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Essential Guides

July 28, 2010

10 key questions you should be asking your data supplier

You need to know that the data you buy is legal, up-to-date and targeted. Here are our top 10 key questions you should be asking your data supplier. An explanation of why is provided after each question.
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July 16, 2010

Essential Guide To Successful Email Campaigns

Many factors determine the success of an email campaign. The focus of any campaign, however, should be on getting 'the right message, to the right person, at the right time'. Our Essential Guide covers the top 10 hints and tips to help you get the most from your email marketing. (more...)

 

May 25, 2010

Email Inboxes Getting Stuffed?

With email inboxes getting stuffed, intrays are relatively empty, opening up new opportunities for an old favourite - direct mail. The steely guardians of their bosses’ mail no longer have to filter out masses of promotions, offers and information. The new filterers are of email; faceless, automatic and far more efficient, directing well thought out ideas effortlessly into spam folders, or deleting messages, without question, from over full inboxes. Marketing history was never made by following the crowd and there is no better time than now to make your mark. There is a new receptiveness for good quality print, presented with a compelling message. It has a physical presence and a period of retention envied by email marketers. So, harness the newfound power of direct mail – and stand out from the crowd.

 

April 28, 2010

5 Top Tips to Writing Better Communications

Improve Customer Loyalty, Brand Affinity and Business Efficiency

Written communication is about getting information across. And let's face it, there are almost limitless ways to say the same thing. I'm afraid there's a service fee. You must pay a service fee. The small matter of a service fee presently applies in this case. The words you choose tell your customer what your brand's personality is really like. You can do so much when you get it right.
  • Influence customer behaviour
  • Cut out unnecessary calls and contact
  • Increase customer satisfaction
  • Achieve tone consistency across your entire brand (not just in ads)
  • Increase customer trust and engagement with your brand
Those points are all about saving you time and making money. Sadly, there's an even longer list for what happens when you get written comms wrong. We won't put them down here because that'd be a bit depressing, but we will tell you they're all about losing money and wasting time. Told you it was depressing. So now we know how important written comms are, here are some tips for you to mull over. 1. Be Yourself Brands spend a lot of time developing a tone of voice and an identity that their customers begin to recognise. They do this through brand design, TV commercials, billboards and lots of other expensive forms of communication. Sadly, all it takes is a poorly worded email or letter to ruin all that hard work. Write with your voice across all your communications and you'll go a long way to empowering your brand. This means using words that your customers would expect you to say. It's about imagining your brand sitting down and writing with its own hand. If your brand is humorous and quirky in its advertising, you'll have customers that appreciate you for that. So it makes sense to let those traits come across in your written comms too. The more you do that, the more your customers will come to know and love your best features. Let the brand loyalty blossom. 2. Be Simple Unless you're the Queen or a 19th century aristocrat, it's not vulgar to use shorter, simpler words and phrases instead of big or unnecessary ones. Prior to = before With regard to = about Amendment = change People often automatically fall into a formal tone when they write. All this does is waste your readers' time and make your writing boring. Cut out the fat and you'll find you'll get your information across a lot faster and with much less confusion. Oh, and people might actually read it. That's always a good thing. 3. Be Human Humanise your written comms and you'll stand out immediately. People are constantly beaten over the head with stiff, corporate communication, so when a conversational and personal tone is used it can be a sight for sore eyes. This doesn't mean patronising your customers, it's about writing to them in a way that feels one to one. There are a few really easy ways to do this...
Contradictions Personal pronouns Active Language
Do not = don't I Instead of: That information will be reviewed
It will = it'll We/ You Try: We'll look into that for you
Writing like this helps you build trust with your customers and make their experience of your brand much more pleasant. It's about writing the same way you'd talk to someone. But remember, that's a fine line to tread when you could be writing to thousands of people from all walks of life. 4. Be Readable Sometimes your brand will have loads of information to get across. With great length comes great responsibility. Don't be boring. The more accessible you make your writing, the more your customers will take in. And that means your brand will be right there in their minds. A very valuable place to be. Thankfully there are a few simple things you can do to stop your writing being too dry. Change up your rhythm Putting a string of long sentences in a row is a highly effective sedative. Sprinkle some short, punchy ones throughout to hold interest. It's how we talk, so why not write like that too? Break it up Just looking at an entire, uninterrupted page of text can be a daunting experience, and that's before you've even tried to read it. Break it up into chunks. Then put headlines over these chunks to get your reader's attention and save their time. 5. Be Brief Get to the point. Remember at school when you had to write 2500 word essays? You'd cram in adjectives, anecdotes, redundant language, anything to get that word count up. That's the exact opposite of how you should approach your written comms. Let's look at this sentence in a letter: 'To conclude, we would once again like to tell you how much we value you as a customer.' Do you need to say To conclude? It's going to be pretty obvious to the reader where the end of the letter is (usually when there's no more writing). we would once again like to tell you Really? If you have to tell someone something, you don't need tell them you're going to tell them, just tell them. You know what we mean. how much we value you as a customer. But you haven't actually said how much you value them. You've just used a cliché. Speaking of clichés*, that one about never using two words when one will do is bang on. The harder you try to keep your writing brief the better it'll become. How about this instead: 'Thanks again for staying with us.' *Avoid clichés in your writing... they're a bit boring. Republished with permission from written and audio communications experts, soh (Europe) Ltd (www.soh.co.uk)

 

8 Tips for Effective Email Preheaders

The email preheader (the content in the top line of an email message) has come a long way from its origins as an HTML and deliverability troubleshooter, eg. "Add us to your address book"/"View on the Web site"/"Click here to download images." When you use the preheader to expand on the subject line, add a secondary offer, or emphasize a deadline, you help the reader decide quickly what to do with the message: Should I read it all? Scan the top? Delete it? This goes along with my "Make It Easy" philosophy of email: the easier you make your email to open, read, and interact with, the more valuable it becomes to your subscribers.

