http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog The Source, featuring Daily Videos on SEO, PPC, Conversion and E-Mail Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:52:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-christmas-is-over-now-what.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-christmas-is-over-now-what.html#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:25:16 +0000 Tim G http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4495
But there are nine other great months to engage subscribers, strengthen customer relationships, and accumulate sales.

So how can you make the most out of the entire year? Here are three easy-to-use tips.

One way to keep your emails relevant and timely is to tie your campaign in with holidays throughout the year.

The mention of holidays in your subject line (or offering a coupon code in light of a holiday) will not only produce interest from readers, but it also helps maintain a festive vibe which encourages readers to open and read an email.

Some obvious examples of great holidays for email are Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and July 4.

So what‘s a holiday? A holiday is a date that somebody (or group of people) attached a significance to.

What is to prevent you from creating your own holiday, and promote it through email?

Creating your own holiday is especially relevant to lifestyle-driven companies. For example, if you own a bike shop; you can use email to promote a “Welcome Back, Spring Day” to draw customers at the beginning of April. Is this a real holiday? No? But is this relevant to people who ride bikes? Yes!

So the key is to find a thread of significance with your readers through particular times of year.

Relevance – closely tied with brand and product offerings

Leverage Holidays in Email Campaigns

• Who?
  You and your email subscribers
• When?
  Any time that makes sense for your marketing strategy
• Why?
  Continually find relevance with subscribers’ lives and interests

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]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-christmas-is-over-now-what.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-social-sharing-in-email.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-social-sharing-in-email.html#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:39:02 +0000 Kelly http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4459
51.9% of people who use social sharing in their emails only use one icon. 40% of those include two icons. Marketers see this as an improvement – but according to Econsultancy this number is still low when compared to incredibly high performance of newsletters that include social sharing icons.

Emails that include those buttons have a 115% higher click through rate than emails that do not include social icons. Econsultancy also reports that last June, offering at least 3 social options led to 55% higher CTR and an email with one offering had just a 30% higher CTR than an email without any sharing options.

Where should you place social sharing tags? You can really place them anywhere, but the most common place is at the top or bottom of your message.

So how do you add social sharing buttons to your emails? Each ESP is different. At Exclusive Concepts we use Bronto, and it is very easy to add Twitter and Facebook and Linkedin icons to our emails. You simply click on the icon you would like to add in the build bar in the editor. If you have a different ESP I’m sure it’s just as simple. ]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-social-sharing-in-email.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-know-your-list-before-you-grow-your-list.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-know-your-list-before-you-grow-your-list.html#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:51:31 +0000 Tim G http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4442
A lot of our clients are looking at how they can grow their email program in 2012. Most have put a concerted effort behind growing their subscriber list in the hopes of increasing market share, extending brand, and boosting competitive advantage.

But before you grow your list, I recommend that you know your list. Although a larger list may help you achieve your email goals, knowing your list on a deeper level may provide greater returns.

Growing a list may also be enticing because in many cases, it requires less brainwork than knowing the list. I assure you, that although it may seems easier to simply grow the list, your list becomes more of an asset when you take the time to know your list.

You may say, “This sounds great, Tim, but where do I start?” I will spend a couple minutes covering the three critical checkpoints to make sure that you know your list before you grow your list.

Some people don’t take the time to segment their lists. For many, it’s an area of mystery that is actually very simple to initiate.

Segmentation can be defined as dividing your entire subscriber pool, or part of subscribed population, according to a subscriber characteristic.

Why is segmentation important? It helps recognize your population as heterogeneous and does not assume that one size fits all.

The key to successful segmentation is to know which characteristic, or factor, offers the greatest utility. For instance, if customers 25-28 years of age form the bulk of your customer base, then segmenting according to age may make sense.

Areas of interest (products, purchase patterns)

Geography
Preference Center – simply put, a preference center is a landing page associated with an email message that allows subscribers to self-identify themselves according to predetermined characteristics. In this instance, the preference center allows a subscriber to not only enter in an email address and personal information, but it prompts the reader to select the fraternity or sorority that they are affiliated with.

Activity
Do you know what your list has been up to? In reality, are they opening your email messages? And if so, with what frequency?

Most email service providers track the specific subscribers who open a particular email campaign, or series of campaigns.

It’s good practice to periodically weed out subscribers who are less responsive to your email campaigns.

