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Email Marketing – Smart Phone Users, Are They Important To Us?

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

Should we be worried about whether a person reads their emails via a Mobile (Smart) Phone or not?

Mobile_Phone_Email_Picture

You see, with the amount of mobile phones being sold (the numbers apparently outstrip sales of PC’s and Mac’s combined) many people check their emails by their phone.

Let’s take a quick look at this.

The mobile phone is small, compact and has a reduced screen size compared to a computer. The problem therefore lies in the viewing space available to the recipient.

If your message contains large pictures then their mobile phone may not be able to view them or at the very least you may be forcing a person to scroll around their screen.

In the past most mobile phones were unable to read HTML emails therefore the pictures you probably sent were useless anyway by the mobile phone email reader; but this has changed in recent times with the new breed of Smart Phone on the market able to view HTML.

Nonetheless, visibility of your message is still a problem.

So, what should we do?
Should we even care?

Well, this answer is always going to be – IT DEPENDS.

Yes, I know this sounds like a “cop out”, but actually it does depend.

Email Marketing will never be anything but…

1. Your List
2. The Relationship you have with your List; and
3. The Offer you are making.

However…

Here are seven tips you could consider if you do have people who read their emails by their mobile phone.

1. If you have a logo/header/brand then display it at the top of your message so you will be identified very early.

2. Get to the point of your message early. There is limited space available to the email marketer for their message to be viewed.

3. Don’t overlook a person may initially read your email via their mobile phone but statistics prove they also re-read important messages back at their PC.

4. Keep the size of the email below 20 kb. Mobile phone browsers have improved over recent times but they still lack the power to read large files.

5. Avoid sending any ‘Flash’ images etc. Again mobile phone browsers are not powerful enough to read them.

6. Curiosity not only killed the cat but it also works so well in email marketing. Don’t overlook sending a person to a website to view the full extent of your offer.  Most Smart Phones will allow the user to view a website easily.

7. If you know your customers predominantly read their emails via a mobile phone;  you could dispense with including an email header.
(I know an email header is one of my “7 Killer Tips To Get Your Emails Read” and I still believe in it. But we have limited space with mobile phone readers and it may best be served with additional copy.

8. BONUS TIP
Place your Call To Action near the top of the message – you don’t want to lose your prospect by forcing them to scroll down and around and annoy them.   If you have the Relationship they may not need to read all your email marketing message.

There you go.  Something to consider.

For me I am not about to make an radical changes to my email marketing just yet.

The majority of my customers are small to medium businesses and they view their emails at their PC.

What do your customers do ?

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Email Marketing – Do They Check Email or Facebook First

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

Yes, it’s a question ALL email marketers should consider.

That is…

Do your customers read their emails first or do they dive into Facebook to find out the latest overnight ‘goss’?

You see people’s habits will affect the way they react during the day.

Research tells us if people open their emails before checking out Facebook then they generally are more receptive to receiving special deals and offers via email.

People who jump into Facebook are more likely to be receptive  to offers sent to them by friends via Facebook.  They also look for GREAT DEALS by becoming Fans of a particular Brands Facebook page.

So, what should we do as email marketers to best use this knowledge?

First, we need to understand that simply crafting an email to your email list and then placing this ‘advertisement’ onto Facebook may be unrewarding

because…

A marketing email should be targeting someone in the ‘first person’; whereby a Facebook ‘advert’ is targeting a group of people.

If this is confusing let me explain it this way…

When we send a marketing email it should be written as if the recipient is in belief it was written directly to them.  It should only contain sentences structured in the ‘first person’.

This way of writing is impossible to do on Facebook unless you ‘Private Message’ everyone which is time consuming and improbable to do.

The Message you would be posting on Facebook would be ‘generic’.

Sure it would contain your own immutable style but essentially it can be seen as trying to grab many people.  What I call ‘Shotgun Marketing.’

What to do

So, what should the email marketer do after they had obtained if a person views emails or Facebook first?

1. If you have an Email First client ensure you have an Offer and special deal in the email or in a link to a website.  Email First customers are transactional (task orientated) and they wish to get to the offer quickly.

