Activetrail Email Marketing » Blog

Activetrail knows that marketing with email is a terrific way to produce new revenue, market your business, while remaining in touch with prospects and customers. Making use of this powerful tool, you’ll find yourself increasing your sales regularly. Listed below are many essential email marketing tips to help you begin accumulating more income in your product sales.

Emails Need to be Personal


If you are searching for some great marketing ideas to improve your income, consider making your email messages personal. People appreciate it if you use their name. A small store attracts buyers because of their personalized services. When we walk into a neighborhood store, the manager and salespeople know us by name. This same effect can be achieved on the Internet by ensuring that marketing and advertising email messages are created and addressed in a personal way as well. No one wants to receive a message saying “Unknown Recipient”.

Subject Lines Should Reflect your Message


Remember to keep the subject line of your emails accurate. They need to reflect the content of your message. The topic of your subject line needs to catch the interest of your audience, but it must be relevant to your campaign message. If not, you will start to lose the confidence of your respective subscribers. Generally, if the first few sentences don’t connect with the topic, most people will stop reading the message. Make certain that your subject line doesn’t contain spam. There are many words that will automatically trigger the spam filers, and if that happens, you won’t stand a chance. Research what words constitute spam, and make sure you never use them. Remember, most people simply glance at the subject line to decide whether to read the message, trash it, or simply mark the email as spam. Use that small window of opportunity, because you never get a second chance.

Test Your Campaigns


Testing your campaign is unquestionably one of the most important things you can address. Make your own test groups, sending out several modified campaigns to different test groups. Consider the structure of your message in terms of imagery, subject line, call to action, and content.

Always test the hyperlinks inside the email message, ensuring that you have formatted them properly, making sure they are live links and they function correctly, targeting the designated landing page. Broken and outdated links create a bad reflection on your company brand. Testing your campaign messages will determine how successful your message is. Testing your campaigns is the only objective way to discover what works best when aiming to convert the prospects on your list into greater product sales and repeat buys for your company.

With Activetrail software at your side, you can flawlessly test every campaign with live stats, able to adapt and modify what you need, immediately and effortlessly.

You cannot argue with Facts and Stats

It is a known fact that email marketing is a profitable technique for the Internet entrepreneur and off-line business owner, as well. Email marketing is still considered to be the most cost-effective and economical online marketing strategies, when striving to remain in touch with your customers. With over 1 Billion Internet users maintaining an email account, the opportunities are endless.

• Over 60% of users receive opt-in email from online businesses.
• At least 80% of Internet Shoppers have made at least one purchase from an email marketing promotion.
• Over 30% have made an instantaneous purchase online in a direct response to an email marketing campaign.

Employ Email Marketing Strategies that Work


Every online marketer needs to work on developing customer relationships while developing and establishing their credibility with their prospects as well. Giving away free and valuable information such as a white paper on your subject niche, an eBook that shares great tips or a ‘how to” approach of instructions, automatically increases your chances of converting browsers to buyers – converting buyers to lifelong customers. You are marketing to people. Put yourself in their place and ask yourself what would appeal to you? What would bring you a step closer to buying a product or service?

Announcing Specials and Discounts


Opt-in email lists are worth more than gold to an email marketer. Do not use them carelessly. Letting your recipients know they are valuable and are greatly appreciated is another way to engage a consumer. Sending out an announcement periodically, offering specials, closeouts, and discounts can increase your conversion rates.

Use your demographics to benefit your recipients. Send them coupons to stores that are within a reasonable distance from their homes. More than likely, they will use those coupons if the offer is truly a savings and it is not a hardship to redeem the coupon received.

Do not overwhelm your prospects and customers with constant sales. That strategy may backfire causing them to doubt your sincerity and look on your products and services as worthless. Too much of a good thing may create suspicion. Keep your offers fresh.

Respect your Audience – ask for their Opinions


Following up with your recipients after a sale or special offer is sent, will help you discover if your email marketing campaigns are successful in their eyes. Never assume that your positive subjective opinion about your campaign is the truth for your audience. Take the time to send out thoughtfully created customer surveys, asking for their honest opinions and suggestions. Once received, implement the ones you feel are practical.

The team at Activetrail knows that listening to your audience is the highest form of respect and consideration any marketer can show.