Unless you have a list of less than 10,000 subscribers, it’s good to clean out your list every year. Ultimately, you want to purge out the subscribers who are not opening your emails In addition to increasing your return on investment per email sent, you will also be able to help keep your deliverability standing relatively stable with major email platforms Many Email Service Providers allow you to collect the subscribers who have (or have not) opened the most recent X number of campaigns. This is a painless way to get those individuals who are dormant

Technology
Know the limitations of your technology as it pertains to list management. Is your email service provider allowing you to manage your list in a manner that you desire? Are you collecting data on your subscribers after the launch of every campaign? Good opportunity to review your desires and your technology Map out your list management strategy and reconcile that with your email program ]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-know-your-list-before-you-grow-your-list.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-how-small-e-commerce-stores-can-differentiate-themselves-from-superstores-through-email.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-how-small-e-commerce-stores-can-differentiate-themselves-from-superstores-through-email.html#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:43:04 +0000 Elizabeth http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4419
When savvy customers are shopping online for a specific item, they’re often going to choose the company that offers it at a lower price. So, how do smaller e-commerce stores survive in the world of the Amazons, Wal-Marts and Overstocks? One way is through differentiating themselves through email. Through this medium your small company can encourage customers to purchase from you by creating content that shows who’s boss.

• Relay to customers that you have a better stocked inventory. With a better employee to warehouse ratio, your employees will have a better sense of what products you have and how many you have left so you rarely have to disappoint customers. You shouldn’t put these exact words in an email, but by telling them that you’re a smaller store and keep items in stock, they will hopefully assume this on their own.
• Show that you have a lot more knowledge about the products you carry. Big box stores aren’t going to know much about their products, and aren’t going to be much help if customers have a specific question. However, if they purchase from an e-commerce store that specializes in what they sell, they will feel more comfortable trusting your emails and expertise that detail product information, email content and reviews you supply.
• Send out personalized emails and newsletters that give customers additional information on what they purchased. You can also use these emails to push add-ons and accessories. With a foothold on your company’s niche, you’ll hopefully be able to recommend the best brands, upgrades and more before the bigger stores do.
• Let customers know you have excellent customer service that will not only help you with your order, but can actually answer specific questions about what you are ordering. After all, who knows your products better than you?
• Start a customer loyalty program. While larger stores can offer low-cost shipping and higher discounts at the time of purchase, customers can accumulate purchase points by ordering from you. They can then trade in these for money off later purchases. And if you add social media into the mix, it gets even more advantageous for them. For example, you can give them points in exchange for a shout-out on Facebook or Twitter.

These are tips that you can apply to all areas of e-commerce with email being just one of the mediums you can use to reach customers. The way you word the content is important too. Since you’re trying to set yourself apart from larger stores with these emails, they need to be more personal and make customers feel more “exclusive,” while painting yourself as the humble expert.

Exclusive Concepts offers an excellent revenue-generating email marketing service that ensures your approach is making the most money possible.

To learn more about Exclusive Concepts and our excellent services including our Conversion Booster, SEO Foundation, and Profitable Pay Per Click, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We also want to open up the door to your feedback!

If you have any questions after watching this video, send an email to blog@ exclusive concepts.com. If we choose your feedback for a video we will email you to let you know when it goes live! Thank you, this has been Elizabeth for Exclusive Concepts Daily Concept: Email Thursday. Have a great week!]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-how-small-e-commerce-stores-can-differentiate-themselves-from-superstores-through-email.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-email-preference-center.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-email-preference-center.html#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:39:13 +0000 Jacqueline http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4402
First, let’s remind ourselves the importance of a preference center. People love being in control! A preference center gives your subscribers the keys to the car. They are able to determine the types of messages they want from you and how often they would like to receive them. Having these consumer preferences stored allows you as a marketer to deliver relevant messages overflowing with value!

There are four main ingredients that will bake your preference center to perfection! #1. Don’t require too much information upfront. The last thing you want to do is deter your subscriber from providing their valuable preferences. Kick- off the relationship with basic details like name and email address. Give them the feeling that they will have the opportunity to set optional detailed preferences at any point in time.

#2. Be clear and concise when describing your email program options. Make it as easy as possible for subscribes to understand the different types of value your e-mail program offers whether that be exclusive promotions or product sneak peeks. Take things further by briefly explaining how this data will benefit the subscriber. Consider including content examples of each message type, so the consumer can truly understand what they will receive.

Now, you don’t want to get too crazy with the frequency options you offer because it can prevent consumers from receiving behavioral based triggers that tend to generate solid results. BUT, in the event the consumer really isn’t interested in unsubscribing but would rather receive less e-mail, the option should be their. Consider offering a frequency option which allows consumers to only be e-mailed 1-2 times per week.

And lastly #4. Focus your attention on making your preference center incredibly easy to use. Be clear with options for subscription, how to modify subscriptions and how to unsubscribe from various categories of email messages.

So there you have it a magical preference center that puts your subscriber in the drivers seat which in turn will yield higher-quality results! ]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-email-preference-center.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-a-look-back-at-the-holiday-season.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-a-look-back-at-the-holiday-season.html#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:35:15 +0000 Kelly http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4390
All shoppers like promotions, but it was getting a little hard to keep track of all the different offers flying in to my inbox. Here are some stats that show that my Gmail wasn’t the only inbox being inundated.

