responsibility to help the business grow its email marketing database. Here's an idea on us. Make a contest out of getting people signed up to receive emails. Give your staff a chance to compete for something everyone wants. An extra day off, the newest tech gadget, free cash. It doesn't matter, just let your staff's interest dictate what the prize will be.
- ASK EVERY person that walks through the door to signup - every single person that walks through your front door is either a current customer or a prospective customer, and every single one of them should sign up to receive emails from your business. Every staff member, including you as the owner, should be asking almost every person that walks in to sign up for your email campaigns. Here's another piece of free advice. Develop a promotion that gives people something free just for signing up for emails from you. However, make sure it's something from your business. Give away a $50 gift certificate. Hesitant to give away free stuff, here's a pretty compelling statistic. According to Stan Rapp, founder of Rapp Collins, the value of a SINGLE opt-in email address is estimated at $118. Enough said.
So, how is our Amish furniture client faring today? In the 2 years we've been working with them, they've grown their database to 399 subscribers. From ZERO when we started. Now, take the 399 subscribers and multiply that by $118. The estimated value of this client's email list is almost $41,000. Not too shabby!
They're open rates are very strong (nearly 30% for every campaign). Oh, and by the way, they haven't even started venturing into the social media world yet. Imagine what they could do with Twitter, Facebook, a website and a blog!
Conventional wisdom in email marketing dictates that you never want subscribers to opt-out of your email campaign. Pretty sound advice, especially considering that your goal with email marketing is to engage subscribers to take an action. Buy a product from your online store, complete a form to get more targeted information about your service. The list can go on forever.
But, what about those subscribers that haven't opened an email since you started your campaign? You're probably like most and just ignore them. We don't blame you. These subscribers aren't helping to further your cause. But, we recently challenged conventional wisdom and traditional thinking about unengaged subscribers.
One of our full-service email marketing clients, a family entertainment center in Ohio, is pretty progressive in their marketing efforts for their geographic location. They utilize email marketing (of course), a blog, a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter and a pretty stellar website. They are certainly ahead of the game.
The Challenge
This particular client has over 1800 subscribers in their database. Their open statistics have been lagging below the industry standard of 15-20%. We found that their unopened rates were running above 84% on every campaign we sent for them. The client expressed that they wanted to find a way to engage the disengaged.
The Solution
Last month, we recommended a campaign that was unconventional to say the least. The idea was pretty simple.
1. Target subscribers that haven't opened an email since the inception of the program
2. Offer them a chance to win a prize just for opening the email
3. Use the subject line "Unsubscribe Today"
The first two points are really "no-brainers". Target a segment of your list, and make them an offer they can't refuse. The third point is where conventional wisdom goes right out the door. Or does it? The most important part of any email campaign is the subject line. It's the first thing subscribers read to decide if they're going to open your email. If the subject line isn't compelling or doesn't grab the recipient's attention, your great content-filled email is worthless. "Unsubscribe Today" may not be the most compelling subject line, but it was, at the very least, attention grabbing.
The Result
The overall result of the campaign was what we expected for a couple reasons. First, we knew their data was old. They had been sending emails for about a year prior to our involvement, and we saw the statistics from their prior endeavors. Their open rates had been trending lower for the better part of six months, so we didn't set a high expectation for success. Second, we knew their email marketing habits, prior to our involvement, were scattered at best. Prior to engaging us, the client had been deploying email campaigns just to send an email. There was no rhyme or reason for sending the email prior to our involvement.
Of the 1300 emails sent, 11% were opened. Not a great open rate by any means. But, that 11% represents a group of subscribers that hadn't previously engaged with the client's email marketing efforts. What was more revealing, and more important, was the unsubscribe rate. Only 14% of the subscribers that opened the email actually unsubscribed. We expected this number to be much higher given the subject line of the email. We were pleased to say the least. But, you probably think that's an unacceptable rate. But, that's about 20 people who opened an email that hadn't previously opened an email. At the very least, they opened the email, read it, and decided they didn't want to get emails from the client.
Take Home
Don't be afraid to break conventional wisdom to engage the disengaged. At the very least, you can scrub your database and find out who really reads and engages with your emails. After all, the more subscribers who engage with your email, the more money you should make! Right?
We get it, the world is changing and nobody likes change. However, when you or your business stand in defiance of all the technological advances used in 2010, take this into consideration.