Activetrail knows that owning a business is incredibly demanding, especially when you are marketing in an aggressive and competitive industry. It’s irrefutably true that the success of every company depends on the marketing and advertising strategies that are implemented in your email marketing campaigns. Integrating and conducting email marketing tactics is just one of the countless approaches to marketing a business. As powerful as an email marketing campaign is, there are frequent marketing mistakes you will want to know and avoid. By integrating just a few proven tactics, you can have a successful email marketing campaign. Here are some tips that the Activetrail team knows you need to remember before sending out your email marketing campaign.

Permission Based Emails


Whenever you send out emails to individuals who have not opted-in, that can be considered spamming. Bear in mind, email marketing should always be permission-based or else you may find all of your email campaigns landing in your prospect’s spam folder. Always respect your readers. If your email marketing campaigns are not permission based, you may unknowingly cause a negative reaction towards your email campaigns and brand name, which can go viral.

First Name Basis


Using the first name within the subject box, as well as in the email, is proven to produce far more clicks by your subscribers, then when they receive an email generically addressed. Make sure you use your company name that they are familiar with knowing that they have subscribed to your email campaign or enewsletter. Being recognized quickly is the key, especially when you have a small window of opportunity.

Developing an Effective Headline


Most email message headlines that are sent out can be very boring which defeats your purpose almost immediately. Headlines should be highly effective, creating an impact of interest upon the reader. Most Web marketers concentrate on the content in the email, which is important, but neglect to give the headline a true marketing strategy. Produce a heading that draws attention on the specific niche market that you’re in. Make sure it is truly representing your content and call to action, encouraging your readers to want to know more.

Have a Clearly Defined Call-to-Action


Excluding a call-to-action within your emails defeats the objective of your marketing campaign’s primary goals. Having an effective call to action is an essential part of any email communication. A call to action should have an objective and purpose whether it is encouraging its recipients to complete a contact form, signup for a newsletter, or go to a sale or promotion on a website or landing page.

A call to action should:

• Bring focus to a product or service
• Give directions to your readers telling them what they need to do
• Direct your users to a specific target
• Contain a reward for their actions

Dynamic and Relevant Content


Keep in mind, content is king for email marketing. If the content material is focused on you or your business, your audience will not want to read it. In every email that you send out to your subscribers, center on what you’re able to do for them. They want to know what is in it for them. Provide them with solutions and ideas they can use to resolve their problems. Once they see that you are delivering worthwhile and helpful content, they will have confidence in your business and will be much more inclined to work with you. Good Content:

• Shares relevant information based on their demographics
• Avoids heavy promotional language
• Shares ideas in a simple, non-jargon language
• Shows your expertise in your market
• Has an engaging and conversational tone
• Gets to the point – brief and concise
• Creates interest and encourages immediate action

Make it Easy to Unsubscribe


Do not make it difficult for your prospect and customer to view and find the unsubscribe links within your campaign or website. This is not just a frustration to your recipients, but literally conveys a message that you are forcing your clients to receive an email, whether they have opted in or not. Almost everyone naturally rebels against anything or any idea being pushed on them against their free will. Making this a part of your strategy can damage your business’s reputation, making your email campaigns considered to be spam or trash.

Testing for Sending


Testing is an essential ingredient of your email marketing strategy. An effective variation, within your email marketing campaign, could squeeze in a few more added clicks, bringing in more sales and profits. A great way to test your email address lists would be to break down your subscriber list into unique segments, sending every group a different email message. This test called A/B Split testing, will help ascertain the particular message that bought back the higher results.

Your can test for:

• Subject lines
• Calls to action
• Pricing and discounts
• Offering a free gift with a purchase, and one without the free purchase
• Specific products and services
• Free shipping vs. paid shipping

Don’t send out another campaign, without using the Activetrail email marketing campaign software. To be truly competitive, you need the most effective state of the art tools at your fingertips. Don’t enter the Internet Global arena unprepared and unarmed.

In technical writing, we are told to create personas. This helps guide the way we would document and write our procedural manuals, making sure they are meeting the need and are clearly understood by that particular group. For example, you would never write to a group of engineers using the same vocabulary that you would use when writing to administrative staff or clerical personnel. Email marketers need to use that very same precision when creating a persona for their target audience. One type of email marketing campaign does not suit all. A generically created and executed email campaign can never meet everyone’s interests or requirements.

What is a Persona?

