Three Phases of a Successful Email Marketing Campaign Part 1 - Sign Me Up!

Setting up and executing a business email campaign isn’t as easy as typing a paragraph and hitting “send.” 

If you only go through the motions, you’ll get what you put in. Mapping out your campaign is a must if you want more than an email that goes right to the circular file. This starts with establishing and populating your mailing list.


Your Website is Your Friend
Dedicate space on your website or blog to your email campaign sign-up form. Make sure this spot has visibility. If you tuck it away in your site’s “no man’s land,” don’t be surprised if no one fills it out. You want eyes drawn to the form, not an eyesore.


Determine the level of web presence you want to commit. You can feature the sign-up on the homepage, or on all pages. If you go with the latter, don’t forget continuity; place the form in the same spot on every page.


You control your site, so you control the format of the message. Consider what your company offers that can incentivise email list sign-up. It could be a coupon, white paper or any other valuable.


Don't Just HOPE for the Best
You can’t simply lay out a clipboard at your place of business and cross your fingers for a full list at closing time. You need to engage the customer to sign up. Enlist everyone in your company to encourage customers to consider the sign-up list.


Instruct your customer service representatives to plug your email initiative when interacting with customers. In one sentence, ask the customer if they want to opt in; “While I have you, could I interest you in signing up for our email list?”  A drawn out pitch might prompt the customer to make a decision based on annoyance.


  
Always Stay in Networking Mode
Running a small business, you’re always meeting people. You make a lot of sales calls. Maybe you attend trade shows, workshops and seminars. This is fertile marketing ground.


After exchanging business cards in any of these venues, ask if you can add the card’s address to your email list. If your business comes up in casual conversation off the clock, don’t miss the chance to add another name to your list. Grocery store checkout small talk could lead to a new name on your client board.



Email Campaign Gaffes
You open your front door and find a pile of junk mail. You’re in the middle of dinner and the phone rings with an “exciting time share opportunity.” Or more to the point, you login to your email to the tune of countless spam items.

 Do you read or listen beyond the foil-laced envelope or telemarketer greeting? Nope.
How do you feel? Annoyed.


Don’t stoop to filling your email list without account owner permission. Stay away from Chamber of Commerce or purchased email lists.  Site “scraping” doesn’t work either. Sure, the email address is on the web, right out in the open, but it’s there for business contact, not unsolicited mailings.


In Summation
Email marketing campaigns have a lot of moving parts, all of which need to be well-tuned to succeed. Apply these tips to the construction of your own list and keep an eye out for future Terrapin blogs to improve your email marketing.

Learning from Wikipedia

Wikipedia comes off as a Google bully.

The go-to web encyclopedia shows up at or toward the top of the rankings in nearly every search. Do the two entities have some kind of sweetheart deal? Nope. Wikipedia has cracked the SEO code.

Quality AND Quantity
It’s no quick fix, quite the opposite, actually. To dominate the SEO game, patience, and A LOT of content, is virtue.  

To get Wikipedia-caliber rankings, think of Google as that unreasonable teacher you once had; you are regularly required to write novel-length papers. But you had to graduate, so you sucked it up and did it. You want your business and site to thrive, so suck it up and do it.

The more detailed, quality content you work into your site, the more keywords you generate.  As long as you distribute the keywords evenly and don’t resort to keyword “stuffing,” your rankings will improve.

This isn’t the opinion of some lone geek hacker. This strategy comes straight from the mouth of Google.

In his SEO video mailbag responses, Google Search Quality guru Matt Cutts constantly emphasizes “quality content” as the initiation for becoming one of the rankings elite. Again, this goes back to having the patience to crank out an opus per page of your own site.

Repetition without Being Repetitive
A Wikipedia search for “Mariana Trench” produced a 1600 word article. The word “Mariana” is used 26 times, not counting the Notes section. Because of the sheer length and detail of the article, use of this keyword was evenly distributed, avoiding keyword “stuffing.”

