Verticals to Help You Turn a Profit in Q3 of 2023!
Introduction As the business landscape evolves and we step into the third quarter of 2023, marketers are faced with a dynamic and ever-changing environment that demands strategic foresight and adaptability. In this era of rapid technological advancements and shifting consumer behaviors, identifying and capitalizing on profitable verticals is a paramount consideration for companies striving for success. This article delves into a comprehensive exploration of the key verticals that hold substantial profit potential in Q3 of 2023. From the continued transformation of e-commerce to the rising importance of sustainability, the remote work revolution, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality, businesses have a myriad of opportunities to explore. Join us on a strategic journey as we uncover actionable insights tailored to each vertical, providing a roadmap for marketers aiming not only to navigate the challenges of the current quarter but also to position themselves for sustained success in the competitive landscape. E-commerce Evolution In the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce, opportunities abound for marketers to capitalize on the shift towards online shopping. The proliferation of digital marketplaces opens doors for businesses to delve into specialized niches within the e-commerce domain. Strategic partnerships with emerging brands can be a key driver for success, providing access to new audiences and fostering collaborative growth. Simultaneously, an investment in influencer marketing allows brands to leverage the trust and reach of influential figures, creating authentic connections with potential customers. Furthermore, optimizing digital storefronts is essential for crafting a seamless and engaging customer experience. From user-friendly interfaces to secure and efficient transaction processes, every aspect contributes to the overall satisfaction of online shoppers. Beyond the surface, the integration of data analytics and artificial intelligence becomes a powerful tool. These technologies offer valuable insights into customer behavior, enabling marketers to tailor their strategies with precision. By understanding preferences, predicting trends, and personalizing interactions, businesses can elevate their e-commerce game and stay ahead in this competitive arena. Sustainability and Green Initiatives The increasing consciousness of consumers towards eco-friendly practices has given rise to a profound shift in purchasing behavior. For businesses, aligning their brand with sustainability is not just a strategic move but a commitment to making a positive societal impact. Crafting marketing campaigns that emphasize this commitment becomes crucial, not only in conveying a brand’s values but also in resonating with a growing segment of environmentally conscious consumers. Beyond rhetoric, practical steps such as investing in eco-friendly packaging demonstrate a tangible dedication to sustainable practices. This not only aligns with consumer expectations but also contributes to the larger global effort to reduce environmental impact. Transparency becomes a valuable currency in this vertical – communicating openly about sustainability efforts, sourcing practices, and the overall ecological footprint of a brand fosters trust. Over time, this transparency becomes a cornerstone of a brand’s reputation, creating a positive association that resonates with consumers in the long run. In essence, sustainability is not just a trend; it’s a paradigm shift that savvy marketers can leverage for both societal and economic gains. Remote Work Solutions The global shift towards remote work has created a burgeoning market for tools and solutions that facilitate efficient remote collaboration. Target businesses and professionals seeking innovative solutions for virtual collaboration, project management, and communication. Develop compelling content that demonstrates the effectiveness of your tools, leverage social media channels, and consider partnerships with industry influencers to expand your reach. Positioning your brand as a leader in remote work solutions can result in substantial gains in the current market scenario. Health and Wellness Tech The health and wellness industry is experiencing a digital transformation, with technology playing a pivotal role in enhancing personal well-being. Explore opportunities in health-focused apps, wearables, and telemedicine services. Tailor your marketing strategies to emphasize the convenience and effectiveness of your products or services in promoting a healthy lifestyle. Collaborate with health experts and influencers to build credibility, and leverage user testimonials to establish trust among your target audience. Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences As technology advances, augmented reality is becoming more accessible and integrated into various industries. Use AR to enhance user experiences in sectors such as retail, real estate, and entertainment. Develop AR-based marketing campaigns that engage customers and provide them with immersive experiences. Whether it’s virtual try-ons for fashion products or virtual tours for real estate, incorporating AR can set your brand apart and drive customer engagement. Subscription Box Services Subscription box services continue to be a popular and profitable business model. Whether it’s beauty products, snacks, or niche hobbies, consumers are drawn to the convenience and surprise element of subscription boxes. Tailor your marketing strategies to highlight the uniqueness of your subscription offering, collaborate with influencers for unboxing videos, and consider limited-time promotions to attract new subscribers. The subscription model provides a steady stream of revenue and fosters long-term customer relationships. Digital Learning Platforms With a growing emphasis on continuous learning and upskilling, digital learning platforms are in high demand. Target professionals seeking to enhance their skills or individuals pursuing personal development. Implement targeted advertising on social media platforms, collaborate with industry experts for course endorsements, and offer free trials to encourage sign-ups. The key is to position your platform as a valuable