Effective Email Marketing - Tips to succeed in E-mail Marketing Campaigns

Few tricks in Email Marketing can help to boost your E-mail Marketing campaigns. Pay attention to the following 4 elements (in no particular order) in your E-Blast can increase your Click Through Rate (CTR) and effectiveness of your Email Marketing campaigns.

1) From Address (Email Sender Address)
2) E-mail Subject Line
3) Content
4) Day and time of delivery

1) From Address (E-mail Sender Address)

- If you see an email from an unknown or spam like sender (weird characters), of course you are not going to open it but just to trash it. However, if it is from an well known organization, an organization known to the recipient or a real person name, recipients are more likely to open the E-mail.

2) Email Subject Line

- The Email Subject Line has to be relevant to the recipient and answer the needs (e.g. attractive offer for a consumer or "Tips to rank high in Google" for an internet marketer) or fix an issue for the recipient (e.g. Help you lose 10 lbs in 10 days). It should clearly describe the topic of the email. Sometimes, mention an authoritative body in the Subject Line will help the Click Through Rate. For example, recipient in US pharmaceutical sector will be alert to read something with subject line “FDA approves…”; a mailing solution company in UK will alert mail solution user by addressing it to “Important news for Royal Mail users”.

3) Content

- Content has to be short and to the point. It has to be easy to read as people usually only scan through their email to spot if there is anything that interested them. Do not disclose all the important information but just enough to attract people to click the link and go to your website to read more.

Moreover, content has to be relevant to the recipient. For example, you won’t send information about dogs to cat owners.

Last but not least, use some relevant graphics to make the content more interesting. When I said relevant graphics, don’t put picture about dogs when you are talking about cats. Since you don’t have a lot of space to put a lot of pictures, only put the one which are eye catching, relevant and interesting, the ones that can grab attention and raise recipient's interest in the articles.

4) Day and time of delivery – Best day and time to send your Email Marketing Campaigns

Best Day to send:

Tuesday to Thursday mornings are usually the best days to send your email campaigns. You will usually get the optimum response from an email campaign sent on Wednesday. Monday and Friday would usually get the worst response rate. Imagine on Mondays, everyone has a whole bunch of email sitting in their inbox waiting for them to check. People will usually skip yours, which are the non work related ones. Same for Fridays, people just want to finish the urgent work need to be done that day and wait for the weekend to come. They won’t bother checking your marketing email if it is sent on Fridays. When accumulating with the email sent on Saturday and Sunday, your Friday email will be at the bottom of the unopen pile and will most likely to be skipped when you are back to work on Monday. Don’t send your email campaign during a business holiday or weekend. Business people are not there to read them and accumulated Ad mail will only be deleted.

Best time to send:

If you have an international list, segment it by time zone will help you increase your response rate by being able to deliver your email campaign at the best time.

Generally 10:00-10:30 a.m. and 1:00-1:30 p.m. are the best time to send. At 10, people have usually checked all email or cleaned up all “spam” accumulated during the previous night. They have already warmed up a bit for the day (they might want a small break at that time). At 1, they just finished lunch and they are more relaxed before getting back into their work.

If the above is not enough for you, there is also a very systematic formula available online. Click here to go to the Email Labs website for more details.

Time of the year:

For seasonal goods, this is very important. You won’t promote the wrong thing at the wrong time. Moreover, don’t send a campaign right before and right after a holiday. Or your email will most likely be skipped.

Netscape is exiting the Web Browser scene: No more support for the Browser from Feb 1 2008

Announced in the Netscape blog on December 28, 2007, there will be no more security patches for the current version of the browser, Netscape Navigator from February 1, 2008. Netscape.com will still continue to serve as a general use Internet portal. After February 1 2008, Netscape users have to go to the UFAQ, the Netscape Archive, the Netscape Community Forum for information about Netscape. Tom Drapeau, the director of AOL's Netscape brand encouraged Netscape users to adopt Firefox. This signifies the end of Netscape's era.

I used Netscape more than 10 years ago, when I first started exploring the internet. Netscape has dominated the web browser market at that time. Back then I was using Alta Vista as my search engine. Today, I no longer use Netscape but Firefox and I have long been using Google instead of anything else as my search engine.

The market is very practical, if a company don't innovate and continuously provide the best product, it will be replaced by newer, better and innovative companies in no time. Netscape used to have more than 80% market share in 1995. Now, according to the study done by the web metrics company Net Application in Dec 2007, Netscape's browser share at just 0.60 %, while Microsoft Internet Explorer dominated with a 77.4 % share and Firefox accounted for 16 %.

