Archive for September, 2011
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
One of the most important questions you’re going to ask yourself as a marketer is ” How do I make sure the emails I send out are not being blocked or routed to somebody’s junk folders?” Email deliverability is one of the most discussed topics in online marketing today.
You might think that simply sending out your emails through a reputed Email Service Provider who maintains CAN-SPAM compliance is enough. Not anymore. It may surprise you to learn that today the biggest influence on deliverability comes from the sender, not the software! If your mailing list is of poor quality or your mails are tainted with content issues, you will never achieve seamless inbox delivery.
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| Important Steps to Improve Your Email Deliverability: |
| 1. Check the sending IP address and domain reputation: |
| Mailbox providers like Gmail keep a record of the kind of emails sent from a particular IP address. If you have a history of sending relevant, solicited emails from your IP address and domain, you are most likely to have uninterrupted inbox delivery. |
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| 2. Constantly monitor your recipient list quality: |
| Many companies purchase extensive lists of email addresses in the hope that a ‘big blast’ will get their message across to the maximum number of people. They couldn’t be more mistaken. Sending campaigns to purchased lists riddled with dead and inactive email addresses not only damages your reputation ( nobody likes to receive unsolicited email from vendors) but also attracts Spam filters, leading to losing inbox access and even domain blocking in the long term. Make sure your list grows organically via Web Sign-up Forms. |
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| 3. Address content issues: |
| Spam filters analyze the frequency of potential Spam words (like Free or Prize), the image-to-text proportion and size of your mail, the reputation of the links in your mail, and the quality of the image hosting services that you use. |
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| 4. Stick to one ‘From’ field name and address: |
| The ‘From’ field address actually influences whether your mail ends up in an inbox or a junk folder. Stick to one name and address, and build up a reputation for sending solicited and engaging emails. |
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| 5. Request your recipients to Whitelist you: |
| If a subscriber adds your ‘From’ address to their address book, all future email messages from you will land directly in their inbox. This is ‘Whitelisting’ and asking your subscribers to do this is an important marketing tool. |
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| 6. Avoid gimmicks: |
| The only outcome of this is an IP/domain block – the worst punishment of all. Common tricks to avoid include trying to fool Spam filters by adding characters within the mail subject line or content ( like F.ree. P.r!z.e); starting a message with ‘Re:’ or ‘Fwd:’ to try and give the impression of previous communication; misleading claims of having won a prize when there are actually conditions to be fulfilled; or sending just one large image to fool the Spam filters and adding a text message within it. |
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| 7. Make sure there are no risky words in your message: |
| Completely eliminate words like ‘Free’, ‘Prize’, and ‘Bonus’ from your messages as these are viewed as Spam words by ISPs. |
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| 8. Maintain a regular mailing pattern: |
| Sending out sporadic emails every 2 – 3 months can be detrimental. This is because customers begin to forget your ‘From’ field address and may start deleting your messages without reading them, or they may forget that they had subscribed to your mailing list and end up marking your messages as Spam. |
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| Lastly, it always pays to use a good Email Service Provider to send out your mails, and keep track of bounces and unsubscribes to keep your list clean. Give your messages the best possible chance of getting through! |
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Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
Although Facebook has become the hub of commerce for many retailers, it is not a viable direct selling channel. For example, many Facebook storefronts use iFrames or Flash to show product content, which is then completely ignored by search engines. Until it evolves to support the sophisticated analytics, SEO and merchandising tactics that retailers already use on their commerce sites, it is perhaps best leveraged as a complementary sales channel. It is also a branding and engagement tool, and a traffic-driver to your e-commerce site, but it would be more advantageous to think about these ways of incorporating social media onto your own site instead. |
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| Three Ways to Increase Commerce on your Site Using Social Media: |
| 1. Ratings and Reviews: |
| Many companies still outsource user-generated content on to their Facebook page. Yet studies show that 65% of consumers prefer researching products on a retailer’s website, and a majority use search as the route to finding product pages. Despite Facebook’s sheer volume of users and abundance of user-generated content, on-site customer reviews are critical to a successful social commerce strategy. Retailers have seen significant SEO benefits by housing reviews on-site. Most companies believe that traffic directly to product pages produces the highest conversion rates, and blending product descriptions with customer reviews creates optimized content that search engines rate very highly. |
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| 2. Social Login: |
| Most websites present visitors with some kind of form to learn more about their shoppers in an attempt to build relationships, target or personalize content and increase retention with special offers and promotions. But most people hate filling forms! Often they will falsify information because it just seems too intrusive to lay out all their details to a faceless website. This is where Social Login becomes important. It is preferred by customers, and simplifies registration as well as providing a wealth of demographic data to the retailer. It has been shown that consumers who prefer to use their social identities to interact with sites are more valuable shoppers. They buy more often online and are more likely to rely on their social networks to influence purchase decisions., These consumers are nearly twice as likely to purchase on a site that automatically recognizes them. |
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| 3. Via Your Mobile: |
| The mobile phone is rapidly becoming the focus for social activity online, and now increasingly for transactions too. Shrewd retailers can harness this channel to uncover new revenue streams. A mobile “check-in” posted to a social network feed expands retail brand awareness among a consumer’s friends. This creates a form of social validation – “If my tech-savvy friend checks in to rave about a great deal on a laptop at the electronics store downtown, I may be inclined to go shopping”. Retailers also facilitate loyalty and repeat business by offering badges, virtual currency or special offers to shoppers who frequently check-in, turning their websites into powerful channels for customer engagement. |
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| Fortunately then, with the right mix of tools, the benefits of social shopping can be extended to your e-commerce site. Social commerce is still an emerging area of focus for retailers, but don’t assume that it only needs to take place on a social network. Leverage these strategies to optimize your website and achieve maximum return on your social investment. |
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