Email Resource Center
Robotic Email Campaigns Miss the Point
V12 Group is an email service provider who can help support automated campaigns for clients. BUT we’ve always believed in a more analytical approach where campaigns are assessed and analyzed before the next planned launch. So before you run the next automated set of emails, read this first…
Posted by ArdathAlbee
In addition to learning that lead generation is the top marketing priority for tech marketers, IDC’s 2012 Tech Marketing Barometer Studyasked them about their perceived effectiveness at lead nurturing. In reponse to the 22% who said they use regular nurturing touches geared to buying stages that include more than email and web-based multi-step campaigns, Kathleen Schaub, VP-research, CMO Advisory Service at IDC, said:
“I don’t believe this, or people don’t understand what nurturing means,” Schaub said. “I talk to a lot of our clients and people in the industry, and I know for sure that people are not nurturing well.” continue reading »
Email (Not Social Media) Largest Driver of Online Purchases
Here are some recent stats to show that email remains a driving force in online behavior and spending habits, more so than social media so business owners need to plan accordingly and focus on email marketing now more than ever before.
By: Brian O’Connell, www.mainstreet.com
NEW YORK (MainStreet) – Americans love to make purchases online, but the technology they use most often isn’t Facebook or texting.
No, the primary driver is email, and it beats Facebook and texting purchases combined. So why the reliance on email? it might have something to do with reliability and security, a new study says.
The report comes from ExactTarget, an Indianapolis-based interactive marketing service. ED’s 2012 Channel Preference Survey says that about 66% of Americans who routinely go online have purchased an item either directly through email, or because they found a product or service via email. Read entire post here
You might also enjoy: http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/04/email-remains-king-for-promotional-messaging.html
The 9 Must-Have Components of Compelling Email Copy
Original post by: Corey Eridon at HubSpot
Email marketing has come a long way in just the past few years, but with all the fancy new functionality brands are utilizing, you know what’s kind of funny? A well-written plain text email can perform just as well, if not better, than a highly designed email with tons of bells and whistles. In fact, no matter how fancy your marketing emails look, if they’re devoid of well-written content, your subscribers will stop opening and start deleting your messages, and your list will quickly dwindle in value.
So how do you write a great marketing email? It all comes down to a few copywriting best practices that you should apply to both the subject line of your message, and the message body itself. Read more here
Image credit: photomyheart
The Domino Effect on Inbox Delivery
By: Christina Galbornetti, Director Creative Services -V12 Group
Return Path is now reporting that overall and industry-wide, about 1 in 4 emails are not reaching the Inbox and that’s cause for concern for many commercial email marketers. Deliverability rates have gone from 81% in 2004 to 76.5% in the latter part of 2011. Approximately 8.4% was routed directly to the spam folders, while 15.1% was blocked by the ISP completely. So. why the decline and how can marketers overcome the domino effect where one bad result leads to another?
Successful email marketers know there are several factors that contribute to successful email delivery. Here’s a breakdown of the key components, some of which you can control to improve delivery and some of which you can’t and will hinder delivery and ultimately–performance. continue reading »
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posted in: Creative | Deliverability | Knowledge Center | Resources | Targeting & Planning Landing Page Forms, Length and Lead-Capture
Email marketing performance is only one part of the sales process. The email captures the clicks but the landing page is what closes the sale. It’s imperative to optimize your landing pages to ensure success. This post focuses on the value and quality of landing pages and factors related to conversion. There are also some issues to consider for lead capture which greatly differs for Consumer and B2B campaigns. Keep in mind that many users are using mobile devices so apply this advice and pay attention to how it renders for those recipients as well.
Posted by Pamela Vaughan, BlogSpot
Aaah, the elusive lead-capture form. Such a seemingly simple element of inbound marketing, yet also the subject of frequent debate, particularly when it comes to deciding just how many fields to include on that bad boy. How many is too many? How many just isn’t enough?
As marketers everywhere struggle to strike the right balance between requiring too much and too little information, many are left thinking, what’s the magical form field sweet spot? Most experts will tell you to ask only for the information you need to effectively contact and qualify a lead, but surely it’s not that simple. Let’s dive into how you should make the decision about what is the right form length for your business.
Form Length Isn’t the Only Factor
First things first. While form length is definitely a factor, marketers must realize that a person’s willingness to complete a form isn’t only dependent on the length of the form. There are a number of factors contributing to your landing page’s conversion rate, and form length is only one of them. It’s important to recognize this, because you shouldn’t just assume that adjusting the length of your form will always have a major influence on your page’s conversion rate or the types of leads it generates. Note some of these other major factors that contribute to whether a landing page visitor will complete the form:
- The value of the offer to be redeemed. (Is it valuable enough to the visitor to be worth the form completion?)
