Email marketing is a powerful tool that can extend your reach beyond your website and create new sales opportunities. If you simply sell to customers when they happen to visit your site, you have an all-or-nothing chance of making a sale. Should they leave without making a purchase, there's no guarantee they'll return later.
But when you build an email list of current and potential customers, you can reach out repeatedly to your prospects with targeted messages.
Here are five ways to integrate email marketing into your website and stay in touch with your best prospects:
1. Build an opt-in form on your home page.
Perhaps the easiest and most common way to create a list is to integrate an email opt-in form into your home page. To get attention, place your form "above the fold," so visitors can see it immediately and don't have to scroll down.To get an opt-in form code, you'll first need to sign up with an email marketing services provider, which will cost you up to $20 a month. The cost will likely increase if your subscriber list becomes larger than 5,000 members. This type of company allows you to collect email addresses, manage your lists and send messages to your subscribers. Once your account is set up, log in and follow the instructions in the company's help section.
Related: Email Marketing is Not Dead (Video)
Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating an opt-in form:
• Generally, the less information you require to opt in, the more sign-ups you'll receive. Most webmasters find that requiring only an email address and first name -- or even just an email address -- results in the highest opt-in rates.
• You'll also get better results if you offer a bonus for providing your email address. Many merchants find that delivering a coupon code or free e-book encourages more sign-ups.
• Depending on the email marketing services provider you've chosen, you may be able to split test your opt-in form. If so, try designing two different versions of your form that will be displayed randomly to visitors and will help you determine the most effective approach.
2. Include an opt-in option on your About page.
Don't stop with your home page. Include a second opt-in form on your About page. After all, visitors who arrive on this page have taken action to learn more about you and your business. Encourage them to get to know you even more by joining your email list.Consider the experience of popular blogger Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income. By adding an opt-in form to the main text of his About page, he saw an increase of 446 percent in email newsletter sign-ups over a two-month period.
3. Add an opt-in form to your checkout process.
Your checkout process can be another logical place for an opt-in form. If your customers are so invested in your brand that they're willing to pull out their credit cards, chances are they'll be interested in receiving future discounts and other messages from you.For more information on integrating an opt-in form into your sales process, check with your shopping cart provider. Many of today's top payment processers integrate smoothly with the most popular email marketing service providers.
Related: Six Tips for Maximizing Email Marketing Campaigns
If such integration isn't available, you may need to use an external program or hire a developer to add the opt-in function. This shouldn't cost more than $50 to $200, and you'll likely find the extra effort and expense worth the investment.
4. Integrate an opt-in function into your blog's comments section.
If you run a business blog, you can integrate an email opt-in box into the comments section. You'll be reaching people who already have demonstrated an interest in what you have to say.Some providers of email marketing services offer blog-specific plugins that will let you add an opt-in feature quickly and easily. If your provider doesn't have that service, you can purchase software for that function for about $100.
5. Consider a pop-up form.
Another option is to present opt-in forms via pop-up advertisements. Although some people find pop-up ads irritating, their continued presence on some of the web's top sites can only mean that they're effective for some marketers.It's a judgment call. If you do decide to put opt-in forms in pop-ups, be sure to track your site's metrics carefully. What you want to see is an increase in opt-in subscriptions -- without a corresponding increase in your site's bounce rate.
via entrepreneur.com
Hire Jim Woods To Speak to Your Organization
Innovation, Growth, & Hypercompetition Consultant/Speaker/Business Coach
Website: InnoThink Group Request a consultation: Office: +1 719.649.4118 or complete our form.Innothink Group is a strategic management, innovation and business coaching consultancy.
Our Guarantee. Where many consulting firms are reluctant to bear risks or tie their rewards to project outcomes, we decided to build a better model. We align our success with yours. We’re outcome obsessed, outcome paid, putting nearly two thirds of our fees at risk subject to hitting predetermined milestones. More than a guarantee we wanted from the outset to create true partnerships with shared responsibility. See a few of our clients.We provide broad ranging advice covering innovation, commoditization, competitive advantage, business policy and strategy, as well as global strategy and implementation.
Monday, May 14, 2012
5 Ways to Build a Solid Email Marketing List
5 Ways to Build a Solid Email Marketing List
Email marketing is a powerful tool that can extend your reach beyond your website and create new sales opportunities. If you simply sell to customers when they happen to visit your site, you have an all-or-nothing chance of making a sale. Should they leave without making a purchase, there's no guarantee they'll return later.
But when you build an email list of current and potential customers, you can reach out repeatedly to your prospects with targeted messages.
Here are five ways to integrate email marketing into your website and stay in touch with your best prospects:
1. Build an opt-in form on your home page.
Perhaps the easiest and most common way to create a list is to integrate an email opt-in form into your home page. To get attention, place your form "above the fold," so visitors can see it immediately and don't have to scroll down.To get an opt-in form code, you'll first need to sign up with an email marketing services provider, which will cost you up to $20 a month. The cost will likely increase if your subscriber list becomes larger than 5,000 members. This type of company allows you to collect email addresses, manage your lists and send messages to your subscribers. Once your account is set up, log in and follow the instructions in the company's help section.
