Working with an email marketing agency should be more hands-off. Implementing a status page for our customers is one of the best ways to do that. The point of the Vertical Response page is to allow end users to have a view of when our email system is up and running or when it’s down.

The point of the page is to improve customer communications and insight. From finding out more about our services and viewing the progress of your projects to communicating with our team and opting in to receive notifications. This page tracks open items and past inquiries, and also allows you to sign up for notifications all in one place.

Using the vertical response status page will allow you to opt-in for updates. All that’s required would be your email address. Once you opt-in for notifications, you will be alerted whenever Vertical Response makes a change.

This included creating new incidents or any updates for it. This will also include getting notifications for resolutions made. Allowing users to do this can help to save time and keep you in the loop.

Check out our new status page and don’t forget to add it to your bookmark!

Using a Email Marketing Agency to Stay in the Know About Email Downtimes

While email platforms are usually available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, sometimes things happen that could cause an email system to become unavailable for a short period of time. For example, if our email service is down for maintenance or a system issue, you may not be able to send or receive messages during that time.

While something like this could cause concern, it’s less worrisome when you have a source that you can refer to for information based on the status of our email system. Getting notifications about our email marketing services is a good way to stay up to date.

While some downtimes may be necessary and planned, there may also be other instances when they are unplanned. This is one of the main reasons that this type of page was created, to provide reassurance and transparency.

This can also be significantly helpful if you’re using automated email responses in your social media tactics. The best way to stay in the know about any downtime is to check this page regularly or when you want to find out. This can save you time and give you a resource to use for status monitoring on your own.

How Would You Use the Status Page?

In short, a response status page is essentially a page that displays and tracks open and past inquiries or incidents. This page can help to provide ways to keep up with incident responses. It’s also a way to provide visuals on email system status.

In this case, the status page was designed to allow users to follow the accessibility of our emails. On this page, you will have two gauges that will identify if the system is in an uptime or downtime. You will also be able to tell how close the system is to one or the other.

Basically, it’s a way for users to tell if the system is currently operational or not. Using the update option in conjunction with what you see on this page is also beneficial. By signing up for updates you get more than just notifications of incident creation and resolution.

You will also have the opportunity to sign up for slack notifications. This is another way for you to get those notifications and to ensure you don’t miss any communications that might need your attention.

You will also be able to get to our support feed with little effort. Users can also expect to have easy access to our RSS and Atom feeds.

The point of this page is to give you multiple ways to receive notifications and view email status. Users can view historical uptime data as well.

Vertical Response Marketing has decided to use it as a customer-centric page. This means that the page was designed around what the customer might want and what they might need to see.

Are There Any Advantages?

Having a status page makes things easier on the end user but it provides additional benefits as well. Some of them could be;

• An easier way to receive notifications
• Less worry about email status
• Fewer occupied phone lines for support
• Reliability
• Transparency
• Efficient communications

Users can take advantage of this page when they have a concern about the success of the email system or any open incidents that were made about it.

Stay On Top of Response Status and Remain Hands-off

Working with an email marketing agency can help you to streamline the way you do business. Essentially, an email status page is going to work as a way to view the current progress of the system itself.

Whether you need marketing for your small business or social media guidance, working with Vertical Response is a great way to get expert marketing solutions and to find a reliable asset to help your business succeed. We just make everything even easier by providing users with a useful status page.

Start a free trial today to get a better idea of what we do.

The post Email Marketing Agency: How To Use the Vertical Response Status Page appeared first on VerticalResponse.

Financial Post reports that companies have an average return of $42 for every $1 spent on email marketing. That’s significantly higher compared to other advertising channels. Plus, you can personalize your message to reach the right customers at the right time.

The biggest challenge lies in finding email marketing ideas that resonate with your target audience. Ideally, you want to use a mix of promotional content, video content, news, freebies, and informative posts. Make sure you also send regular updates about your latest projects, deals, and business changes that impact customers.

Not sure where to start? Below are five email marketing ideas that can take your small business to the next level. But first, you must assess your needs and plan things out.

Create an Email Marketing Plan

Like most things, email marketing requires some planning. You can’t just send a bunch of emails to your subscribers and expect them to take action.

First of all, define your target audience and its needs. Use your website and other sources to collect relevant data. Polls, interviews, focus groups, and surveys can all provide valuable insights into your customer base. Consider your marketing and business goals, too.

Next, segment your audience into smaller groups so you can send them personalized emails.

