Tag: email

The Telephone as a Marketing Tool
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telephone marketingIn our “high-tech” world, it seems so easy to forget to “reach out and touch” someone.  However, in marketing, hearing a live voice on the phone has its merits.

The low-tech telephone is often pushed aside for email and texts as a sales tool in this digital age. Many sales still originate over the phone and here’s a few ways to use it to your advantage.

Keep your system up-to-date

  • Don’t let potential customers encounter a busy signal or wait for 20 rings until it’s answered. Consider installing a system with multiple lines so this doesn’t happen.
  • Forego call waiting. Customers don’t like being asked to hold so you can answer another line.
  • Don’t have the customer push a lot of buttons. Make sure that one of the first options is to speak to a “live” person.
  • Have a separate line for faxes.
  • Add caller ID, voicemail and conference calling to your service.

How you answer—or don’t—matters
If the designated phone answerer isn’t available, have a cordial message on voicemail, promising that the call will be returned promptly. The person answering should have a greeting tone that is warm and friendly.  You can’t “redo” a first impression. How your business operates is reflected in the tone of voice. If you have multiple employees, give them a script so your company message is consistent, but rehearse it so their words don’t sound like they’re reading a script.

When you return the customer’s call, or have a call routed to you, never give the impression that you’ve been interrupted or rush the caller. Ask pertinent questions, but also give the caller a chance to ask you questions.

Cellular phones
Using a mobile phone in addition to your landline helps with customer accessibility. If you’re going to be away from the office for more than a couple of hours, pick up your voicemail often, or have office calls forwarded to your mobile phone.

If your office is in your home, make the office a separate area. Screaming children or a barking dog can damage your professional image.

Though it seems email and text messages are popular, you still have to reach your audience in the manner they wish. In eliminating voice calls, you may be eliminating sales opportunities.

 

Customer Response to Email Marketing Campaigns is Still Strong
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email marketingThe credit reporting company Experian recently used Litmus, an online email marketing analytics provider, to analyze the campaigns of five million openers from 29 campaigns from seven brands and found some surprises.

While customer response to email marketing campaigns is still strong, mobile users only average 10 cents per transacation. Consumers who used both mobile and another device spent $1.28 per transaction. Mobile users tended to make low-cost purchases. But 31% of campaigns that were opened first on mobile returned and used a combination of mobile and a desktop, laptop, or tablet and made a purchase later. If the campaign sparked interest, consumers returned to it. Continue reading Customer Response to Email Marketing Campaigns is Still Strong

Give yourself a branding overhaul
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Do you need a branding overhaul? Does your branding really showcase who you are and what you offer? Now is the time to sit back and see how “visible” you are to yourself – you are the customer.

A lot of people think branding is just creating a logo, having business cards and a website. But what do these things really say about you.

Branding is a big package and in it should be all the things representative of you, your style, your products and services. So… if you are the customer, how do you feel about these things?

Business documents

How do you look on paper? If you are the customer, can you appreciate the materials you hand out? Is your logo and artwork aesthetically pleasing and visible on your business cards, stationery, envelopes, brochures, and other business documents? Are they well written and clearly defines who you are and the services you provide.

Will you communicate electronically? Do you have electronic versions of your paper products?

Your Email

Do you have an electronic business card you can place in your footer? If not, have you set up your Automatic Signature that appears after your email (i.e., your name, company name, address, telephone numbers, website and email address)?

Your Website

Review your website. Is your logo and artwork appropriately placed and visually pleasing? Other things to look for:

  • Do you have a tagline, slogan or catch-phrase that helps to reinforce your message?
  • Does it say who you are, what you do, what products and services you provide?
  • What about client testimonials…ones that can provide credibility to you and your business.
  • Do you have a way to share news, tips and other relevant information such as a blog?
  • Do you have a way for your visitors to share your information such as Share Buttons?
  • Do you have photos of past events, workshops, client projects?

Your Social Media Accounts

All of your social media accounts should have your logo, tagline and other relevant artwork, and color scheme. Different accounts give you different ways to customize your information.

  • Facebook Business Page – allows you to add a Logo and Cover Image.
  • Google+ – allows you to add a Logo and Cover Image
  • Twitter Business Account – allows you to add your logo, a header image, a custom background and use custom colors.
  • LinkedIn – allows you to add your company profile and use your logo.

Be consistent. Use the same images cross all social media accounts.

You should also be sure to create an account with a similar name as your business or tagline.

These are just a few of the important things to review during your branding overhaul. Make a weekend of it. Who knows… you may look one way on Friday and look a better way on Monday!

8 Tips to Consider When Sending Out Email
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We’ve all heard of the email glitches that can happen. There’s the horror story of replies going to the “unintended.” If you’re like me, you’ve written “see attached” numerous times when there is no  attachment.

To help you get through the email snafu’s, follow these eight (plus a bonus) easy tips:

  1. The email you send is a reflection of you and your business. Make sure to spell check, use correct grammar and punctuation.
  2. Be creative with the subject, but make sure it pertains to the content they are about to read. Don’t use a fake subject because you think they will open it faster – it will only cause frustration.
  3. When drafting your content, do not over embellish or use lots of colors or cutesy graphics. Everyone uses different email programs so they may not be able to even see it. Don’t spend a lot of time “coloring” it up.
  4. Get to the point. Be brief and don’t ramble. People hate to read a lot of garble – they want to get to the important part of why you are communicating with them so they can respond.
  5. Your tone is important. Using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS is viewed as YELLING.
  6. If the email is time sensitive, include that in your email. No one wants to miss an opportunity because they didn’t know they should respond in a certain timeframe.
  7. Double check to make sure you have attached any documents that you “attached.” Too often we are in a hurry to hit the “send” button and we forget to include the important document.
  8. Lastly, create an email signature so that they know all the ways they can communicate with you. It’s a good idea to have your mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, website, tagline and even your social media profiles (if you use those for business) in the signature.

BONUS:  Create your email before you put in the recipient. That way, you can make sure you’ve reviewed it, proofread it and attached any pertinent documents before “accidentally” hitting send.

Double for Your Trouble – 5 Easy Steps To Get More from Your Blogs
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There’s so much more to the Internet than even five or six years ago. Many new businesses, websites, bloggers, news feeds…not to mention the popularity of social networking like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

There is a lot to absorb. Many people are not reading everything they receive in their email. They aren’t visiting all the great websites and blogs. It’s too overwhelming.

Think of your newsletter as mini websites. Businesses created hard copy versions and mailed them. Then came the electronic versions via email (e-newsletters). People are now blogging the information – writing and sharing via social media tools.

If you are a blogger try these five easy steps for getting two for one…:

  1. Why do the work twice? Create an e-newsletter out of the blogs you’ve written the previous month.
  2. If you have upcoming events, add in a calendar.
  3. Include an RSS feed to your blogs.
  4. Include links to your social media pages and links to past newsletters.
  5. Include photos from the previous month, and a list of upcoming topics on this month’s blog.

Get double for your trouble. The information shared is always valuable. Just because the blog was written, doesn’t mean it was read. Create an e-newsletter and get it back out there in a different way.