When I look at the browser my blog's visitors used, a pathetic 0% of them use Netscape. In the table below, you can see the % is skewed to favor Firefox. It is not surprising as techies tend to use Firefox more. I would think my visitors, people who are interested in internet marketing are more tech savvy than the general internet public.










When we look at the browser usage for a consumer product blog, you can see the difference. We have a majority 60.33% using Microsoft Internet Explorer while only 34.71% is using Firefox. Sadly for Netscape, still 0% share.








From the two blog browser usages shown, we still see Firefox has a skewed % instead of the lower 16% Firefox market share. These results are skewed as blog readers tends to be more tech savvy than the general internet users. Firefox has a bigger popularity within the tech savvy population.

Anyhow, all Netscape users should quickly adopt Firefox (or other web browser) as support will cease from Feb 1 2008.

Tested List of Blog Directories: Increase Your Blog Traffic, Submit Your Blog to June's List of over 60 Free Blog Directories

Submit Your Blog (and RSS Feed) to June's List of more than 60 Free Blog /RSS directories below and gain traffic by:
1) Reciprocal linkages (Helps improve your search engine ranking)
2) Additional entries in different search engines
3) Traffic from different Blog Directories

The Most Comprehensive List of Tried and Tested Free Blog Directories:
(The hyperlinks are to the sites' main pages since some of the sites change their "Add a Blog" page periodically)

I.Top 16 Free Blog /RSS Directories: (Get you Extra Entries in different Search Engines)









Color coded: Green=Google; Red= Yahoo; Blue=MSN; Yellow=AltaVista; Purple=All the Web

1) 2-review.com Give your blog extra entries in Google, All the Web, Yahoo and AltaVista.
2) BlogCatalog Give your blog an extra entry in Google.
3) Bloggernity Give your blog an extra entry in Google and Yahoo.
4) Digg A news, video and image directory: Give your blog an extra entry in Google, Yahoo, All the Web and AltaVista.
5) Dmoz Open Directory Project: Additional entries in most search engines.
6) Emarketingblogs.com Blog directory for internet marketing topics only: Give your blog an extra entry in Google.
7) Blog-search Give your blog an extra entry in All the Web and AltaVista.
8) Feedblitz.com Allow others to subscribe to your site's RSS Feed. Give your blog an extra entry in Google. (Create RSS Feed for your Blog here or at Feedburner (now owned by Google) so you can submit your blog to all RSS feed sites too.)
9) Feedmap.org Mapping your blog and locating other bloggers around you. It gives your blog an extra entry in All the Web and AltaVista.
10) Globeofblogs Allow you to exchange Blog Ad with other Blogs. It also gives your blog an extra entry in Google, Yahoo, All the Web, AltaVista and MSN.
11) Plusmo Allow your reader to subscribe your site feed onto their mobile device. It also gives your blog an extra entry in Google.
12) Technorati Give your blog an extra entry in Google and MSN.
13) Today Give your blog an extra entry in Yahoo, AltaVista and All the Web.
14) Total Blog Directory Give your blog an extra entry in Google, All the Web and AltaVista.
15) Webetopia If your Blog content answers one of their many questions, your site will gain a link from their site and an entry from Google.
16) Zimbio A great way to submit all pages of your blog. Others can rate your site on Zimbio and your site will gain an extra entry in Google, Yahoo, AltaVista and All the Web.