You could direct them to a Facebook Fan page but this would be done in the PS’s.  Try to avoid sending Email First customers to a Social Media site until after they have viewed your offer.

2. For Facebook First customers rearrange your Offer on Facebook to be lively, fun, interactive for these Social people.  The Offer could be the same as the Email First customer but as you are now trying to attract a group as opposed to one-person the style and balance should be alive, and social.

3. Don’t get trapped too much into the age of the person and stereotype them as young, so they are Facebook people.  Behavioural styles are developed early and a person’s age will not necessarily fully explain whether they are Email First or Facebook First people.

So therefore…

4. Allow cross-promotion to occur with your messages.  i.e. Facebook First people may be happy to receive emails direct from you.  Give them the ability to do so.  Make it easy for them to sign up to receive your marketing emails.  You never know they may be an Email First customer after all.

There you have it.  Not really too hard is it.

But I can hear you say…

How do I find out if my customers are Email First or Facebook First people?

The answer lies in a method all marketers should use.

That is…

ASK THEM.

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Email Marketing – “I Went To A Breakfast Meeting And Discovered…”

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

“I Went To A Breakfast Meeting And Discovered…”

Early this morning I went to a breakfast seminar on
retail marketing using the internet. It was presented by
four companies who are immersed in this area.

One of the businesses revealed:

  1. 14% of businesses do not send one email to their clients per month;
  2. 31% send 5 plus emails per month;
  3. 9.5% send 21-30 emails per month.

I know you might say “I don’t have time to email” or “Emails,
they give me the…!”

Well whatever your thoughts are, you are probably right.

But…

For businesses who keep in regular contact with their clients,
and provide information which is worthwhile are rewarded with
handsome rewards in the way of profits.

So really, you cannot afford not to do it.

And if you have been thinking about it but not sure where to start.

I will let you in on a secret.

I use Kurt Johansen  to look after my email campaigns and sending my emails.

I don’t have the time either to put my campaigns together, but I am
aware of what it will cost me if I don’t do this task.

If you see that this could be of benefit to you and your business then
why not contact Kurt and see what he can do for you.

His email address is kurt@johanseninternational.com.au if you wish
to email him.

Don’t take my word, get him to prove it for you.

Committed to helping you
Victor
Deps P/L
Packenham Victoria
www.deps.com.au

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Testimonials Tagged With: , , , ,

Email Marketing – “Which Program To Use?”

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

I was asked the other day which email program do I recommend.

In  a post last year I mentioned a few and now I can add this one to the list as well.

It’s simple to use, and I know the people behind it.

I thoroughly recommend you give them your email marketing business.

You can get to them by CLICKING HERE.

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt
Email Mastery

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

“There’s a SPECIAL Day On Sunday Are You Ready?”

May 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

Yes, Mother’s Day is almost upon us and I send all
my very heart felt warmth to all the mums out there.

If your mum is no longer with you take time to think
of the positive and loving times you spent with her.
It’s a time to reflect on the very best of memories.

If you are one of the fortunate ones to have your mother
still with you, think of something special you can do for her
this Sunday.  She’ll love any effort you take.

Mother’s Day is also a time in business to help those
many people trying to decide what to do for their mother
this Sunday.

There’s the old classics like

  • flowers,
  • chocolates,
  • taking them to the movies,
  • treating them to a meal or
  • even just enjoying a cup of tea together.

There’s plenty of things you could do but many people won’t be
able to decide.

So, this is where you come in.

What benefits can your products and services deliver to your
clients to make their Mother’s Day SPECIAL ?

You need to be inventive here.  Try thinking what would make
a lady feel fabulous, alive and cared for.

I’m sure you can do it.  I have the utmost confidence that when
you really put your mind to it you can see something extraordinary
in your products and services to create a magic smile for someone’s mum.

And when you do find this magical moment…Make sure you let your clients
know about it.

Phone them; post them a letter; EMAIL them.

Get to it now.  Don’t wait until the last minute.

With email you can send out a message in the next day or so
and then again on Friday. It’s quick, affordable and inexpensive.