A persona is a detailed profile that represents real people, a prototype of the target audience you are trying to reach. Email marketers can use a persona to:

• Set their preferences
• Clarify their goals
• Create meaningful targeted content
• Get a better handle on relevancy and need

Designing campaigns with real people in mind is the only way to measure your campaign’s success. Creating a persona encompassing people with shared common interests and demographics, means your database must be accurate and up-to-date. You need to group just the right people together to receive just the right message.

Understanding the Buyer’s Preferences and Personality

Meeting your buyer’s needs is the goal. It is essential that you understand the desires, interests, and wants of a particular group of people that fit into a specific demographic profile. Once this is clear, you have a good chance of communicating and persuading that audience to take a precise and defined call to action. Remember, your product or service must meet their expectations – you cannot create that want or need, it must be there from the beginning.

Characteristics

Many factors affect a buyer’s preferences and habits, such as:

• Gender
• Income
• Marital Status
• Location
• Education
• Occupation

If you sell to businesses, your personas might include:

• Individual or chain stores
• Number of employees
• Type of Industry
• Levels of Revenue

Building Personas Will Always be a Work in Progress

Maintaining an accurate database with the proper demographics, up-to-date addresses, and an on-going measurement of customer buyer preferences, is a never-ending challenge. The more accurate your data, the better chance you have of segmenting and defining the specific needs and interests of your target market. Creating value and trust, coupled with a persuasion to purchase, is no easy task. That is why this is a process that never ends.

Ask and They Will Tell You

If you want to find out what your prospects and clients are saying about your products and services, simply ask them. Send out periodic customer surveys asking for honest and straightforward responses. Hey, how are you doing? Maybe it’s time to find out. This gives you enough time and opportunity to see if you are meeting their expectations and if they are looking for more than you are supplying. Keeping in constant contact with your audience, through email marketing newsletters, surveys, offers and sales, keeps that door open for communication and repeat buys.

In these hard economic times, your prospects and clients are always looking for cost-effective products and services, which will meet their needs while remaining affordable, fitting into their budgets. So take every opportunity to show your target market their importance to you and your business, by striving to learn what they need, and then meeting that need with value and trust.

Be a savvy and wise marketer. Use your email marketing campaigns as a tool to continue understanding your niche market, as you aim to offer quality products and services, to an ever-increasing global marketplace of opportunities.

We are living in a fragile economy that affects us all. Whether your business is large or small, it must expand and flourish to remain alive. As companies cut costs and reduce their budgets, they continue to search for the best optimal savings around. They need to build their brand names, while engaging new clients and repeat buyers. With eCommerce sites on the rise, consumers and businesses alike have made the Internet a primary source for cost-effective, creative marketing, when looking to get their brand name, products and services public and viral.

Business-to-Business Email marketing
Marketing to consumers and marketing to a business, are not the same. Yes, businesses consist of people, but their goals and needs must be differentiated from those of the average, everyday consumer. Getting your email marketing campaign into the in-box of a business owner may be a greater challenge. By implementing some new thinking and strategies into your marketing plans and goals, will enable you to get your email campaigns delivered and opened. With Activetrail’s professional email marketing campaigns, you can:

1. Send relevant, high valued offers to your target audience. Don’t waste their time with hype and self-promotions.
2. Catch their attention. Your content should be crisp and dynamic, able to hold your prospect’s interest.
3. Build an effective landing page with a clear call to action that complements your email campaign.
4. Follow up with all those who did not click on your offer.
5. Send a thank you email to those who did.+

Dynamic and Driving Conversations
Your email campaigns must evolve and adapt to a constantly changing environment. As priorities change, so will your client’s needs. Engaging your reader can create a multichannel campaign, forwarded and read by others. How do you create interesting and stimulating digital conversations? Why should they want to read what you have to say? What kind of content will catch their eye and give them pause?

Understanding and Identifying with your Audience. Knowing your audience is key and has become a bit easier, because of the influence of social media marketing. Finding out what social networks they are utilizing, enables you to see their website blogs, and articles, disclosing what they consider relevant in their industry and niche. Their products and services will define their goals and objectives. Your job will be to see how you can help them meet those objectives with low cost and effective alternatives, while consisting maintaining high value. However, to play the game, you need to be in the game. The question then remains how to enter in and engage your prospects in direct conversations that are mutually agreeable?

According to eMarketer: “B2B participation in social media marketing is steadily increasing, and marketers are beginning to see opportunities to generate quality leads and position themselves as thought leaders in their industries,” said eMarketer’s Evelyn Jung, author of the new report “B2B Social Media Marketing Heats Up.”

