'Do nots' of Email Marketing

It is not surprising that emails have become a nuisance for consumers. It is an expected outcome of excessive emails flooding every inbox and intruding into the uninvited space of an individual. Obviously, consumers are not charmed, in fact they are irritated. And this is a big cause of concern for marketers who see email campaigns as an affordable communication medium but are not sure about its effectiveness in the given scenario.

Therefore, it is most important to make sure that your email campaigns are effective and do not end up as spam or go unopened.

Following are some tips on what you should not do when it comes to your email marketing campaigns:

*Do not opt for mass mailing. Sending an email to multiple recipients at a time is not a great idea. This can only lead to spamming and should be avoided. You should try to achieve maximum personalization in your email. This is the only way to ensure that your mail stands out in the clutter and appears relevant to the receiver.

*Do not use incorrect information. Fake company name, email address, or other such information is a strict no-no, and tarnishes the reputation of your business for ever.

*Do not send an email without obtaining permission. You can land yourself in trouble by sending unwanted emails to anyone who has not given you his/her email address personally, or consented to receive mails from you.

*Do not ignore people who opt-out of your email list. Respect the opt-out request, and ensure that campaigns from your email address are not sent to that person.

*Do not send your email as an attachment: The receiver of your mail does not have the time to download or open an attachment. There are chances that the format maybe incompatible.

*Do not make it salesy: Nothing can be a bigger turn off than a mail that tries to impose something on the receiver. The mail should not be about you; rather it should benefit the receiver.

Prepackaged Marketing Data strives to make your email marketing effort a success. Contact us for free consultation. 

Email Campaign: Make the impossible possible

It is quite a challenge to make an email campaign successful. We are all quite aware of this. However it’s not an impossible task. Following are some tips to ensure that your emails are well received and opened:

 

Use a great subject line

Your subject line is the window to your mail, so make it very attractive. Be concise, to the point, and relevant. If you plan to send out same subject matter in multiple campaigns, create different subject lines that are similar to an extent but not exactly same. Your readers won’t open an email if they think they are getting the same email again, so avoid using the word ‘reminder’.            

Be Concise & Precise

Your readers are busy people and do not have the time or inclination to read long-winded emails, just like you. They don’t want to sit for hours to read your mail. Therefore, keep your mail interesting short and to the point.      

Let your website and social media speak for you

Make your website look professional, keep on updating it with great content. Create a campaign that has useful information and links to your website and social media. Similarly, your social media should contain links to your website; and all of these communications should create a channel of conversation between you and your market.

Prepackaged Marketing Data strives to make your email marketing effort a success. Contact us to learn more. 

Add Quality to your Data

We cannot speak enough about the importance of quality data. We know that it is the foundation of your marketing effort. So here are some tips that will help you improve your data quality.

Audit is a must

Have a process in place to track your mail deliverability. It is vital to know which emails bounced back and update your database accordingly. This will help improve the effectiveness of your communication and overall planning in the long term.

Verify information at the start

Procure all required information when the contact is engaged. This is the right time to get information and make corrections if necessary.  This can be done through a web form, a telephone call, or even a live web chat. Incomplete information will hinder the work of your sales team. Ensure that you get all elements in the contact form filled.

Know your data inside out

Understand your data. Be on top of it. You should be able to identify data entry trends. Find out the sources of your bad data and eliminate it with right data verification and standardization processes. Tracking your mail deliverability will help you understanding your data quality challenges.

Get all involved

Get all departments involved in the data management process. As data quality leads to huge business benefits, this effort should be shared by all employees who capture, access, manipulate, and update CRM records. Look for tools that empower your staff to enhance data quality.

Refresh database

Data expires very quickly, especially in this fast-paced digital world. Regular database check-ups is therefore a must.

We at Prepackaged Marketing Data work towards providing you with the best data to make your marketing efforts bear fruits. Contact us for a free consultation. 

