Lie to and Patronise Folk, and You End Up With Idiots for Clients

The other day, I received yet another email with a terrible subject line. It's not the first time I've received emails like this. It's not even the first from that email address.

The subject line is intended to make me PANIC!

Like I missed out on an AMAZING DEAL!

Oh my goodness... anything but that...

The subject goes a little something like this:

"Is this email account still active?"

And then the first few sentences, with the inevitability of gravity sucking you to the soil, say something like:

"I just want to check that this email address is still valid. Because you didn't respond to the amazing offer I sent through earlier... "

Urgh.

No.

Please, stop.

One of these days, I'll reply with something worthy of emails this dumb - something like:

"Have you considered, you know, making me an offer I want?"

This sort of gambit only works on the impulsive, the unimaginative and folks who've never used email before. Am I describing your idea clients or your nightmare ones? If the latter, think carefully about using this.

No one believes you care whether the account is active. It costs nothing to add one more email to a list. You're not frantically debugging your email software, muttering "I hope Sally got that last email!"

What's the big deal? It's just an email, right?

Sure - except you're lying to your readers. You're using a stupid tactic to trick them into opening, then hoping they're not paying attention enough to buy from you.

I'm hardly being dramatic - unless you actually care about their email address' status, you're lying to them... and you're not even being clever about it.

An alternative?

Well, instead of faking concern like a patronising in-law about how someone didn't open your email...

... maybe you could offer something worth buying, wrapped in an email worth reading.

And if folk don't read your emails?

Instead of assuming they're morons who'll respond to any tired, transparent gambit, assume you're the moron. Assume your emails aren't clear, clever or curious enough to get them to open. Or your offer isn't tantalising enough to get them to act.

Assume your readers are geniuses eager for your services, and you'll repel anyone who isn't.

Or you could do the opposite. Let me know how that works out for you.

Seems like an easy choice... except folk who should know better struggle with it. Do better than them and you'll do better than them.

Okay, enough ranting. Let's smile and talk about amazing email marketing.

Like what yours can be if you follow some basic principles and pay attention to your clients.

Then you can respect your readers, and they'll reward you in turn.

Let's talk about how to make that happen:

https://battenandking.com/services/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/William_T_Batten/2522089

https://ezinearticles.com/?Lie-to-and-Patronise-Folk,-and-You-End-Up-With-Idiots-for-Clients&id=10152813

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10152813

What Are the Advantages of a SSL Certificates for a Small Business Website?

With increasing Internet penetration and the explosion of social media, small businesses are no longer at a disadvantage. They are able to sell their products and services to customers from all over the globe, target audiences in any segment and region and position themselves for growth. While on-ground infrastructure needs to match to achieve success, the Internet has ensured that small businesses have a new avenue of reliable and affordable marketing. They are able to explain their offerings and are assured of an upward trajectory, provided their strategies are right.

However, the lynchpin for the entire operations is a website and all factors revolve around the same. When visitors come to the website of a small business, they should be able to get an intuitive feel and easily obtain what they are looking for. Further, visitors are looking more from a perspective of data security whenever they engage with any one on the Internet. Hence, the security of a website is a very important factor and visitors must be assured of the same, to retain trust and build a bond.

This is where the role of SSL certificates comes in. The term SSL is expanded to Secured Socket Layer and this certificate is a small data file that digitally binds a cryptographic key to the details of the organization. Organizations need an SSL certificate, in order to initiate a secure session with browsers. After installation, the application protocol changes from HTTP to HTTPS and depending on the browser a padlock or a green bar is displayed.

The key advantages for a small business are

1) SSL is important to drive home business credibility

By proactively installing an SSL certificate, businesses indicate that they care about data security. Installation of an SSL certificate is not an off-the shelf operation. A governing authority performs several checks to authenticate a business before the certificate is issued.

2) Data Integrity

With SSL certification, there is encryption of data, files are prevented from being corrupted when they are being transferred and there is protection from malicious attacks. It is thus assured that information only reaches the intended recipients and that it is not intercepted by any third party.

3) Google supports SSL

SSL certification is one of the parameters considered for Google SEO. About close to 40% of organic listings on the first page of Google are HTTPS. HTTPS is also a signal in Google's algorithm since 2014.

All of the above will mean increased customer confidence and conversions, which is the sole aim of a business having a website. It is thus a no-brainer that SSL certificates are vital for any small business website.