resource for skill acquisition and career advancement. Conclusion As we navigate the complexities of Q3 2023, the opportunities within various verticals underscore the importance of strategic adaptability for marketers. The landscape is dynamic, and success hinges on the ability to align with emerging trends while staying attuned to consumer needs. E-commerce’s evolution, sustainability, and green initiatives, the remote work revolution, health and wellness tech, augmented reality experiences, subscription box services, and digital learning platforms represent not just avenues for profit but also gateways to establish lasting connections with a diverse consumer base. In the fast-paced world of marketing, a blend of innovation, data-driven insights, and a customer-centric approach is the key to unlocking these verticals’ full potential. As a marketing firm, seizing the opportunities presented by these trends not only ensures short-term gains in Q3 2023 but also positions
Specialized Mailing Lists Make All the Difference
If there’s one factor we are unable to say enough, it’s that an important part of your mailing campaign is your list. As always, the primary step is to see who your target market will be. Do you have to market for shoppers or businesses? For this instance, contemplate that your product may be a set of home trade tools. Good, currently, we’ve got narrowed it down to solely 291,324,219 folks within the US. As a minimum, your mailing campaign ought to send to constant names at least three times. Thus all you’ve got to try and do is channel 873,972,657 postcards at $0.185 per piece & you get the purpose. We want to slim it down additionally. However, how does one accomplish the narrowing of your list? Several factors are thought of; including age, gender, zip code, regular annual payment, profession, etc. It should take a moment to work out what combination works for your specific product. A novel eye cream would head to girls over forty. Nonetheless, say you’ve got a couple of specific markets, it’s VITAL to take a look at the MAILING LIST FIRST and even filter through to create a smaller mailing initially! An average mailing list typically contains 1000-1500 names. Once you see acceptable returns on the smaller mailing, you’ll be able to jump in with the other vital numbers. An example trial would showcase that you’d assume forty may be a sensible age to start with the attention cream. However, you’ll retrieve results buying for age fifty instead. Sometimes, you’ve got a product or service that you aren’t sure will adequately tighten your list by the same old qualifiers. You’ll be able to make certain assumptions regarding trade hobbyists: predominantly Male, most likely householders. However, what else does one know? At now, you’ll wish to think about employing an in private “managed” list. These lists can price higher per name; however, they can offer you a far higher way of pinpointing attainable customers. As an example, you’ll order the subscriber list for Fine trade Magazine. The value per name would be $0.095 per name compared to the standard average value of $0.05 per name. These names measure nearly double the weight. However, you guarantee that everyone on that list is curious about trade and your product/service. For example, women over forty, some are interested and others look comparatively young and are not even thinking of the eye cream you may be trying to pitch them. Managed Lists aren’t acceptable for all things, however will assist massively once a specific target is required. Do not fret over the additional price. The other targeted names can, without doubt, show more significant overall returns. Distinctive mailing lists aim to focus on a specific client kind for your particular business need. This is the outcome we all strive for, naturally!
Introducing the Power of Autoresponders
At one point or another, everyone reaches the point of exhaustion with constantly replying to the endless amounts of emails received daily. Whereas, autoresponders will prevent hours of valuable time. Whilst this saves you hours of time, there is also a reply immediately. In contrast, you will likely feel that this is often terribly wearing after you have a hundred and one alternative things to try to do along with your day. Thus what does one do? Work continual twenty-four-hour shifts to answer any incoming emails, or rent employees to try to dodo this for you? A better answer is to use an autoresponder. Autoresponders may be helpful in many ways to assist you online, and one in all these ways is to answer incoming emails as shortly as they’re received mechanically. As you may most likely already notice, emails square measure a primary communication technique throughout the web that makes them essential to your business. One critical feature of emails is visitors’ ability to supply feedback on your website, products, and repair freed from charge. However, if you pay hours upon hours replying to those emails, however square measure you expected to run your business? The solution is easy. However, it’s spectacular what percentage websites square measure attentive to autoresponders’ use. Besides mechanically respondent emails, autoresponders have several alternative intelligent reasons to use them. As an example, they will give an ideal chance to transport info concerning your website services or product, any special provides you’d wish to offer, and any articles or recommendations you’ll give to your prospects. They’re superb, thanks to building stable relationships along with your customers. Autoresponders may be in numerous formats, from a package that runs along with your email program or scripts that run on your net host’s server to autoresponder service suppliers. Many corporations provide autoresponders freed from charge. However, you may wish to browse what options they provide before selecting any one supplier. Instead, others charge a nominal fee; thus, take a glance around before deciding. A good feature of autoresponders is their ability to transport an infinite variety of follow-up messages at set intervals. Email is a superb selling tool. However, autoresponders have taken the ability of emails to a replacement level, permitting you to form contact with thousands of potential customers many times mechanically.