Plus…

You can even keep this magical moment lasting a week after.

because…

Who said Mother’s Day is over on one day ?

Why not lengthen Mother’s Day to Mother’s Week and really
blow your clients’ minds and your competitors apart.

Extend your offer for a full week and allow everyone the opportunity
to participate because they might have wanted to but were unable
due to a previous engagement.

And…

Let me know if you need help, I may just be able to find that
hidden benefit to help someone’s mum glisten, shine
and smile on their magical day.

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

There Are Only 8 Different Types Of Emails

March 22, 2010 By 1 Comment
Hi Everyone

As Easter is approaching…

I thought I would give you help to write some emails to your customers.

You see, part of email marketing is having the ability to construct a message
which resonates with your customers.

And by this I mean…

Write an email which follows a proven, successful, logical format.

Now, before you get all nervous and say, “I can’t write.”
I am going to simplify things for you.

You see…

Once you have the format or formula it will be easy to plugin in and insert
the words you wish to say.

So to help – when you wish to send an email out to your customers
the first step is to decide which type of email you should send.

because…

once this is decided it will make the task of writing so much easier.

So, the first step to remember is:

There Are Only 8 Different Types Of Emails.

Yes, only 8, and once you have copied these onto your desktop, you will
easily be able to construct a meaningful email to your list.

Ok, there is a little bit more to it then just sending out an email but…
these 8 different types will help you on your way.

Email Type One: Tell a Story

This email type is about telling your customers a personal story.  Make it
conversational, make it about yourself, your business. It doesn’t really
matter but it must come from the heart.

The story could be about your family, a personal experience anything which
you believe people would be interested in.

Then…

Link it back to a product or service you are offering.

The key here is the story should reveal emotions. It doesn’t need to
be a literary masterpiece but it should reflect an honest, open dialogue
with your customers.

Here’s an example of how I used Email Type One in a recent email:

http://www.kurtjohansen.com/businessstrategy/bali-reveals-3-major-lessons/


Email Type Two: Discuss a Spec.ial Event/Holiday

This email type allows you to discuss a seasonal holiday or spec.ial event.

You could comment on the winning/losing of an award. i.e the Academy
Awards, the Grammy’s or the Logies.  You could then relate this back to
what awards your business has won.

It allows you to plan a series of emails and is one which you can
program a major campaign on.

Easter is the class.ic example here. It’s honoured everywhere and
it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, as it is generally celebrated
around the same time of the year.

How can you tie Easter into your email marketing?

I find it’s best to comment on events which covers both Northern and
Southern hemisphere’s as I have clients in both.

Easter is a logical choice at this time of year.  Don’t miss out on this
seasonal oppor.tunity.

Here is a copy of a recent Easter email marketing campaign.

http://www.kurtjohansen.com/businessstrategy/did-you-receive-these-17-brochures-in-your-letterbox/

You could also bring into play your birthday.

One of my best campaigns was centred around my birthday.

I was able to joint venture with a meals/bar venue who offered my clients
a fr*ee nachos for two.  The venue gained 32 new patrons who bought drinks and hopefully
enjoyed themselves to return.

It was the best marketing campaign they had ever run.

I was seen by clients as a great friend for supplying the nachos.

And the bottom-line is…

“People buy from Friends.”

My clients stayed with me and bought even more.

Try this one – see if you can joint venture with another business who would
be happy to offer something fr*ee to your clients.

Email Type Three: Comment on a Spec.ial Media or Social Event

This type of email means you need to be up with current events.

You could discuss elections (be careful and stay neutral).

Another way to use this Email Type is to discuss what’s happening around the country
or world.

You could use sports, you could use politics or you could use weather patterns, such as
cyclones, earthquakes, floods.

Whatever you use try not to alienate too many of your customers.

Without solid knowledge of their ‘belief and value system’ it could
back fire on you.

Here is how I used it to comment on a media release from a company in
Brighton, England.

http://www.kurtjohansen.com/businessstrategy/when-to-send-emails/


Email Type Four: Media Personality Comment

This an extension of Email Type Three.

The difference between #3 and #4 is number four is about a specific person and
their actions.