For example, if you’re targeting gym-goers, you can segment your customers based on their preferences, such as weight lifting, CrossFit, or Pilates. After that, you’ll create different messages for each group.

Once these steps are completed, decide on the type of content you want to write. What do you want to say to your customers? What action do you expect them to take?

Each and every email should have a purpose and resonate with your target audience. Brainstorm email marketing ideas related to your business and then determine how often you want to reach out to potential buyers.

Let’s see a few examples:

• Messages from the CEO
• Industry-related news
• Product updates
• Deals and promotions
• Insights into your company’s culture and values
• Recent award nominations
• Transactional emails
• End-of-season emails and deals
• Invitations to exclusive events
• Tips and tricks
• Freebies (eBooks, white papers, reports, coupons, etc.)
• Follow-up emails
• Thank you messages

Your imagination is the only limit—just make sure you’re not coming off as intrusive or overly promotional. To avoid these issues, create a content calendar and stick to it.

Ready to give it a try? Check out these email marketing ideas for inspiration!

1. Email Newsletters

Email newsletters appeal to a broad audience, making it easier to keep your subscribers engaged. If, say, you operate a fitness apparel store, you can send the same email to everyone on your list.

This type of content isn’t intended to sell. Sure, you may include a few links to your products, but your main goal is to inform and engage readers. What matters most is to write newsletters that align with your brand voice and provide value to those who read them.

So, what should you write about? Here are some ideas to help you out:

• Breaking news
• User-generated content
• Case studies
• Round-ups of popular blog posts
• Listicles
• How-to guides
• Behind-the-scenes photos or videos
• Product information
• Recent survey results

For example, small businesses looking to take a stance on something happening in their industry may want to share letter-from-the-editor-style newsletters. This type of content can be anywhere between 200 and 2,000 words.

2. Welcome Emails

Welcome emails allow you to touch base with potential clients and introduce your business to new people. Generally, they have higher click-through rates than standard emails.

Consumers read welcome emails 42% more than promotional emails. Yet, only 75% of retails create and share this type of content.

Sending out welcome emails will not only increase engagement rates but also boost conversions. This approach can pave the way to a lasting relationship with your clients and leave them more receptive to future communications.

3. Abandoned Cart Reminders

Another way to leverage email marketing is to remind customers about the products or services they wanted to buy.

Sometimes, people get busy or change their minds and abandon their shopping carts. When that happens, you can send a friendly reminder to get them back.

Better yet, offer them a special discount or free shipping. Chances are, they’ll return to your store and take another look at the products they’re interested in.

4. Dedicated Emails

Stand-alone emails, or dedicated emails, inform subscribers about one specific product, service, or event. They’re actually quite similar to a landing page. The content revolves around one offer that provides value to your target audience.

With this approach, you can pull information from your landing page into an email template instead of writing from scratch. Remember to add just one call-to-action and keep your message clear.

When you’re done, you can easily measure the response rate, conversions, page views, and other metrics.

5. Re-Engagement Emails

Last but not least, you can send emails to inactive subscribers to re-establish contact. Ask if they are still interested in your products or services and whether they want to keep receiving your messages or unsubscribe.

Re-engagement emails can offer valuable insights into consumer preferences. It’s a simple, effective way to ask for feedback so you can improve your processes and deliver better customer experiences. This type of content can also reduce churn rates and turn inactive customers into buyers.

Get the Best Email Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Business

These email marketing ideas can make it easier to engage your audience and drive sales. Depending on your business goals, you can also send out lead-nurturing emails, brand story emails, webinar invitations, end-of-season reminders, and more. The key is to focus on building genuine relationships with existing and prospective customers.

Interested to find out more? Browse the rest of our blog for other email marketing tips. If you’re ready to create your first email, register for a free trial to get the tools you need to build powerful campaigns!

The post Top 5 Email Marketing Ideas to Consider appeared first on VerticalResponse.

If you’re looking to market a product to interested consumers, you’ll need to make an email that stands out. Using a custom email template can help to get recipients interested enough to click and read what you have to say. Read on to learn the specific benefits of using one of these templates.

Increases Personalization

Around 90% of consumers find personalized content to be more appealing than its generic counterparts. Additionally, 70% of buyers cite personalization as a determining factor in their loyalty to a brand.

Unfortunately, personalization can be a challenge because many employees simply don’t understand customization. Even those that do may not have the time or energy to make it happen.

Using templates for email marketing addresses this issue because design teams can create personalized templates for multiple audiences. You can have different templates for people in various occupations and income brackets that you’re targeting. You can use different templates for audiences that need different pain points resolved.