Internet Marketing: The Fine Line between Internet Marketing and Spam
Smart business owners who make the most out of Internet marketing realize the fine line between internet marketing and spam and orchestrate their marketing campaigns to garner the maximum amount of exposure without the risk of being seen as possible spam. The definition of spam is open to analysis, but most people would agree that spam is comparable to junk mail you receive at your residence. In general, spam is unsolicited emails that are part of an advertising campaign. The word spam can also apply to message board postings which are posted exclusively for advertising principles. This article will comb through the differences between adequate Internet marketing and spam. First, we will acknowledge the use of message boards for Internet marketing. Message boards are typically online meeting places for Internet users who share a particular interest in exchanging ideas, asking or answering questions, or mingle. These message boards grant users to register and post messages. Most message boards have an asset of guidelines that the users must abide by when making posts. These guidelines may differ widely, with some being very strict about acceptable content and others not being nearly as severe. It is crucial to follow these guidelines because failure to do so could result in the moderators erasing your account and other members not considering your posts. Message boards are vital for Internet marketing because they can give a business owner entry to a particular target audience. If you are in the business of seeking jobs for employees who aspire to telecommute, you might join a message board committed to working from home to find people who may be interested in your products. Here you can learn a lot about the considerations of your target audience. You can also take the opportunity to input links to your website when appropriate and follow the message board guidelines. Using advanced link-building techniques is considered to be clever Internet marketing. However, if you opt to respond to every post with a link to your website even when it is not relevant and does not offer value comments to other members, they are likely to view your posts as unwanted spam. Excessive links can be problematic because these members may opt to avoid your website even if they require your services. E-newsletters and email advertising are one section of Internet marketing that is most likely to be viewed as spam if not done correctly. Most Internet users do not value unsolicited emails, mainly when they do not relate to a subject that excites them. More often, business owners purchase email lists and shoot their advertisements to everyone on the list. This is not effective because you are unlikely to spread to a large population of your target audience. Additionally, recipients of the email may bar your email address, so future communications are automatically dispatched to a spam folder. Some recipients may report you to their Internet service provider, who may inspect the allegation that you are a spammer. An excellent way to approach the concept of email marketing is to explicitly send e-newsletters and advertisements to prior customers who have specifically asked to receive such emails and potential customers who have requested additional information.
Does Everyone Ignore Your Newsletter?
As Internet marketers we all know how important it is to have a successful newsletter to help us keep in touch with our customers. But it can be pretty frustrating to spend all those hours developing content and campaigns only to have the program flop. Open rates can dive into the single-digits and click-through rates can fall to mere fractions of a percent. So if this happens, what do you do? First of all, don’t panic. Usually, if you spend a few minutes looking at your data you can identify the problems pretty easily. Determine Which Problem to Fix Take a look at where your leads are coming from. If you are purchasing lists from other websites or publishers, make sure you segregate each source in your reporting so you can measure the quality of each list. You want to make sure you have a way of determining the quality of a list source before you merge the purchased group into your master list. Also, if it has been around for a while, try segregating your opt-in list into three groups by age: * Under 6 months * 6 months to 1 year * Over 1 year It is normal for open and click through rates to be highest for the “Under 6 Month” category, and lowest for those who have been on your list for over a year. However, there should not be a significant drop off as people move from one category to the next. Look for anomalies in the data. Here are a few things I look for when I’m troubleshooting a client’s campaign: * Is there a significant drop-off behind the first mailing? If the first mailing that a recipient gets typically achieves a 35% open rate, but the second has a 7% open rate, then the problem is not with the list source, or the header information (subject line, “From” address, etc.) it is with the content of the newsletter itself. If the drop off is 35% to 29%, then one might consider that to be normal. * Has there been a change in frequency? We all get busy, and one of the first activities that can get forgotten is the newsletter. Unfortunately, absence in the Email marketing realm does NOT make the heart grow fonder. In fact, a prolonged period of non-communication is one of the leading causes of opt-outs. * Are your articles relevant to the demographic? It is a good idea to survey your house list periodically to test your assumptions about their levels of expertise and interest in different subjects. Wake Up Your Sleepy Optin List Look at how you approach the people who have subscribed to your list. Remember that with email newsletters the permission your subscribers have given you to send email to them is not permanent; they can opt out at any time if they lose confidence or interest in your newsletter. More often than not, however, people don’t actually opt-out. They simply stop opening and reading your email. I call these “sleepy” subscribers. They are getting your messages, but since they are “asleep” they can’t read them. Although there’s no way to know for sure, I would guess that your “sleep” rate is probably about 4 to 5 times the size of your opt-out rate. So your opt-out rate is an indicator of your “sleep” rate. It is vital to understand what your subscribers think of your publication. Again, surveys are a great way to get feedback on your program. You can also provide an open link on each newsletter that asks for general feedback. Very few