Mass Email: Using Good Etiquette to get Good Results

Mass email can be a great way to get your message out to potential customers, provide existing customers with updates, or offer valuable information such as a newsletter or service information. However, mass email can also be an annoyance to clients, which means it could hurt your business. The following are some rules of etiquette (or netiquette as insiders like to say), that can help ensure you stay on your customers’ (and the law’s) good sides.

Check with your ISP

Every ISP has different requirements regarding mass email, bandwidth, and what they consider spam. Keep your account in good standing by checking with them regarding spam practices and what counts as spam. Even legitimate email can get flagged as spam by misguided policy, so ensure that your ISP’s policy suits your needs.

Check with the Law

Many countries have their own laws regarding spam. In the United States that law is called the CAN-SPAM act. You will want to be familiar with its requirements as well as the requirements of individual states that you intend to market to. Here is an overview of the CAN-SPAM act.

• No misleading headings should be used
• No deceptive subject lines are allowed
• Opt-out methods are required
• You must identify commercial email as an ad
• You must include your valid physical postal address (snail mail)

Permission

Never send unsolicited mass email. This is absolutely spam and can get you into a lot of hot water. Send emails to those who want to receive emails. This means that you should avoid using lists that you have obtained any way other than through honest means. Permission also means personal when it comes to email, so make sure your email marketing software can customize mail by including the recipient’s name or other personal information. Make absolutely sure to have an easy-to-use Opt-Out feature so that people can chose to stop receiving emails if they wish.

Good News

Sending good news, or news that is valuable to the customer, ensures that they will regard your email as friendly and not spam. Not everyone considers the same information “good,” which is why you want to send out mass emails only to those people who have requested them. Good email marketing software will help you keep track of who has subscribed, unsubscribed, requested specific information, etc.

Another part of good news is keeping it short. Send brief emails with links to information rather than long emails that contain everything under the sun. Keep formatting simple too. Avoid using bold and avoid over embellishment with HTML.

Rule of Thumb

The following are general rules that you should apply any time you begin to design a bulk email campaign.

• Use your own customer list only and respect opt-out requests
• Send the emails in groups, like 10 at a time
• You must provide an opt-out method
• You must identify your email legitimately. Tell people it is an ad if that’s what it is.
• Include a valid postal address for your business
• Send good news
• Send only to those who want it
• Include a clear and conspicuous disclaimer
• Keep it honest

That’s it. If you follow these rules you will remain in the good graces of your clients, your ISP, and the law. If there were one final thing that could be said about keeping mass email legitimate, it would be this. Ask yourself if you would be upset about receiving the email (either because you opted out or because it was not interesting to you). If you answer yes, then don’t send it.

Email Marketing & QR Code

As a pair, email marketing and QR codes allow an Internet marketer to reach a larger potential client base than with only email.  Just what are QR codes?  They are the strange looking black and white codes placed on billboards, on flyers and other advertisements that are designed to be scanned by a mobile phone.  And since many people are always on the go, these Quick Response codes are well suited to the fast paced instant gratification lifestyle.   They are the next step in advertising and marketing, and it is rapidly gaining momentum.

Integrating Email Marketing and QR Codes

The main key to success with QR codes when combined with email marketing is to know the goal of the marketing campaign.  Is it to market a product or service?  Is list building the priority?  Trying to do too much at once may dissuade busy people from following too many links and having to do too much.  This is because, when it comes to people using their smart phones to scan or check text, short is always better.  

Once a QR code is set up, make sure it leads to a relevant landing page immediately.  Whether it asks for an opt-in sign up, offers something for free, or advertises a product, the call to action must be there for a potential customer to take advantage of.  Don’t let that replace good content, and an interesting looking webpage, however.  A customer also needs a reason to purchase or opt-in.

Further Steps to QR Code Success

Along with creating a good landing page and providing a clear call to action, making sure the page is mobile friendly is important.  When combining email marketing and QR codes, it’s possible to forget that they are two different formats for two different reading devices so make sure the pages are set up properly.  Testing the QR codes before implementing them should also be a priority at the start of the marketing campaign.  All should be ready in order to avoid time consuming damage control later.