“Outsell estimates that marketing on social networks will grow 43.3% in 2010. Forrester Research predicts that B2B firms will spend $54 million on social media marketing in 2014, up from just $11 million in 2009.”

B2B Relationship Building
B2B Relationship building, takes time. Email Marketers need to have good solid marketing strategies in place helping narrow down the crucial elements when practicing relationship marketing. Good two-way business relationships are built upon some simple and timeless principles:

• Good policies and practices
• Trust and Reliability
• Client Satisfaction
• Client Commitment
• Mutual Satisfaction

Social Media Marketing – Changing the Way we communicate
The Activetrail team knows that the old conventional ways of communications are no longer enough, that is why we have integrated social media marketing directly into your campaign, with just the click of a mouse, creating an instant viral campaign has never been easier.

Advertisements and email marketing campaigns alone, cannot reach the audience needed for growth and expansion. As more and more businesses want more of a direct communication, companies are reaching out through forums, blogs, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. Ongoing live conversations are becoming the norm. Word of mouth and viral campaigns have taken the Internet by storm. Their popularity has made them a fixture for any marketing mix. But do the same rules apply when marketing a business vs. a consumer? Here are some innovative pointers when marketing B2B:

• Get to the point. Businesses are not looking for friends; they are looking for solutions.
• Use social media to share business goals and accomplishments, be careful what you say.
• Use forums to create a buzz about your company and products. Offer real solutions.
• Do not focus on any individual, always point to your brand.

Whether marketing B2B or B2C, all businesses must distinguish themselves from their competitors. Whether you are building a new relationship, or preserving an old one, you need to know your audience and have the solutions they need to run their businesses with cost-effective solutions. Earning your target’s trust and delivering on your promises are the first steps of any successful B2B campaign.

Email campaigns are one of the most power tools for reaching your targeted traffic. They are versatile and flexible. An email campaign cab be the perfect information medium for your client base, or used as a valuable resource when looking to produce leads and sales. Sending out email newsletters can be a great catalyst for repeat buys while creating renewed interest from past sales.

In a harried world of constant competition, marketers need to reach out in a more personal way to their audience. Making that one-on-one connection, separates a business from its competitors, while making a lasting positive impression on its recipients. One of the greatest advantages of email marketing is the ability to engage – by inviting your recipient’s participation in the sales process. No one can read anyone’s mind, and at the same time, that would be an uncomplimentary approach to any potential prospect or lead. If you want to know what people are thinking, just ask them.

Being Savvy and Smart is quite Simple
In today’s global marketplace, all of us experience a constant barrage of advertisements and sales. We are attacked on all sides with deals, sales, with a constant push to buy someone’s service or product. As with our clients and prospects, that can lead to annoyance or a bit of anger. We hit that spam and trash button rather fast, not even peaking at what we are deleting. What does a marketer do to avoid that kind of reaction? The answer is not mind shattering. Email marketing campaigns need to provide something that is wanted, a service or product that meets a real need in your target’s life. After all, we are dealing with real people, who have lives, jobs, and families. We are not sending our email campaigns to robots. Marketers need to be on top of their market – so they can never relax their guard, becoming too comfortable with past success. Client satisfaction is an endless journey. One type of campaign may speak to part of your audience, but not all. Adaption and customization must be part of our thinking and strategies when working with any live campaign’s statistical results.

Utilizing Customer Surveys
Use your customer surveys to test the waters. Your ultimate goal must always be – 100% customer satisfaction. When you send your surveys, consider the following points:

1. Explain your purpose in sending the survey. Encourage a response by offering a gift or a discount on their next purchase.
2. Keep your surveys short – get to the point quickly.
3. Make your questions clear and precise. You want them understand what you are asking, so you can obtain the responses you need.
4. Be Honest – Be Sincere. Getting accurate responses can only come from accurate questions. How can you fix what you don’t know is broken?
5. Ask for their feedback and suggestions. No one has all the answers. Be creative and a bit daring.
6. Put their suggestions into action. When you listen to your recipients – you are giving them respect.
7. Keep up the good work. Make a customer survey a periodic mailing. Taking the time to hear from your clients is always worthwhile.

Email Marketing Newsletters
Activetrail knows that email-marketing newsletters have become an integral part of any email marketing campaign. First, presentation can mean everything. Standing out in the in-box is your first line of defense. With Activetrail’s professional template designs, your email will have that special touch, impressing your recipients before it they are opened. Of course, having a beautifully designed, professional template can never take the place of good content.