This goes back to the quality content concept stressed by Matt Cutts of Google. Speaking of which, the Wikipedia entry for Mariana Trench showed up number one in a Google search for that keyword.

Getting Crossed Up
Wikipedia also excels at cross-links. The contextual internal linking can hook a page on a comic book character to one detailing migration habits of bathypelagic fish. The catch here is the sheer volume of articles on Wikipedia’s site, estimated at 22 million.

With eight figures of page numbers, these cross ups can keep users clicking for hours. It’s like getting into a new band you saw open for the act you bought your ticket to see.

In Summation
If you can follow this blueprint with your site, you could be on your way to being the next Wikipedia. They’ve been at it for over a decade, and you might still be prepping for a launch, so just have some patience with your content, make sure it’s top shelf and construct your SEO around it.

Go for the Gold

Are you sick of seeing your competitors on that top platform proudly displaying their Google rankings gold?

Add Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisements to your web campaign to take your own top spot.

Pay to Play
PPC is essentially a paid search engine advertisement. It utilizes keywords just like Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Your content shows up in search results as a top or flush right ad instead of an organic result.

With PPC, you set up the ad, establish a budget and only pay when a user clicks the ad. Once the budget is exhausted, the ad comes down unless you re-up.  

The upside to this particular training regimen, if implemented well, is instant gratification. PPC ads are ready to go immediately and will show up at the top assuming a good selection of keywords and sufficient budget. PPC is ideal for specific or seasonal campaigns your business might offer, as well as a long-term marketing tool.

Be Ready for Double Sessions
You’ve drawn in users with your top listing. But establishing lasting web dominance requires “two-a-day” workouts. Along with your PPC effort, Search Engine Optimization is a must.

SEO is like the exhausting, tedious components of Olympic training. The athletes would probably rather skip the endless sprints, laps and conditioning routines.

But these dreaded workouts are mandatory for success, as is SEO. There’s no infomercial-featured, “get ripped in a week” plan to get top-ranking search results honors.

A good SEO plan starts with quality, detailed content. Avoid blatant repetition of keywords, known as “stuffing.” You need to work effective keywords into your site in a natural way.

Never Stop Getting Better
Once you get in peak shape, you have to work to stay that way. Updating your site frequently with fresh content is the only way to stay at the top of your game once you hit that goal.

This all comes back to the aforementioned patience, the old “no pain, no gain” speech you’ll get at practice or the gym.

Bring it In
SEO’s the marathon, PPC’s the sprint. Sticking to this philosophy will give you a competitive edge to go for the gold.

Ecommerce - Going Beyond the Shopping Cart

When your business first opened its doors, times might have been simpler.  The door chime rang, the customer strolled in, grabbed their items from the shelf and handed you the cash. Have a nice day, see you next time.   Over time things have changed.  You adapted to make doing business with you easier - credit cards, gift cards, phone orders and so on. These became musts for your business. The rise of Ecommerce is no different.

Here at Terrapin providing Ecommerce websites has become a large part of what we do.  At least a few times a month we are meeting with someone who wants to sell something online.  Typically these potential customers know they need a shopping cart, but beyond that haven’t given any thought to how everything will actually work.

Let’s take a look at some questions you should be asking yourself if you are considering an ecommerce website.

Product Catalog

• How many products do you want to initially offer online?
• How often does your product offering change?  How many products typically move in & out of your offering?
• Do you have your product information in a database or spreadsheet?
• Do you have high-quality digital photography of your products available?
• How do you organize your products internally?  Would you use the same categories for your online customer?
• Do your products have special ordering options or are people just keying in a quantity and adding to a cart? i.e Different sizes, colors, etc.
• Are all the information & ordering options the same for all products?

Shipping

• What shipping carrier (UPS, FedEx, USPS) do you want to use?
• Do you want to provide real-time shipping rates (from carrier) or create a fixed shipping cost model?
• How are your products typically packaged?
• Do you have the weights for all your items & packaging materials?
• What is the turnaround time for you to ship an order?
• Does the website need to communicate with 3rd Party shipping system?