Nikitha (www.niktha.in) is a leading web development, online marketing and website auditing company in Chennai offering cutting edge services. With deep experience, a passionate team and technology strength, they deliver powerfully transformative solutions and add tangible value to any business.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/D._Siva_Kumar/825227

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10065800








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Lie to and Patronise Folk, and You End Up With Idiots for Clients

The other day, I received yet another email with a terrible subject line. It's not the first time I've received emails like this. It's not even the first from that email address.

The subject line is intended to make me PANIC!

Like I missed out on an AMAZING DEAL!

Oh my goodness... anything but that...

The subject goes a little something like this:

"Is this email account still active?"

And then the first few sentences, with the inevitability of gravity sucking you to the soil, say something like:

"I just want to check that this email address is still valid. Because you didn't respond to the amazing offer I sent through earlier... "

Urgh.

No.

Please, stop.

One of these days, I'll reply with something worthy of emails this dumb - something like:

"Have you considered, you know, making me an offer I want?"

This sort of gambit only works on the impulsive, the unimaginative and folks who've never used email before. Am I describing your idea clients or your nightmare ones? If the latter, think carefully about using this.

No one believes you care whether the account is active. It costs nothing to add one more email to a list. You're not frantically debugging your email software, muttering "I hope Sally got that last email!"

What's the big deal? It's just an email, right?

Sure - except you're lying to your readers. You're using a stupid tactic to trick them into opening, then hoping they're not paying attention enough to buy from you.

I'm hardly being dramatic - unless you actually care about their email address' status, you're lying to them... and you're not even being clever about it.

An alternative?

Well, instead of faking concern like a patronising in-law about how someone didn't open your email...

... maybe you could offer something worth buying, wrapped in an email worth reading.

And if folk don't read your emails?

Instead of assuming they're morons who'll respond to any tired, transparent gambit, assume you're the moron. Assume your emails aren't clear, clever or curious enough to get them to open. Or your offer isn't tantalising enough to get them to act.

Assume your readers are geniuses eager for your services, and you'll repel anyone who isn't.

Or you could do the opposite. Let me know how that works out for you.

Seems like an easy choice... except folk who should know better struggle with it. Do better than them and you'll do better than them.

Okay, enough ranting. Let's smile and talk about amazing email marketing.

Like what yours can be if you follow some basic principles and pay attention to your clients.

Then you can respect your readers, and they'll reward you in turn.

Let's talk about how to make that happen:

https://battenandking.com/services/

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/William_T_Batten/2522089

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10152813
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Your 2019 Guide on How to Use Video in Email Marketing

It's not news that video is at the forefront of marketing these days.

From creating videos for your website to hosting Facebook Live sessions, this marketing tool has transformed from a nice-to-have to a must-have if you want to effectively engage with your audience and build a loyal following who will be more apt to purchase from you.

Video-based marketing is a great way to stand out from the multiple messages people get in their inboxes every day, not to mention how effective it is on social media.

This article focuses on using video in your email marketing. Keep reading for the technical parts of utilizing video in your email marketing and the creative aspect for some inspiration.

I've talked about using video many times in the past, but in case you're still not convinced or didn't think to use video in your email marketing efforts, it's time to pay close attention. According to a study done by SuperOffice, including video in emails led to open rate increases of six percent (the average open rate across industries is about 25 percent).

Some other benefits of video marketing:

• It saves time. You can create short, engaging pieces of video much more quickly than it will take you to write an 800-word blog. It also gives info to your viewer in an easy-to-understand way.

• It can help SEO. Your Google search ranking can improve if your footage is viewed and shared by enough people.

• It's cost-effective. You don't need CGI effects or animation to make something great. A video can be much more affordable to produce than a blog or ad.

• It grabs attention. Especially when added into your newsletter, a video captures your audience's attention and compels them to want to watch.

First, the Technical Part of Video Email Marketing

Before you start brainstorming ways to use video in email, you need to know how it plays in different email clients.

There are over 30 major email clients, including Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Yahoo Mail, and some of them don't support the requirements for using email with video.

Traditionally, marketers would use HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language) to code HTML video directly into an email, but recipients with certain email clients aren't able to play it. Many popular email providers will only show a fallback image, and your marketing message will be lost in the crowd.

Fortunately, some of the popular services like MailChimp, Constant Contact and AWeber make it easy to share across all providers by using a screen capture image of your video and linking it to your original content on your blog, YouTube, Vimeo or similar sites.

