Why or why do people keep forgetting a CALL TO ACTION?!

We marketers work hard to get a campaign out. We need to come up with a concept, work with a designer, fit into a schedule, set up an email, test a million times, clean up the data, then finally hit send.

So why would you do all this work WITHOUT a call to action of some sort?

YOU WOULDN'T!

What has inspired me to write all this in shouty-capitals? This eDM I received from ING Direct yesterday (on 9 July).

I'm a customer and I was interested to learn a little more about these free seminars they say they're starting. It says registration open on the 10 July - so the very next day. But you can't pre-register your interest or click through to a page for more information.

I could have chalked that up to a ho-hum "teaser" and moved on, but it got worse.

It says to keep an eye on their Facebook page - but then you can't click through to their Facebook page! So I'd have to be SO motivated to learn more that I'd head on over to Facebook, SEARCH for them and then like them to maybe learn about it (assuming Facebook deigns to feature it in my feed which it may very well not due to the way EdgeRank works.)

This eDM has missed TWO opportunities to inspire action at the exact moment it had my attention. I just see this as a massive waste of effort. And as we zero budget marketers know, "effort" is a huge part of your marketing "budget".

So this serves as a great reminder to ALWAYS have a call to action - preferably multiple ones - in any outbound marketing communication. And on your website pages. And in your social media. And on your voicemail. And on your email signature.

You get the picture.

In summary: Don't leave your "Call to Action" missing in action.

'How To' Tuesday: How to write a great subject line for your email marketing

Source Bottle always has fully descriptive subject lines

So what makes a good subject line for an email? And more importantly - why should you care?

I'm a BIG believer of the power of email, which gets lost these days in the hype of social media. That's not to say social media isn't important, but you OWN your email database (or at least the permission to email them whilst they remain subscribed) and so you have much more control over when you speak to them.

So back to subject lines. These little puppies are the MOST IMPORTANT part of your email. Why? Because we are all so busy, all we do is SCAN our emails - and wait for something to grab our attention or we simply delete it. And when it comes to our email inbox, where we routinely get 50+ emails a day, we are very picky about what we read. And how do we decide what to read? The email subject line.

A scan of your own inbox will show you that a LOT of email subject lines tell you nothing about what's in the email - the fatal flaw, in my opinion. The are either overly promotional, boring or completely uninformative.

A GOOD subject line is:

- Descriptive
- Enticing or intriguing
- Long enough to tell you something
- One that is appealing to YOUR target market

There is this odd perception with many people that "short is always good" in marketing - but in email subject lines, it can go either way. Some research says "the longer the better" and other research says "no difference".

I have found that it's much more about being relevant and interesting rather than long or short for the sake of it.

A good thing to remember is that an email subject line is your HEADLINE - so to help work out what works, consider what makes YOU read a news article...what "sucks you in" to read more?

A quick look at today's Herald Sun (which has the highest readership in Victoria) has the following headlines:

'Lance admits "tour drug use" to Oprah'

'Scam takes punters on $800 ride'

'Mum on drugs killed son, court told'

These headlines give you a lot of information in just a few words - and make you want to know more. You need to apply the same thinking to your email marketing.

Often you have more than one story to share - but don't feel you can only mention one. Why? Because different stories appeal to different people.

A fantastic example of this is the SourceBottle emails that come out twice daily, matching marketers and business people with call outs from journalists and writers.

Here's an example from a recent one:

"Personality types and health | New products to feature within TrailerBoat Magazine | How has motherhood changed you? | Small Business Pinterest Lovers | Unusual proposals, themed weddings, bizarre hook-ups | Back to school | Homework - agree/disagree"

A subject line this length - without knowing the context - would scare the pants off most marketers. Yet it's perfect for this market. I ALWAYS check the subject line to see if there's something relevant to me, and I must be one of many as their subscribers numbers are constantly growing.

A hard working subject line is worth the hard work it takes in coming up with it - don't just write anything and hope for the best. You have likely spent many HOURS (or dollars) on your email content - so don't throw it away with a barely considered subject line.

Put in the effort, test the results - and watch your email marketing performance improve.

What makes a great subject line? What will make someone open and read your email?

Not all marketing tips need to be new and flashy. Sometimes we need to remember the basics - because if you don't get the basics right, nothing that follows will be worth much.

The basic I'm talking about is email SUBJECT LINES.

