It seems like every day we hear and read about people’s concerns about online privacy policies. The ability to reach your audience is becoming increasingly challenging as they are wearier of online communication. Despite the growing reluctance, there continues to be a direct line of welcomed communication: email marketing.

With a basic understanding of this valuable online tool you can reap the benefits of direct communication with your audience.

What is different about email marketing from other forms of online communication?
The most effective use of email marketing uses opt-in lists or double opt-in lists. Email users consider their inbox “by invite only.” They have the ability to choose who may contact them, how frequently, and penalize those who abuse their privacy. Understanding and respecting the privilege to email your audience will foster an ongoing and successful relationship.

How does the government, yes, government, regulate email marketing?
Under the Federal Trade Commission, the CAN-SPAM Act regulates how businesses (that’s you) communicate with consumers (your audience). As the name states, the CAN-SPAM simply outlines a few regulations so that you can email your audience while protecting the consumer. Although following the guidelines is easy, one misstep can cost your company heavy fines.

Is CAN-SPAM my only SPAM concern?
Nope. Just because you are following CAN-SPAM regulations, you now need to jump the hurdle of SPAM filters in order for your email to reach your audience’s inboxes. Spam filters exist to help us all avoid unsolicited and often dangerous emails. Not sure what I am talking about? Open up your SPAM folder now and take a peak. You’re likely to find emails for cheap prescription drugs (you know the sort), free millions your long lost Aunt from Zimbabwe left you, and emails written in Asian characters.

You may be thinking, “But I’m not offering any of those things.” Hopefully that’s true, but because SPAM filters work on computer logic you have to understand how the filters “think” in order for your emails to avoid being marked as SPAM.

For specific information on the CAN-SPAM Act and how to avoid SPAM filters, download Bridgeline’s free guide on how to avoid becoming spam.

It’s no secret that one of the cornerstones of Web Experience Management (WEM) is the common eNewsletter, and your subscribers are each a piece of marketing gold – directly attached to traffic, engagement and, yes, conversions. While it wouldn’t be wrong to call each email address a lead, it would be discounting their potential. More accurately described, your subscriber list is a screened and vetted collection of opt-in, targeted, hungry leads, complete with a stated interest in exactly what your website has to offer.

Money can’t buy love

It seems obvious that one of the most important things you can do to increase your site’s web engagement would be to grow your e-mail list, organically rather than by purchase of addresses. One way to accomplish that is through goal oriented, multi-channel campaigns and by applying constant optimization to your website landing pages and form pages. (more…)

In today’s web-covered world, everything is richer, faster, more colorful, and more relevant to each user. The old bait & hook, mass-blast marketing isn’t enough anymore, and can genuinely annoy its intended target – your potential customers. Marketers need to focus their messaging efforts now, more than ever, across multiple channels to effectively manage successful web engagement, and they need to take advantage of tools that can help them do just that. Today’s Web Engagement Marketing (WEM) strategies require an implementation that is derived from specific goals or objectives, and campaigns need to be able to be easily and quickly altered in individual channels for continuous optimization.

Goal Driven Marketing involves setting specific goals for an overall campaign and deploying a WEM strategy that exploits various channels to achieve those goals and that can be measured against benchmarks that make sense to your company. Effective Goal Driven Marketing leverages accurate, relevant web analytics to enable real-time adjustment to each channel in order to reach and exceed these goals.

You do this now. Need to fill more seats for your next company seminar? You set a campaign goal for increasing the number of registrants then associate that goal to a series of channel actions: email campaigns, banner ads, paid search, social media efforts, etc. As the campaign progresses, you keep a close eye on analytics from each channel, figure out what is and isn’t working, then make necessary adjustments to optimize for maximum effect. (more…)

When Apple released the iPad in April 2010 clients began insisting that their websites were “iPad friendly.”  The race to keep internet marketing efforts up with the newest platforms is important, but more important is keeping your internet marketing efforts up with the platforms used by your audience.  Despite the hype around tablet friendly websites, the user percentage is relatively small.  For the most part, focusing on your mobile segment is much more worth your while.

According to Pew Internet, 34% of the population uses mobile devices to send or receive email.  The percentage of your audience may skew higher or lower, but the point is: your audiences are reading emails on their phones.

They key components to building a mobile friendly email are very similar to a traditional email campaign.  It is still important to know your conversion objectives, know your segment, track your emails, and have an engaging subject line….

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Increasing your campaign’s open rate is a great step towards meeting your email campaign goals.  Understanding the factors that affect open rate is the first step in improving your campaigns.

I’d like to say that there was only one factor affecting open rate, or at least that we could control every component.  It would be a lot easier if everything had transparent causality.  Heck, if “an apple a day kept the doctor away” really worked, we’d all be pictures of perfect health.  But let’s face it, there is more than one factor impacting our health.  And even open rates have factors beyond the email campaign and even beyond the brand’s control that positively and negatively affect their success.

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Imagine this: you walk into your favorite restaurant which you have selected from the thousands of restaurant options.  You sit down and order your favorite dish, gnocchi.  After a short wait, the waiter returns and serves you a hot plate of kielbasa.  What a disappointment; this is not what you signed up for. Chances are, this restaurant has fallen from your good graces and you may not choose to return in the future.

Email marketing is a lot like managing patron expectations at a restaurant. You have an audience that has opted into your mailing list and is looking forward to hearing your message as it relates to them.  But send the wrong message to the wrong audience and your unsubscribe rate, or worse, your spam rate, may begin to soar.

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