A well-written, targeted newsletter can be a powerful and effective tool and source of communication to your clients and prospects alike. Effective communication is one where there is expectancy about a product or service. Keeping your audience up-to-date on the most recent news and changes in your company, could not be easier when using a targeted email campaign to spread the word. However, a word of caution is needed. Having an opt-in email newsletter list carried a weight of responsibility – so use it wisely. Here are some tips that will help you avoid many of the most common mistakes:

1. As in a Press Release, ask yourself if your information is newsworthy or are you using it as an excuse to sell something? No one likes to be treated as a commodity.
2. Work on writing provocative content. Don’t make your email newsletters a sales pitch. They should contain a mixture of information that will interest your clients and prospects alike.
3. Does your newsletter parallel your website or landing page? Don’t create confusion. Your logo, font and call to action should further an interest in what you are saying. Make your paragraphs short leaving a link to your site to complete the text. Make sure your website page complements your newsletter.
4. Share some human-interest stories. Customers report that they enjoy reading testimonials.
5. Include some free tips and savings. Online shopping has taken the Internet by storm. Share some good bargains online that have nothing to do with your product or service. That can be effective.
6. Make your email newsletter interactive. Ask your clients and prospects to share their tips and savings as well. Make your newsletter valuable for everyone.

Good Products and Services Never Replace Good Customer Communication and Service
Customers are lost daily through poor customer service. How you treat your clients and prospects will give them an image of you, which is hard to change. So don’t forget to follow some good old simple Customer Commandments:

1. Hear what they are saying. Ask question to further understand their concerns.
2. Let them know their patronage is valued and recognized.
3. Never lower your standards – preserve quality at all times.
4. Stand by your word – be dependable.
5. Follow up with customer complaints and problems. Let them know you are working on them. Don’t leave them hanging.
6. Never promise what you cannot deliver.
7. Always try to give just a little more than is expected.
8. Focus on communication, trust, and loyalty, not just building your sales. Repeat buyers keep a business alive.

Targeted Email Campaigns are Valuable and are Worth Investing in: Using Activetrail’s email campaigns software, your newsletters, and email campaigns will be highly effective.

• Targeted campaigns deliver messages to a receptive audience, with a predisposed interest in your product and service.
• They produce higher conversion rates.
• They are cost-effective.

With Activetrail’s powerful analytical software, targeted email campaigns are easy to test, track, and evaluate.

The Long-Term Email Marketing Solution
Targeted email campaigns create new clients and can renew interest from former buyers. Generating more income can never come from one source alone. While marketing to new clients, we need to keep our existing ones happy as we increase the level and quality of services being offered. When you partner with Activetrail, you will get our expertise and seasoned marketing experience, helping you find that perfect email marketing solution.

Start building your future with Activetrail Email Campaign Software today.

The team at Activetrail knows that email marketing is a powerful marketing tool and is still considered an important element of any marketing strategy. Here are some innovative tips that you can implement in your next email marketing campaign.