On average, I get around one hundred emails a day - not counting spam. I read things by clients or friends first (depending on how under the pump I am) and then the other 30 or so left are marketing or subscription emails. Of these, I probably scan 5-6 and actually read 3-4, as I'm just too busy to get to the rest. I suspect that's pretty standard for many people's whose job involves computers and communication.

So, what makes the cut.

I tend to lean towards reading my fave blog emails regardless, but on a busy day (most days), the emails that catch my eye are the ones that get looked at. And they catch my eye because of their subject line. Again, I'm just like everyone else. You need to get their attention before you have a chance to say ANYTHING.

So what makes a good subject line?

It needs to SUCK YOU IN. You have to want to read it.

You can do this by:

- being clever or intriguing

- packing in a lot of information so that one of several items is bound to appeal to people

- have a really compelling, time limited, DIFFERENT call to action

You cannot do it by being dull and pedestrian and revealing nothing new or enticing.

Sometimes you're rushed, sometimes you're not feeling creative, sometimes the client won't let you write what you want to write...there's always an excuse for doing a poor job.

But if you want to know what works, you just have to consider what would catch your eye on a busy day. If you don't think what you've written will suck someone in, go back to the drawing board.

PS. A quick tip is to include the person's name in the subject line. Everyone is obsessed with themselves (if you don't believe me, consider this: who do you look for first in a group photo that you're in?).

PPS. What does a great subject line look like more specifically?

There's a lady I've never met, who I've no affiliation with, who I've never bought from, that I think is a fantastic subject line writer. April Bowles authors a blog and runs courses on launching/running/marketing creative businesses. She's primarily marketing to women that run craft businesses, sell on Etsy, that sort of thing. I'm am not this demographic and I don't know how I found her, but I stay subscribed to her list because her emails are great - and her subject lines are what suck me in every time.

Here's some recent ones:

Last Call for Blogging for Your Creative Business + Why I almost chugged vodka at 10am

This would be so embarrassing...

Would you have done things differently today if you only had a few years to live?

Why the "But I'm Not a Good Writer" Excuse Sucks + A Lesson in Rap

The art of letter writing in business and fundraising

Copywriting is growing in importance daily, thanks to the proliferation of "online". One area that's been relying on copywriting for much longer than the age of the Internet is fundraising. A good appeal letter can make or break a charity fundraising drive. So there's lots to learn from the space.

I just received one of the best THANK YOU letters (well, an email) I've ever received for a donation. Online made it simple to send, thanks to automation, but the content is what's great.

The first line is brilliant. It subtly recognises that much of "giving" is really about making the GIVER feel good.

It then goes to to give you a little bit of knowledge, followed by a big deal of inspiration.

So it made me smile. And feel like I'm a good person. And that's I'm part of something.

When was the last time you got all that for $20?

Great letter.

Dear Kimberly,

You are amazing, thank you so much for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation!

This is how we pay our bills -- it's people like you, giving five dollars, twenty dollars, a hundred dollars. My favourite donation last year was five pounds from a little girl in England, who had persuaded her parents to let her donate her allowance. It's people like you, joining with that girl, who make it possible for Wikipedia to continue providing free, easy access to unbiased information, for everyone around the world. For everyone who helps pay for it, and for those who can't afford to help. Thank you so much.

I know it's easy to ignore our appeals, and I'm glad that you didn't. From me, and from the tens of thousands of volunteers who write Wikipedia: thank you for helping us make the world a better place. We will use your money carefully, and I thank you for your trust in us.

Thanks,

Sue Gardner
Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director

Why a little gift is a smart low budget business marketing tactic

We all love a surprise gift - no matter who it's from.

And just because you're a business person, or a business customer, doesn't mean you've suddenly become a robot. PEOPLE make purchasing decisions, even in B2B.

I wanted to share this fantastic initiative by MailChimp, who I've just signed up to use for a client because of their snazzy RSS-to-Email service (more about that in another post...I think it's going to be GOLD for those who never seem to find time to send newsletters).

My first campaign was just automatically broadcast and this little email arrived in my inbox. Not only did it say my campaign had been sent - but there's mention of a gift.

So, not one to look any gift horse in the mouth, I clicked on "Gimme My Gift".

Turns out I got to pick my size of a Mail Chimp T-Shirt, and there's one coming over the pond to me! Yes, a free t-shirt. In the mail. Something physical and tangible from this most intangible of services.

I doubt my reaction of delighted surprise is unique. Yes, I know it's just a promo t-shirt, that I will maybe only wear to bed. But that's not the point.