people will take the time to provide feedback on a feedback form, but you can bet that those who do represent a large chunk of your audience. Take their feedback seriously, and learn from it. Five Steps to Improve Your Performance Following are five steps that have always lifted the performance of my campaigns. * Get in touch immediately from the moment someone signs up for your newsletter, they start to forget you. If you take three weeks to send something to them, then they won’t remember signing up and they will reject your email as spam. Make sure they get an issue of your newsletter (or an ebook, or a free report; something that is relevant to them and has value) immediately after they sign up. * Make it personal and entertaining: Email marketing is a one-to-one communication, it is almost always best to keep the tone personal and entertaining. Try telling a few stories about yourself or your company. Let people get to “know” you, and feel like an “insider” with your company. This increases their personal equity in your brand. * Make all emails “high-value”: Every time you send an email it should be valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Straight sales letters with no “meat” can dampen open rates for future mailings. Train your recipients to view each email you send as a valuable piece of information they cannot afford to miss. * Test multiple article types: You can write all kinds of articles, and depending on your industry and demographics of your subscribers, they may prefer instructional and how-to articles; others may prefer current industry events, or breaking news. Test these out and see what works best. * Test different formats: Try splitting your list and send half your recipients an HTML newsletter and the other half a “text-looking” email. Make sure that the “text-looking” email really does have HTML in it, or else you won’t be able to track the open rates! Keep Your Chin UP All newsletters can experience a blow to their response rates. If this happens to you, it is important to identify the problems and fix them before you lose too much of your list to opt-outs and list fatigue. Variety is the spice of life, and it can “wake up” a sleepy list by injecting some excitement.
Does Everyone Ignore Your Newsletter?
As Internet marketers we all know how important it is to have a successful newsletter to help us keep in touch with our customers. But it can be pretty frustrating to spend all those hours developing content and campaigns only to have the program flop. Open rates can dive into the single-digits and click-through rates can fall to mere fractions of a percent. So if this happens, what do you do? First of all, don’t panic. Usually, if you spend a few minutes looking at your data you can identify the problems pretty easily. Determine Which Problem to Fix Take a look at where your leads are coming from. If you are purchasing lists from other websites or publishers, make sure you segregate each source in your reporting so you can measure the quality of each list. You want to make sure you have a way of determining the quality of a list source before you merge the purchased group into your master list. Also, if it has been around for a while, try segregating your opt-in list into three groups by age: * Under 6 months * 6 months to 1 year * Over 1 year It is normal for open and click through rates to be highest for the “Under 6 Month” category, and lowest for those who have been on your list for over a year. However, there should not be a significant drop off as people move from one category to the next. Look for anomalies in the data. Here are a few things I look for when I’m troubleshooting a client’s campaign: * Is there a significant drop-off behind the first mailing? If the first mailing that a recipient gets typically achieves a 35% open rate, but the second has a 7% open rate, then the problem is not with the list source, or the header information (subject line, “From” address, etc.) it is with the content of the newsletter itself. If the drop off is 35% to 29%, then one might consider that to be normal. * Has there been a change in frequency? We all get busy, and one of the first activities that can get forgotten is the newsletter. Unfortunately, absence in the Email marketing realm does NOT make the heart grow fonder. In fact, a prolonged period of non-communication is one of the leading causes of opt-outs. * Are your articles relevant to the demographic? It is a good idea to survey your house list periodically to test your assumptions about their levels of expertise and interest in different subjects. Wake Up Your Sleepy Optin List Look at how you approach the people who have subscribed to your list. Remember that with email newsletters the permission your subscribers have given you to send email to them is not permanent; they can opt out at any time if they lose confidence or interest in your newsletter. More often than not, however, people don’t actually opt-out. They simply stop opening and reading your email. I call these “sleepy” subscribers. They are getting your messages, but since they are “asleep” they can’t read them. Although there’s no way to know for sure, I would guess that your “sleep” rate is probably about 4 to 5 times the size of your opt-out rate. So your opt-out rate is an indicator of your “sleep” rate. It is vital to understand what your subscribers think of your publication. Again, surveys are a great way to get feedback on your program. You can also provide an open link on each newsletter that asks for general feedback. Very few people will take the time to provide feedback on a feedback form, but you can bet that those who do represent a large chunk of your audience. Take their feedback seriously, and learn from it. Five Steps to Improve Your Performance Following are five steps that have always lifted the performance of my campaigns. * Get in touch immediately from the moment someone signs up for your newsletter, they start to forget you. If you take three weeks to send something to them, then they won’t remember signing up and they will reject your email as spam. Make sure they get an issue of your newsletter (or an ebook, or a free report; something that is relevant to them and has value) immediately after they sign up. * Make it personal and entertaining: Email marketing is a one-to-one communication, it is almost always best to keep the tone personal and entertaining. Try telling a few stories about yourself or your company. Let people get to “know” you, and feel like an “insider” with your company. This increases their personal equity in your brand. * Make all emails “high-value”: Every time you send an email it should be valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Straight sales letters with no “meat” can dampen open rates for future mailings. Train your recipients to view each email you send as a valuable piece of information they cannot afford to miss. * Test multiple article types: You can write all kinds of articles, and depending on your industry and demographics of your subscribers, they may prefer instructional and how-to articles; others may prefer current industry events, or breaking news. Test these out and see what works best. * Test different formats: Try splitting your list and send half your recipients an HTML newsletter and the other half a “text-looking” email. Make sure that the “text-looking” email really does have HTML in it, or else you won’t be able to track the open rates! Keep Your Chin UP All newsletters can experience a blow to their response rates. If this happens to you, it is important to identify the problems and fix them before you lose too much of your list to opt-outs and list fatigue. Variety is the spice of life, and it can “wake up” a sleepy list by injecting some excitement.
Does Everyone Ignore Your Newsletter?
As Internet marketers we all know how important it is to have a successful newsletter to help us keep in touch with our customers. But it can be pretty frustrating to spend all those hours developing content and campaigns only to have the program flop. Open rates can dive into the single-digits and click-through rates can fall to mere fractions of a percent. So if this happens, what do you do? First of all, don’t panic. Usually, if you spend a few minutes looking at your data you can identify the problems pretty easily. Determine Which Problem to Fix Take a look at where your leads are coming from. If you are purchasing lists from other websites or publishers, make sure you segregate each source in your reporting so you can measure the quality of each list. You want to make sure you have a way of determining the quality of a list source before you merge the purchased group into your master list. Also, if it has been around for a while, try segregating your opt-in list into three groups by age: * Under 6 months * 6 months to 1 year * Over 1 year It is normal for open and click through rates to be highest for the “Under 6 Month” category, and lowest for those who have been on your list for over a year. However, there should not be a significant drop off as people move from one category to the next. Look for anomalies in the data. Here are a few things I look for when I’m troubleshooting a client’s campaign: * Is there a significant drop-off behind the first mailing? If the first mailing that a recipient gets typically achieves a 35% open rate, but the second has a 7% open rate, then the problem is not with the list source, or the header information (subject line, “From” address, etc.) it is with the content of the newsletter itself. If the drop off is 35% to 29%, then one might consider that to be normal. * Has there been a change in frequency? We all get busy, and one of the first activities that can get forgotten is the newsletter. Unfortunately, absence in the Email marketing realm does NOT make the heart grow fonder. In fact, a prolonged period of non-communication is one of the leading causes of opt-outs. * Are your articles relevant to the demographic? It is a good idea to survey your house list periodically to test your assumptions about their levels of expertise and interest in different subjects. Wake Up Your Sleepy Optin List Look at how you approach the people who have subscribed to your list. Remember that with email newsletters the permission your subscribers have given you to send email to them is not permanent; they can opt out at any time if they lose confidence or interest in your newsletter. More often than not, however, people don’t actually opt-out. They simply stop opening and reading your email. I call these “sleepy” subscribers. They are getting your messages, but since they are “asleep” they can’t read them. Although there’s no way to know for sure, I would guess that your “sleep” rate is probably about 4 to 5 times the size of your opt-out rate. So your opt-out rate is an indicator of your “sleep” rate. It is vital to understand what your subscribers think of your publication. Again, surveys are a great way to get feedback on your program. You can also provide an open link on each newsletter that asks for general feedback. Very few people will take the time to provide feedback on a feedback form, but you can bet that those who do represent a large chunk of your audience. Take their feedback seriously, and learn from it. Five Steps to Improve Your Performance Following are five steps that have always lifted the performance of my campaigns. * Get in touch immediately from the moment someone signs up for your newsletter, they start to forget you. If you take three weeks to send something to them, then they won’t remember signing up and they will reject your email as spam. Make sure they get an issue of your newsletter (or an ebook, or a free report; something that is relevant to them and has value) immediately after they sign up. * Make it personal and entertaining: Email marketing is a one-to-one communication, it is almost always best to keep the tone personal and entertaining. Try telling a few stories about yourself or your company. Let people get to “know” you, and feel like an “insider” with your company. This increases their personal equity in your brand. * Make all emails “high-value”: Every time you send an email it should be valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Straight sales letters with no “meat” can dampen open rates for future mailings. Train your recipients to view each email you send as a valuable piece of information they cannot afford to miss. * Test multiple article types: You can write all kinds of articles, and depending on your industry and demographics of your subscribers, they may prefer instructional and how-to articles; others may prefer current industry events, or breaking news. Test these out and see what works best. * Test different formats: Try splitting your list and send half your recipients an HTML newsletter and the other half a “text-looking” email. Make sure that the “text-looking” email really does have HTML in it, or else you won’t be able to track the open rates! Keep Your Chin UP All newsletters can experience a blow to their response rates. If this happens to you, it is important to identify the problems and fix them before you lose too much of your list to opt-outs and list fatigue. Variety is the spice of life, and it can “wake up” a sleepy list by injecting some excitement.
