Internet Marketing News
Monday, December 19, 2005
My E-Newsletter Experience: Key Lessons (see linked article)
Over the past two months, I've been immersed in a new chapter of promoting my services as a copywriter, creative director, and business coach: e-newsletter publishing. Along the way, I've been updating you on my progress so you can learn from my real-life experiences. Now that I have two e-newsletter issues under my belt, here are some insights and observations that may help you. (To view an archived Web version of the e-newsletter, go here. The only thing missing is the table of contents.)
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Combat List Inactivity by Older Opt-Ins (see linked article)
Two new data sets reinforce the inevitable but still depressing idea that readers are less likely to open your newsletters or marketing messages the longer they stay on your list. The drop-off is greatest after the first few months, but by the sixth month, the decline continues at a much slower rate. That's the bad news. The good news is that you can do something to stem the decline by engaging new readers sooner and reactivating those who have lost interest but didn't unsubscribe. MarketingSherpa reported the drop-off rate in its new Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2006 with data that also closely reflects our own experience with the Intevation Report.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Email Statistics by List Size (see linked article)
In Q3 of 2005 we notice that the middle of the week is the low point, as far as read and click statistics go. Noticeable high points in the week occur on Sunday and Friday for both stats. So from this quarter we reaffirm again that sending volume is inversely related to how reads and clicks are going to react with the one exception of Saturday. Why is this shift in behavior occurring? As we close in on the holidays, consumers are beginning to think more of how they are going to spend their money this holiday season. While we anticipate these stats to start even out more as we come closer to December and through the new year, this behavior shows marketers are getting an early start and secure the consumer awareness and solidify a place in their, um, your, wallet.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Why Do Marketers Still Send Newsletters? (see linked article)
It is amazing to see how many consumer email marketers still rely almost entirely on newsletters as the vehicle for their outbound customer communications. Newsletters are quite useful in B2B marketing (I read at least 10 a day), but they are a particularly poor format for consumer communications. The default newsletter is sent monthly, superficially personalized and customized (if at all), to a stale base, and has no context (time or event) that makes it relevant to the consumer. So why, in late 2005, with so many good ESPs, agencies, consultants and client-side email marketers in the industry is this still the case?
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Building your Site’s Link Popularity (see linked article)
Building Link Popularity is one of the most important and critical aspects of any effective Search Engine Optimization campaign today. The ‘off-page’ factors such as link popularity, PageRank and Anchor Text in incoming links play a major role in your site’s ranking in the search engine results pages (SERP).
Search Engines consider your site more important if more links point to your site. Building link popularity improves the PageRank of your web pages (Read more about PageRank). The higher the PageRank of your website, the higher its importance for search engines and higher it gets ranked in the search engine result pages. Search engines also take into account the PageRank of the pages that link to your site and its industry relevance to your own industry. Links from higher PageRank pages and industry relevant sites give your site a higher value.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Keyword Research for Natural Search and Paid Search Advertising (see linked article)
Two important ways to get visitors to your site are (1) search engine optimization (SEO) so your webpages show up high in the rankings for your important keywords, and (2) Pay Per Click (PPC) keyword advertising using Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. For these to succeed, you'll need to do keyword research.
For SEO you're looking for a short list of keywords, perhaps a dozen, that comprise bulk of the searches for your type of products or services. For PPC ads you need to compile lists of several hundred keywords -- not only the most common search terms, which are also more expensive, but also hundreds of less-used search terms, which are quite inexpensive and keep your advertising cost down.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Did I Give You Permission To SPAM Me? (see linked article)
Now that’s a paradoxical question. Permission means I give you authorization to send me an e-mail, right? And last time I checked, SPAM is the act of sending unsolicited e-mail. This was an interesting week for me, as I had to challenge my own opinion of what constitutes SPAM.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Test Big, Test Often (see linked article)
"IF YOU'RE NOT FALLING," WE told our kids when they were beginning skiers, "you're not learning." By encouraging them to take risks rather than avoid an embarrassing tumble, we helped them develop their skills.
Likewise, with e-mail, you'll learn more and learn faster if you try new things and "test big."
"Testing big" means testing something radically different. Many times when I have tested small, I ended up with results that were dead even, statistically insignificant or contradictory when retested. This happened both when we tried to arrive at the optimal number of products for an e-mail (Is 6 better than 8? Is 9 better than 7?), and when we tested different subheads for product categories. Every best-day-to-mail and color test I've done was "too small" as well.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Placing a Domain in Escrow (see linked article)
"I'm contemplating sale of a domain at a substantial amount. However, it involves placing the domain in escrow while the purchase price is paid over a period of two years. I know very little about escrow or the difficulties of retrieving a domain if the deal goes sour." -- Daniel
A domain name escrow service is designed to protect both the buyer and seller from fraud: The buyer pays the sales price to the escrow service. When the escrow service certifies that the money has been received and the check clears, it notifies the seller who then contacts the registrar to transfer registration to the buyer. When the registration transfer is complete, the escrow company remits the sales price to the seller -- minus fees, which seem to be in the range of $25 to $50 plus 3% to 7% of the sales price, less for sales over $5000. Using such an escrow seems to be a prudent approach for domain sales.
Posted By: Steve White permalink
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
When E-mail Is Ill-Advised (see linked article)
SOMETIMES I GIVE ADVICE YOU wouldn't expect from an e-mail marketing consultant. So here's one such tip: don't start an e-mail program. For small and midsize professional services companies looking to develop relationships with prospective customers, an outbound e-mail program may not be the best tactic. Typically, you cobbled together the prospect list from professional organization rosters, trade show attendee lists and piles of old business cards. Do you really want your first contact with these potential customers to be an unsolicited e-mail?