Email Marketing Strategy – Virtual Assistant Talent

Top 10 Tips in Creating an Effective Newsletter

admin — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 18:38:48 +0000

Email Marketing goes a long way when it comes to attracting new prospects and maintaining customer/client loyalty.

Creating an effective email newsletter is one major part of this marketing strategy that can produce a ripple effect for your business branding and engagement. Find out all you need to know about online newsletters…

What is a Newsletter?

A newsletter is a publication from a business, company, organization, or group that come out on a regular schedule with the main purpose of giving information. It’s generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers.

General components of a compelling email newsletter are news and upcoming events of the publisher, related blog articles, some promotional material, as well as contact information.

Readers feel an emotional attachment to their email newsletters. ~ Nielsen Norman Group
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Purposes of a newsletter

What are the main reasons why you should create email newsletters? One major benefit is the emotional relationship that newsletters create between users and the business.

Keep your company in the minds of your subscribers
Engage with clients/customers
Inform your subscribers of the latest happenings
Educate them by addressing their pain points
Keeping them in the loop with your upcoming events, promotions, sale
Increase leads from your target audience
Sell more products/services
Boost customer retention

Don’t have a knack of putting pieces together for a newsletter? Get help from virtual assistant companies – they can endorse highly qualified marketing VAs to work on your next publication.

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Top Tips to Create an Effective Newsletter Content

Here are some great pointers and e-newsletter examples to help you create a newsletter that gets results for your business.

1. Focus on a specific topic or area of business

Concentrate your newsletter topic on a specific area so that you can appeal to a niche audience. This gives you the opportunity to get higher engagement rates than you would if you produced a one that featured all of your products or services.

Here’s an example of a topic-based email newsletter from BuzzFeed: “This Week in Cats” where they offer up one specific publication for people who love reading about cats…

Source: BuzzFeed via HubSpot

2. Be informative and interesting

Always make sure that…

75% of your newsletter content is all about helping the audience, and 25% promoting yourself.
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What do people consider valuable content?

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, 40% of users considered the following aspects make for valuable email newsletters:

Work-related news or company actions
Items about personal interests and hobbies
Items about events and other important dates
Reports on prices or sales

One of the newsletters samples is Hungry Girl’s Food Finds and Diet News

Source: hungry-girl.com

3. Value statements

Display a brief list of statements that explain the benefits you provide to your audience. These key phrases should explain what sets you apart from others and why your expertise is so helpful.

Here’s what we’ve done with one of our newsletters:

4. Keep it short and aim for a click

The average person spends only 51 seconds reading a newsletter.
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Keep your content scannable is the key to making your newsletter more effective. Using content blocks, snapshots, takeaways, bullet points, and call to action (CTA) buttons, will give your readers’ tired eyes some relief.

But remember, the goal is to leave the subscribers eager to learn more. Lead them back to your website, blog, or service/product page for more info. InVision’s newsletter is a great mix of content—a nice balance between images and text, and CTA buttons.

Source: InVision via HubSpot

5. Choose catchy subject lines

Keep your email subject lines as creative and attention grabbing as possible because it can be a focal point as to whether or not the reader opens your email. Always make sure that they are true to your content to avoid misleading readers.

6. Be true on your “Subscribe” page

Clickbaits are widely used by everyone to get traffic. BUT be careful not to mislead your subscribers. Your goal is to properly communicate your newsletter’s focus and content on your “Subscribe” landing page.

Get specific. Tell potential readers exactly what will be in the newsletter and be true to your words. Take a look at SmartBrief’s page:

Source: SmartBrief via HubSpot

7. Be reliable and consistent

Pick a frequency and stick to it. It can be daily, weekly, or monthly. So if you tell readers to look for your newsletter each week, you’d better be there. Set expectations on your opt-in page on how often they will receive something from you. Some people don’t like surprises, no-shows, or last-minute drop-ins.

Based on Nielsen Norman Group’s report,

69% of users said that they look forward to receiving at least 1 newsletter, and it had become part of their routine.
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8. Featured product

Show a small picture and provide brief description of a featured product, such as a webinar, book, PDF, video course, etc. Tip: Create urgency by offering a promo code or discounted price if they order in a limited time that you specify.

Here’s HubSpot’s take on featured product:

Be sure to include a CTA or website link to purchase your products, and test it for accuracy before sending out.

9. Professional-looking layout

Many people read email newsletters using their smartphones and tablets. If possible, use a template that displays ONE column. Don’t use 2-3 columns. Also, compliment your good content with good graphics.

If you’re knowledgeable with publishing and graphics tools, try doing it yourself. Or, use a newsletter marketing service to make a template for you. Then, you can easily customize it with new content for each of your future issues. Check out Second Glass’ colorful and informative email newsletter. Plus, it has a very clear CTA that urges people to purchase tickets.

Source: Second Glass via HubSpot

10. Test everything

Find out what works for your business and your mailing list. And before you send a newsletter, test all functionality such as the links and CTA buttons; as well as run it through a spam checker.

Experiment with the following best practices:

Short, Funny Subject Lines – put a smile on your recipients’ faces
CTA Copy & Design – experiment with loud, bright colors or simple, professional colors on your CTA buttons
No Images – try stripping away images in favor of seriously well-written copy (plain text email)
Sender Name – send using your business or company name, or you can play with it by tying it with a theme phrase or featured persona

Need help with crafting your company newsletter? We offer marketing virtual assistant service to work with you step-by-step in creating, designing and managing newsletters. CALL 1-866-596-9041 to learn more.