1. Know your Target: Every e-campaign you send needs a specific and direct target audience. Knowing the demographics and behavioral buying patterns of a segmented group of recipients, means the difference between sales and failure. Your campaign needs to be relevant and appealing. It should answer a need or desire, while creating interest.
2. Appealing and Engaging Subject Lines: Your subject lines need to be catchy, while remaining true to its content. Think of your subject line as a marketing tool, helping your deliverability and open rates. Your content may be dynamic, but it will never be read, if your email is never opened. Avoid spammy words, punctuation, and capitalization when writing your subject lines. Engage your audience while creating interest and curiosity. Activetrail does not promote or support spamming. We highly suggest to all our clients to read, and become acquainted with the CanSpam Laws.
3. Writing Good Content: Today’s consumer receives hundreds of emails in their inbox. You have only a few seconds to make a lasting first impression. Getting your email marketing campaign into the inbox is your first challenge. Getting your email opened and read, is the second. Most recipients scan the content quickly, looking for information that they are personally interested in. Be specific, get to the point, and have your call to action within the first paragraph.
4. Keep your Email Campaigns Honest – Buyer Beware: Unfortunately, we are in a day and age of fraud and scams. Many email marketing campaigns contain so many astonishing claims, that bells should go off in the recipient’s mind. Internet marketers offer consumers the promise of making thousands of dollars if you will just buy their strategies and follow their blogs, and instructions. Whether the promise of weight loss, or the secrets to success, the consumer will not appreciate fraudulent promises being used as a sales pitch. Your product or service must be genuine. Never offer what you cannot deliver. If possible, include real live testimonials that people can read. Better yet, your testimonials should be able to have real email addresses underneath each testimonial. That gives a real sense of authenticity. Of course, you will need your client’s approval.
5. That Personal Touch: Keep in mind that your emails are reaching people not robots. If possible, use their first name. If they have signed up for your newsletter, remind them why they are receiving this communication. People sign up for numerous Internet offers and may have forgotten signing up for your communication. It happens to all of us. Taking that moment to make a personal connection can be an important deciding factor whether to open your email or not. Use every creative tactic you can to help increase your open and conversation rates.
6. Mailing Frequency Matters: Another important factor towards success when sending out email campaigns is the frequency at which you are sending them. There is no absolute standard, but keep in mind that too many emails can put you in the trash or spam folder. That is why you need to implement a campaign using Activetrail’s autoresponders. Activetrail makes automatic scheduling a breeze.
   For those of you involved in specific Niche marketing, the rules change to the needs of your audience. Case in point, stock market tips are requested 2-3 times daily, while restaurant specials, and ticket sales, may go out once or twice a month. Unless your newsletter or email communication is announcing an important change in policy or company structure, you will have to decide interval and mailing frequency will work for your industry and needs. The decision is personal and subjective.
7. People are not Commodities: Your target market involves people with tight schedules and family commitments. No one wants to be marketed day and night with specials and offers. Be creative. Make your next email campaign a “thank you” to your customers and prospects for opting-in to your newsletters and communications. Include free coupons, eBooks, and white paper reports. We are all experts in something. Why not include some helpful tips within your market niche. Everyone likes saving money and time. Imagine an email campaign where the consumer does not have to buy anything. What a pleasant surprise!
   Email marketing strategies are changing constantly. Video marketing, social media marketing, and guerrilla marketing, are just a few ways marketers are reaching out to an ever-increasing Global Internet Market. Whatever marketing mix you use, the foundation must always start with a useful product or service, backed by honesty and integrity. That is the only way to build loyalty and repeat purchases for any marketing endeavor.

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Activetrail knows that getting a new business off the ground is not easy. First, you have to have a product or service that people want and need. Second, you must know your target market. That determination can only come from researching the Internet, following your competition, and reading what their prospects and clients are saying. Without finding your niche, you are marketing to and in an unknown global sphere, targeting aimlessly, without direction or results.

Finally, you need a powerful vehicle when looking to promote your brand name, product, and service, launching it off the ground, enabling you to create a positive and repetitive buzz to as many prospects as you can. All this and more can be accomplished with carefully planned and well executed, email marketing campaigns.

Email marketing is still one of the most powerful and effective tools in the marketplace today. Whatever your strategy, whatever your goals, you need to implement a solid email marketing campaign into your marketing mix. One campaign can reach thousands of people, all over the world, landing in their in-box within seconds, 24/7. Email marketing can boost your sales; renew old clients, while ensuring that your name and product is continually before their minds.

Success can never be guaranteed to anyone. Hype and clichés, will not give you the keys to being productive or smart. Therefore, in a tough economy, email marketing can be an entrepreneur’s best friend. Balancing your business and personal life is not easy, so the tough need to be creative and resourceful. As you know, any serious investment of time and money comes with its own set of risks, but, by using good tactics, you can achieve successful results making the challenge and risk, worth the taking.

Why use email marketing? A well-planned email campaign can:

• Raise sales conversions
• Promote repeat sales
• Help cross and up sell your products and services
• Gain valuable comments and feedback from your prospects, visitors, and clients
• Boost your web traffic

Integrating SEO Tools into your Email Marketing Campaigns

At Activetrail, we have fully integrated the latest and greatest of the Social Media tools directly into our email campaign software. With the click of a mouse, you can start a viral campaign, spreading to hundreds or even thousands of people through forwards and sharing.

Knowing your keywords and key phrases: Knowing the words people use when they search for your product or service is vital. Take advantage of Google’s free keyword search tool website. Discover what keywords are most frequently used for your industry, product, or service. Once that is known, you can write your website and blog content around those words, creating rich keyword content. Another great advantage this tool offers is the ability to see your competitor’s keywords. Put their URL in the appropriate box and Google will extract their significant keywords and phrases they are using on their websites and blogs. What an incredible source of knowledge.