All that employees need to do is select the template and enter in the limited information necessary. This gets multiple targeted markets customized and relevant emails with minimal work on the part of your business.

Improves Response Rates

Personalization improves response rates in and of itself, but email marketing templates are also viewed as more reputable than other messages. In a time where phishing is commonplace, people are unlikely to click on messages that they don’t recognize. 75% of consumers cite professional email addresses as a crucial factor in whether or not they trust a message.

Consumers will see professional-looking templates in their inboxes that match the brand image of the seller. This makes them understand that they’re getting information from a trusted source rather than a scammer. They’ll feel more comfortable replying to you.

A Custom Email Template Saves Time

If employees need to type out full emails monthly, they’ll need to manually incorporate images and unique HTML coding. They’ll also need to do this for multiple different audiences since there are multiple parts of your target market.

Templates serve as pre-made outlines to eliminate the need for image/coding entry. This can save your employees hours per week and increase productivity. They’ll have more time to spend on other marketing strategies, developing core products, managing teams, innovating, and more.

Increases Automation Simplicity

Another way that email templates save time is by making automation easy. You can fill out templates before an email blast is sent out. Your employees can set a date and time for the email blast and automate the process of getting them into others’ inboxes.

Similarly, your employees can select a monthly date and time to send out an email blast. This means that you won’t need to worry about getting messages out beyond the initial selection of what template goes to who. It also means that you’ll begin to get replies at a consistent time and deal with responses all at once.

VerticalResponse also makes it easy to send automatic follow-up emails to those who didn’t click the first time. You can also send them to those who did click but did not follow links to your webpage. This lets you reach up to 40% more individuals than you otherwise would.

Integrates With Your SalesForce Platform

Salesforce is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Its purpose is to streamline various facets of business including your email marketing campaign. Assuming that you use the correct email template software, you can easily integrate these two platforms for simple email management.

Syncing Salesforce with your VerticalResponse platform lets you move data between platforms. This lets you better understand your target audience and curate email templates. You also can use SalesForce segmentation tools to automatically see which customers and demographics are clicking on your email the most often.

The main impact is getting you a better understanding of which audiences you should focus on marketing towards. You also will have more comprehensive management of your email campaign so that you can send out automated messages quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

Makes Document Management Simple

Most businesses have hundreds of documents that they store within their system. Some of these documents are necessary for sending out high-quality emails to consumers. Employees will often take hours looking for this information (and, in some cases, may never find it).

Using email templates lets all data and outlines be stored in a single location. Employees just need to choose the template that they need to send. There can be templates for nurturing leads, making sales, informing clients about your business, or even calling meetings with coworkers.

This makes it easy to manage emails and the documents that make them possible.

Take Your Email Marketing Campaign to the Next Level

While you might think that generic emails will get your point across, custom email templates ensure that consumers will connect with your business. Now that you know how these templates can help with sales conversions, it’s time to get started.

We’re committed to helping you create, manage, and optimize social media campaigns with customizable templates and automated sending. That’s why we’re excited to discuss your individual needs and come up with the right battle plan for your specific SMB. Sign up for our free trial to begin sending emails to your clients that actually convert.

The post Top Benefits of Using a Custom Email Template appeared first on VerticalResponse.

CRM email marketing is one of the best tools used by some of the most successful companies all around the world. However, many business owners and managers that could really benefit from this strategy don’t know the first thing about it.

So, what is CRM email marketing? Is it right for your own company, and how can you get started? Keep reading to discover the answers to your questions!

What Is CRM Email Marketing?

Our guide is going to explain everything you need to know about CRM email marketing. First, though, we need to answer your burning question: what is this form of email marketing?

This is one of the rare cases when the name of a marketing term basically explains its full functionality. In this case, the marketing technique combines the Customer Relationship Management strategies and software of a business with their email marketing efforts.

Think of this as “two great tastes that taste great together.” CRM offers a valuable way to personalize customer interactions while collecting valuable analytics data, and email marketing provides a low-cost way of reaching over four billion internet users across the planet.

By combining CRM and email marketing, even very small businesses can experience very dramatic growth!

How Does CRM Work With Email?

Now you know the basics of what CRM email marketing is. But that brings us to another good question: how, exactly, does your CRM work with your email marketing?

It all depends on where you start. If you already have a CMS software system in place, it may have email marketing functionality that you haven’t yet taken advantage of. And if you have an email marketing software solution, chances are that it can integrate easily into a CMS.

