Email Marketing VS Direct Mail

So should you use email as a marketing method or direct mail? Read the eShoutz guide to discover the pros and cons of both email marketing and direct mail.

Email Marketing

Pros

• Email marketing is cheap which makes it excellent for contacting large numbers of people.
• It is a very quick method of contacting people. Both production time and sending time for email marketing are minimal. This means that you can get rapid responses.
• You can measure the success of email marketing via ROI tracking. You can actually see leads and sales generated online from your email marketing activity.Emails encourage direct, online sales as it is easy for recipients to simply click through to your website directly from the email.
• It is easy to gain information on your recipients, measuring responses, checking which products and offers are clicked on and work well in your email campaign and also see hot prospects by tracking who is opening and clicking on your email.

Cons

• Emails can sometimes get lost amongst the large amounts of spam emails we all receive on a daily basis. This means that they are sometimes deleted without someone realising that they are not spam.
• Quality email lists are hard to come by. This means that you must invest time in building your own quality databases.

Direct Mail

Pros

• When sending mailers directly in the post, you can send someone many pieces of mail such as flyers, letters and information sheets all together in one envelope.
• Mail is often considered more personal than bulk email marketing.
• Sending direct mail is easy and requires no expertise in online email marketing at all.

Cons

• The printing and postage of direct mail are both expensive.
• Sending direct mail can be very damaging to the environment. Although many households now recycle their waste such as junk mail, it is still much more harmful to the environment that email marketing.

It is clear there are arguments for and against both email marketing and direct mail, and therefore which channel you choose for your marketing will depend on your business. Many onlline businesses and ecommerce websites find email marketing more appealing as it is cost effective and can connect recipients directly with their online businesses.

Take a look at eShoutz.com for more reasons to use email marketing.

Using Animated GIFS

eShoutz have noticed that there has been a subtle growth in the use of animated GIFs in email marketing during 2008. This has been especially true in this month, where subscribers are bombarded with numerous email campaigns and so companies are using animated GIFs in order to stand out from the crowd.

This subtle growth in the use of animated GIFS could be because, despite popular belief, they are supported by all of the major email clients and also because they do still hold a novel quality when used in email.

So what are the benefits from using animated GIFs in your email marketing?
- They can grab your reader's attention - Since animated GIFs are not greatly used in email marketing there is still quite a lot of novelty surrounding them and this is great attribute for grabbing your reader's attention.

- They can allow for a more creative message - Animated GIFs are great for drawing attention to particular elements of your email marketing message and for encouraging your reader to complete a certain action. The eShoutz team have seen in previous emails that animated GIFs have been used to encourage the reader to scroll down the email and also to highlight the call-to-action.

Here are a few points to bear in mind when using animated GIFs in your email marketing:
1. consider the file weight - animated GIFs can be considerably larger files than static images, especially since they use more and more colour.

2. consider how file compression affects your email design - Your email marketing message may lose its effectiveness if the design doesn't look good. Therefore, keep an eye on how the file compression affects the design, if it looks pixelated and garish, then may be animation isn't the right method for you.

3. keep it simple - You should assume that you only have your readers' attention for 10 seconds and so you should keep the copy to a minimum and make sure that your message is clarly defined.

4. consider compatibility issues - the major compatibility issue is that Outlook 2007 uses Word to render HTML emails and so animated GIFs do not display correctly. Instead, in Outlook only the first frame is displayed and so, for that reason, you may want to design your animated GIF so that the first frame contains all the information.

For more tips and advice on email marketing visit eShoutz.com.

Feeling the strain of the credit crunch? Don't panic!

With many high street retailers disappearing before our eyes, it is little surprise that retailers both online and offline are doing their best to increase their post-Christmas sales after a disappointing run up to the festive season.

You will have seen early sales and promotions on the high street, and email marketing has also been used to increase awareness of these sales. However, it appears that retailers are bombarding customers with poorly targeted offers, in the hope that they will generate those much needed sales.

Instead of taking a shot-gun approach, eShoutz recommends that you stick to carefully planned email marketing to inform people of your deals and promotions. Resist the urge to mass mail, and use targeted emails to stand out from all other messages about New Year sales in the inbox. Also, ensure that your landing pages are still relevant to the email campaign, highlighting the important information.

So our advice to you is...the credit crunch scary, but stick to your email marketing best practices and maintain your brand, image and trust.

New version of eShoutz coming soon!

We are pleased to announce that a new version of eShoutz is on its way! eShoutz will shortly have a whole host of new features to make your email marketing even more effective. With advanced reporting tools, free survey creators and microsite builders, you can now get even more from email marketing.

Some of the new features include:

Triggered email campaigns
Set up triggered email campaigns to help generate leads and conversions automatically. You will be able to create unlimited triggered emails based on any variables you choose from your address books.

Subject split testing
Simultaneously test subject lines for individual campaigns. eShoutz will test which subject line is performing the best on a percentage of your send, and switch the rest of your email sends to the more effective subject line.

Unlimited custom data fields
Store as many data fields within your address books as you like. This means that you can store lots of information about your recipients and tailor your email campaigns according to the information that you have. Send dynamic content emails reflecting the stored data.

Segmentation tools
Query and segment your address books using key demographic variables. Queries will also update themselves in real-time so you will never need to re-run the queries as more recipients are added to your address books.