Find your footing in US Healthcare Sector

The healthcare system in US is very complex. It is a known fact that it spends more on healthcare than all other countries in the world. Efforts of the government to bring down this expenditure are showing almost negligent results. What is more, spending within America varies dramatically from one region to the other. Why is there such disparity in America’s prices and those of other rich countries? A new report from America’s Institute of Medicine (IOM) helps find the reasons behind the increase in the health expenditure in US.

A major perplexing factor is the geographic variation in spending. The Centres for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) sets a price for Medicare services, adjusted for various regional input costs. In contrast, private insurers negotiate payment rates with hospitals. The IOM reports that price mark-ups account for 70% of the variation in commercial spending.

The fee-for-service system, in which a doctor is paid more for each service he provides, is the leading problem for both Medicare and private insurers. As a doctor gets fee depending on the service rendered, he keeps finding reasons to provide more care and charge as much as possible.

Hope is now fixed on the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare”. CMS is working towards making a shift from the fee-for-service system. However, it is a slow process. In the meantime, it would be really helpful if the people and the insurers took the effort to find the details about charges in different hospitals. The need of the hour is more transparency.

Are you looking for ways to find a footing in the strong and vibrant healthcare sector in US? Prepackaged Marketing Data's in-depth lists help healthcare marketers identify the most active, influential, and responsive hospital executives. Talk to us to know more.

Plan for your Email Marketing Success

Great news! The 80 year-old ban on general solicitation finally ends. Thanks to the JOBS Act! Now, companies can solicit investors and advertise that they’re raising capital legally. You will not be breaking the law if you seek funding or advertise your shares openly. What a welcome change! This will definitely help growing businesses in a big way by giving them the freedom to seek financing. A big boost to entrepreneurship indeed!

Just as we need the right conditions to make a business flourish, the same applies to having your email marketing efforts succeed. Getting your strategy right along with the right investment is essential. Before you begin an email campaign, proper planning is pertinent. Here are a few quick points to keep in mind:

• The content should be of real interest and value to your audience
• The design of the email is very important
• Have a clear and defined purpose
• Send mails according to the convenient time of your recipients, not yours
• Know your target audience and plan accordingly
• Go for list segmentation to make the message more specific and targeted
• Seek professional help for design and copy if you lack expertise
• Procure resources to implement and track an email marketing campaign
• Do not forget to test, test and test your email thoroughly before sending it to clients

Prepackaged Marketing Data strives to make your email marketing effort a success. Contact us to learn more. 

Respect your prospect's privacy

Email marketing loses its steam if it is not based on social data. After all, how can you aspire to achieve personalization of the highest possible kind unless you base it on your prospect’s interests, background and friend networks? The more data you have on him, the more you know him and what better way to know your prospect than through his social data.

Depending on your business goals you can segment your audience based on their behavioral data or profile information. And this audience segmentation would help you send highly targeted emails. However, to go ahead and do this segmentation it is vital that you are clear about your goals.

Businesses need to align their social data requests to their goals. For instance, a list-provider company that wants to launch a new list of dog breeders in Arkansas, has to do its data accumulation based on this requirement. The company should be very clear about their business goals from this launch and who would be its target.

It’s important that you do not get intrusive when you gather the data you require. Do not do the mistake of getting too personal. You should treat data collection as a mutual exchange. It is about respecting your prospects. Respect is key to successful data collection. As users share their information with you, your duty is to safeguard it and use it to provide value for them.

We at Prepackaged Marketing Data can help you find what you need. We have been doing it for years now.

Smart Marketing during uncertain times

The day definitely didn't begin on a high note for the US investors. The US Federal Reserve has refused to commit to reducing bond purchases this year, saying it is still concerned about the sluggishness of the economy. As a result, the US dollar fell to a seven-month low against major currencies and the price of gold rose more than 4 per cent. The economic growth forecast for the year 2014 remains quite low. However, 2015 is expected to witness a steep hike.

In the given scenario, marketers have to take measured steps to make their businesses succeed in such hostile environment. The first thing most businesses do is to cut down their marketing budget. However, that’s not such a good idea. Studies have shown that in previous economic slowdowns businesses that continued to invest in marketing saw growth in their businesses, while those that pull their budgets saw a decrease in sales.

