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Curtis Jackson

5 Things An E-Mail Marketer Should Avoid when Targeting the Professional Tradesman

by | Jan 27, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing

Sometimes we take things for granted and can tend to become complacent when using tools like e-mail marketing. We think we know it all since we’ve been doing it for so long, but we may have lost sight of what made e-mail so successful in the past.

A recent post by Curtis Jackson, What are the top 10 e-mail marketing mistakes, got me thinking that we should all evaluate the processes we have in place regarding e-mails. Here are my 5 top things to avoid:

  1. No Strategy – When you first started using e-mails, didn’t you have a written strategy of what you wanted to accomplish and how you were going to measure it? How are you doing?
  2. List updates – When was the last time you updated your list? Have your open rates been increasing or decreasing? How about undeliverables? That brings us to the next point.
  3. Ignoring metrics – If you’re actively doing e-mail marketing, you have to be using some tool like Constant Contact to help you manage your programs. They have metric tools built in to see how successful the actual e-mail was (both in content and delivery).
  4. Missing an opportunity in your top line message – Chances are your message will be viewed in a preview pane. Make sure your top line message includes a link to a web-based version.
  5. Timing – Tuesday at 10 a.m. may not be the most opportune time to reach your audience. Test out different combinations to see what works best for your audience.

Those are my thoughts. What are you doing to ensure you are getting the most out of your e-mail marketing?

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E-Mail Marketing for Industrial Marketers: Common Mistakes to Avoid

by | Mar 31, 2009 | Marketing Tips

fotolia_3151708_mIndustrial marketers are looking for ways to communicate with prospects while not breaking the bank. E-mail marketing is being used more as a cost-efficient tool, but marketers should be aware of some things that might make those efforts less effective.

I read an article recently by Curtis Jackson from Quell Group that outlines 10 mistakes when doing e-mail marketing. Here are some highlights from the article:

1. You must have strategy. Why are you sending it, who is the target audience, what are the key take-aways and what type of metrics are you using to measure it?

2. Lists. Make sure you have a good list of opt-in names and a system of flagging those who opt-out. There are several services, like Constant Contact, that will help you not only deliver your messages, but will help you manage your database and give you metrics to see how successful your programs are.

3. Relevant content. Ask yourself about the target audience – is the message important to them? Your subject line is your 3-second window. If the reader doesn’t see value, you’ll end up in that deep dark hole called “delete.”

4. Don’t ignore metrics. You can see almost instantly whether or not your prospect “got it” by looking at open rates, opt-outs, etc. You can then resend to those who didn’t open it using a different subject line to help increase your open rates.

5. Timing. When sending an e-mail, consider timing especially if you’re using an international list. Research has shown the best times to send e-mails are on Tuesdays or Wednesdays between 10AM and 2PM.

E-mails are a great, inexpensive way to communicate. You just have to remember there are some do’s and don’ts you need to watch out for. If you’d like to read the entire article: What are the top 10 e-mail marketing mistakes?

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