We would love to hear if these ideas worked for you! If you have questions or any email marketing success stories, please leave a comment below.

Reference:
https://www.8ways.ch/
http://www.verticalresponse.com/
https://blog.hubspot.com/
http://www.startawildfire.com/

5 Ideal Ways to Market your Business Online During the Holidays

admin — Fri, 27 Nov 2015 11:15:47 +0000

The holidays are really one of the busiest times of the year but also the best times to gain extra revenue for your business. While you need to have some pre-planning and creativity, you can ensure a profitable marketing campaign to roll out on your day-to-day operations.

Maximize your online marketing this holiday season
with these 5 marketing tips:

1. Make Your Product or Service the “Best Gift” Ever

Look for creative ways to turn your products or services into the best gift a family or friend could ever receive. Some ideas:

A massage or spa treatment makes the ideal gift for a busy mom or teacher that spends a lot of time taking care of others but often forgets themselves.
An hour conversation with a business consultant would make the best gift for a friend that is thinking about opening a restaurant.
A premium ball of yarn is a perfect match for grandma’s new knitting set.
A gift card to an online men’s clothing store makes a thoughtful gift for that husband who’s been working so hard for the family.

What do you have that the big companies don’t have? Manage your online marketing campaign by highlighting what makes your product or service unique.

If you can’t compete on pricing, emphasize quality & customer experience.
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2. Be the Holiday Hero

Think of the holiday scenarios and use them to your advantage. If you have any product or service that people can use more during the season, be the holiday hero. Pet boarding businesses can offer holiday travel specials while financial planners can provide budgeting consultations for the next year. Promoting specials that make your customer’s life easier during the holidays is a great opportunity to take advantage of seasonal spending.

Working with virtual assistants, you can organize your online announcements in your website by designing a one-pager that lists everything as well as an email you can send to customers with a quick “Take a look at our holiday specials” message.

3. For E-mail Marketing, Timing is everything

Bring out the best of e-mail marketing this holiday season. Send multiple emails or holiday cards announcing your sales and special promos. HubSpot’s brand new data reveals the best times to send one-to-one emails during holidays.

HubSpot conducted a study of over 20 million emails delivered over a 10-month period to find the ideal time to send an email. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday had the highest volume of email opens. Tuesday appeared as the best day to send an email with 20% more opens than average.

Here are the best days and times to email:

A. Thanksgiving – Send emails 24 hours before Thanksgiving eve or one week after the holiday.

B. Christmas – Send emails one week before Christmas Eve.

C. New Year – Send emails 4 days after New Year’s Day.

Quick tips:

Send emails during the beginning of the workweek at 11 AM to increase the chances of getting your email opened. If you have to send email on the weekend, send it on Sunday night.
Send emails between 10 AM and 12 PM to increase the likelihood that the recipient will open and respond, to your email. If you’re catching up on emails over the weekend, we recommend sending emails on Sundays between 8 and 10 PM.

4. It’s All About Giving

Plan for a budget but attractive giveaway that people will want to take.
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Then promote it everywhere – on your website and social media accounts. Make sure that all holiday specials and packages are in front of people’s eyes when they enter the contest.

Create time-limited offers to encourage customers to buy now
Include add-on incentives, such as a vacation drawing entry with every purchase of your product
Treat your old customers in a new way – run exclusive email campaigns for the customers who have purchased from your site before
Consider sending promo codes or giving actual money like $10 credit for purchases above $50.

A successful holiday contest or promo will help you build a new customers list and will help market your services or products.

5. Increase Exposure Using Social Media

Make sure every customer receives a flyer or brochure with information about your upcoming holiday sales by posting them in your social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Feature your holiday specials on your blog and boost the reasons why it’s better to buy from you than your competitors.

Start planning your main campaign right now so you’re ready to launch well. For products, ensure that gift cards or certificates are available. For services, share examples of one or couple of hours of service to customers who want to try them out first before purchasing a subscription.

Finally, all of your holiday marketing efforts must be measurable so you can track your return on investment and plan for an even more profitable campaign next year. When you plan your marketing campaigns early you will not only maximize your profits, but you will also get some free time of your own to enjoy the holidays with friends and family!

If you need assistance with your holiday marketing campaign, Virtual Assistant Talent can help. We can update your website with your newly featured products & services or promotions and/or add a seasonal theme to your site. We can create your holiday newsletters, update your contact lists, write interesting articles and content for your blog that will engage your audience and/or promote your products & services.

We can also manage your online marketing campaigns and social media to generate more customers during the holidays and handle customer service or taking orders/sales calls for your business. The possibilities are limitless with a virtual assistant. Heck, we can even send out all your e-greetings for you and make photoshop edits to your holiday greetings and Christmas cards.

Most importantly, a virtual assistant can help reduce your workload this holiday season by taking away your busy work, boosting your holiday marketing campaigns, and allow you to spend more time celebrating with your family and loved ones. Consider giving the gift of virtual assistant services for yourself or family or friends that own a business!

References:
www.weebly.com
www.verticalresponse.com
www.slideshare.net