Not only have I had a great business experience - the email went where it was supposed to, etc - but my purchasing decision has been re-enforced again. Instead of my next interaction being a bill, it's a gift. GREAT experience.

And whilst this is hardly zero budget - the tshirt and postage may run $10-$15 - as my MONTHLY spend with them will be at least $50, this is a tiny cost. A $15 gift for $600 of business annually. That's only 2.5% of my annual spend. Starting to see the marketing magic?

This program is automated, but feels personal. It's re-inforcing the brand. It's making me feel smart for buying. And it's remembering that KEEPING customers is as important - if not more important - than acquiring them.

What can your small business marketing program take from this? What little surprise can you give to a customer to improve their day - and help solidify your business relationship?

Email marketing - an "oldie but goodie"

I was recently asked to speak on email marketing. It's a marketing tool close to my heart, because it has allowed so many of my zero budget marketing campaigns come to life. Who can argue with reaching 5,000 people for around $60?!

Lately, however, email marketing has been a little left in the cold by social media. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking the ONLY way to go is to the land of twitter, facebook, youtube, tumblr & the rest.

But I'm here to remind you that you should not neglect your old friend, the email marketing list. Why? The number one reason is that unlike with social media tools, it's YOU that own the list with email marketing. You don't really own those hard won facebook likes. If facebook disappeared tomorrow (god forbid!), so would your "list".

It's so hard to get visitors to your website. Thus, it's often unrealistic that they'll buy from you immediately. But it's less unrealistic that they'll engage in another way. Getting their email address is what I recommend you aim for, rather than ONLY ask them to like you on facebook or follow you on twitter.

If you're interested, you can download a PDF of the presentation here>

Another email marketing tool that's the right price (cheap)!

Email marketing is something most business people and marketers live buy, but finding a cheap enough and good enough service can be tricky. Most affordable solutions are US based and I've come across another good one - AWeber. Their monthly fees are reasonable, esp if you don't have a massive list (eg. $US19 for up to 500 subscribers)

But even if you don't want to use their service, I came across a GREAT tip on their blog.

Turn Your Blog’s Best Content Into an Automated Email Newsletter
There’s no reason to put all that hard work into creating great content, then get just one round of clicks, comments and other actions from it. Why be satisfied with that?
Much of your blog’s content isn’t only relevant at one particular time. Get that old content out to them and make it fresh again!
Create an Autoresponder Campaign For Your Blog in 3 Easy Steps:

1. Identify Your Best Content
2. Turn Each Post or Group of Posts Into an Email
3. Add Your Emails To Your Follow Up Series
4. Once you have your emails together, create them as schedule "follow up" messages to subscribers.

You can check out the detailed entry here.

What I really like about this idea is the opportunity to stay in touch with new subscribers/customers for very little effort or cost. It's a great way to manage a user experience with you and not leave it up to them to remember to come back and see you!

Mailchimp also has an RSS to email feature that would help you do this automatically.

A cautionary email tale - Try to learn from this mistake

I received an email the other day and I felt really bad for the marketing people at VECCIwho'd sent it.

You see, they'd set up their html email as a large image, instead of a combination of text AND images.

And these days, anyone running Office 2007 has the 'default setting' of images being blocked unless you choose to download them. [You can of course change this setting, but I don't see too many people who either (a) have or (b) really know how too!]

Which means in the case of this particular email, where it's one big image, the only thing a recipient will see is...an unsubscribe message! Not really what they're going for, especially as an increasing proportion of people, weighed down with too many emails, are unsubscribing from email marketing lists these days.

This situation could have been avoided if they'd sent both text AND images in the massage. Whilst the images will still be initially blocked, you'll still get the core of the message across, allowing the recipient to decide if they'll download the images - and see the message in all its glory, just as the hard working marketer intended.

So in the "zero budget" vein of making sure everything you do is optimised, this is a cautionary tale of how not to do email marketing.

I'd strongly advise against having too much of your message in images - especially if you're sending to a business prospect or customer where the majority of people are running Office software. Yes, some people will see it as you intended, but a distressingly large proportion of people will just ignore your message, or worse, click that easy to spot unsubscribe link.

Don't forget the simple things

Successful marketing is rarely about a single silver bullet. Instead, it's about many, many little things that joined together, deliver results for a business.