You could take a moral standpoint of a celebrity like Sandra Bullock’s husband,
Tiger Woods but… again be careful.

How this links back to your product or service is crucial if you
wish to go down this path.

You could mention upcoming tours of bands, well known artists.

In Australia, Carole King and James Taylor are about to tour together.
This could be a great segue to discuss how partnering can be so advantageous.

You are only limited by your own imagination here.

Here is an example of how I managed to tie in P.T Barnum into an email.

http://www.kurtjohansen.com/businessstrategy/an-email-sales-template-you-can-use/

Summary

Well, here are the first four Email Types.

  1. Email Type One: Tell a Story;
  2. Email Type Two: Discuss a Spec.ial Event/Holiday
  3. Email Type Three: Comment on a Spec.ial Media or Social Event; and
  4. Email Type Four: Media Personality Comment



Think about how you can use these to converse with your customers.
Often we don’t do anything because we don’t know what to say.

Now you do – well at least you have half of the types of marketing emails there are.

Stay tuned for my next email where I will discuss and give examples of Email Types #5-#8.

Cheers and Great Selling

Kurt
Kurt Johansen
Email Mastery

PS: What ever you decide, KEEP MARKETING.

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Did you receive these 17 brochures in your letterbox ?”

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

I was out visiting a client the other day and was amazed when
I returned to my office.

I parked the car in the normal spot.

Walked the 5 or 6 metres to the front door of my office and I
grinned as I witnessed through the window, the excitement of
my Golden Retriever and Lhasa Apso, happily wagging their
tails to see me.

Nothing unusual I thought.

This was just another return, and it’s always nice to be greeted
by the family pooches as they give their love so freely.

I even had a great sense of gratitude overwhelm me.

But then…

I turned around and saw a pile of brochures, flyers and pamphlets
all neatly folded and protruding from my letterbox.

Gosh, I thought it must be Christmas.

I can’t remember receiving this many marketing items in one bundle
before.

There were brochures for:

* Target  – “Massive Home Sale”;
* Coles – “Your Hunt For Easter Value Is Over”;
* Kmart – “Everything For  Easter Time”;
* Big W – “Big Easter Surprises”;

* Kosmos Electrical – “Home and Kitchen”;
*Repco – “Easter Getaway Specials”;
* General Trader – “Where Everyone’s A Chef”;
* Prouds The Jewellers – “Sparkling Savings”;
* Auto Barn – “Hip Hop Easter Sale”;
* Cheap As Chips – “All Your Easter Goodies In One Basket”;
* AGL – “Need Hot Water?  We’re Experts”;
* Australian Outdoor Living – “Production Surplus Crisis”;
* Chemmart – “Monster Discounts”;
* The Outdoor Furniture Specialists – “9 Day Mega Sale”
* Godfrey’s – “We’re Turning 80″;
* Dick Smith – “Talk To The Techxperts”; and
* Sprint Auto Parts – “Easter Saving Sale”.

What in the world, I thought,  has caused all these companies to go to
great lengths to create, compile, edit, and publish such colourful
advertising material to grab my attention?

What possibly triggered them into producing and sending it
all at the same time?

Well, really it isn’t surprising if you understand the buying cycles
of consumers.

And…

These companies do.

Easter is almost upon us and it IS recognised as the biggest consumer
spending time after Christmas and the New Year sales.

Easter brings about many feelings, whether it be holidays, religious/
spiritual or just ‘it’s nice to have break’.

Easter also brings about consumer spending.

So, if your business isn’t gearing itself to take
advantage of this consumer activity and sales phenomenon then
I suggest you start cracking some heads in your marketing and sales
department.

An opportunity like this will not come around again probably until
the Mid-Year Sales.

These 17 companies listed above are not dopes !

They went to great length and expense to produce the brochures because
they know this time of year is ripe for consumers.

And now you do too.

I know – I hear you – “I don’t have the money to produce such
lavish brochures.”

And I understand that.

Most small to medium businesses don’t.

But it’s no excuse not to look around and see what you can offer
your customers. What great deals can you stimulate their interest with?

