In the last post, we saw how landing pages work in tandem with email marketing to grow an audience base.
We also discussed how landing pages are different from home pages:
This video demonstrates how the two types of pages are different:
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What’s a landing page?
Presumably a page that you somehow land on while navigating the web. Yes?
Well, yes and no. It is one of those geeky terms that’s confusing.
But a landing page is not the same as a home page. Confusing, I know so let me quickly demystify this for you. [Read more…]
A contact-us form may look like an email opt-in form. But they are not the same even though they both require your name and email.
This may be obvious but it’s a question I regularly get.
So how are these different? And do we need both?
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As more businesses begin to understand the importance of eMail Marketing, we are getting more questions on importing contacts into the list.
I have written about eMail Marketing elsewhere on this blog site. You can scroll down and click on the category eMail to get the related articles. And this is what FTC has to say about CAN-SPAM Act.
eMail service providers use reputation logic to decide if the message sent is wanted by the receiver. It’s a complex algorithm but it involves bounce rate, spam complain and subscriber engagement
Most eMail Marketing vendors will advise that you can only include those who have expressed an interest in subscribing to our email list either through a web form or some written explicit form.
That is to protect you from being perceived as spamming, which has its consequences. Here’s a process flow diagram that will help you prepare for your email list import.
What If I Include An Unsubscribe Button?
Here are some common questions raised.
“Must I really get explicit permission from my contacts before I include them in my email database? What if I give them an option to unsubscribe? Is that good enough?”
Answer: The unsubscribe link will be included in all emails but that unfortunately does not replace getting permission from the contact.
“But at least we are respecting them and giving them the option to opt out. We are respecting their choices, right?”
Answer: Most eMail vendors will agree that this is not permission-based marketing and advise against including them in your mail. This is proceeding without getting permission although giving them a way out. More often than not, people get annoyed and you may be penalized for that.
“But we have been receiving these mails regularly!”
Answer: Yes, lots of them all the time. And we do not like being sent emails we did not ask for. Just as we do not like getting unsolicited sms blast.
So Here’s a a little mind map diagram that will hopefully pain the picture a little clearer.
Permission Based Marketing And Friday Night Pizza Movie
Click on the diagram and it will expand.
Would you rather your friend asks if he can come over for Pizza this Friday or just appear at your door step? He is after all a friend who knows you and likes you. And imagine him calling on you every other Friday without asking for proper permission …
In the previous post on eMail Marketing, we saw what an eMail Marketing System is and why that can help you reach out to a wider audience.
Geographical boundary is not an issue.
Your eMail System facilitates your on going follow up with your audience and helps you build a relationship with them.
For those of us who prefer making phone calls and face-to-face meeting, this is an added channel that will enhance your current marketing effort; it does not replace the human side of marketing.
An eMail Marketing helps you keep in touch with people who may only have met you (or visited your website) once. By providing them an opt in form, your audience can indicate their interest in your product. When they give you their contact details, they are giving you permission to continue communication with them.
This is permission based marketing and is very different from you just sending bulk emails to everyone you meet.
In the latter case, you don’t know who is genuinely interested in your message and who may be annoyed by your mails! Your mails can be marked as spam and your efforts are not focused as you are not addressing a targeted group of willing audience.
With an eMail Marketing system, it puts the power in your audience as they can choose to unsubscribe; you are not imposing on them in any way. Yet as long as your audience is interested in your valuable tips, resources and messages, this eMail system ensures that they will get your updates while you build a database who are interested in your products.
In this 5:30-minute video we go behind the scene and see how these emails are designed to work. It is not technical at all and a little diagram will make this clear. Once you how the information and message flows, you will understand how powerful and effective eMail Marketing System is.
If you like to understand what an eMail Marketing is how it can help you build and warm up to your leads, you can refer to “eMail Marketing: How They Help Businesses Build Relationships“.If you like a little help with setting up your eMail System just get in touch with us anytime.
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