Backlink Strategies: Backlinks are simply links that will lead back to your landing page, blog, or website. You can incorporate backlinks by:

1. Writing Articles: Writing interesting articles about your products and services is an easy way to get your brand viral. There are dozens of free article sites that give you the opportunity to write about your industry, while creating links in your resource box. If your article is valuable, people click on your link to see who you are and what you do. Start with Ezine.
2. Creating a Company Blog: Having your own company blog enables you to speak about whatever you want. This opens the door to direct communications with visitors, prospects, and clients.

   An advantage to note: Google indexes blogs and articles. They show up when people are doing keyword and key phrase searches. Using the right keywords, your blogs and articles become viral.

3. Developing Strategic Landing Pages: Before sending out your email marketing campaign, you will need a suitable landing page that matches and parallels your content and call to action. When designing that page, it is important to make sure that when your recipient clicks through and lands on that page, they know what to do. Your directions must be clearly defined or you may lose that sale through frustration.
4. Know the Law – Be Informed. Activetrail upholds and adheres to the Federal CAN-SPAM Act, which protects consumers against unwanted email. Activetrail does not promote or support spamming.

Whatever marketing tools you use, or whatever strategies you employ, the goal is to earn and preserve 100% customer satisfaction, at all times. Every smart marketer knows that when you take care of your customers, they will certainly take care of you.

Email marketing keeps proving its worth. Activetrail knows that an email campaign not only opens new doors and renew old clients, but email marketing campaigns have also been used to reinvent and revive failing industries, products, and services. Email, itself has revolutionized social and business communications throughout the world, as its effectiveness and power remain unchallenged, even today. That is why the support team at Activetrail, can offer the perfect software for any size email marketing campaign.

Internet marketers know that utilizing email to engage their clients is still one of the fastest and most cost-effective strategies for any business wanting to expand their sales and growth. For that to happen, one must know your audience and what they are looking for. Simply put, email marketing campaigns based on a specific targeted segment, should really be called “smart marketing.” Smart marketing consists of using every vehicle, idea, and method to create a buzz, engaging an audience of interested participants, resulting in satisfying a real need. Sending out the right message to the right people is just plain old common sense. Companies are not built on hope but on solid facts and wise decisions.

The potential of an email marketing campaign is immeasurable. An email marketing campaign:

• Increases website traffic
• Brings in new leads
• Renews old clients
• Keeps your clients updated on your products and services
• Strengthens client relationships
• Promotes and builds your brand awareness

A well designed campaign produces results. Building a campaign, must start from the right foundation. Every business needs to ask just two questions, what gap am I filling and what service am I providing? Customers need one question answered at all times, why should I go to you and not your competitor?

Keep your competitors close – know what they are doing. We are in the age of social media marketing. Chatter is everywhere. Everyone wants their opinions heard – their voices known. What a great time to be an email marketer. Go to your competitor’s blogs; see what they are writing about. Read the responses of their clients and prospects. Find their Facebook and Twitter pages. The resources are free and easy to use. Take advantage of this enormous global database – filled with free information. The more you know about your competitors, the more you can weigh your strategies and sales initiatives.

Make a good first impression. We are in a culture that judges by appearance. Use that to your advantage. We know that you do not have time to design. With Activetrail software, you don’t have to. You can easily create a highly professional e-newsletter or email campaign design with the click of a mouse. Edit and modify one of our beautiful templates, personalizing it with your logo, colors, and fonts. Using our pre-optimized templates, will give you the time needed to create your dynamic content and call to action.

Permission based email. Using Activetrail software, you can easily build your email lists based on permission. What is permission based email? Your recipients have “opted-in,” to your newsletter, website, or email campaign. They have requested further information or they want to be on the receiving end of your messages and announcements. Building on permission means you have an interested audience. Handle that list with care. Do not bombard any recipient with countless sales and advertisements. No one wants to be marketed constantly.

Demographics and behavioral statistics. Who is your target market? What they read, what they buy, where they live, and what they do, all culminate into a graphical picture. People marry, move, have children, and divorce. Build your lists based on knowledge. Keep them updated. Too many returned emails can create a signal to your ISP provider. Make sure your campaigns are going to an accurate and targeted list.