Don’t forget to provide different ways to get to the offered products and services.  Since not every mobile device has a QR code reader, make sure customers can use their Internet connection to follow a URL to the website just in case.  A marketer should never let the opportunity to reach more customers slip by.  Don’t make the mistake of one-sided thinking.  Try to accommodate as many potential customers as possible.  The more people an entrepreneur can reach with smart and creative marketing, the better the chances for a successful and profitable email marketing and QR codes campaign.

Making Email Campaigns Count: Avoid SPAM Folder Allocation

As computers have moved into the forefront of nearly every industry on the planet, marketers have continued to hone the strategies that utilize the convenience to the fullest.  However, with such evolutions comes the consumer desire to “filter” incoming advertisements and ensure that they are not bombarded with unwanted marketing messages.  With these email tools in mind, it is important to understand that not all is lost in the world of email marketing deliverability.  In fact, companies everywhere are using a variety of utilities to avoid SPAM allocation for their email ads.  Making the change to relevant email marketing campaigns is only the first step in a brief process that ensures that you are reaching your digital advertising market without irritating or alienating your consumer base. 

Any time a marketer is creating an email campaign, they should remember that content is the key to avoid SPAM filters.  When constructing the ad message, do not use clichés.  Instead, focus on direct language with your target consumers.  Making outlandish promises or “limited time only” language will significantly hurt the email marketing deliverability of each message sent.  

Particular tools exist that will check all of your email marketing messages before releasing them to your recipient roster.  These applications will run your email through a variety of checkpoints, which will help you avoid SPAM filters.  Everything centers on the existence of a genuine value offer, and when you are sure to create campaigns that focus on real language instead of “over the top” or “buy it now” claims, you drastically improve the email marketing deliverability of each release.

Taking a moment to avoid SPAM filters will also improve the overall perception of your company.  Alienating consumers can have a huge backlash effect in the marketplace, and hurt your organizational image.  By carefully crafting your email messages and running them through the necessary SPAM checking software, you ensure that you are delivering a value-based message that strikes at the heart of your target market’s psyche.  Improve your email marketing deliverability and you’ll be efficiently using the direct advertising strategies to your advantage – results will inevitably come!

Creating the Perfect Online Casino Email Marketing Campaign

Online casino marketing is arguably one of the most competitive industries when you consider the global prevalence of organizations.  From online poker to sports wagers, there are thousands of interested clients simply waiting for better odds, the perfect deal, or better customer care.  This is why more and more online casinos are turning to email strategies to lure clients and help build value for existing ones.  With the right strategy, technology, and outlook, a marketing team can take a small sports wagering house and bring them to the pinnacle of the online casino industry.  The following tips should help you get a better idea of what’s important to potential clients and how you can lure their business.

Value, Value, Value

When it comes to marketing, online casinos must always be aware of the budget they put forth.  Because most of the advertising involves digital marketing, there are several strategies that are immediately eliminated.  Lucky for many of these organizations, the online advertising field offers opportunities that are not found via the standard physical marketing practices.  Online casino email marketing can help to generate interest when the odds being offered are better than the competition.  Why not offer up some incredible deals to induce conversion?

Social Networking

Social networking websites are some of the most important gathering places on the internet.  Online casino marketing can take advantage of the information shared via these sites.  By offering a small group of clients a great rate, they can immediately share this information with their wagering friends, helping to generate a buzz about the odds that you are putting forth into the industry.  Do not underestimate the importance of casino email marketing.  This trend that we’ve seen in the advertising industry has pushed the envelope in terms of value creation, industry expansion, and the ability to interact directly with your consumer base.

Online casino email marketing can open the door to a wide array of interested consumer prospects.  By sending odds information to known gamblers, an organization can increase their market share and work on delivering a value-based product to potential customers across the globe.  Take casino email marketing to heart, and your organization may begin to understand the incredible benefits associated with the digital marketing industry, and the many benefits that it offers.  

How Email Marketing Helps Grow Your Mailing List

Every Internet marketer knows the importance of the list.  These are the potential customers that have already shown interest in what a business offers and are predisposed to purchase, whether it’s information, products, or a service.  They are a valuable asset for the success of an email marketing campaign.  There are several ways both on and offline to grow the list and increase potential sales, all leading back to the email campaign keeping them informed and ready to buy.

How Offline Businesses Can Build the List

When an offline business finally gets its Internet presence, its relatively easy to grow a list since there is already an established customer base.  An in store signup sheet is a common way to get people on a mailing list.  Also, if there are any events in the store, such as a book signing or product demonstration, it’s a great opportunity.  Since these kinds of events also tend to draw new potential customers, a business can grow a list rather quickly.