Once you have synchronized your CRM and email marketing, the sky is the limit when it comes to what you can do. Synchronizing customer information helps you send out more precise targeted emails, and tracking customer information more thoroughly can help you better understand their position in the sales funnel, all while helping you make more personalized recommendations to customers based on their purchase history.

Just think: this is only a fraction of what you can do by combining CRM and email marketing.

What Is Wrong With Traditional Email Marketing?

Email marketing has been around practically since the birth of the internet. So while adding CRM into the mix has many advantages, you may find yourself asking a basic question: “what’s wrong with traditional marketing?”

To understand the answer, you need to learn a bit about both the history of email marketing and evolving consumer behavior towards this marketing. In the early days, email marketing was a matter of getting as many email addresses as a business could and then sending out as many messages as were possible. This technique was often described as the “spray and pray” method.

However, let’s be honest: how many times per week, or even per day, do you get annoyed with unwanted email messages? As users got more fed up with this approx, email providers began offering filters that did an effective job of placing unwanted messages in “Clutter” or “Junk” folders. Furthermore, the laws evolved to regulate “spam” email, and consumers gained the ability to unsubscribe from email campaigns they unwittingly signed up for.

The writing was on the wall: if a business wanted to get customers, and keep them subscribed to further emails, they needed to offer more value to customers while also offering a more personal approach. And this is how CRM became the “secret sauce” to effective email marketing strategies.

Adding the Personal Touch

As we noted before, a major function of any good CRM is to collect data about your customers. And the most basic use of this data is to improve sales and marketing efforts. Once you know what customers want (and what they don’t want), you can more easily refine your approach to sales and marketing.

And with a bit of tweaking, CRM data helps you refine your approach to email marketing as well. When you know more about customers, you can send out targeted messages that are tailored to their exact needs. You can also nurture customer relationships more effectively by sending out emails at just the right time corresponding to certain customer behavior.

The best part, though, is that CRM email marketing can transform how customers view the emails that you send them.

Help Customers Rethink Marketing Emails

You don’t have to think too hard to realize why customers got annoyed with the “old school” method of email marketing. Just ask yourself why you delete annoying emails each day? Most of the time, it’s because these emails offer nothing of value to you and it is obvious that the company is simply out to make a buck off of you.

That’s the quickest way to drive your own customers away. If you want to keep those customers, you need to send out emails that help them save money, discover deals, and otherwise get a little more joy out of life.

As you can imagine, this is where CRM email marketing comes in. When you understand what customers’ problems are, you can provide content that offers the solutions they need.

This will take a bit of trial and error at first. But pretty soon, incorporating CRM with your email marketing will revolutionize both the email content you create and the customer reception to each message that you send.

Revolutionize Email Marketing Today

Now you know what CRM email marketing is and how it can benefit your company. But do you know who can help you get started and make the most of this opportunity?

Here at Vertical Response, we specialize in transforming old-school email marketing into a forward-thinking, customer-centric approach. To see what we can do for your own business, all you have to do is contact us today!

The post What Is CRM Email Marketing? Is It Right for You? appeared first on VerticalResponse.

A good starting point is to study the different types of email campaigns out there. Consider your business and marketing goals, as well as your budget and target audience. Try to diversify and customize your messages, track the results, and then adjust your strategy as needed.

For example, you could send welcome emails to new subscribers, followed by informational emails revolving around your products or industry.

Re-engagement emails, on the other hand, would allow you to learn more about your subscribers and get their attention.

Interested to learn more? Let’s take a closer look at the primary types of email campaigns and how to use them for maximum impact.

The Welcome Message

First, consider sending a series of welcome emails to new subscribers. Think of it as an opportunity to engage prospective clients and tell them more about your brand.

Ideally, send out a welcome email within 24 hours after someone joins your list.

Share relevant information about your business and include links to your company’s mobile app or social media pages. You may also reward new subscribers with discount codes or special offers.

Nurture Your Leads

A staggering 80% of new leads fail to convert. While it’s great to grow your list, you must also nurture new subscribers and give them a reason to choose your brand over others.

One way to nurture leads is to segment your target audience and deliver highly personalized messages. The whole point is to build lasting relationships and turn potential customers into buyers.

Try to find out more about their needs and wants. Next, use this information to customize your emails and deliver relevant, valuable content.

Focus on the reason they joined your list, such as their interest in entrepreneurship or small business growth.

Get Customers to Take Action

The main goal of email marketing is to get customers to take action. You may want them to download eBooks or reports, buy your products, reach out to your team, and so on. That’s where promotional emails come into play.