• On average retailers sent each of their subscribers 5.6 promotional emails the week of December 11th, showing an increase of 8% over the prior week and 26% over that week in 2010. This number matched the all-time high frequency that was recorded in November and in early December after Thanksgiving.
• The week of December 23rd e- retailers sent an average of 5.7 promotional emails to their subscribers. Unlike last year, retailers were pushing promotions aggressively up until the holiday. This number grew 35% from last year.
• Cyber Monday was the busiest day for email promotions. 87% of retailers sent at least one promotional email to subscribers. The next three busiest days was Black Friday (81%), Thanksgiving (75%), and Green Monday (73%)

Emails weren’t the only thing that was up this year. The discounts included in the emails were on the rise as well. Here are some terms that saw year or year growth:

• 50% off saw the biggest YOY growth, with a 30% increase in use
• 10% and 20% off saw a YOY decrease of 6.5%
• You/your was in 18.7% of subject lines – a 3.4% YOY increase

Here are some of the top 25 words used in the email subject line this holiday season. Many of these won’t surprise you. They include: you, off, get, % off, new, free, save, ship, free shipping, only, now, today, holiday, gift, ends, order, and offer.

Conclusions – I read that the increase of emails may have been caused by a dip in sales from the huge gains in November. This makes sense. If you are up almost 26%, as the industry was on Black Friday, but you are not up year over year in December it may cause you to start pushing your promotions to your database more frequently to encourage shoppers to buy. However, these stats make me think – did people simply shop more in November then they did in December? Did all these emails benefit or hurt retailers? Time will tell as the final numbers for the year are released.

In terms of the discounts – according to these statistics, its pretty clear retailers were offering bigger discounts this holiday season. This could explain why the sales numbers were higher than seasons past. Were these results because of the great discounts or because retailers are getting smarter with email, and sending relevant messages, with great offers and content to engaged customers?

Another thing to consider – are these deals to good to be true for retailers? Yes, they increased sales by offering free shipping and bigger discounts, but how does that affect the bottom line? Hopefully we will learn more from this holiday season as time goes on. One thing is for sure. If we see that this uptick in email sends helped online retailers across the board gain more revenue, we can expect just as many, if not more emails in our inboxes next holiday season. Remember, quantity is not always better than quality. If you are going to send emails make sure you are sending the right person, the right message, at the right time.

Sources: Internet Retailer, ZDNet ]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-a-look-back-at-the-holiday-season.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-customer-trust-through-email.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-customer-trust-through-email.html#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:51:06 +0000 Elizabeth http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4370
After all of the holiday shopping is done, the post-holiday sales are over and returns and exchanges are made, people are usually attempting to open their credit card statements without having minor heart attacks. Usually, the last thing on a person’s mind after the holidays is more buying. In contrast to the past few years, 2011 was an overall better time for the economy and small businesses, so hopefully your company fared well. For email marketers, it was really a time for establishing a program that experimented with incorporating social media into email campaigns.

I believe that much of the problem (and other smaller businesses probably experience this as well) lies in the fact that once a company acquires Facebook friends and Twitter followers, it fails at using social media to their advantage. If you were offering a deal through Facebook or Twitter, it’s likely you have some new friends and followers, who will hopefully become longtime customers. But it is up to you (or your email marketers) to act on this new and valuable information. One thing that some small businesses fail to do is set up a goal-oriented plan that benefits them in the long run. This includes more than focusing on the bottom line; it should also include relationship-building basics like establishing trust and creating an environment for discussion. For many companies, the beginning of the year is a slow time for sales. This is a great occasion for you to use email and social media together to build your reputation and establish trust among your followers and customers. Whether they’re informational articles, newsletters or a social media site encouraging an open forum for discussion, customers will appreciate the breaking of boundaries between customers and store owners, while consuming valuable information. Here, at Exclusive Concepts, we encourage you to take the time to gain the trust of your customers in 2012. It will benefit you down the road.

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]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-customer-trust-through-email.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-start-2012-off-right.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-start-2012-off-right.html#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:55:11 +0000 Tim G http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4347
Firstly, I hope that you had a great holiday season, in terms of responsiveness to your email campaigns.

But I hope that customers took note of your amazing and timely promotions, and poured their wallets into the different offers that you sent.

As fun and hectic as the holiday season may get, it’s important to note that it’s drawing to a close.

The best email marketers out there have already moved on from the holidays and have their eyes set on stepping into 2012 with the right foot.

So how can you join the leaders of the pack and groom your email program for success in the new year?

Today, I will discuss three key items on your essential 2012 “to-do” list.

I personally view email marketing as a relay race. During the holidays, marketers are focused on newsletters, and rightly so! But in the new year, when sales are a bit slower, marketers should allow the baton to be passed to autoresponders.