The first text message was sent in December of 1992, when a 22 year-old engineer named Neil Papworth used his personal computer to send the words "Merry Christmas" to the phone of Richard Jarvis. The message was sent via a single network provided by Vodafone. Fast forward 16 years later. With the most pioneering move in political history, presidential candidate Barack Obama first announced his vice-presidential candidate via text message to over 2.9 million people.
Similar stories of progress have been seen with the integration of new technology into almost every aspect of everyday life. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than with the explosion of the internet. In the United States alone, there are over 3,500 different internet service providers providing internet service to over 227 MILLION people across the country. That's over 74% of the US population!
According to a study published by The Nielsen Company (http://bit.ly/diUcmy) 1 in 2 Americans will have a smartphone by Christmas 2011.
What do all these numbers mean? They mean that as technology and trends change, so should your marketing efforts, regardless of your geographic location and marketing budget. We are not suggesting that you do a complete overhaul of your marketing efforts. However, we are suggesting that you stay abreast of the latest trends in small business internet marketing.
A recent survey (http://bit.ly/dzjUHv) conducted by Constant Contact has uncovered some staggering numbers that no business, big or small, can afford to ignore. The survey was conducted with the cooperation of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the Service Corps of Retired Executives and the Association of Small Business Development Centers.
Here is the "down n' dirty" if you will.
When asked the question "How important to your business is each of the following methods in finding new customers," here are their responses. (Pay particular attention to the email marketing and website rows)
In case you missed the most important stats on the chart, here they are.
-The most important marketing tool to small businesses is word of mouth with a 98% positive report.
-The most utilized channels to stimulate word of mouth are email marketing at 89%, and a company website at 93%
In another recent study conducted by The Nielsen Company, (http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/us-smartphone-growth.png) research showed that smartphones are poised to out-number feature phones by Christmas 2011.
So what does this mean to you and your business?
It's quite simple. While we understand you might have personal connections to the director of sales at your local radio station, but the time is now to start looking to bring your marketing efforts into 2010. With 90% of businesses across the country taking their marketing efforts viral, small businesses have two choices to make.
Change your ways and move forward with the 90% of other businesses that are doing the same. Or, become those 10% of businesses watching their businesses fall apart at the seams.
Take emotion out of the decision, the numbers don't lie.
Bryan Mulvany is the Chief Communications Specialist at Rock Solid Media LLC. Follow him @bryanmulvany
One of the best metrics to determine the success of your email campaigns is click-through rates. Click-through rates mean that your subscribers are interested in the content you're providing, and, ultimately, that they're interested in your company. It's a way to measure engagement, which is vitally important to the success of small business email marketing. One relatively easy way to increase click-through rates in your email marketing efforts and drive traffic to your website is to incorporate video into your marketing mix.
So Easy a Kid Can Do It
Microsoft released Windows 7 last year, and one of their commercials features a child making a slideshow from all the phrases on her dad's PC with the number 7. Both PCs and Macs usually come pre-loaded with a basic video editing program. One quick and easy way to make a video for your next email campaign is to take pictures of your business. Load them onto your computer and then open the pre-loaded video editing program. Follow the simple instructions the program provides and create your video slideshow. These programs also allow you to place a music bed in your video. Be careful when selecting music. Your favorite song by Kenny Chesney probably isn't a good choice because his music is copyrighted by his record company. Here's one website where you can download music without paying a royalty.
Now The Easy Part
So, you've created your video slideshow complete with music. Now what? You need to upload your video to the web, and it's super easy with YouTube. Go to YouTube and create an account. Again, simple steps that anyone can accomplish. Follow YouTube's steps to upload the video. Once the video is uploaded and processed, you can grab the code to link to the video. Now, go back to the email that you want to use with the video. Create a link to your video on YouTube and prepare to watch your click-through rates go through the roof!
Client Success
Farmers Citizens Bank, a community bank in Ohio, started using video in their email campaigns in October 2009. Their click-through rates increased 273% from their August 2009 email (73 unique clicks) to the October 2009 email (199 unique clicks). The bank's email campaign unique click-through rates increased another 118% from October 2009 (199 unique clicks) to January 2010 (234 unique clicks). Get the picture? Here's the video used in the January 2010 email, which Rock Solid Media produced for Farmers Citizens Bank.
Now, go forth and email!