Related: Email Marketing is Not Dead (Video)
Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating an opt-in form:
• Generally, the less information you require to opt in, the more sign-ups you'll receive. Most webmasters find that requiring only an email address and first name -- or even just an email address -- results in the highest opt-in rates.
• You'll also get better results if you offer a bonus for providing your email address. Many merchants find that delivering a coupon code or free e-book encourages more sign-ups.
• Depending on the email marketing services provider you've chosen, you may be able to split test your opt-in form. If so, try designing two different versions of your form that will be displayed randomly to visitors and will help you determine the most effective approach.
2. Include an opt-in option on your About page.
Don't stop with your home page. Include a second opt-in form on your About page. After all, visitors who arrive on this page have taken action to learn more about you and your business. Encourage them to get to know you even more by joining your email list.Consider the experience of popular blogger Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income. By adding an opt-in form to the main text of his About page, he saw an increase of 446 percent in email newsletter sign-ups over a two-month period.
3. Add an opt-in form to your checkout process.
Your checkout process can be another logical place for an opt-in form. If your customers are so invested in your brand that they're willing to pull out their credit cards, chances are they'll be interested in receiving future discounts and other messages from you.For more information on integrating an opt-in form into your sales process, check with your shopping cart provider. Many of today's top payment processers integrate smoothly with the most popular email marketing service providers.
Related: Six Tips for Maximizing Email Marketing Campaigns
If such integration isn't available, you may need to use an external program or hire a developer to add the opt-in function. This shouldn't cost more than $50 to $200, and you'll likely find the extra effort and expense worth the investment.
4. Integrate an opt-in function into your blog's comments section.
If you run a business blog, you can integrate an email opt-in box into the comments section. You'll be reaching people who already have demonstrated an interest in what you have to say.Some providers of email marketing services offer blog-specific plugins that will let you add an opt-in feature quickly and easily. If your provider doesn't have that service, you can purchase software for that function for about $100.
5. Consider a pop-up form.
Another option is to present opt-in forms via pop-up advertisements. Although some people find pop-up ads irritating, their continued presence on some of the web's top sites can only mean that they're effective for some marketers.It's a judgment call. If you do decide to put opt-in forms in pop-ups, be sure to track your site's metrics carefully. What you want to see is an increase in opt-in subscriptions -- without a corresponding increase in your site's bounce rate.
via entrepreneur.com
Hire Jim Woods To Speak to Your Organization
Innovation, Growth, & Hypercompetition Consultant/Speaker/Business Coach
Website: InnoThink Group Request a consultation: Office: +1 719.649.4118 or complete our form.Innothink Group is a strategic management, innovation and business coaching consultancy.
Our Guarantee. Where many consulting firms are reluctant to bear risks or tie their rewards to project outcomes, we decided to build a better model. We align our success with yours. We’re outcome obsessed, outcome paid, putting nearly two thirds of our fees at risk subject to hitting predetermined milestones. More than a guarantee we wanted from the outset to create true partnerships with shared responsibility. See a few of our clients.We provide broad ranging advice covering innovation, commoditization, competitive advantage, business policy and strategy, as well as global strategy and implementation.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
E-Commerce Tips: 3 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Succeed with Affiliate Marketing
Internet advertising has grown exponentially in the last five years. In last year alone, the total amount of money spent by merchants and vendors for advertising exceeded an estimated $81 billion
Affiliate marketing, performance-based marketing, is one of the best ways for a small business to reward one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s individual marketing efforts. Affiliate marketing plays a significant role in bringing new customers and clients to the table.
It is an idea that originated with the founder of PC Flowers & Gifts. Launched on the Prodigy Network in 1989, PC Flowers & Gifts remained on the service until 1996. By 1993, PC Flowers & Gifts generated sales in excess of $6 million dollars per year on the Prodigy service. Since it’s conception, affiliate marketing has become a behemoth in the advertising world.
Successful affiliate marketers, such as Mike Filsaime and Chris Farrell, possess strong brands, media savvy, and determination. They set their goals and work diligently to conquer them.
Utilize the following three tips and strategies that these experts practice every day, to establishing yourself as a successful affiliate marketer:
1. Be Authentic.
Successful businesses rely on effective communication and relationships. If you attempt to build business relationships on falsities, they will crumble quickly. Too often, marketers attempt to adopt a persona that’s alien to them so they can impress or otherwise appeal to an audience.
The end result is tension between what is real and what is presented, or an audience who easily sees right through a fake persona. In either case, you fail to connect with customers and sacrifice credibility.
The greatest success in affiliate marketing comes when your audience can truly identify with you. Be true to yourself, offer genuine value, and the acceptance and rewards will follow.
2. Be Consistent and Informed.
Novice affiliate marketers struggle with this concept at times. They often switch from one method of promoting products to another too quickly. In pursuit of the next big thing, they don’t establish themselves as reliable or knowledgeable.
Instead of developing strengths in one area and leveraging those skills on a consistent basis with a repeat audience, they constantly shift and never become an expert in any method. You’ll develop a better gauge for which strategies are working – or not working – if you develop a consistent system, and your base will grow through your work to meet expectations.
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