There are low-cost and even no-cost ways to market your business during these tough financial times. Email marketing is one such way. It is a very cost-effective way of reaching out to your market and if done well, it can pay huge dividends. The investment in this form of marketing is minimal; however to ensure maximum output out of it it is always recommended to go in for a well-defined and relevant prepackaged list. And, this is definitely a low expenditure that can get high returns.This is as smart and as efficient as you can get during an economic slowdown.

Prepackaged Marketing Data strives to make your email marketing effort a success. Contact us to learn more. 

Make email marketing exciting

It goes without saying that the email marketing sector is highly conducive for marketers who come with prepackaged lists. A precise list is an essential when it comes to making an email marketing campaign attractive and effective. This list has to be comprehensive and strong in all areas. To have good email deliverability all the essential criteria of list creation should be addressed appropriately.

First and foremost, understanding what type of client list you are looking for should be top priority. Your target audience needs to be clearly demarcated from the general population. This provides us with the necessary direction to the entire list building process.

Market research can never be overdone, and so should the case be with you. Building an entire list of prospective clients from scratch needs effort and half your work is done if you understand what the client is looking for. Looking into competitor behavior, how their products are positioned, their strategies, how the client responds to changes they make, these are all pointers giving us an idea of what we can expect.

A mail list service provider should be able to provide the client with certain features which are essential to a successful email marketing campaign. We segment lists according to your requirements. As far as additional features go, the more specific they are to client needs the better.

Looking for the list that can make your email marketing campaign exciting? Prepackaged Marketing Data might have just the right one for you. Talk to us to know more.

 

Why buying email lists is a great idea

Some argue that purchasing email lists can mean disaster for your business and give very vague reasons to justify this declaration. Nothing could be further away from the truth.

The truth is that you need people to email, and you need them quickly. And there are people out there working for this requirement of yours for years. These are people who have made procuring these lists their business. So, just consider this, what will be better for your business – an in-house list made up in less time in an unprofessional manner or a list prepared by experts who are specialized in getting data exclusive and specific to an industry or a requirement?

Moreover, money matters! There is no denying the fact that buying a list is pretty cheaper than investing in an in-house team to collect data. And the mindset that 'costlier the better' is not really very smart thinking.

Marketers selling Data also know that squeaky-clean and effective ways to build email lists is the only way to stay on and succeed in the increasingly competitive market. They cannot afford to sell you bad data. This would mean doom to their business as well as yours.

We, at Prepackaged Marketing Data, have been in the business for years and take immense pride in having a loyal and ever-growing clientele. This is because we are a company led by a strong conviction in the importance of opt-in lists. In this age of information overload and cluttered inboxes, sending unsolicited mails can mean the end of the road for your business and our's also. We work towards earning the interest and trust of your contacts because they think you have something valuable and helpful to say.

Do you want to know more about the data solutions we provide? Do contact us for a free consultation.

Get a healthy permission-based email list

To reap maximum benefits from email marketing, it is important that you build a permission-based database. This will create a win-win situation for both you and your customer. You can gain a long-term profitable relationship with your customer, and in turn, your customer will receive offers for products and services that are meaningful and relevant to him/her.

However, we know that it is a challenge to procure permission-based database. Customers are becoming increasingly sensitive towards any unwanted communication. They cannot be blamed for this attitude as they are totally fed up of their inboxes getting cluttered with unsolicited mails. You should keep in mind to develop your subscriber lists with relevance and care.

You can benefit immensely by following responsible best practices to build a permission-based house file. There are a number of simple and effective ways of doing so. You can continue with your traditional online and offline tactics, however, keep in mind to adopt emerging strategies, such as paid search and integrated POS technology as well. Whatever strategy you employ, the challenge is in using these tactics responsibly, complying with all legal requirements and respecting subscriber preferences, in order to maximize list growth through every customer touch-point.

Follow simple methods like enabling customers to sign-up for email by placing a clear and conspicuous form on each page of your website. Make sure to incorporate email sign-up into all account registration and e-commerce forms on your website.  Keep sign-up forms short, simple and clear. Resist the urge to collect a large amount of information at an early stage in the relationship.