Tracking your campaigns. Successful campaigns are built upon each other. You need to know if your campaigns are a failure or success. With Activetrail, you track your campaign in real time with live statistics. This enables you to respond and modify your campaigns and strategies as they happen, while the campaign is still alive and in progress. How can you create a successful campaign if you do not know:

• How many emails were opened
• How many emails were read
• How many were spammed
• How many were sent to the junk folder
• How many click-throughs on your call to action
• How many subscribed/unsubscribed

The team at Activetrail knows that measuring your campaigns is the only way to manage them. What people may want today, they may not want tomorrow. Future campaigns must rely on a high degree of accurate results obtained in the present. In a bad economy, you cannot afford to invest your time and money where it cannot grow. Having a good product or service is just the beginning. Your product and service must meet the demands of your market – while standing out from your competitors. Market wisely.

What sets anyone apart? What distinguishes one business from another? The team at Activetrail knows that all email marketing campaigns need to stand out in the in-box, but more importantly, your email campaigns need to gain that competitive edge with its content as well.

We all love cool videos and graphics. The popularity of video marketing is continuing to rise. The proof of that is the explosion of YouTube. Every product, service, with every nuance and gimmick, is on YouTube creating powerful backlinks to websites and squeeze pages by the thousands each day.

According to a survey dated August 31, 2010, conducted by eMarketer (down below), embedding a video player in your email marketing message, along with creating a link to a video within a landing page is on the rise in marketing strategies.

Creating a small, but effective video within your email campaign, grabs the reader’s attention almost immediately. That is every marketer’s goal and purpose. Having that video as your call to action can increase your click through rates and sales, quicker than any other technique you might have used in the past. You can also link your video email marketing campaign to another video on your website, landing page, or squeeze page, helping close the sale.

Why are Video Email Marketing Campaigns so Successful?

• People remember what they see. Audio and visual stimulus is proven to increase memory retention. Years ago, when any company wanted to push their products to the public, they created commercials with jingles. You remembered what you heard and what you visualized. Many companies found that people bought their products, just because they started to sing the jingle and picture the product.
• Become an innovator in your niche and market. Using Activetrail’s powerful email campaign software enables you to have, at your fingertips, the latest technology when presenting your products and services, automatically giving you a leadership position in your field or niche market. As video email marketing increases in popularity, so will your knowledge and use of this innovative, highly-effective medium.
• Putting a face and personality to your brand name. Social media is changing the way we communicate in business. People prefer doing business with people they can see and get to know. Video emails give your prospects a chance to see and hear you, before they may ever meet you. It puts a personal touch on a commercial marketing strategy.
• Improving credibility creates automatic trust. Watching and listening to someone’s personal presentation on a video, affects their trust in the person and product. When your video presentation creates trust, you will have an increased amount of sales.

Using Video Email Marketing to your Advantage

Creating that difference between you and your competitors is all about communication. Reading great content, wrapped in a professional package, is very impressive. However, being able to see and hear the person behind the campaign is even better. Our body language, style, and voice can have a positive impact on our audience, creating a further interest in our product or service. Remember, most people make decisions based on an emotional response. Create a good feeling about what you are selling. Make that personal connection.

The Activetrail support team knows that all marketers need to back up their communications and promises, with good old-fashioned customer service. Read their inquiries, respond personally, and be ready to refund their money or replace a damaged product, whenever necessary. Create videos responding to customer questions. That is a great way to show them you are listening and you care. Using this method, you save time and money. Having to repeat the same answer to the same question is time-consuming. Creating responses on videos to FAQ is savvy and very cost-effective, reaching hundreds in seconds.

Cross Sales

Use your videos to cross sell. Satisfied customers are more than willing to buy from someone whose products have stood the test of time. Use your videos to create backlinks to your other products or services, in your email marketing campaigns, with a soft sell and call to action. Make your videos meaningful and genuine. Share important information that they can use. Educate your video audience. Do not use hype and gimmicks. When you create trust – you creates sales – and sales creates repeat buys.

Take a Break. Give yourself some personal quality time. Sad to say, more people boast about “burning the midnight oil”, then admitting they actually took a break or vacation. We are not robots. We need rest and balance. Use all the powerful tools out there to help your workflow move faster and smarter.

Wise marketing can make the difference between becoming successful or failing to meet your ROI goals. When you incorporate video into your email marketing campaigns, you have the potential of increasing its impact and its effect on all your recipients. Determine to make whatever time you put into any campaign, worthwhile.