Does Everyone Ignore Your Newsletter?
As Internet marketers we all know how important it is to have a successful newsletter to help us keep in touch with our customers. But it can be pretty frustrating to spend all those hours developing content and campaigns only to have the program flop. Open rates can dive into the single-digits and click-through rates can fall to mere fractions of a percent. So if this happens, what do you do? First of all, don’t panic. Usually, if you spend a few minutes looking at your data you can identify the problems pretty easily. Determine Which Problem to Fix Take a look at where your leads are coming from. If you are purchasing lists from other websites or publishers, make sure you segregate each source in your reporting so you can measure the quality of each list. You want to make sure you have a way of determining the quality of a list source before you merge the purchased group into your master list. Also, if it has been around for a while, try segregating your opt-in list into three groups by age: * Under 6 months * 6 months to 1 year * Over 1 year It is normal for open and click through rates to be highest for the “Under 6 Month” category, and lowest for those who have been on your list for over a year. However, there should not be a significant drop off as people move from one category to the next. Look for anomalies in the data. Here are a few things I look for when I’m troubleshooting a client’s campaign: * Is there a significant drop-off behind the first mailing? If the first mailing that a recipient gets typically achieves a 35% open rate, but the second has a 7% open rate, then the problem is not with the list source, or the header information (subject line, “From” address, etc.) it is with the content of the newsletter itself. If the drop off is 35% to 29%, then one might consider that to be normal. * Has there been a change in frequency? We all get busy, and one of the first activities that can get forgotten is the newsletter. Unfortunately, absence in the Email marketing realm does NOT make the heart grow fonder. In fact, a prolonged period of non-communication is one of the leading causes of opt-outs. * Are your articles relevant to the demographic? It is a good idea to survey your house list periodically to test your assumptions about their levels of expertise and interest in different subjects. Wake Up Your Sleepy Optin List Look at how you approach the people who have subscribed to your list. Remember that with email newsletters the permission your subscribers have given you to send email to them is not permanent; they can opt out at any time if they lose confidence or interest in your newsletter. More often than not, however, people don’t actually opt-out. They simply stop opening and reading your email. I call these “sleepy” subscribers. They are getting your messages, but since they are “asleep” they can’t read them. Although there’s no way to know for sure, I would guess that your “sleep” rate is probably about 4 to 5 times the size of your opt-out rate. So your opt-out rate is an indicator of your “sleep” rate. It is vital to understand what your subscribers think of your publication. Again, surveys are a great way to get feedback on your program. You can also provide an open link on each newsletter that asks for general feedback. Very few people will take the time to provide feedback on a feedback form, but you can bet that those who do represent a large chunk of your audience. Take their feedback seriously, and learn from it. Five Steps to Improve Your Performance Following are five steps that have always lifted the performance of my campaigns. * Get in touch immediately from the moment someone signs up for your newsletter, they start to forget you. If you take three weeks to send something to them, then they won’t remember signing up and they will reject your email as spam. Make sure they get an issue of your newsletter (or an ebook, or a free report; something that is relevant to them and has value) immediately after they sign up. * Make it personal and entertaining: Email marketing is a one-to-one communication, it is almost always best to keep the tone personal and entertaining. Try telling a few stories about yourself or your company. Let people get to “know” you, and feel like an “insider” with your company. This increases their personal equity in your brand. * Make all emails “high-value”: Every time you send an email it should be valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Straight sales letters with no “meat” can dampen open rates for future mailings. Train your recipients to view each email you send as a valuable piece of information they cannot afford to miss. * Test multiple article types: You can write all kinds of articles, and depending on your industry and demographics of your subscribers, they may prefer instructional and how-to articles; others may prefer current industry events, or breaking news. Test these out and see what works best. * Test different formats: Try splitting your list and send half your recipients an HTML newsletter and the other half a “text-looking” email. Make sure that the “text-looking” email really does have HTML in it, or else you won’t be able to track the open rates! Keep Your Chin UP All newsletters can experience a blow to their response rates. If this happens to you, it is important to identify the problems and fix them before you lose too much of your list to opt-outs and list fatigue. Variety is the spice of life, and it can “wake up” a sleepy list by injecting some excitement.
