5 things you should know about effective preference centers By EmailGarage on 5 July 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips, Social media What if your contacts could determine the frequency of your email, which content they would like to receive and even on which other channels they want to follow you? Looks tough? Well, in fact it isn't all that hard. All you have to do is set up a web form that allows them to choose their preferred communication type. We know, these forms have been around for a while. But for some reason, they don't seem to really catch on. And that's a pity, because these ‘preference centers’ have an enormous potential. Learn more
The 10 best ways to spice up your emails with animated GIFs By EmailGarage on 28 June 2012 in Email Marketing, Trends, Design, Tips When we talk about animated GIFs, you’ll probably dream off to the 90s when we were all experimenting with our very first websites. You’ll remember those one page websites that had no content but were filled to the brim with heavy animated GIFs. Need to freshen up your memory? Just have look at this website, we bet you’ll recognize every single animated GIF… Hammer time! Learn more
10 tips to engage people through your welcome message By EmailGarage on 21 June 2012 in Email Marketing, Opt-in, Personalization, Tips, Targeting A highly qualified database that grows on a daily basis with a near-zero bounce or unsubscribe rate ... isn’t that every direct marketer’s wet dream? Attaining that is possible, but it requires that you roll up your sleeves and really get down to business. Learn more
Beware: these 5 things could kill your email campaign By EmailGarage on 7 June 2012 in Email Marketing, Design, Tips Up for a little challenge? Think about the worst email ever. Here’s our email marketer‘s nightmare: an email with its text pasted into an image, the font is comic sans in light green on a black background. There are no links and the text is one seemingly endless piece of copy, with just one picture… a stock photo with the vendor’s watermark still on it. Ugh. Learn more
How to use demographics to target the right audience By EmailGarage on 31 May 2012 in Email Marketing, Opt-in, Personalization, Tips, Targeting, Lists If you’re an email marketer, you’ll know how segmentation helps you connect with specific target audiences. It’s a highly effective approach to spark their particular interests. In practice however, things can get a bit tricky. Learn more
D’ya think email marketing is sexy? By EmailGarage on 24 May 2012 in Email Marketing, Trends, Tips “Do you think email marketing is sexy?” Most of the times when we pop this question at the beginning of a presentation we see startled faces, fall into an uncomfortable silence or even get plain laughter. We swiftly counter that by saying that it’s not a rhetorical question. That there really is an answer. That’s when the chuckling stops and eyebrows are raised. Well, the answer to this question is as simple as can be. Email marketing has an unsexy image, because frankly: we don’t make it sexy. Learn more
10 ways to turn leads into customers through email By EmailGarage on 16 May 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips Suspect – prospect – lead – customer. Talk to anyone in sales or marketing, and they’ll definitely know this sales process by heart. However, when it comes to communicating with these different types of people, we don’t always get the most out of it. Learn more
How to convince your boss to give you a bigger e-marketing budget By EmailGarage on 10 May 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips “Why on earth would you need a bigger budget… Can’t you send out our emails for free?” If you’re responsible for email marketing or communications in general, you’ve probably heard that question before…. Learn more
4 tips to push direct sales through email marketing By EmailGarage on 3 May 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips, Targeting With a ROI of about 30 euros per 1 euro invested, email marketing continues to be one of the most profitable online channels. The possibility to segment and deliver according to interests and click through behavior allows marketers to nail the right message to the right person at exactly the right moment. Learn more
3 key insights to make your mobile email marketing work By EmailGarage on 19 April 2012 in Email Marketing, Rendering, Tips, Deliverability Mobile is a trend on the rise, and it doesn't seem that it will be ending anytime soon. That’s why it’s wise to optimize your emails and email strategy so they fit in a mobile environment. In our previous posts we’ve already given you tips on optimizing your emails for smartphones and tablets. But that’s just one – albeit important - part of a mobile strategy for your future email campaigns. Check out these 3 key findings to give you a better insight into mobile email marketing. Learn more
How to evaluate your subscription channels By EmailGarage on 12 April 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips, Deliverability, Technology Growing your database is important for your online marketing strategy, no need to point that out. If you are not harvesting new email addresses, your email database will shrink gradually because there are always a number of unsubscribes per mailing. That’s why investing in maintaining — and preferably growing — your email database, is critical for every email marketing strategy. Learn more
The ROI battle of links: emotional vs. functional By EmailGarage on 5 April 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips The success of email marketing is generally measured by the number of opens and clicks. And when we look at the number of clicks, we analyse the calls to action that best drive traffic, and mainly focus on optimizing those. However, most templates contain standard links in their framework, and investing in optimizing these functional links can also be worth your while. Learn more
10 things to do before you hit that “send” button By EmailGarage on 29 March 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips, Technology | 1 comment Rattling nerves. Shaky hands. Cold sweat. As an e-marketer you have undoubtedly felt the stress just before you hit that send button. You checked your email at least ten times, verified the ‘from’ and ‘reply to’ addresses, revised your subject lines, scanned the text for typo’s,… but still: right after your clicked ‘send’, you find out that one link doesn’t work properly. Bummer! Learn more
How to calculate the ROI on your email marketing By EmailGarage on 22 March 2012 in Email Marketing, Tips We admit it: it can be a tough one. For those who don’t want to go through the trouble of calculating the ROI on their own email program: most researches estimate the ROI of email marketing at 41,00 US Dollars or 31,00 Euros. This may be a benchmark of several international studies which can convince people to start with email marketing, but it tells you nothing about the ROI of your own campaigns. Learn more
Want to implement a popup registration box on your website? By EmailGarage on 15 March 2012 in Email Marketing, Opt-in, Trends, Tips, Targeting “How on earth do I add more relevant contacts in my email database?”… it’s a question you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself at some point. Well, to tell you the truth: there is no one-size-fits-all method that guarantees a huge email database. However, there is a clever way to have people subscribe to your newsletter and keep them connected. The secret is in the combination of good content and well-chosen and implemented tactics such as sender strategies, optimized registration, timing, automation,… Learn more