- The types of information requested on the form. (Does the form ask for too-sensitive information that dissuades visitors from completing the form?)
- Website credibility and visitors’ perceived sense of privacy/security. (Does the visitor trust the website enough to feel secure in providing their personal information?)
Marketers must understand that all of the factors above — not just form length — can contribute…
Image credit: Rasmus Thomsen
The 7-Point Checklist for Powerful Landing Page Copy
While V12 Group’s core strength lies in data and acquisition email, the landing page component cannot be overlooked since we firmly believe that emails captures the clicks but the landing page makes the sale. This is a great post on the importance of landing page content…
Source: Corey Eridon, blog.hubspot.com Read original post here
Whether writing blog posts, drafting lead nurturing emails, or shooting videos for their YouTube channel, successful inbound marketers are master content creators. But when you think about landing pages, most people jump to conversions. How often are people abandoning my form? Which treatment performed better? What’s the page’s bounce rate? How good all these metrics look, however, boils down to what you already do well: writing remarkable content.
But writing effective landing page copy is a little different than writing, say, a blog post. There are some landing page copywriting nuances that, though seemingly minor, have a huge impact on conversions. continue reading »
Will pricey cellular data plans derail email marketing?
By: Christina Galbornetti, Director Creative Services -V12 Group
Unlimited data plans are now a thing of the past; in fact one carrier has recently come under fire for throttling data speeds and bandwidth to their $30 unlimited data plan subscribers making it painfully slow forcing those data hungry customers to upgrade to the pricier tiered plans for faster service.
All cellular carriers will be affected by the surge in Smartphone usage in the coming years. App/Music downloads; streaming video, texting and email all require a sizable data plan that can support all those features. AT&T alone activated 7.6 million iPhones over this past holiday season so naturally that growth will affect the network, usage and overall speed. Most recently, customers using as little as 1.5GB of data per month are getting an alert message to use Wi-Fi OR upgrade their plans if they start using too much bandwidth.
Email marketers have reason to worry because consumers will likely opt-out of unwanted and irrelevant emails that eat up too much of their limited data plans. We could see increased consumer complaints for this medium across the board IF the industry does not proactively plan to adjust their strategy for email marketing to mobile users.
So what factors need to change so that email can better adapt to mobile users on limited data plans? continue reading »
Study: When Email is Viewed Heavily Effects Where
View Source Post: By Ken Magil
Though mobile email viewership is steadily rising on a month-to-month basis, it plummets on Mondays, according to a study released today by email security and deliverability firm Return Path.
The drop apparently coincides with people getting back to work and interacting with email at their desks. Likewise, mobile email viewership peaks on Saturdays and Sundays when people are opening messages at home, according to the study.
“Things are changing rapidly and marketers need to pay attention to where people are reading their messages,” said Tom Sather, director, professional services, Return Path. Mobile email viewership increased 34 percent from April to September, Return Path reported. Moreover, viewership of email on iPads shot up 73 percent between April and September, Return Path determined. However, email marketers shouldn’t start designing primarily for the iPad just yet. The device accounts for just 4 percent of email views, according to Return Path. continue reading »
Email + Mobile: No More Excuses: Get Started Optimizing for Mobile
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By Stephanie Colleton, Return Path
In last month’s column, Julia Peavy listed “Explosive Mobile Growth” as her final prediction for the email space in 2012. Also in December, Ken provided some insight on the changes in mobile viewership. So, let’s take the bull by the horns and start talking about how to start optimizing your email campaigns for mobile use.
1. You need to know how important mobile is to your viewership. Learn what percentage of your subscribers is viewing your emails on a mobile device. This will help dictate how to prioritize your mobile optimization efforts this year. If you don’t have access to this information, it may be time to invest in a solution (or a provider like V12 Group) that provides this data. continue reading »
Minimizing email opt-outs in 2012
By: Christina Galbornetti, Director Creative Services -V12 Group
Attrition rates for email marketing lists will continue to challenge marketers well into 2012. The never-ending battle to forge past advancing spam filters, engage recipients and maintain subscribers just add to the email wars. The DMA estimated that marketers spent $1.6 billion on Can-Spam compliant commercial email in 2011. That number will likely increase for 2012 so the focus on email marketing and keeping recipients happy will be paramount in helping to maintain an arsenal of valuable opt-in email addresses. continue reading »
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posted in: Creative | Email Lists | Landing Pages | Targeting & Planning | Testing | Trends | Types of Email Lists | Why Segment Your List? | Writing Effective Copy