newsletter marketing: your secret weapon
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Jackie Carlin and Katy Widrick at FLBlogCon 2014.TRANSCRIPT
NEWSLETTERMARKETING
OLD SCHOOL IS COOL AGAIN
JACKIE CARLINEXECUTIVE PRODUCERGROWING BOLDER@JCARLIN
Awesome! A computer! Imagine all
the possibilities!
To: [email protected]: [email protected]: FW: Funny jokes!
Mom,I knew you would love these jokes!! Wait until you readthe one about the cat and the box! Isn't the Internetgreat?
How could email
compete?
why should i go back to email?
Facebook organic reach and engagementnumbers are dropping ... and fast
Google killed its Reader and others aren'treplacing the void
Your tweets and posts have shortlifespans: the half-life of a FB post is 90minutes; 24 minutes for a tweet
Email Use on the Rise
Email offers an average ROI of 4300% (DirectMarketing Association)Number of emails delivered is up 9% from the endof '13Although the average email open rate is down 3%from last year, the number of email opens amongACTIVE subscribers is up 6%.
Consumers are now getting more marketing emails than ayear ago, and a higher percentage of those emails remainunopened; however, the subscribers who are engaged areopening more emails than ever.
THE TAKEAWAY?
Source: CopyBlogger.com
CONTENT IS KING
We sent out thefirst GrowingBolder Insider onAug. 8, 2007 ... 12weeks before weeven had a website
Early Methods:
We built each newsletter on our site's backend,block by block
Then, we would copy the code and paste it intoan outside mail client, i.e. Jango and ConstantContact
We used this method for 200 volumes/4 years
Mailchimp
Constant Contact
iContact
Mad Mimi/GoDaddy
MailPoet (WP plug-in)
FlashIssue (Gmail plug-in)
Lessons learned
It's more affordable than you think
Lessons learned
You don't have to be a designer
Why would I spend money?
Ease of use, tried and true practices, and boostingengagement. Plus, MailChimp even offers a discount forusing one of its recommended designers.
Engaged lists, no matter how small, help improve
deliverability because ISPs judge senders based
on subscriber engagement. Having the biggest list
isn’t always the best, but having the most
engaged one always is.
-- MailChimp
Why would I spend money?
Targeted Ads
Newsletters can offer an additional revenue
stream. Advertisers love opt-in subscribers. Plus,
newsletters offer a new, powerful way to drive up
traffic on your site.
Newsletter v Non-Newsletter days
Your blog
Your newsletter(s)
FacebookTwitter,PinterestInstagram
As our Facebooklikes grew, so didour subscriptionrate
Lessons learned
Ideas for Growing Your Subscriber ListUse auto-responders to offer newsletter exclusives
Top 5 posts on a single topicA downloadable guide, which you caneasily create in Canva.com (i.e. Fallrecipes; Workout tips for traveling, etc)Private YouTube videosTop 10 favorite books and use Amazonaffiliate linksExclusive coupon codesFinally get rid of those review productscluttering your house!
Lessons learned
Ideas for Growing Your Subscriber List
Make it easy for people to sign upMost email marketing providers willoffer free embeddable signup formsfor your blog, Facebook, etc.When you have the choice, keep yourrequired fields to a bare minimumDon't be afraid to offer pen and papersign-ups at eventsDo NOT ever, ever strip emails
Don't be an Abuser
Once abuse complaints exceed our threshold (1complaint per 1000 recipients) you will receive awarning notice. If the complaint rate is farbeyond that threshold, a suspension notice willarrive in your inbox from our abuse team.
-- Mailchimp
Lessons learned
Experiment like crazy
Take advantage of the robust analytics andplay with:
Send timesFrom name (i.e. your name v blogname)Subject line style (caps v sentence)A/B split testingFrequencyLength
Lessons learned
Take advantage of freebies
PicmonkeyCanva.comMailchimp Blog/Support articlesBlogs from the pros like ChrisBrogan, Seth Godin and KatyWidrick
NEWSLETTERMARKETING
OLD SCHOOL IS COOL AGAIN
JACKIE CARLINEXECUTIVE PRODUCERGROWING BOLDER@JCARLIN
Any questions?