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Excess Voice Newsletter
January 2007, Issue # 122
In this issue:
>> Intro: All about email marketing
>> Review: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007
>> Article: Every email you send is a customer service email
>> Survey: What's going to be different about 2007?
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Greetings,
In this issue of the Excess Voice newsletter both the article and review are focused on the topic of email marketing.
Email is still, I believe, one of the most powerful and under-utilized channels online. It may not be as novel or exciting as video, text messaging or advertising on social network sites...but it works. And it works in ways that other channels don’t address. Above all, email enables you to speak to your prospects and customers one-on-one.
As always, let me know what you think of the article, and please take a moment to take part in the survey.
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Usborne
Newsletter: http://www.excessvoice.com
Copywriting and consulting: http://www.nickusborne.com
>> Feedback: nick@excessvoice.com
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REVIEW: MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007
What kind of open rate should you expect from your email campaigns? What’s a typical clickthrough rate? Should you worry about corporate email filters?
Does the design of emails impact results? What kind of response can you expect from rented lists?
These are just a few of the questions answered in the 2007 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide.
If email marketing is part of your business, persuade your employer to buy a copy of this guide. It will give you the benchmark figures you need, and insights into some important upcoming trends, like the growth in mobile messaging.
Read my full review here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/email-marketing.htm
>> Previous Reviews
::: At ExcessVoice.com :::
#1. Landing Page Handbook - How to Raise Conversions
This report from MarketingSherpa is the first I have seen that provides solid data on what does and doesn't make a difference to landing page conversion rates. Tons of data on copy and design strategies. Dozens of before and after examples and the improvements achieved.
Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/landing-page.htm
::: At Freelance Writing Success :::
#1. The InfoGuru Marketing Manual
A manual by Robert Middleton that delivers a wealth of hands-on information, strategies, techniques, examples, stories and ideas to help freelancers attract more clients.
Read my review:
http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/infoguru.php
#2. Secrets of Writing for the Business to Business Market
There are 8 million business-to-business companies out there. And they all need good sales copy. The opportunity in B2B copywriting is huge, and this 350+ page course tells you everything you need to know about getting your own slice of the market.
Read my review:
http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/B2B-copywriting.php
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ARTICLE: Every email you send is a customer service email.
If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two.
The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories.
1. Promotional emails with which you attempt to make a sale.
2. Acknowledgement emails which are sent out automatically in response to some action taken by someone on your site. For example, when someone makes a purchase.
3. Customer service emails which are sent out in response to an inquiry, question or complaint sent in by someone from your site, or through email by someone who has made a recent purchase.
Each of these three types of emails requires a slightly different approach. Their purposes are different, and each should be optimized to perform their respective tasks.
>> However, they are ALL of them “customer service” emails...
That is to say, every email you send, regardless of its purpose, offers you an opportunity to deepen the relationship you have with each customer.
And this is important, because your relationships with online customers will always be tenuous and vulnerable.
You are surrounded by online competition, and consumers have a vast array of tools to compare your performance with other vendors, whether through Bizrate, Amazon or any of the other comparison engines or sites that host reviews and opinions.
In other words, your best customer today could be gone tomorrow.
Given this state of transparency and vulnerability, you can’t afford to take genuine care of your customers only in those emails designated as “customer service” emails.
>> Add a personal touch to every email
Customer care isn’t just about getting the task completed, or a complaint “resolved”. It’s also about communicating with your customer or prospect in a human, accessible and empathetic way.
It’s about leaving your customer with the feeling that he or she has been respectfully taken care of by a real person.
Some companies do this very well with their customer service emails. They hire real people to type in real responses.
But few companies apply the same, human touch across their promotional and automated emails.
>> Make every email a moment of human contact
Every point of email contact provides you with an opportunity to build on the relationship you have with your customers, prospects and subscribers.
Take advantage of the human, personal potential of email.
Add a human element even to those automated emails, and your sales emails.
Use language that that has a conversational and personal touch.
Be genuine. Write as if you were speaking across the counter of a bricks and mortar store.
It’s a great way to build loyalty and increase retention.
** If you would prefer to read this article on the web, or would like to forward the url to a colleague or friend, you'll find it here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/article122.htm
>> Feedback: nick@excessvoice.com
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SURVEY: What's going to be different about 2007?
Personally I start each year with some new plans for the months ahead. I like to change things a little, mix things up. To put it another way, I hate the idea of one year being the same as the one before.
In your professional life, what are you going to change in 2007?
.......?
Comments: ....
(NOTE: Any comments and your name may be published in the next issue, or on the Excess Voice web site.)
Cut and paste your replies to me at nick@excessvoice.com
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NICK USBORNE'S SERVICES:
Yes, I do more than write articles and publish newsletters.
Ask me to write for your site, emails and newsletters.
http://www.nickusborne.com/copywriting.htm
Ask me to optimize your key offer pages...
http://www.nickusborne.com/consulting.htm
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