II. 47 Tried and Tested Free Blog/ RSS Directories:
1) 2Rss You can submit your blog's RSS Feed here.
2) Answers Submit your blog here after it is at least 3 months old.
3) BOTW Blog Directory No time guarantee if you don't pay for a review. I didn't try this one so I don't know about the quality.
4) Blawg A blog directory dedicated to the legal industry.
5) BlogsbyCategory A Free Blog directory with categories.
6) Blogarama A Free Blog directory.
7) Blogbib Only English Blog is allowed in this directory.
8) Blogbunch Submit your blog's RSS Feed here.
9) Blogdigger Submit your blog's RSS Feed here.
10) Blogdup Free Blog Directory with categories.
11) Blogflux Free Blog Directory: Your Blog must be at least 7 days old and have at least 5 posts.
12) Bloghop Free Blog Directory.
13) Bloghub Free Blog Directory.
14) Blogintro Free Blog Directory.
15) Bloglines Free online tool for searching, subscribing, creating and sharing news feeds, blogs and rich web content.
16) Bloglisting Free Blog Directory, no Category.
17) BlogMap Submit your blog feed, RSS or Atom feed here.
18) BlogOrama Free Blog Directory with Categories.
19) BlogPulse Free Blog Directory, no Category.
20) Blogz Free Blog Directory, no Category.
21) BoingBoing Need to sign up to suggest a link.
22) Bulletize Free Blog Directory with Categories.
23) Chordata Free RSS and Atom feed directory.
24) Feedage Submit your RSS Feed here, others can subscribe to your feed too.
25) Feedboy Free RSS Feed Submission.
26) Feedburner Free Tool for you to create RSS Feed for your site. It is now owned by Google and 2 of their previously paid services, TotalStats and MyBrand are now free.
27) Feeds4all Free RSS Feed submission.
28) Feedsfarm Submit your News related RSS Feed here.
29) FindingBlog Free Blog Directory.
30) Fybersearch Free Blog submission but no guarantee listing..
31) GeekPhilosopher Register to list your blog Free
32) iBlog Business Directory Free Business related Blog Directory.
33) Icerocket Free Blog Directory with no Category.
34) Link With Us Free Blog Directory with Categories.
35) LSBlogs Free Blog Directory: Go to "How to submit" link on the left to sign up.
36) Plazoo Free Feed submission, available in 7 languages: Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Polish and Russian.
37) Postami Free Feed Submission: Go to RSS Finder to submit your site feed
38) Pressradar Free News Feed submission.
39) Rateitall Free Blog Directory.
40) Redtram Blog submission: Free, listed within 30-90 days; with 30 Euro, guarantee to be listed in 2 days. It is available in 9 languages: Czech, Russian, English, French, Polish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and Chinese.
41) Search4Rss Feed Search Engine with free feed submission
42) Smallbusiness.com It is a Wiki dedicated to topics related small businesses. You would need to register to add your blog in the weblog there. All content are maintained by registered users.
43) Small Business Blog Directory Free Blog Directory for topics related to small businesses.
44) Strategic Board Free Blog Feed Submission. Need registration.
45) Syndic8 Free Feed Submission and Directory. Go to "Suggest" to add your Feed.
46) Topix Free news site. Register and become an editor. Add your RSS Feed by clicking the "from an URL" link in the editor's tools.
47) TruthLaidBear Register to add your Blog in this free Blog Directory (the ecosystem).

Improve your Site Ranking in Google - Use June's E-marketing Tips and Tricks (My Blog is listed on Page 1 of Google Organic Search Results)

Great news! By utilizing the techniques mentioned in my blog here, June's E-Marketing Blog (yeah, my blog) is listed on Page 1 of Google Organic Search Results for many keywords, including popular keywords like "e-marketing blog". This proves my tricks and tips do actually work! It works to rank my blog high in Google!

In the example below, my blog is the first 2 Organic Search Results listed in Google!



I will surely work harder to have my blog listed on Page 1 of Google Organic Search Results for more keywords! Come back here often for more tips and tricks to help rank your site high in Search Engines! (Note: It might take a few weeks to a month for your work to take effect!)

One quick tip if you are now starting a new site: Name your site with your main keyword! If you cannot name your site with a keyword (e.g. must be your company name), register a new domain with your main keyword, create a landing page to link to your company site (or simply direct the address to your company website).

My site is listed in page 1 of Google organic search result under (not limited to) the following keywords :

• e-marketing tips and tricks

• e-marketing blog

• emarketing blog

• emarketing trick
  

• emarketing tricks
  
• e-marketing trick
  
• e-marketing tricks
• blogging tips and tricks for site ranking
• popular screen resolution
• popular display resolution
• third generation search engine marketing
• third generation of search engine marketing
• third generation internet marketing

Update: OnSite Videos - Usage Statistics Available - How to use these to improve your OnSite Videos?

Finally, more detailed usage statistics are available in the OnSite Videos' usage report. Now you can track how well OnSite Videos is working for you.