Payment Options

• Do you have an existing Merchant Account to accept payments by credit card?
• What credit cards do you accept (Visa, MC, Amex, Disc)?
• Do you want to offer other payment options (check, money-order, purchase order)?

Processing Orders

• Are you currently set up to handle small quantity orders?
• Is the person who manages order processing / shipping comfortable with computers?

System Management

• Will a single person or team of people be managing the system?
• If more than one person, will access to management tools need to be restricted based on who is logged in?

By carefully examining your product offering, the way customers purchase those products and how you process incoming orders, you can develop an Ecommerce website that is built around your business - not the other way around.

Claim Your Spot on Google Local

I start this blog post by admitting that Terrapin is decidedly Google-friendly.  Many times a day we use a Google website or app to take care of business.  But with all of the tools that they offer, there’s one in particular that I think small businesses need to put more effort into.


Google Local - A Powerful Tool that’s Often Overlooked
Think of Local as Google’s version of the yellow pages.   They list all of the basics:  company name, address, phone, fax and web address.  This gives Google just enough to create a profile of your business for their directory.

More and more these Local accounts are showing up in search results.  Why? Google’s #1 mission is to provide you with relevant information.  Besides websites & pay-per-click ads, Google can now share local businesses in the area as part of your search results.  If you came from the yellow pages generation, then these types of listings are a familiar site for you..

Along the way you’ve probably seen the red Google Maps markers.  Ever try clicking on one?  That will pull up a “balloon” on Google Maps with some of that basic profile info I mentioned above.  For those entrenched in the yellow page way of thinking, a phone number for a business may be all that is needed to reach out.  And you as a business owner can sleep at night knowing Google has probably already created a basic profile for your business.  

Wait... don’t you feel like you’re missing out on something?  You should!


From Shanty to Palace, Without Breaking a Sweat
The biggest search engine on the planet has created a very unique way for you to provide them with more information on your business.  It’s completely free and they have started you off with a basic profile.  All you have to do is claim your spot on Google Local.  Chances are you didn’t know you could, but it is definitely worth your time & effort.

Once you’ve claimed your business on Local, there is a lot more tweaking that you can do to improve your profile and improve your chances of attracting visitors to your site:  

1. Add your logo - Helps to create consistency and a professional look
2. Add your business to more categories in the Google Local directory - This is important if you offer more than a single service or type of product and may help your visibility for a wider range of search terms.
3. Set your service area - Tells Google who are potential customers based on their location.  More on this in a minute...
4. Upload photos & videos of your location, products or services, staff and more to add credibility to your business.  
5. Create special offers - Add incentive for potential customers to reach out to your business.  Make sure the offer is unique, so that you can track the response.
6. Respond to reviews - Google users can review businesses that they find on Places.  This is your chance to interact with customers directly.  So feel free to thank positive reviewers... and offer great customer service to address any negative reviews.

With literally an hour of your time you can not only spruce up your Local profile, but you can also spoon-feed Google a great deal of text & visual information... all linked to your physical location.... all linked to the products / services you offer... all linked to your business name.  

Why is this so important?


Google Knows Where You Are....
WARNING... This next part has some apocalyptic overtones.  I am sure there is some debate as to when exactly Google will go Skynet and become self-aware and have a bunch of Terminators running around wiping out humans.  Let’s just say that in the past few years Google has taken another step towards that - Google wants to know where you are, when you interact with one of their tools.

Thanks to our lack of robotics technology, I don’t consider Google knowing where I’m located a bad thing.  As a matter of fact, they use that information, along with what I am searching for to help connect me to relevant information.  How does Google do that?

1. I have an Android (Google) powered smartphone.  Everything from internet searches, to phone calls, to Google+ posts, to snapping a photo can be locationally tagged thanks to GPS.   
2. Any time one of my computers accesses the internet they use an IP Address to make the connection.  IP Addresses are like phone numbers that can be traced to a city/town level.  This may not be as accurate as GPS, but it’s still in the ballpark.
3. I use Google Chrome as my internet browser on my computers and I allow it to share my location with Google.  I’ve shared my work & home address and using the IP address I am connecting with, Google can tell you if my laptop is at work, at home... or somewhere else.