Does Everyone Ignore Your Newsletter?
As Internet marketers we all know how important it is to have a successful newsletter to help us keep in touch with our customers. But it can be pretty frustrating to spend all those hours developing content and campaigns only to have the program flop. Open rates can dive into the single-digits and click-through rates can fall to mere fractions of a percent. So if this happens, what do you do? First of all, don’t panic. Usually, if you spend a few minutes looking at your data you can identify the problems pretty easily. Determine Which Problem to Fix Take a look at where your leads are coming from. If you are purchasing lists from other websites or publishers, make sure you segregate each source in your reporting so you can measure the quality of each list. You want to make sure you have a way of determining the quality of a list source before you merge the purchased group into your master list. Also, if it has been around for a while, try segregating your opt-in list into three groups by age: * Under 6 months * 6 months to 1 year * Over 1 year It is normal for open and click through rates to be highest for the “Under 6 Month” category, and lowest for those who have been on your list for over a year. However, there should not be a significant drop off as people move from one category to the next. Look for anomalies in the data. Here are a few things I look for when I’m troubleshooting a client’s campaign: * Is there a significant drop-off behind the first mailing? If the first mailing that a recipient gets typically achieves a 35% open rate, but the second has a 7% open rate, then the problem is not with the list source, or the header information (subject line, “From” address, etc.) it is with the content of the newsletter itself. If the drop off is 35% to 29%, then one might consider that to be normal. * Has there been a change in frequency? We all get busy, and one of the first activities that can get forgotten is the newsletter. Unfortunately, absence in the Email marketing realm does NOT make the heart grow fonder. In fact, a prolonged period of non-communication is one of the leading causes of opt-outs. * Are your articles relevant to the demographic? It is a good idea to survey your house list periodically to test your assumptions about their levels of expertise and interest in different subjects. Wake Up Your Sleepy Optin List Look at how you approach the people who have subscribed to your list. Remember that with email newsletters the permission your subscribers have given you to send email to them is not permanent; they can opt out at any time if they lose confidence or interest in your newsletter. More often than not, however, people don’t actually opt-out. They simply stop opening and reading your email. I call these “sleepy” subscribers. They are getting your messages, but since they are “asleep” they can’t read them. Although there’s no way to know for sure, I would guess that your “sleep” rate is probably about 4 to 5 times the size of your opt-out rate. So your opt-out rate is an indicator of your “sleep” rate. It is vital to understand what your subscribers think of your publication. Again, surveys are a great way to get feedback on your program. You can also provide an open link on each newsletter that asks for general feedback. Very few people will take the time to provide feedback on a feedback form, but you can bet that those who do represent a large chunk of your audience. Take their feedback seriously, and learn from it. Five Steps to Improve Your Performance Following are five steps that have always lifted the performance of my campaigns. * Get in touch immediately from the moment someone signs up for your newsletter, they start to forget you. If you take three weeks to send something to them, then they won’t remember signing up and they will reject your email as spam. Make sure they get an issue of your newsletter (or an ebook, or a free report; something that is relevant to them and has value) immediately after they sign up. * Make it personal and entertaining: Email marketing is a one-to-one communication, it is almost always best to keep the tone personal and entertaining. Try telling a few stories about yourself or your company. Let people get to “know” you, and feel like an “insider” with your company. This increases their personal equity in your brand. * Make all emails “high-value”: Every time you send an email it should be valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Straight sales letters with no “meat” can dampen open rates for future mailings. Train your recipients to view each email you send as a valuable piece of information they cannot afford to miss. * Test multiple article types: You can write all kinds of articles, and depending on your industry and demographics of your subscribers, they may prefer instructional and how-to articles; others may prefer current industry events, or breaking news. Test these out and see what works best. * Test different formats: Try splitting your list and send half your recipients an HTML newsletter and the other half a “text-looking” email. Make sure that the “text-looking” email really does have HTML in it, or else you won’t be able to track the open rates! Keep Your Chin UP All newsletters can experience a blow to their response rates. If this happens to you, it is important to identify the problems and fix them before you lose too much of your list to opt-outs and list fatigue. Variety is the spice of life, and it can “wake up” a sleepy list by injecting some excitement.
