As more people use their mobile phones to check their email during the day, email best practices for mobile devices is becoming more important. According to Marketing Pilgrim, a poor email experience leads 30 percent of consumers to unsubscribe.

Marketing Pilgrim columnist Cynthia Boris said companies need to get up to speed with email designed for mobile devices:

A year ago, mobile email wasn't that common, so it was easy to forgive a  company for not getting on board. Now, though, there’s no excuse for a  poorly executed email.

Emails that display poorly on mobile devices will prompt 30.2% of consumers to unsubscribe, accoding to a report from BlueHornet. Only 6.3% of consumers would read the email despite its poor display, the report said.

Email frequency and relevance is another common reason for consumers to unsibscribe. Offering subscribers flexibility in how many emails they receive can combat this and keep subscribers from leaving. Many firms ask subscribers if they want one email a week instead when they attempt to unsubscribe from email subscriptions. Giving subscribers options will improve their relationship and help retain them in the long run. 

Best practices for mobile emails
One way to endear your emails to mobile users is to make coupons and special offers usable on their mobile phones. Instead of requiring users to print out e-mailed coupons, design the offers so they can be displayed and redeemed on mobile phones. The ideal mobile coupon can be scanned directly from the phone by a barcode scanner.

Designing emails for mobile devices can be accomplished through responsive design. The design queries the device that the email displays on, so that one email can be formatted differently for display on mobile phones, tablets and personal computers. For mobile phones, graphics should be streamlined for easier viewing.

For more information on crafting an email campaign that works on mobile devices, contact us today. Don't let your customers unsubscribe from your emails due to poor displays on mobile phones!

Direct marketing campaigns have undergone drastic changes over the past few years. Companies are seeking and implementing new strategies that combine brand and customer marketing in order to achieve better response rates and attract more repeat buyers. Direct mail continues to be a solid marketing technique, but many businesses have found the ability to drive customer acquisition and retention with permission-based email to be a more cost-effective and personal approach.

Basics of Permission-Based Email Marketing
Permission-based email describes promotional emails that are sent only to those who have explicitly requested to receive the information. Since permission-based email only markets to those who have specifically requested additional information, an opt-in advertising campaign will generally have a much higher open and conversion rate than unsolicited bulk email. Since these marketing campaigns are highly targeted, the response rate will normally exceed that of direct mail.

Customer Acquisition Made More Personal
The inability to communicate with customers or prospective customers in a way that is relevant and personal can cost companies millions of dollars in potential sales. Customers are the most important business assets and they should be made to feel as such. Permission-based email programs allow messages to be personalized, greeting each prospect by name. The email is expected, it is personally related to the individual and it contains content on a subject that interests the reader. These personalized messages keep customers connected to the company brand and provide an excellent communication channel to maintain and manage customer relationships.

Brand Visualization is cited as one of the major branding trends in a recent article at forbes.com for the year 2013. Mobile marketing is inevitably enhanced when brand visualization techniques are employed.

From Flat Screens to Smart Phones

It’s ironic that, as flat screen TVs grow ever larger, the proliferation of smart phones drives consumers to view more and more information in relatively small places. It was inevitable, therefore, that part of the solution would be found in images. Pinterest, Instagram, and Flipboard are all examples of visually-based sites that quickly drew millions of followers. In fact, Instagram's trajectory from inception to a $1 billion purchase by Facebook was simply stunning.

The consumer has spoken, and the market has quickly responded. A photo's capacity to say 'a thousand words' is undeniable. Utilize that power for your own enterprise, and your branding efforts will benefit.

The trend toward the visual is also apparent in social media post excerpts. Initially, they appeared in words only. Then, small images began to accompany excerpts. Now, the image itself is often the primary attention-grabber. The title of an article merely becomes a link to the post itself. The image becomes the portal, the gateway, to further exploration.

The Potential In Data Visualization

The characterization of your numbers as 'dry statistics' is even more a barrier to communication in this visually-dominated age. One can do more than use dynamic photos and eye-catching logos to enhance brand awareness. In fact, those company stats that convey credibility and success can be turned into visuals like info graphics that overcome traditional communication barriers.

The most ancient of data visualization tools was not always the most accurate, but it sure was effective. Take for example, the ‘map’. It may have committed certain egregious omissions, like the initial elimination of the Western Hemisphere, but it served its purpose and was sufficiently effective.

Today, both images and visual representations of data are maps that the consumer will use to navigate, quite literally, to their destination -- your brand, hopefully!

In the world of the web, we've rapidly migrated from the '140 character' world to a land of bandwidth that can project HD images onto smart phones and tablets almost instantaneously. It is incumbent upon Internet marketers to fully embrace this newfound visual power. Data visualization is one such method for doing this. Fully embrace this concept, and the communication of data can move all the way from obstacle to asset. Recognize this potential in branding, and further success will be yours.

Gold Lasso is committed to contemporary e-marketing that welcomes every new development and applies it for its customers. So that we may learn more specifically of your needs, please contact us today.
 

Answer by Danielle Ashery, VP Client Services

Email Surveys

Often marketers get stuck in the rut of sending predictable emails, invitations and discounts, coupons and calls to action but nothing seems to motivate their customers. They play the guessing game, trying to figure out what makes their customer tick and what will motivate them to purchase. Doing this not only wastes time and energy, but it is ineffective. When customers do eventually purchase, you can't necessarily pinpoint the motivating factors. This uncertainty prevents marketers from replicating the success. The good news is this doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Business can easily arm themselves with the information needed to have a successful email marketing strategy by leveraging survey tools.

Survey Strategy

Surveys deliver clear feedback on customer thoughts, desires and motivations. Leveraging an incentivized survey strategy will garner valuable feedback from subscribers. Marketers should construct a simple, easy to complete survey with clear up front expectations. Tell your subscribers exactly what sort of commitment they are entering into: how many questions will they be answering, how long will it take to complete and what will they receive in the end. Keeping your survey strategy short and sweet will maximize responses. Limit your survey to around 5 questions and simplify the process as much as possible. Keep in mind that there are many different ways to execute a survey. An engagement map is a particularly unique option. It visualizes the question, increasing customer interest and engagement. Engagement maps also shorten the answering process by limiting the amount of typing involved. Marketers will have an easier time evaluating responses as they will be measuring clicks instead of analyzing written answers. As with any email marketing campaign, marketers should be careful to always test their messages. Certain email clients may not support embedded surveys, so subscribers will need a click through link instead.

It seems like using email to market your products and services would be easy and straightforward. You prepare a standard marketing letter, drop it into an email, hit the send button, and off it goesright into your customers’ trash.

Putting together a creative and winning email marketing campaign takes more than just throwing together the same old marketing letter. Your email should include a clear message with a call to action.

Create a Clear Message with a Call to Action
Your email marketing campaign may look good. It may even read well. However, if your message isn’t clear, customers may be overwhelmed and become frustrated.

An unclear message may occur when your email:

Contains too much information. That old saying, “less is more,” applies here. You may want to extend multiple offers to your customers. However, according to an August 2012 article at Huffington Post “office workers spend an average of 2.6 hours per day reading and answering emails.” That means many people have very little patience by the end of the day. Smaller email marketing campaigns are a better option.