Coming Full-Circle
As smartphones & mobile computing continue to grow, Google will undoubtedly leverage a person’s location to retrieve relevant information and search results.  Google Local provides you with an easy way of expanding the visibility of your business on the internet - by linking your physical location to the products & services you offer.

Email The Ultimate Miscommunication Tool

When we started Terrapin 13 years, ago e-mail was still in its infancy. If you worked in an office on a computer, you may have had an e-mail account.  If you had a personal email account chances are it was with either AOL or CompuServe. E-mail has come along way since then - now you’re probably checking email on your computer, your tablet or your smart phone and doing so many times a day.  

That got me thinking - it’s amazing how the 30-something and over crowd never really had any formal e-mail training in school or from their employer(s).  The only way we knew we were doing something wrong is when somebody told us:  don’t open an attachment from someone you don’t know, don’t type in ALL CAPS because that’s shouting, etc., etc..  

With that in mind, it’s amazing how e-mail has become the ultimate miscommunication tool.  In corresponding with our clients, vendors, friends and family we often see bad email practice,  so we’ve taken some time to assemble the Top 3 common mistakes people make when using e-mail.  With our help, hopefully you can become the ultimate communicator through e-mail.


1. Who the Heck are You?
Whether you are using desktop software like MS Outlook or an online service like Gmail - each allows you to customize what recipients see in the “from” fields on the email.  The from is frequently the first thing someone look at when your email arrives.  

Not sure what yours says? Simply send yourself an email.  If your from field is set to your email address or just says something like “Sales” or “Accounting” its probably worth updating.  Personally I use my name, a dash and then my company:

David Michalenka - Terrapin Art & Design

This makes it easy for someone to know I’ve sent them an email, what the name of my company is, and because this info is the same every time - it makes my emails easier to find later on.


2. What Could You Possibily Want?
I cannot count how many times I’ve gotten an email with a subject of “Hi”, “Hello”, “Website”... or better yet, nothing at all.  The whole purpose of the email subject is to tell someone what the email is about.  Like most people, I spend the day prioritizing what emails to respond to first - chances are “Hi” won’t get my attention, since it almost seems like a personal email and not a work email.  

As a general rule of thumb here at Terrapin we always put the client’s name, followed by a dash  and then what the email is regarding. For example:

Daniele Foods - Remaining Items We Need From You Before Website Release

When the email arrives in our client’s inbox there is no guessing what it’s concerning.  When other Terrapin team members see the email  they immediately know which client it’s for and again, it’s easier to find search through our old emails to find information later on.


3. Forget the “Reply” Button Exists
That probably got your attention. The fact is you should stop using the “reply” button, and instead get in the habit of clicking the REPLY TO ALL button. Why? This make sure everyone who’s been involved in the conversation (on To, CC or BCC) stays in the conversation.

An email from Terrapin during a website project typically gets sent to 2-3 people at our client plus 2-3 members of our team.  The chain of emails can get quite long as everyone adds their 2 cents - but since new replies get “added” onto the email it’s easy to follow the conversation.

If during that process 1 person hits the Reply (instead of Reply to All)... then a bunch of people “miss” an email and are out of the loop, potentially missing an important piece of imformation that’s being passed along.  What’s worse is that if the person receiving the email doesn’t put everyone back on CC - the entire email chain gets broken, making it impossible for all the correspondence to be in one place.


In Review...
If you take a few moments and start putting these 3 suggestions to use - you will become a more effective communicator through email in 2012.  So remember...

1. Make sure people know who you are
2. Make sure they know what the email is about
3. Make sure to keep everyone in the loop

Our Very First Blog Post

Hello out there in Terrapin land... and welcome to our blog.  Here you'll find our musing on the web, technology, business, marketing - and anything else that may comes to mind that we think would be helpful to you.  All we ask is that you do your part and provide us with feedback as we get things rolling.