We, at Prepackaged Marketing Data, put our heart, soul and money to get loyal and profitable subscribers. 
To know more about  permission-based email list, call us. 

Are your Mails reaching Inboxes?

Opt-in email marketing is surely the right choice but, shockingly, according to a study by Return Path, nearly a quarter (22%) of opt-in marketing emails never made it to inboxes in the first half of 2013.

Now this is a big let down to marketers who choose opt-in subscribers’ list to ensure that their mails have high open rates. How will the mails get opened when they are not delivered in the first place?

Email Intelligence Report: Placement Benchmarks 2013 from Return Path shows that this longstanding problem for senders around the world—especially in the social media sector—isn’t getting any better, although marketers in some regions and industries appear to be making real progress towards solving their deliverability challenges.

The Inbox Placement Rate (IPR) has declined by 4% worldwide. US and Europe fared well in this with above 80% IPR, however Asia-Pacific region and Brazil have declining IPR. Industry-wise, retail  and non profit organizations showed remarkable IPR gains. Social networks declined to 75% IPR. 

Based on a sample of nearly 1 trillion messages sent worldwide through more than 150 mailbox providers during the first six months of 2013, the report found that 18% of all email messages sent with subscribers' permission either were blocked or went missing, and another 4% were delivered to spam or junk folders.

Want to learn more about meeting deliverability challenges? Request a free consultation.

Opt for opt-in lists

 We have been talking about personalization, dynamic content and other ways of refreshing email marketing.  A topic we can’t ignore in this regard is List Growth. It’s such an important aspect of an email-marketing program, but sadly, most often than not it gets neglected.

 There is no bigger way to harm your email marketing effort than to use a list that has been static for over a period of time, say one year. A list has to be constantly updated to bring the maximum out of your email campaigns.

 

You can employ many tactics to grow your list. In this regard, you should always opt for an opt-in subscriber list. The reality is that if someone has requested to receive communications from you, they are much more likely to interact with your email campaigns and ultimately convert. Requiring an opt-in before you send email marketing to a customer or prospect also creates a relationship of trust, one that you can reinforce over time with each communication. An opt-in list can ensure you higher retention rate, more engaged audience, and a reinforced reputation.

There are a few things you ought to keep in mind when you work towards getting yourself an opt-in subscriber list:

·         Always place the email opt-in option in an easy to find place on your website.
·         Make it easy for the visitor to your website to join or subscribe. Do not make them fill up multiple fields in the form.
·         Use appropriate and warm calls to action that make the visitors want to click on them.
·         Always remember to acknowledge your subscribers who opted in by sending a thank you message.

Looking for data solutions? Prepackaged Marketing Data might have just the right one for you. Talk to us to know more. 

Let the Subject Line reel in readers

Shockingly, according to Forrester, by 2014 marketers will spend about $144 million on email messages which will never reach the recipients at all!

Why is this the case? Is email marketing such a hard nut to crack?

Unfortunately, a staggering number of emails end up in the spam folder. And a good amount of mails that does reach the ultimate destination – the inbox of the recipient – remains unopened. This is because most recipients are very choosy about the mails they open from their overcrowded and cluttered mailbox. In a given scenario like this it becomes pertinent to make your mail stand out in the sea of wanted and unwanted mails.

Personalization of your emails can make a huge difference. And the subject line of your mail plays a crucial role in this. The subject line is the face of the mail. It should draw the reader in. It should somehow influence the recipient to open the mail. To make the subject line effective it is necessary to understand your subscribers, and their needs and concerns.

Keep your subject line simple. This is crucial, in fact, the shorter the better. Make sure it is to the point and jargon-free. Do not try to make it flowery; avoid quotes, numbers and figures. It goes without saying that spam words are a strict no-no. The only purpose of a subject line is to achieve an open. Do your best to ensure that. A subject line with catchy or clever wording could grab your reader’s attention, which ultimately means getting your email opened and read.

In short, do not underestimate the power of a good subject line.