Then get on the phone, fax them, or send them an email.

For me, it’s email, because…

We can send multiple messages quickly, discover who opens the emails,
reads them and who may click on links back to our website.

It’s what I call a very quick means of “Message to Market” and
can be easily and quickly changed with each email.

If you would like to know more just give me a hoy.

But whatever you do; DON’T…

Miss out on the spending frenzy which is about occur.

17 companies whose brochures were in my letterbox cannot be all wrong.

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt
Email Mastery

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2010 Email Marketing Forecast

March 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

Target Marketing conducted a survey of its print subscribers in January 2010.

Here are the results:

Most businesses will not increase the amount they spend on advertising
or marketing this year.

They will allocate it differently though.

They intend to increase their investments in email marketing, pay-per-click, SEO strategies and advertising on their websites.

The major winner from all of these is Email Marketing.
84.6% of businesses plan to use email this year to acquire new customers.

Whilst 66.4% report they wish to use Social Media to greater effect.

What are you going to do in your business ???

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt
Email Mastery

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

“”Easter is Fast Approaching – Are You Ready?”

March 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

I don’t know about you but every time I go into a Coles
or Woolworth these days I am reminded about Easter.

At the front of the store there are Hot Cross Buns, Easter Eggs
and displays of other assorted Easter goodies.

I’m not sure if it’s too early but I do know this; these supermarkets have
created the Easter theme and we can use it in our businesses and markets to
piggy back off to create customer awareness for our products and services.

So, “Easter is Fast Approaching – Are You Ready?”

Did you know Easter is the next big consumer buying time after
Christmas and the January sales?

And…

if you get yourself prepared you can take advantage of this.

Easter brings about a few immediate ideas for sales.

People will travel  – so anything to do with car maintenance, holidays,
camping, clothing, food will be on their minds.

Some people will choose to stay at home – so anything to do with household
repairs, painting, cleaning, fixing, upgrading, entertaining will also be on their minds.

So again, “Easter is Fast Approaching – Are You Ready?”

Here are a few tips you could have as sales themes:

* “Easter Savings”
* “Hop into (the name of your store) this Easter”
* “Summer Close-Outs”
* “End of Summer Sales”
* “Next Seas.on Sales Now Here”
* “Easter Sellout”
* “Easter Egg Hunt Sale”

and I’m sure you could come up with many more like these.

Whatever you choose don’t miss out on this typical lucrative time in
sales.

Start YOUR Easter Sales campaign NOW.

This will give you a solid three weeks lead in time to get your customers’
juices flowing and their hands in their pockets.

And to help here is my Easter Savings special to you right now.

I’ll offer my fabulous and much used “5 x 5 x 5 email marketing
campaign” to you.

That is I’ll work with

* 5 businesses to send out
* 5 emails to their client lists for
* $550 total fee (each client).

Each time I offer this “5 x 5 x 5 email marketing campaign” people jump
on board and we get to create campaigns specifically for them.

So, don’t delay, this offer normally sells out really fast.

My “5 x 5 x 5 email marketing campaign” has become something of
a best seller for my clients lately.

Call me 0412 94 77 33 or email me kurt@johanseninternational.com.au
to take up one of these spots.

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt
Email Mastery

PS:  Not sure about if I can pull a marketing campaign off for you?
Go to the testimonial page above and check.

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Should I Include Images In My Email Marketing?”

March 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hi Everyone

‘Should I include images in my Email Marketing ?’ is a question I get asked regularly.

You see, most of the email marketers in the US suggest you send out emails only via text and people tend to read and take notice of this.

But…

if you only send  emails via the TEXT format then images cannot be included.

I always recommend you send emails by both TEXT and HTML methods.

Why ???

Because simply…

99.9% of people on my list open their emails in HTML.

And why would you wish to halt the ability for them to see images.

Quite simply, images will lead to increase click through rates.

Not sure ???

My statistics are always increasingly higher when I include an image

but don’t listen to me…

click here

to read an article from Email Worx
they have done the research and the results are in.

Cheers and Great Selling
Kurt
Email Mastery

Filed Under: Business Strategy, Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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