Advanced reporting
The new version of eShoutz will have even more advanced reporting tools, including reporting on top domains, geomaps of results and the ability to create address books from your reports.

Survey builder
There will be an easy to use online survey builder available on the new eShoutz. Learn more about your recipients by sending surveys to your address books and gather more information about their preferences. Include the survey in an email or on your website.

Micro-site builder
The new eShoutz allows you to create dedicated landing pages for use with your email campaigns. It is simple to design and build micro-sites that reflect your own website and email campaign branding.

For more information visit the eShoutz website at www.eshoutz.com

Want to lower your unsubscribe rate?

Does it seem like you unsubscribe rate is increasing? Do you want to lower your unsubscribe rate?

Here are some typical reasons for unsubscribing and how you respond to them.

1. You are sending too many emails
Problem - You may overwhelm your subscriber is you send out emails too often and this may prompt them to use the unsubscribe link like a stop button.
Solution - Try using a preference page during your sign-up process as this would give your subscriber the option to select the topics/services/products that interest them the most and you could use this information to send emails that reflect your subscribers interests.
You could also offer the option for subscribers to select how often they wish to receive your email, i.e. weekly, monthly etc
You could also try testing different mailing frequencies to see how your unsusbscribe rate is affected.

2. Your subscriber has a new email address
Problem - Subscribers may not want to leave your list but just want to change the address that the email is sent to. If there is no easy way to do this, then they may just unsubscribe. If you're lucky this act is followed up by a new sign-up.
Solution - You could include details in the footer of your email about how your subscriber can update their details/change their email address. If your website doesn't have the functionality for this, then give them alternative instructions such as sending you an email.

3. Your subscriber isn't receiving what they expected
Problem - The subscriber will have opted-in to your email marketing with certain expectations. If these expectations aren't met, then they have no incentive to stay.
Solution - Ensure that the expectations you set at the sign-up stage match exactly what you send.
You could also allow your subscribers to select the type of content/topics they wish to receive by use of a preference page during the sign-up process.

4. Your subsciber is receiving too many emails
Problem - Unfortunately, people get a lot of emails and it is possible that your subscriber is overwhelmed by the amount of emails they are receiving in their inbox.
Solution - Although you may have lost them as an email subscriber it doesn't mean that they do not want to stop all communication with you altogether, so you could show them the other ways they can stay in contact by using links to your blog etc on the unsubscribe page.

Finally, the best way to find out why people are unsubscribing from your email list, is to ask them. You could add an optional feedback form on the page users reach when they press the unsubscribe link.

For more email marketing tips visit eShoutz.com

Tips for growing your email list

Looking to grow your email list? Then take a look at the eShoutz tips below.

1. Make your sign-up easy to find - Put your sign-up form/button in a hard-to-miss location on your homepage and also put on as many pages of your website as possible because not all users will enter your website on the homepage, for example, Pay-per-click marketing normally directs clients to specific landing pages.

2. Provide a convincing incentive for users to sign-up - This is normally as simple as 'Sign up to receive our newsletter', as this tells them what they are entering their details for.

3. Reassure the user - Some users may be concerned about what will happen to the information they have provided, so it may help to include information about provacy assurance.

4. Don't ask for too much information - The more information you ask for, the more hesitant or fed-up the subscriber may become. Keep it simple, only ask for the information you need in order to reach your personalisation goals.

5. Do your best to keep the subscribers you already have - Keep your current subscribers, provide good products/services and great customer service. Happy subscribers might even mention your website/company to friends.

6. Use a thank-you page - Once you have gained a subscriber you want to do your best to turn them into an active reader, someone that enquire/buy your products/services. The thank-you page is the first opportunity for you to do this so you should set the expectations about what they should expect to receive.

7. Understand why subscribers are leaving - If you are noticing increased number of subscribers, try to find out why this is. One way of doing this is to give subscribers the option to leave feedback when they unsubscribe. This may point out any glaring issues.

Visit eShoutz.com for more useful email marketing tips.

Top tips for creating successful landing pages

If you are sending email marketing campaigns, it is always advised that you develop an effective, dedicated landing page for each campaign you send out. If your recipients click through to your website, the landing page can determine whether or not you make a sale.

Here are some eShoutz tips on how to create successful landing pages:

1 - Make your landing pages look good
You can grab the attention of your readers with an impactful design, and reinforce your message with large, colourful font or images.

2 - Create a seamless experience
Your landing page should reflect the email campaign, and be the design should be consistent with the email. Try using the same images on landing pages as in the email, and include similar headlines on both the page and email newsletter.

3 - Make your landing pages relevant
Don't repeat the information in your email on the landing page, but make sure that the content compliments your newsletter sales message.

4 - Reduce any distractions from your key message
Don't lose customers who have clicked through to a landing page from your email by offering them too many options once they get there. Avoid links to too many other pages on your website that may prevent a recipient from making a purchase.

5 - Use your landing page to build trust
To build trust and brand awareness, include testimonials of happy customers and company information on your landing page.

6 - Have a clear call to action
Tell customers what you want them to do next with clear buttons or telephone numbers.

7 - Use page tracking with your email campaigns
If you integrate advanced ROI tracking into your website, you will be able to see where your email recipients click through and also track their activity throughout your website. You can then analyse the activity to determine whether your landing pages are working or not.

For more email marketing tips visit eShoutz.com