Email Marketing Round-Up: Sept. 2016 Edition

By Jason McClain | September 14, 2016 | 0 Comment

Email marketing is one of of my favorite topics! The central hub of your online business will be your email list because that is where your best leads are. Think about it. The people on your list:

• Have visited your website
• Trusted you enough to opt in and give you their email address
• Have possibly bought something from you in the past

If you are not capturing that email address, then you have no loyal customer base. You only have the odd person who stumbles in and out that may or may not even be targeted. As with most things online, email marketing is another aspect that needs to be monitored for frequent changes, so…let’s round it up!

Gmail is Going Visual

Maybe you thought Google (or is it Alphabet?) was just the king of Search. You would be wrong. Google is pretty much the king of the Internet. It has basically wiped the floor with its own competition like Yahoo and Bing and is now tackling the likes of Facebook and Amazon. Google is also innovating in other areas of the online realm. No, they didn’t figure out a way to unflop Google+ yet, but they are doing amazing things with Gmail that could change how we approach email marketing.

Google is testing a grid view in the Promotions tab in Gmail that will make checking your email a very visual experience. Since 60% of email marketing campaigns are sent to Gmail addresses, this could be huge email marketing news. However, the true take-away here isn’t to create more visual email, but to make sure you target your customers precisely. Google is looking for the best possible experience for users, and that is what you need to provide. That means laser targeting.

The Casualties of Spam

To run effective email marketing campaigns, your emails must arrive at their destination. This can often be easier said than done. The aforementioned Gmail is notorious for sending even slightly questionable content directly to Spam.

Recently, legit email addresses were added to several open email lists and those lists were then used to spam. This resulted in a project called SpamHaus blocking domains and IP addresses for many popular email providers, possibly yours. You can check here – https://www.spamhaus.org/lookup/.  There are also steps in the above-linked article on how to clear up this situation with your email service provider.

Ways to Build Your List

If you’re new in email marketing and Internet marketing overall, then you may have no idea how to build your list in the first place. These tips will bring you, as well as seasoned marketers, back to the basics:

• Install sign-up forms on your website
• Ask customers to sign up when they buy something
• Offer free incentives in exchange for customer’s email addresses
• Offer a discount

These are all valid ways to add subscribers to your list.

Avoid Common Email Marketing Mistakes

Email marketing is a delicate balance. A hundred people can tell you a list of best practices that still may not be ideal for you. One of the most essentials keys to online business success is split testing everything you do to find what works the best. Avoid these common email marketing mistakes:

• Using a platform besides a reputable email marketing service to build your list
• Not starting to list build right away
• Using only one sign up form
• Using too many sign up forms
• Not measuring your results so you can adjust for improvements
• Buying an email list
• Sending out too much email

If you just use a little common sense, you shouldn’t experience any of these with your email marketing efforts.

Wrap Up on Email Marketing

As dear as email marketing is to the heart of my business, it’s not for the faint of heart. However, it is an absolute must for doing business in the online space. What have you learned from implementing it yourself?

 

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