Prepackaged Marketing Data strives to make your email marketing effort a success. Contact us to learn more. 

Benefits of Personalized Emails

I have harped on the importance of personalization in email campaigns in my previous posts also. The fact is that any amount of talking about it is not enough. In this increasingly competitive digital marketing sphere, you have to do everything to ensure that your promotional email campaigns are effective. And you cannot do it without personalization.

It is now a known fact that a personal touch to your mails can take you a long way. Clients respond better when you create a connect with them. It is important to know their tastes and preferences. This will touch an emotional chord in them and help you build a long term relationship with them. 

Let me briefly tell you a few benefits of making your emails personal:

Better Response Rates – Personalization makes your subscribers feel exclusive, which will in turn make them open your emails and follow the links to your sites religiously.

Better Performance – Personalized mails will help you know your clients better. Through their responses you will get to learn about their needs and goals. This will definitely help you serve them better.

Build A Relationship – With personalized mails you can create a bonding with your clients. Even if you don’t deal with all the clients on a regular basis, keeping in touch with them can be rewarding for your business in the future.

At Prepackaged Marketing Data, we understand the importance of getting your email campaigns right with the right database. Contact us for a free consultation. 

Email Design: Do not ignore 'From Address'

When we talk about email marketing, we usually focus on the content, especially the Call to Action. However there is more to an email than an effective call to action.

Designing an awesome email can be so much fun and rewarding. The design of an email campaign can elicit too many discussions and arguments in the team. Everyone has an opinion on what exactly should the email be about and how it should look. The design is influenced by factors like your company style guide, your company’s ‘personality’ and the perception of the person doing the design. Although all these factors guide the basic design, there are some essential design principles that are followed to ensure that your email design is both attractive and functional. 

One of these principles that is most often not given much importance or thought is the ‘From Name and Address’.

It is vital that you choose a regular ‘from address and from name’ to use for your emails. This should usually be your name and/or your organization’s name. This will ensure that these details become familiar to readers so that they immediately identify the email relevance and ideally add you to their address book. Prospects would opt not to open or read mails from unfamiliar senders. All your efforts would go down the drain if that happens. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the relevance of maintaining a consistent and proper from address and name. 
Always ensure that you have got the from address right.

Talk to our consultants to know more about effective email designs. 

5 Ways to Improve Data Quality

I have been writing about the benefits of effective email marketing. And it is common knowledge that your email marketing effort will not bring in the desired results unless you have good database. So before you begin building your email campaign, make sure you get your hands on the relevant database. Quality of the data can be ensured by following these tips:

  

1) Keep track of your mails

You should have a process in place to track the status of the mails you have sent. Emails that bounced back or were returned should be marked and the database updated accordingly. A proactive database is a necessity for improved communication effectiveness.

2) Double-check information before database entry

It is always easier and better to verify the information properly before making it a part of your database. Cross-checking later can be difficult. Correcting contact information is always easier when the client is engaged.

3) Know your data well

Understanding your data quality challenges and making required system changes over time are vital.

4) Get experts to manage data

Appoint multiple data quality managers who know the in and out of data quality management.

5) Have regular database checkups

Data expires pretty quickly. A regular database check-up to ensure that old data is refreshed is indispensable. To ensure contact data integrity, supplement real-time address verification efforts with regular bulk processing.

We, at Prepackaged Marketing Data, work towards providing you with the best data to make your marketing efforts bear fruits. Contact us for a free consultation. 

Deliver right message at the right time to receive high returns

You live in times when you are bombarded with more information than you need or seek. Naturally, you ignore messages that are irrelevant, unhelpful or just plain boring. The same goes for your prospects. They tune out messages that do not serve their purpose. There are very high chances that your message might get lost in the cluttered inbox of the receiver.

In the given scenario, it becomes pertinent to deliver the right message at the right time. You have to ensure that your mail gets noticed, opened and also results in conversions. To meet this end, the key is to send targeted, relevant and engaging messages when the buyer is ready to take action. Expand your behavioral knowledge base, shape your content and leverage timing to deliver the ideal message at the perfect moment.