So this post is about a little thing. Your email signature. If your business is anything like mine, you can send and receive around 100 emails a day. Even if you only send 10 emails a day, each one is an opportunity to share a little information about yourself and your business (AND as a bonus it makes it a lot easier for the recipient to get in touch with you in the future).

Now if you're tempted to think that no-one reads an email signature, I'm able to recount from very recent experience that this is definitely not the case. I added a sentence to the bottom of my (already relatively long) email signature about the launch of my new book. And I immediately got back a tonne of questions and congratulations about it. I really didn't think anyone would pay that much attention. But about a third of the people I emailed that week commented on it - which means more probably read it.

So if you've got something new or exciting happening, pop it onto the bottom of your daily emails. It's totally zero budget - and I know you'll be surprised at the response.

How should my email newsletter look?

Sending an email newsletter to your own opt-in database is an essential sales and relationship tool for ANY business. But what should this newsletter look like?

To cut your design costs, you should check out what other people are doing for some inspiration and best practice. I came across this great blog on email newsletter design at Campaign Monitor. It links to tonnes of great examples - and takes the time to explain why they link them.

Excellent for some "visual" inspiration. As for content, that's a whole other post!

Aust Post cant compete on personalised communication

Sent to my work address this week was a cute little mailer from Australia Post. On the outside it said "To: Kimberly From: Santa" as part of the design. And it was a sales piece from Aussie Post crowing about the ability to personalise design...for as little as $1.40 each.

And I had to think - gee, that's actually expensive. You mail the 6,000 people on my dbase for example and it would cost you $8,400 - and that's BEFORE you design anything.

Compare this to the cost of a personalised html email. To email 6,000 people it costs me $60. $8,400 versus $60. Sorry, Aussie Post, just no contest. Even if I did have the dosh, I'd rather spend it on email. I could use telemarketing to build a list AND send it for the same budget...and then keep sending...

So the moral of the story is: get working on building your opt-in email database!

Can't afford expensive database software? How's $30 a month sound?

I believe it's essential to have a customer & prospect database these days, in ANY type of business.

And it truly scares me how few businesses have one.

Outlook & excel really aren't enough, access can be clunky and decent CRM (customer relationship management) systems usually start at well over the $1,000 a seat.

When looking for a local email marketing provider for a client, I came across Vision6. They provide email and sms services. But they will also host your database. And you can add all the fields you want in this database, give people access to update their own details if you want, search it and access it from anywhere AND build lists to market to based on criteria. It even has some handy auto email functions.

So it occured to me, this is also a great zero budget database solution. For under 1000 records it's $30 a month - you can't get much cheaper than that!

I'm sure there's other providers out there offering something similar. So why not use this as an inexpensive, centrally accessible database tool - with the bonus that you can then use it on a fee per use option if you decide to use for email marketing.

Don't be afraid to sex it up!

Ok, whilst I may have just been wanting an excuse to use this pic of some of the Italian Rugby players (my only World Cup mania indulgence, I promise), if you're going for big impact on small budget, don't be afraid to get a little saucy, cheeky or naughty!

You see, as much as we'd all like to take the high road, the reality is the low road is crowded with the easily titilated and amused.

A year or so ago we had some movie tickets to give away (to The Secretary, famous for it's "spanking" scene) in return for people completing a online survey. Instead of using an email subject line of "Complete our online survey for free double pass" I went with "Fancy a little sadomasochism and romance?". We had DOUBLE the usual email open rate to this database - almost 60%!

Forget being sleazy or sexist - but take a risk and appeal to people's naughty side. We all have one...why else do you think something like Sexpo keeps selling out year after year...

By sexing it up I'm not only talking about sex - but making something more sexy. There is so much utter drudge produced in marketing materials that something with a bit of sparkle and shimmer will catch your prospects eye so much better. Name an event "Selling Cool" instead of "Youth marketing". Send a chocolate telephone instead of leaving another unanswered message. Use some funky graphics instead of staid corporate stock shots. Have some bloody fun with your marketing!

Email is your friend - but get it right! (pt 1)

Email marketing is the friend of zero budget marketers. It's fast, effective - and extremely inexpensive once you've built up your opt in list.

But you need to keep working on it, even more so now that anti-spam filters are getting more prevalent. It's just too frustrating to have your email blocked by someone who's actually requested it.

So make the effort to run your email through a SPAM checking service, like ezinecheck.com. It will let you know the "spam score" of your email and a few quick changes can be the difference between your mail getting through or it hitting the virtual bin!