Marketers should not waste the opportunity to grab sales leads with a catchy subject line, an expert has said.
Andrew Robinson, vice-president of services at Lyris, reminded marketers that they typically only have 50 characters to capture prospects' attention with their subject lines, so they have to make sure they get the message right.
Writing in Media Post, Mr Robsinson advised marketers to follow the example of newspaper headlines when trying to construct terse subject lines.
"A good headline and by extension, a good subject line, is short and intriguing enough to compel the reader to read on," he commented.
"Where possible, the subject line should clearly state what readers can expect from your email: what's in it for them or what you want them to do as a result."
Copywriting expert Ernest Nicastro has previously warned marketers of the dangers of writing marketing copy using obscure language. Writing in Marketing Profs, he urged firms to use simple language, short words and brief sentences to convey their messages.
Posted by Julie Knight, Managing Director – General Marketing, Industry News
Incorporating incentives and offers into direct mail content will encourage more sales, an expert has suggested.
Mark Haslan of business advice website Overnight Prints maintained that promotions are one of the pillars of successful direct mail marketing campaigns.
He advised marketers to tempt sales leads with various offers such as sales discounts, free shipping and promotional items such as free merchandise.
"By utilising lucrative offers, entrepreneurs may be able to encourage customers to make purchases they wouldn't have made otherwise," Mr Haslan commented.
He added that whichever approach marketers use, they should always first and foremost determine the goal of their direct mail campaign.
Mr Haslan concluded that if customer acquisition and brand awareness are primary objectives, firms should consider promotions that will help them will break even, but if the bottom line is their main issue, they should opt for more conservative offers.
A recent survey by PreferenceCentral found that more than half of respondents would like to receive free content in exchange for targeted online ads.
Posted by Suzanne Stock – Communications Director, HR, Online Advertising, General Marketing
Companies have been advised to collect crucial feedback from their customers in order to gain an insight into their preferences.
According to Service Unlimited, marketers should simply ask consumers for answers and then gather the data to improve customer satisfaction.
The blog explained that feedback from consumer and employee questionnaires and surveys can deliver constructive criticism that lets marketers know where they are going wrong and what they need to do to improve.
"Employee responses are the best resource and most reliable method to gather customer feedback," Service Unlimited said.
"As sales and service representatives build a rapport with consumers and clients, trust builds and it becomes a natural part of an interactive conversation."
Businesses were also advised to study and monitor their competitors by observing their service and trying out their products, and then applying what they have learnt to their own companies.
A recent study compiled by the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University on behalf of Royal Mail found that over half (56 per cent) of small firms that solicit advice from their customers rate the feedback as crucial to their business success.
Posted by Suzanne Stock – Communications Director, HR, Online Advertising, General Marketing
Marketers have been advised to track online conversations in order to protect their brand image and gain crucial consumer data.
Alex Lustberg, vice-president of professional services at customer intelligence Overtone, said effective listening and insights analysis not only allows companies to track the volume, but also the meaning of online conversations across a series of consumer interaction channels.
Writing in Marketing Profs, he explained that one of the most common techniques of understanding customer conversations is to track the presence of keywords in brand conversations on social networks, forums and communities.
"Many companies have implemented keyword systems as a first step to help sift through large volumes of consumer-generated content on the social web," Mr Lustberg commented.
The next step after using a keyword system is to hire people to manually read, categorise, summarise and report on the keyword search results.
Mr Lustberg suggested that marketers can opt for even more accurate ways to track consume brand conversations by using natural language processing - a scientific approach that enables software to discover and match author intent to an almost limitless set of words and phrases.
Posted by Julie Knight, Managing Director – General Marketing, Industry News
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has released its latest Digital Marketing Practices and Trends report showing the recent developments within the industry.
The report, which was compiled in conjunction with David Shepard Associates, reveals that digital media has grown rapidly, with social networking sites shown to be the most used platform.
Although many marketers are using digital media to sell and nurture stronger bonds with their customers, very few companies have fully mastered the analytics of the platform or found ways to accurately measure the incremental effective of each media within a multi-media campaign.
Nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of marketers said they cite brand building as the main objective of their digital marketing.
The study show shows that direct mail is still an important part of the marketing landscape, and represents 17 per cent of overall marketing budgets.
Rus Rempala of David Shepard Associates said: "We expect to see much more advanced strategic testing in the near future as more and more marketers navigate the multichannel digital age."
Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing
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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Marketers should look closely at their existing mailing lists to uncover the most profitable sales leads, an expert has said.
Industry specialist Kirk Harbison explained that there are a number of different analytical tools marketers can use to mine their databases and extract useful and promising prospects.
He also suggested that companies can enlist the help of a reputable mailing list provider to append demographics to customer files or append cluster codes, as this will significantly help create a targeted mailing list.
"If you are a new business starting out without a current client base, it is essential to implement market research to find out who is interested in your product or service," Mr Harbison commented.
He added that once marketers discover the characteristics of their ideal prospect, they should contact a marketing list provider, who will be able to give them guidance about how to customise their mailing list to fit their needs.
In related news, Dylan Jones, founder and editor of Data Quality Pro, recently urged marketers to make sure they prioritise business data quality.
Posted by Julie Knight, Managing Director – General Marketing, Industry News
Marketers have been urged not to underestimate the many ways in which consumers use content.
Paul McKeon, president of content generation and information architecture firm The Content Factor, said marketers need to appreciate that B2B marketing is no longer just in the business of brand management and lead generation.
He explained that B2B marketing must serve a huge demand for content that spans buyers' needs from pre-awareness to post-sale and it is absolutely essential to match the right content to each buyer at the right phase of the buying cycle.
Writing in the Marketing Profs blog, Mr McKeon explained that there are four main stages of the B2B buying cycle:
Unaware - The buyer is not explicitly in the market but they should be and at this stage, content should be interruptive.
Tentative - The buyer is standing at the edge or lingering in the background. At this stage, content should be educational.
Engaged - The buyer is in a dialogue with the company; at this stage, content should be validating.
Invested - The buyer is a customer. At this stage, content should be exclusive.
Mr McKeon concluded that the four stages should provide a useful framework to help B2B marketers answer the crucial question: "What makes buyers buy?"
Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing
There is still a place for direct marketing within a multichannel marketing campaign, an expert has said.
Amie Vaccaro, founder and chief executive of Cobblestone Solutions, advised marketers to mix up their marketing approach by using direct mail along with email newsletters, which most people now expect.
Writing on Triple Pundit, she advised however, not to push the same updates on all channels. Marketers should consider who exactly they are talking to and craft their messages accordingly, Ms Vaccaro said.
She also highlighted the importance of allowing a corporate brand to have personality.
"Make sure you're not only talking about your product and selling your product with your communications on Facebook and Twitter; give value, have fun [and] give your brand a persona," Ms Vaccaro said.
Tristan Garrick, PR manager for the Direct Marketing Association, recently said that social media platforms are "phenomenally" important to businesses, because they help them engage with customers and sales leads.
Posted by Daryl Jay, Business Development Director – Sales, Industry News, General Marketing
A marketing expert has urged companies to fully exploit and take advantage of the creative potential of direct mail.
Mark Thomson, media director at Royal Mail, said marketers need to keep up with the changing face of direct mail as it continues to evolve.
"Gone are the days when a long copy letter or voucher book were the only things on offer to direct marketers, or a large proportion of posted marketing material was dismissed by detractors as 'stuff that folds'," Mr Thomson commented in Marketing Week.
He explained that marketers are now afforded a wide variety of channels ranging from direct response press advertisements to various online applications and tools.
Mr Thomson went on to explain that direct mail is flexible, as the time and space constraints of other media platforms do not apply to it.
Earlier this month, marketing expert Russell Parsons stressed that direct mail marketers need to innovate and complete offline techniques with other platforms in order to prevent the channel from going into decline.
Posted by Julie Knight, Managing Director – General Marketing, Industry News
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