Here are some tips that will help you provide the content your customers are looking for:

• Garner user preferences via surveys, forms and progressive profiling
• Measure and monitor user behaviors
• Humanize your marketing content
• Build dynamic content into your messages
• Send triggered messages throughout the relationship
• Send when contacts are most likely to be in their inboxes

Looking for more tips to make your email marketing a success? Let the experts assist you

Email Marketing: Get close and personal

I spoke about creating a personal relationship with your subscriber in my previous post. Did it cross your mind that it is easier said than done? I agree it is not easy but definitely achievable.

A personal message appeals to the emotions, which invariably leads to action. So the importance of personalizing your message is huge. Though attaining this goal may seem difficult.

Everyone knows that it is possible to send effective personal messages if the number of recipients is less. But when you have to send mails to your whole customer database, personalization becomes a humongous task.  Most often, many marketers opt for a generic blast which is a sheer waste of time and effort. Impersonal and undifferentiated message will only elicit cold response from your customers.

   

A personalized one‐to‐one message sent thoughtfully to each of your prospects will get you awesome results. Though this is the most effective kind of email marketing campaign, it seems like an unattainable target. However, the picture is not so bleak. A marketing automation tool can help you with this.  

A marketing automation tool will make it easier than ever to customize your content to make emails more upfront and personal. Depending on demographics or market verticals, marketing automation will allow you to tailor unique customized messages to your prospects. The message templates offered by marketing automation platforms contain fields which represent values or recipient attributes that can be tailored to fit specific marketing goals. These fields can be used for personal greetings, reference to specific purchases, and similar variables.

Opt for a free consultation to learn more. 

Right content gets your email the right response

In my previous post I touched upon the importance of defining the purpose and the audience of your email marketing. After you know whom you are talking to and what the purpose of your communication is, it is very important to get your communication right. The content is king! Get it right!

Your content is the most important part of your email. Here are some tips that will help you create content that connects:

1. Your reader is the King

Give your readers a royal treatment. After all, they opted to get mails to you and you need to honor their interest in you. Prioritize them and keep them informed of every important or interesting news related to your business. It is their right to know. Also, give them special treatment by gifting them special benefits and offers. Make them feel like a part of your family so that they too route for your success.  Take the relationship between you and the subscriber to a personal level.

2. Get into your readers’ shoes

Think from their perspective. Your content should benefit them in some way or the other. Your content should make them open the mail and click through it. There are certain elements that you can include in your mail to ensure the reader’s interest.

Industry news and information, useful tips and tricks, surveys and polls, special offers and coupons are welcome content.

3. Keep it brief and precise

Most people are bombarded with tons of emails each day. Keep your newsletter short and easy to digest. No one has the time or inclination to read through long and detailed mails.

4. Add character to your mail

Make your email interesting. Your content has to stand out amidst all the content the reader gets bombarded with. A boring mail would be rejected outrightly. A sprinkling of spunk can take you a long way!

Contact us to learn more

Email Marketing: Know your purpose and audience

You are sure that you want email marketing as it is one of the most cost-effective marketing tactics. However, the task of formulating a plan seems daunting. The truth is that it is not tough to put an email marketing plan together. Half your work is done if you are able to identify who your audience is and what the purpose of your email marketing is.

Who is your audience?

Before you say anything, it is very important to know whom you are talking to. You definitely don’t want to waste your time and effort trying to sell Justin Bieber posters to octogenarians. To make your communication effective it is vital that you get your massage to the right audience. When you know your audience well, you will naturally find it easier to decide what you want to say to them. After you identify you audience, you come to the next step getting to understand them. What do they want? What are their requirements? What can I offer them? Will this offering make them happy? You can find answers to these questions on the basis of your understanding of your target audience. This will help you keep your email content relevant, and ultimately help ensure the success of your email marketing.

What is the purpose of your email marketing effort?

Now that you know whom you are talking to, you should be clear what you want to achieve out of your communication. Is it to inform, educate or persuade? Do not lose the perspective. Meeting the purpose is the goal of any communication. Base your effort on this foundation.

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