According to a report by StrongMail, travel and hospitality companies don't use subscriber preferences or behaviors to target their offers in pre- and post-stay emails. This is a major mistake when running an email campaign. Only 30% of travel email marketers use their subscriber preferences, and doing so generated nearly twice as much revenue from their email programs than companies that send untargeted messages. Sending untargeted emails is a mistake that can cost your company, travel-related or not, out of a lot of potential business. Here are 5 more email marketing mistakes you might be making. Timing - Deciding on what day and what ...

Small businesses seem to be optimistic about business prospects in 2010, according to the third annual Signs of the Times Business Survey conducted by FedEx Office. When asked if there were any areas where they were considering increasing spending in 2010, 42% of the survey respondents selected marketing/advertising. Almost 90% of those surveyed found that printed marketing/advertising tools are either somewhat or very effective at driving customers to business. In terms of increasing communication, 44% plan on increasing communication with exisitng and potential customers via newsletters, direct mail, etc. More than 60% of those surveyed think that traditional marketing and advertising (e.g. newspapers, ...

A study from Constant Contact finds that after word of mouth, small businesses consider websites the most important marketing method in finding new customers. Approximately 93% of the people chose a website, while the next highest choice was email marketing at 89%. In 2009, only 78% of small businesses surveyed relied on a website to bring in new customers and only 70% thought email marketing was important. With so many businesses relying on their website to attract new customers even more than before, it is important that you keep your website up-to-date in design and technology in order to compete. If you ...

When someone subscribes to your mailing list, you may send them a message welcoming them or offer them a coupon for signing up. When someone unsubscribes from your mailing, you should still treat them with courtesy and respect. By following these 5 ways of how to treat an unsubscribers, you can not only learn from them but also potentially keep them as customers. Keep Unsubscribing Simple Provide an unsubscribe link on every email you send out, and make sure they work. When they click it, they should be removed from the list immediately. People appreciate when tasks like this are simple and ...

It is often said that bombarding mailing list subscribers with messages will only send them running. While it is true that sending out emails too often can get annoying, there are times when it is a good idea to break away from the once-a-month schedule. If someone abandons a shopping cart on your website, it can be a good idea to send an email to save the sale. According to an E-Tail Group survey, 20% of merchants sent abandonment emails to capture sales they could have lost. However, it is also important to not overwhelm the customer either. The emails should be ...

After you have worked hard on marketing and conversion to bring a new customer to your business, you don't want to lose them right away. It is important to try to turn those people to be repeat customers who you can rely on for business. Customer Retention has proven to be cheaper choice rather than attempting to bring in new clients. Here are 4 ways to keep your customers loyal to your business. Respond to emails quickly. If you make it a point to respond to emails within 15-20 minutes, your clients will not only be surprised by your efficiency, but it ...

Using a rented email marketing list can help your company reach new potential customers who are perfectly within your target market. However, according to a survey by Marketing Sherpa, marketers have found that in-house email marketing lists are more effective than email marketing campaigns sent to third-party lists. Of the emails sent to in-house lists, 87% felt they were effective while only 51% of emails sent to third-party lists were felt to be effective. The reason why in-house email marketing lists are more effective is because those people consciously signed up to receive information from you. They are invested in your company ...

People are busy and might end up just quickly glancing over the emails you send out through your email marketing campaign. Take these three steps to make sure people read your entire email. Use a strong and attention-grabbing subject line to entice people to open the emails. If people don't see a reason to open your emails, then they will just pass right over it. Try to keep all of the copy of your email above the "fold" so it is all visible without scrolling. Keep everything simple, concise, and to the point. If you have a lot of information you are trying ...

More companies are looking toward email to execute their marketing campaigns. However, with all of the bulk email providers out there, it can become too easy to make simply strategic mistakes that will hurt your campaign. Not having a strategy. There must be a plan behind every marketing campaign you launch. Detail the exact reasons for sending out each email, the content you will have, the audience you are targeting, the key messages, and what you consider a successful campaign. Using an old list. If you have an old list, not only will your information be out-of-date, but you may be wasting ...

Segmenting your the email list for your email newsletter is the easiest way to improve the conversion on your email marketing campaigns. The more engaged a subscriber is, the more committed they are to your company. They would require a different message than someone who never opens your message. There are three general categories you can use to segment your email list based on engagement. Engaged Subscribers These are people who click on your emails recently and frequently. These people want your emails and will respond to offers. This should be your main focus. Semi-Engaged These are people who do not always open ...

The best way to figure out if a marketing campaign is doing well is by looking at the data. Reading up on your clicks and conversions will quickly tell you what works and what doesn't. There are a few things that should stand out to you when looking at your marketing campaign's data. If your campaign suddenly gains or loses traffic Even minor changes to a landing page or website can make a significant difference in your turn around. If you are experience a significant difference, do some testing ot find out why. If subscribers are constantly opening your messages When customers are ...

Many retail sites will find that shoppers will come to visit their site, add items to their shopping cart, but then abandon the cart. According to a report from Experian, 61% of items left in an online shopping cart are not purchased. One way to try to bring back customers to these abandoned shopping carts is through a follow-up e-mail. A follow-up email can help remind the customer of the products they were interested in and could potentially reignite their interest. You can also attempt to include an incentive to encourage people to return to their purchase. Research found that email campaigns ...