Email Newsletters: How to get the Best Results

Sending email newsletters seems like an easy idea, but most marketers are doing it incorrectly. The effectiveness of the newsletter relies heavily on the frequency in which they are sent. Most marketers send email newsletters when they feel it is wise or necessary. However, you should be sending newsletters to your readers when they want to read them.

Here are a few suggestions from the KobeMail team on how to send more effective email newsletters:

Inquire Within: Your email recipients should be very valuable to you. You should focus on getting to know your audience, and in turn, understanding how often they want to receive your email newsletters. You can offer them a preference option, or you can include a form for them to fill out indicating their preferences.

Segmentation: After you follow the first step of inquiring the recipients' preferences, you can implement their suggestions into segmenting your newsletters. Depending on your audiences' preferences, you may be inclined to send emails daily, weekly, or monthly, but at least you will be assured that it is to their liking.

Test: Setup your mailing campaigns according to frequency preferences. See how many of your contacts fall under each specified "preference." Gauge reporting based n the open rate and click through rates by each designated frequency.

Adjust: After sufficient testing, it is time to check the results. While you should keep your newsletter content somewhat consistent through out mailings, changing it around once in a while based on feedback is a good idea. Make sure not to overload your newsletters with too much content as it may force your readers to disregard future mailings.

Follow Up: Check up on how successful your new segmentation based on frequency preferences is. Have you received any feedback? Make sure to make changes based on user comments and experiences.

You need to find out how often your subscribers want to receive your email newsletters. If you can figure that out first, then developing content will be much easier. Allow your users to have control and options!

Author: Peter Schirripa

Editor: Courtney Dillsworth

How to Grow and Maintain your Email List

According to the Email Experience Council, “email marketers lose roughly one-third of their email addresses to bounces, unsubscribes, or spam complaints.” Growing clean email lists must be a top priority for email marketers. After years of analysis, we at KobeMail have identified a few key techniques to building a larger, clean list of email addresses:

Offer substantial incentives for tell-a-friend campaigns. Most readers enjoy sharing good content, but will be more inclined if they receive something in return for doing so. Reward your readers with something fun if they willing to pass your message along.

Identify what your readers want. Surveys are effective for finding out what sort of content your readers truly want to receive. Some of your readers may want information while others may just want coupons. Make sure to segment your email list based on their preferences to avoid spam complaints or unsubscribes.

Enhance sign up opportunities. Make sure to include sign up links everywhere you can. Your website, newsletters and social media accounts should all host sign up links to your mailing list.

Allow subscribers to manage their preferences. You should offer your readers some sort of login option where they can manage their preferences. Whether it be a new email address change, preferred email frequency, or an option to choose specific content, your readers should have the ability to manage their account. You can also give your readers the ability to offer their demographic information, which will help you segment your campaigns as well as track recipient information.

We understand that keeping a clean, large mailing list is not very easy. However, if you follow the aforementioned steps, you should be well on your way to a successful campaign. Happy mailing!

Author: Peter Schirripa

Editor: Courtney Dillsworth

2011: New Email Marketing Challenges

Email marketers constantly face challenges when it comes to reaching the inbox at a proficient rate. While the existing challenges are poised to remain, we at KobeMail foresee additional challenges to come about starting this year.

Email addresses will change. As mentioned in one of our previous entries, facebook announced the roll out of its own messaging system, which could possibly engage its 500 million + users. There is a chance that we will see users changing their primary email address, thus leaving us cut off. Incentives and initiatives to keep email addresses up to date will be essential.

Increased Email Filtering. The newly introduced Gmail Priority Inbox, paired with the soon to be released Facebook Social Inbox, will result in mail ending up in folders that are rarely reviewed. This can lead to a negative effect on open rates and related performance metrics.

Social Network Integration. Most users, if they are not already, will be extremely active on social networks. Email campaigns must be equipped for instant social media integration. Sharing, liking, linking, and posting are features that are essential to successful future campaigns.

Mobile. Being that emails are increasingly being read on mobile devices, you must make sure that your creative renders well to be read on that medium. Content and images need to be tested on mobile devices and tablets prior to being sent out.

With the help of KobeMail, 2011 can be a very successful year for your email marketing strategy. Follow these tips above and keep a look out for upcoming articles!

Author: Peter Schirripa

Editor: Courtney Dillsworth

Triggered Emails- Why and How You Should be Using Them!

You can choose one of two platforms: a “broadcast email”-one sent to everyone on the list, or a “triggered email”-a message that is triggered by an event, time, or an action that is sent to a specific person for a specific reason.

While email creatives can be altered amongst varying lists for a broadcast campaign, the real option of personalization lies within trigger based emails.

What exactly is, you ask, a trigger email campaign?

a. It’s specific to a recurring need or objective. Trigger email campaigns are sent in response to a recurring action such as a new subscription, an abandoned cart, a nearing product or subscription expiration.

b. It is automated. Essentially, triggered email campaigns are meant to “set and forget.” Triggered emails are meant for those times when you need a confirmation, a follow-up, a reminder, an alert, or a prompt.

c. It is individualized. Triggered emails are sent to specific people who have taken a specific action or inaction on your website or in a previous email. The exact email only deploys when it is relevant to the person receiving it.

Triggered emails will give your sales team a better way to follow leads. Your customer base will be more targeted resulting in better sales. You can stop sending emails to non-responsive addresses which will stop wastage of marketing funds. The automation allows your sales team to concentrate on more productive jobs while this job is well taken care of too.

The strategy behind your email marketing approach is vital to your success. In order to have a high open rate, you need to target your message. There is no easier way of targeting your email than to rely on the trigger-email. Strategy is key, and KobeMail is your leader in strategic email marketing.

Author: Courtney Dillsworth

Editor: Peter Schirripa

Facebook Messages- How will they affect your Email Marketing Efforts?

By now, you should have seen at least one email address ending in @facebook.com. Being that we are still in the early phases of this incorporation, there are many things that you can do to ensure that your email marketing efforts will not be negatively affected by this new format. By following the KobeMail blog, you are off to a good start. Here are our suggestions:

1. Measure new users: You, along with your email service provider, should be keeping an eye on the volume of facebook.com email addresses added to your database.

2. Tease your readers: Subscribers who use @facebook.com email addresses will not be able to view a subject line. That being said, you need to heavily focus on the first line or so in order to gain the attention of the subscriber. By default, Facebook will show the plain text part of your email, and only the HTML version if the subscriber hits an expand link. You are going to need to “tease” the reader early on in the message in hopes to get them to read further.

3. Get out of the “other” box: Facebook clearly states that users will only be able to view email addresses in their normal inbox if they are sent from their friends, or someone who is a friend of one of their friends. All other messages will go into an “other” box. If you segment your messages, you will have a better chance of getting your email moved from the other box into the inbox.

4. Take advantage of “permission”: Within Facebook, readers only get to read messages that they have allowed permission to. In theory, this means that the reader wants to read your messages and is expecting them. Your messages sent to all users, especially @facebook.com users, should be enticing and to the point.

5. Prepare: Take the previously stated tips and build from them. Facebook messages are expected to be completely rolled out within the next few months. Being that Facebook is one of the leading social media sites, it would be no surprise if the majority of subscribers in your database made the shift. Be prepared for the change in advance and you should see positive campaigns.

Author: Peter Schirripa

Editor: Courtney Dillsworth