Make the Most of This Valuable Real Estate

More marketers are adding content to their preheaders today, but as with every email innovation, not everyone is getting maximum value from this exposure. This list of what to do and what not to do will help you get the most out of your preheaders:

1. Don't load up the preheader with line after line of administrative copy

It makes sense to merge this information into the first couple of messages you send to a new subscriber, but after that, it becomes too easily ignored. While it's a good idea to include a "View online/View mobile version" link as a secondary preheader, an add-to-address-book request can get passed over once the subscriber either accepts the request or decides not to. Move administrative copy to your email footer, and reserve the preheader for more powerful messages.

2. Be succinct

A utility preheader that reads, "If you are having trouble seeing this email, please read it at our Web site," can be shortened to a snappy "View online" or "View mobile version." (See more on handling preheader content like this in tip No. 6.) I'm seeing a trend now where the preheader extends over two or three lines. While this does add content, it can also be overkill. Keep your promotional preheader to a single line for maximum impact.

3. Don't repeat your subject line

This lazy approach adds no value. It also doesn't help the reader answer the questions that will decide whether she opens your message, reads and acts on it, or just deletes it:
  • Who is this message from?
  • What's in it for me?
  • What do you want me to do?
Your sender address, subject line, and preheader work in unison to help answer these questions. Each one has a specific purpose. One or two shouldn't do all the work.

4. Don't make it hard to read, whether accidentally or on purpose

A good preheader won't distract readers from the rest of your email content. Instead, it amplifies the message and delivers key information when the content doesn't render. However, your preheader has to be seen to have an impact. Suppose you write a strong promotion with an irresistible call to action. When you format it in a light grey font or a tiny type size, you counteract the preheader's goals. Use a standard font size (minimum 8-point type size) in a readable color (basic black always works). Boldface the call to action to help draw the eye, and use an underline for the link. It seems basic, but underlines still signal to readers that the content is clickable.

5. Don't put "forward to a friend" or "share with your network" links in the preheader, unless testing supports this placement

It doesn't make sense to ask your readers right away to share your content if they haven't seen what the message says or even decided yet what they want to do with it. You haven't yet made a compelling argument for them to scroll down (or across when viewed on a mobile screen), take in your message, and then decide what to do with it. Your sharing links could become irrelevant and thus wasted space. Testing will tell you whether your sharing links will get the most visibility and action at the top, the bottom, or inside the copy itself.

6. Use the left and right content regions for different preheader goals

Left justify your marketing preheader (the one with the call to action, secondary offer, etc.). This way, it will show up in both horizontal and vertical preview panes or on small mobile screens. Right justify utility information (add to address book, view online/mobile, and contact phone numbers). It's still visible in the full screen, but not necessarily the most important information.

7. Include the coupon code

This makes it easy for the discount to show up in the shopping cart and to help shoppers find it quickly for copying and pasting on the order form, if clicking through from the email doesn't automatically add the code.

8. Include shopping dates to remind shoppers they have only a few days to act

Not everyone opens your email and shops on the day it arrives. Emphasize the end date by adding it to the preheader. When promoting a limited-time offer, your subject line could say, "Three-day Sale" and your preheader could begin, "Ends 11/18/2009." This is also an example of how an effective preheader can amplify or expand the subject line, not just repeat it.

The Last Word

Scrutinize email messages you get now to see how others are handling preheaders, but don't do something in your own email just because it looks good in someone else's. Test various preheader configurations: design, placement, copy, and links, before committing one to your template. Republished with permission from ClickZ http://www.clickz.com/ http://www.clickz.com/experts/em_mkt/email_delivery http://www.clickz.com/3622928 [author profile] http://www.responsys.com

 

November 30, 2009

14 Quick Tips for Surviving a Recession

If you want to know your company can beat the recession, you should read our 14 quick tips. (more...)

 

November 29, 2009

5 Tips On How Direct Marketers Can Add Value To Their Organisation

Zero hour. Or zero quarter, to be more precise. With the economy flat, what can direct marketers do to add value to their organisations? Here are five suggestions. (more...)

 

November 24, 2009

Direct Marketing Guide Part 11: Need a Little Help?

For the want of a nail... The authors of this booklet have over 18 years' experience in the Database and Direct Marketing industry. Marketscan can offer advice on all aspects of planning, with particular expertise in managing a database, profiling and producing great business to business, prospect mailing lists. (more...)

 

November 20, 2009

Direct Marketing Guide Part 10: Success

As so much planning goes into what communication you are sending out, ensure you leave enough time to plan what you will do with the successful outcome. Having spent so much effort getting customers, don't lose them again through poor response or customer service. (more...)

 

November 18, 2009

7 tips on using B2B data effectively in a new business creation process

For most business leaders, the idea of ringing up a list of strangers and asking for a sales meeting or generating interest in a product or service sends a shiver down their spine. On the other hand, most of them also agree that a professionally planned and executed telemarketing project is the marketing technique most likely to succeed in growing new business sales for most businesses. (more...)

 

 

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