This gives the appearance there's actually video in your email and avoids technical issues with your email provider.

Instead of having to learn HTML5, there are also 3rd party services that can create a video snippet for you to include right in the body of your newsletter. In fact, I did this in a recent newsletter of ours!

Check out Playable to embed a short video in your next newsletter. Playable will replace the video with an image of your choice if the email service provider doesn't support the video technology.

>> Learn more about the features of our favourite email providers.

No matter what eNewsletter tool you use, it's crucial to test your campaign before you send it out. You'll need to have accounts on all of the popular email platforms so that you can see how your footage works in each of them.

Sound like a lot of work? Trust a professional marketing company that's been helping clients create successful eNewsletter campaigns since 2003.

Next, Make Sure You're Mobile

According to Hubspot, mobile opens accounted for 46 percent of all email opens. That means you have to ensure you're keeping smartphones in mind when you're email marketing with video.

Fortunately, eNewsletter providers such as MailChimp and Constant Contact let you test and see how your messaging will look before you send it out.

It's still important to keep the file size as low as possible so the video doesn't need to buffer to start playing. Mobile devices don't have the fastest download speed.

A good tip is to take a 10 second snippet of your video to use in the newsletter. That snippet can then link to the full feature on your blog.

Also, always make sure autoplay is off, especially on mobile. Most people don't appreciate having something start playing (often noisily) as they sit in the office or on a bus; they prefer to click on Play themselves.

Now, On to the Creative Part

With the technical stuff out of the way, let's look at how you can actually create content that will engage your viewers and get you more visitors to your website.

You need a plan with clear objectives or else you're just sending content out into the world and hoping it will be seen and loved.

Why are you creating this campaign? To generate leads, brand awareness, followers... ?

Once you've identified your objectives and goals, you can start thinking about actual email, and the content you want to produce.

As mentioned, host the full-length video in a blog post, landing page or even on social media and then plan to incorporate a "sneak peak" of that video in your email marketing campaign, linking to the full-length version.

Here are six tips and inspiration to get you started:

1. Use the word "video" in your subject line to make your message stands out.

2. Promote an event. Let's use a law office as an example. We created a short video using Wave.Video for one our clients, A Family Law Firm, to promote an upcoming seminar they were hosting.

3. Offer tips. When it comes to email marketing with video, users want short, digestible clips. A "Top 5" or "4 ways to improve" will get more attention than a 2-minute creation of you trying to explain a product.

4. Create a series. This is a great way to keep people engaged with your expertise, as long as what you're providing is valuable to them. Stay away from a five-part series on your latest offering. Instead, solve a problem.

Using the law firm video marketing again as an example, you could set up a list-building campaign and do a four-part video series on ways to prepare for a separation or divorce:

• Part 1: DIY or hire a lawyer?

• Part 2: Filing the necessary paperwork

• Part 3: Dividing assets

• Part 4: Supporting your children

5. Make tutorials. Your product or service solves a problem, so how can you showcase this to your clients? Educate your viewers with a short explanation around how your product or service will improve their lives, using real-world examples.

6. Think outside the box. Now, we don't all have the budget outdoor company Patagonia does; however, look at how they've integrated amazing footage into their email campaigns. It doesn't focus on their surfing gear, but it's relevant to their customers.

Whether you're a life coach shooting some footage while you're on vacation or a wellness provider offering viewers a glimpse of your dinner prep process, get creative and get shooting!

Email marketing with video can be incredibly powerful, increasing your open rates, engagement, leads and sales substantially.

However, not every email should contain one. If you start using this marketing tactic every time you send out an eNewsletter to your subscribers, they'll stop paying attention. Think of it as one way to stand out from the crowd, but don't neglect your other tactics.

Crafting an eNewsletter campaign with video (or without), choosing the right email provider, testing and monitoring open rates and engagement is a tough job. And, it needs to be done well or else you'll end up alienating and losing subscribers.

Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works with entrepreneurs who struggle with having the lack of knowledge, skill and support needed to create their online business presence.

As a result of working with Susan and her team, clients feel confident and relieved knowing their online marketing is in trustworthy and caring hands so they can focus on building their business with peace of mind at having a perfect support system in place to guide them every step of the way.

Visit http://www.ultimatewebsiteguide.ca and download your FREE "Ultimate Guide to Improving Your Website's Profitability - 10 Critical Questions You Must Ask to Get Maximum Results".

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10132581
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