Does Everyone Ignore Your Newsletter?
As Internet marketers we all know how important it is to have a successful newsletter to help us keep in touch with our customers. But it can be pretty frustrating to spend all those hours developing content and campaigns only to have the program flop. Open rates can dive into the single-digits and click-through rates can fall to mere fractions of a percent. So if this happens, what do you do? First of all, don’t panic. Usually, if you spend a few minutes looking at your data you can identify the problems pretty easily. Determine Which Problem to Fix Take a look at where your leads are coming from. If you are purchasing lists from other websites or publishers, make sure you segregate each source in your reporting so you can measure the quality of each list. You want to make sure you have a way of determining the quality of a list source before you merge the purchased group into your master list. Also, if it has been around for a while, try segregating your opt-in list into three groups by age: * Under 6 months * 6 months to 1 year * Over 1 year It is normal for open and click through rates to be highest for the “Under 6 Month” category, and lowest for those who have been on your list for over a year. However, there should not be a significant drop off as people move from one category to the next. Look for anomalies in the data. Here are a few things I look for when I’m troubleshooting a client’s campaign: * Is there a significant drop-off behind the first mailing? If the first mailing that a recipient gets typically achieves a 35% open rate, but the second has a 7% open rate, then the problem is not with the list source, or the header information (subject line, “From” address, etc.) it is with the content of the newsletter itself. If the drop off is 35% to 29%, then one might consider that to be normal. * Has there been a change in frequency? We all get busy, and one of the first activities that can get forgotten is the newsletter. Unfortunately, absence in the Email marketing realm does NOT make the heart grow fonder. In fact, a prolonged period of non-communication is one of the leading causes of opt-outs. * Are your articles relevant to the demographic? It is a good idea to survey your house list periodically to test your assumptions about their levels of expertise and interest in different subjects. Wake Up Your Sleepy Optin List Look at how you approach the people who have subscribed to your list. Remember that with email newsletters the permission your subscribers have given you to send email to them is not permanent; they can opt out at any time if they lose confidence or interest in your newsletter. More often than not, however, people don’t actually opt-out. They simply stop opening and reading your email. I call these “sleepy” subscribers. They are getting your messages, but since they are “asleep” they can’t read them. Although there’s no way to know for sure, I would guess that your “sleep” rate is probably about 4 to 5 times the size of your opt-out rate. So your opt-out rate is an indicator of your “sleep” rate. It is vital to understand what your subscribers think of your publication. Again, surveys are a great way to get feedback on your program. You can also provide an open link on each newsletter that asks for general feedback. Very few people will take the time to provide feedback on a feedback form, but you can bet that those who do represent a large chunk of your audience. Take their feedback seriously, and learn from it. Five Steps to Improve Your Performance Following are five steps that have always lifted the performance of my campaigns. * Get in touch immediately from the moment someone signs up for your newsletter, they start to forget you. If you take three weeks to send something to them, then they won’t remember signing up and they will reject your email as spam. Make sure they get an issue of your newsletter (or an ebook, or a free report; something that is relevant to them and has value) immediately after they sign up. * Make it personal and entertaining: Email marketing is a one-to-one communication, it is almost always best to keep the tone personal and entertaining. Try telling a few stories about yourself or your company. Let people get to “know” you, and feel like an “insider” with your company. This increases their personal equity in your brand. * Make all emails “high-value”: Every time you send an email it should be valuable to the recipient, not just to you. Straight sales letters with no “meat” can dampen open rates for future mailings. Train your recipients to view each email you send as a valuable piece of information they cannot afford to miss. * Test multiple article types: You can write all kinds of articles, and depending on your industry and demographics of your subscribers, they may prefer instructional and how-to articles; others may prefer current industry events, or breaking news. Test these out and see what works best. * Test different formats: Try splitting your list and send half your recipients an HTML newsletter and the other half a “text-looking” email. Make sure that the “text-looking” email really does have HTML in it, or else you won’t be able to track the open rates! Keep Your Chin UP All newsletters can experience a blow to their response rates. If this happens to you, it is important to identify the problems and fix them before you lose too much of your list to opt-outs and list fatigue. Variety is the spice of life, and it can “wake up” a sleepy list by injecting some excitement.