I don’t advocate completely abandoning your newsletter program. Rather, it may be helpful to shift some of your attention to your autoresponders.

You may even find that autoresponders are a great way to stay in touch with your customers from the holidays.

If you position the right message, at the right time, to the right people, you may even be able to generate additional sales well into the new year.

The autoresponder approach works particularly well for complementary goods, such as replacement parts and batteries.

A couple points to note about autoresponders:

As things slow down for email marketing in January, do some clean-up and maintenance.

As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This certainly applies to email marketing.

Take some time to look at your email operation and make changes as necessary. As with change, I recommend taking incremental steps rather than dramatic leaps in different directions.

I think that there wouldn’t be any arguments with this statement: 2012 will not be like 2011.

In a similar manner, 2012’s email marketing program should not be like 2011’s email marketing program.

What I’m trying to say is, “Don’t be afraid to switch up your approach.”

One major area that you can look at is closer integration between social media channels and email.

According to Nielsen’s 2011 Social Media report, 65% of all adult Americans use online social networks – and that number is expected to grow in the upcoming year.

Facebook and Twitter are great platforms to promote your email program, and vice versa. Be sure to tie your marketing channels closely with a coordinate messages. In other words, don’t present offers and messages on Twitter that contradict messages that you promote through email. ]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-start-2012-off-right.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-the-power-of-personalization.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-the-power-of-personalization.html#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:12:51 +0000 Jacqueline http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4306
Yes, I was mortified. But, after having some time to reflect on the incident I immediately thought about e-mail and how important personalization is. At this point, you most likely collect the first name associated with your e-mail records, but the question is do you use it and should you? Using first name within your e-mail specifically the subject line packs some punch. As you can see from my personal example first name is an attention grabber. When someone is scanning their e-mail box they are most attracted to their first name. Using a subject line that includes a personalization element in a conversational type context is very impactful. A great example of this is “Hey Violet, did you know about our VIP handbag sale”? What we’ve done by dynamically populating the first name within the subject line is aroused the consumer’s curiosity.

On average using the consumer’s first name within an e-mail has demonstrated a 10-15% increase in open rates on average, but that’s when using the first name is done correctly! Some things to watch out for. Always set a default. In the event you do not have a first name within your database for a specific record you’ll want to publish the default. An example of a strong default is “Valued Customer”. Don’t stop at first name! Targeting is everything in todays market place. Personalize your subject line with client content preferences, interests, and websites visited. Be sure to test, test, test, to ensure you are continuously improving performance and driving revenue! ]]>

]]> http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-the-power-of-personalization.html/feed 0 http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-holiday-email-cpr.html http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/email-thursday-holiday-email-cpr.html#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:37:13 +0000 Tim G http://www.exclusiveconcepts.com/blog/?p=4278
So you put a lot of time and thought into crafting amazing email campaigns for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These dates have come and gone… and your sales are withering in the dust.

How can you turn things around before the clock strikes midnight on December 24?

Don’t despair – although Black Friday and Cyber Monday generate the most media attention, it’s important to remember that there is almost a month’s worth of shopping left before Saint Nick slides down your chimney.

But I must also warn that time is short, so it is best to take a serious look at the following ideas and implement the applicable strategies as soon as possible.

The first step is to identify what your competitors are doing through email.

Are they offering the same products as you are, but at lower prices? Or perhaps they are offering enhanced services, such as express overnight shipping or gift wrapping.

Or perhaps their email presentation is more customer-friendly.

The point of doing your homework is not to see what your competitors are doing, and copy it. The point is to see what your competitors are doing and finding a way to position your email communications in a distinctive and relevant manner.

I have identified five critical factors to assess. Be sure to look at your competitors’:

Products – what are they offering?
Pricing – how much are they charging for similar goods or services?
Promotions – are they running coupon codes or compelling product packages?
Email template – Do their email communications appear more polished and professional than yours?
Website – After the customer clicks on the link on their email, what does the web landing page look like? Are things clearly explained? Is there a strong call to action?

If your campaigns are underperforming, there may be inaccuracies in your email equation.

Looking at what your competitors are doing will give you a good idea of the critical factors that lead to successful campaigns in your corner of the marketplace.

It’s always a good idea to see what other people are doing and seeing if there are any learnings that you can adapt to your strategy.

I compiled a list of five factors for your consideration, when it comes to comparing and contrasting your approach to competitors.

In short, the goal of this exercise is to figure out what your competitors are doing, think about what you are doing, consider how you can set yourself apart in way that leads to sales.

In the spirit of motivating you, just do it. After you have taken a closer look at your competitors and your own processes, just do it.

Although you should jump into the revamped strategy, it’s good to take a moment to draft a game plan to guide you though the process.

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