Online Mailing List Building

Equally easy is using the email marketing campaign as the follow up to a sign in page on a blog or store’s webpage.  The idea here is to offer something of value for free in exchange for an email address.  By offering a free report, ebook, or online catalog, for example, prospects show their interest in a business’s products or services by signing up.  Sealero- email tracking service - 100% Reading Assurance.

Other List Building Methods

Still in keeping with email marketing strategies, which are needed to fully take advantage of a list, a business can use other methods to build one.  Marketing an online course, for example, would require people to sign up on a registration form and this could be used to promote additional related products or give useful tips in subsequent emails.  Even using business cards with the website address can lead to lots of new customers when distributed in the proper venue, such as in a related convention or similar event.

Any opportunity where a business can introduce itself to new customers is a chance to build the list prior to launching an email campaign.  A press release, a blog or forum post, even word of mouth from previously satisfied customers will lead people to the website where they will eagerly sign up and join the list.  All that remains is a great email marketing campaign to keep them on the list and make them loyal repeat customers.

Email Checker

Email Checker

You’ve just bought a brand new list of prospective emails to use for marketing purposes, or perhaps you’ve had a form up for a little while collecting potential addresses to use. The problem is that some of those addresses may be invalid – but how would you know? The simple solution is to download an Email Checker. Put simply, these programs will go through a list of contacts and verify that they are indeed valid email addresses. They will also likely allow you to manually check email addresses by hand.

Does it sound too good to be true? It both is and isn’t. Email checker programs work by communicating with the domain’s SMTP server (SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). They then ask the server if the email address provided is valid. So assuming you have john.doe@example.com, the email checker would contact example.com’s mail server and ask if john.doe was a valid user name. It’s a very easy procedure and uses minimal bandwidth.

However, some email servers purposefully try to obscure this information. For example, if you use a popular email address verification service, Hotmail will simply say that you can’t look the information up. Other servers will always report that an address is valid, so that way you don’t know what is and isn’t a valid. By and large, for the vast majority of domains, email checker programs are successful, especially if you run them in-house as opposed to a central server.

When your email list gets to be very big, it’s important to throw out any bad or invalid addresses so that way when your email list is sent they get to the right people. That’s why it is very important that you invest in an email checker that works for your business and for your needs. You can find them fairly easily by going to Google. Many sites will offer the ability to check a few addresses for free and then ask you to pay a monthly subscription fee to be able to access them on a permanent basis. Alternatively, you may wish to consult your mail solutions provider – they may have recommendations on a tool that is most compatible with your business.

• How to Handle Blocked Email Addresses

Email Marketing Timing as Strategic Planning

Organizing a newsletter campaign opens new doors for customers to respond to you positively. These are used as direct marketing techniques that build long term relationships and which remind customers that you have a business that is professional and relevant to their needs. If you are putting together a newsletter, then it becomes just as important to organize the information you send with the right email marketing timing.

There are several businesses which will either send an initial email for their business or that won’t continue to send the newsletter they offer. Others may send the newsletter only when there is new information available or when a promotion is taking place. However, these email marketing timing techniques won’t receive as positive responses from customers that are interested in your business. When you provide a newsletter on a regular basis and with consistency in your email marketing timing, you will receive more positive responses from customers. This shows that you are not only interested in selling your services, but instead want to establish long term relationships with those who are interested in your business and which have expressed this by subscribing to your newsletter.

When a potential or loyal customer signs up for your newsletter, they are also asking for continuous information that shows what your business is doing. If you don’t continue to provide this with the email marketing timing, then it shows that you don’t have a high level of professionalism. It also leads to most customers forgetting about your business and what you offer because of the lack of reminders with the bad email marketing timing. If there is a continuous interval with the right email marketing timing, then customers will begin to expect the emails and will respond by remembering who you are and what you offer. The psychological response to the email marketing timing will be more positive in nature and will provide you with more ways to build relationships with customers.

When you begin a newsletter campaign or email marketing, you want to keep direct marketing and long term relationships in mind first. The email marketing timing that you include in the newsletter you send will make a difference in the types of relationships that you establish. Making sure that you provide consistency and professionalism will help you to get the right responses for your direct marketing campaign.