Below are the information available:



By looking at your click through rate, you can see how effective is your video in driving visitors to the promotion page. If the click through rate is low, you should do one of the followings:

1. Double check if the visitors of the page where the video is resided are the right audience for your promotion message. For instance, you should not promote cosmetics in a male apparel page.
2. If the audience group is correct, you might need to redesign your message, making sure it is addressing to the needs of the target audiences. For example, to use the right terms, talk about how the product you are trying to promote can benefit the visitor. Use simple terms and avoid product model number. Product model number means nothing to the audience (only to you), but the uses and applications are more meaningful to them.
3. In your message, avoid talking about features but the benefits of the product to the specific group. This is a must for all marketing effort. BENEFITS SELL.

You can also look at the % play in full, to see how many people did actually finish watching the whole video. Also the average play time, to see if your visitors close the video in the beginning of the video or let it play for a longer time.

Add a live person on your website?

Recently, I have added a live person in my company's homepage. We are trying to generate awareness and product interest in a product not many people are familiar with.

The supplier I used was OnSite Videos. Not like its competitors, it is also feasible for smaller site/ small company to use as their pricing is very reasonable and flexible. Check out their website and detailed pricing at http://www.onsitevideos.com/page/pricing. You pay by the number of impression you need. However, if your site has very very high traffic, some other companies might be able to provide the same service at a cheaper price.

Want to see how a live person will look in your website? Go to http://www.onsitevideos.com/
and type in your site address to see a sample live person on your website. You will be amazed. :)

Want to see how different companies utilize live person video, you can click here to see more examples. (My company's website is being showcased here too!)
Anyhow, the result created by the live person is very encouraging. Many visitors have went to the product page to find out more about the target product after seeing live person in the homepage.

It is also very easy to implement. You can implement the video by yourself without knowing any web programming. Don't think it will take a long time and lots of effort to have a live person ready online and advertising for your products. All you need to do is to choose the actor, prepare the script and the video supplier will prepare everything for you. In my case, 2-3 weeks after I have submitted my script, I already have the finished video ready to be launched on my company's website. Moreover, you can change the position of the video to anywhere and anytime.

You can check the impression of your video anytime online in the report section. Onsite Videos is currently adding the feature to track the click-thru-rate which they claim will be available in a few weeks from now.

I am going to make more videos to support a few upcoming product launches and will surely share my experience and success with all of you after.

Popular screen resolution

See the chart below for the popular display resolution people are using. Note that around 1/5 of internet population are still using 800x600 and more and more people are using 1024x768. However, webmaster should understand his/her target audiences to decide a right resolution to use for the his/her website.

For example, if your audiences are people with low technical background in developing countries, you might want to target for 800x600. However, if your target is the design guru or technology pioneer, you should adjust your site for a higher resolution. Use the web statistics available for your site to know your audiences.

I have obtained the information from the following site: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Browser Statistics: Firefox is getting more popular

When you design a webpage, you should not only optimize it for Internet Explorer. Although it is still the most popular web browser, Firefox is getting more and more popular, especially in Europe, and amongst the techie and Macintosh users.

Check out the statistics below, which I obtained from http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp, you can see the total market share of Internet Explorer has decreased while the market share of Firefox has increased. The share of Internet Explorer has dropped from 85% in 2002 to below 60% in 2006.

Actually, when looking at the browser used to surf my blog (see chart below, results are in %, up to Nov 2006), it shows a similar trend. You might find an even higher percentage of people using Firefox here as many of my visitors (like you) are techie or e-marketers which are the population more likely to use Firefox.

FireFox has tabbed browsers, advanced bookmark manager system, live bookmarks, and higher security. It is small, fast and easy to use. Moreover, Firefox blocks pop-up and is not Active-X friendly, so spyware and adware will not be installed automatically when you visited certain website. These might lead to its growing popularity while IE is more vulnerable to various security concerns.

Click the download icon on the right panel to download FireFox with Google Toolbar. You will love Firefox once you tried it! It is a much better browser than IE. Try it for a week and be sure to share your experience with me!

Using Google Toolbar with FireFox gives you the following advantages:

1) Enhanced search box - give you suggestions, spelling correction and search history as your type
2) Safe Browsing - Give you warning for webpage that might be unsafe to browse

3) SpellCheck - Check your spelling whenever you type in web forms

4) Autofill - Automatically fill out forms for faster online shopping

5) Subscribe RSS feed with just one click

6) PageRank Display - tell you how Google's algorithms assess the importance of the page you're viewing. I would say this is a very useful feature for e-marketers. You should always check the Pagerank for your site.

Many more features for you to discover. A tool should not be missed. I personally love it! If you are not using it now, try it out today!