For best results, send out promotional emails that resonate with your target audience. Remember to add a clear call-to-action so that your subscribers know what you expect them to do.

Try to slightly change the content for each customer group. Consider including a special offer, discount codes, or free upgrades for those who take action within the next few hours.

When used right, promotional emails can increase brand loyalty and drive sales. As one of the most effective email marketing strategies, it may also improve customer retention and build awareness around your products.

Send Out Transactional Emails

When you make a purchase, sign up for a webinar, or download an eBook, most sellers will likely send you some sort of confirmation.

For example, if you book an online coaching session, you’ll receive an email that confirms the date of your booking. This is called a transactional email and can be used for:

• Account signup confirmations
• Delivery status updates
• Shipping confirmations and further details
• Updates on payments, trial periods, orders, account status, and more
• Two-step verifications
• Password resets

Transactional emails are often necessary.

If, say, someone tries to pay for a product, but his debit card doesn’t have enough funds, it makes sense to send him an email addressing this issue.

This type of email also keeps consumers engaged with your brand and allows you to upsell or cross-sell related products. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to re-engage buyers and address their concerns in a timely manner.

Engage Potential and Existing Customers

Speaking of customer engagement, consider setting up a newsletter campaign to keep your subscribers in the loop.

Along with blog posts and social media content, email newsletters are the most popular types of content among B2B marketers. They’re more widely used than videos, case studies, eBooks, and white papers.

About one-third of B2B marketers send out email newsletters to nurture their leads. This type of content allows you to share expert insights, industry news, product updates, and more.

Think of it as a way to inform, educate, and engage your audience while building brand awareness.

The best part is, you can let your creative juices flow. Newsletter campaigns leave more room for flexibility than other types of email campaigns.

For example, you can format your newsletter as a digital magazine, tell your brand story, or launch a series of courses on relevant topics.

Take Advantage of the Holiday Season to Grow Your Business

Coca-Cola, Puma, Nike, and other top brands invest millions in seasonal email campaigns. The same goes for B2B companies, which use this strategy to reconnect with their clients and increase sales.

For starters, plan things out ahead of time.

Study the customer journey, come up with a strategy, and set clear goals for your campaign. Promote holiday sales early and give subscribers a glimpse into your offering.

Ideally, draft personalized subject lines and segment your audience so you can deliver relevant content to each group. Use video content to show the human side of your company.

Remember to thank your customers for their loyalty and support.

Leverage the Different Types of Email Campaigns

Now that you know more about the different types of email campaigns go ahead and experiment.

Focus on those that are most appropriate for your products or services and align with your goals. Always keep your customers in mind and deliver quality content that addresses their individual needs.

So, are you ready to set up your first email marketing campaign? Or perhaps you want to improve existing campaigns? Try Vertical Response for free, or contact us to find out more!

The post What Are the Different Types of Email Campaigns? All You Need to Know appeared first on VerticalResponse.

With so much competition out there, a business can’t afford to get by on word of mouth alone. Rather, it’s important to run engaging marketing campaigns across a range of mediums. One of the most successful avenues involves emails because that’s something people often check on a daily basis.

To run a great email campaign, you’ll need a great marketing company. Keep reading to learn all about 5 qualities to look for when choosing an email marketing company.

1. Top-Notch Customer Service

In a lot of ways, a company is only as good as its customer service. You could be given all the email marketing tips in the world but if you can’t get the experts on the phone for help, then your success will be affected.

Rather, you deserve a company that can be there for you every step of the way. They should have a fast turnaround time when answering emails, phone calls, and scheduling in-person meetings if necessary.

Once you have a shorter list of promising candidates, you can reach out to them with more questions. Be sure to take note of the response time as well as the tone of the messages. It should be professional yet warm and welcoming.

2. Proven Expertise

Another quality you should spend some time confirming is whether or not their team has the skills and expertise necessary to help your small business grow. One way you can do this is by asking more detailed questions about their methods and strategies. If they can’t give you direct and detailed answers back, then that could be a warning flag.

Another sign of expertise is experience. If the company just started, then they might not have enough know-how to make an impact. However, even a new company can work wonders if they’ve assembled a team composed of people with lots of individual experience.

You might even have the option of getting a free trial where they can start proving their skills to you in real-time. At the very least, there should be some kind of demo that they can offer you. That way, you can have more peace of mind about signing up for their services.

3. An Impressive Reputation

Simply put, if a company is worth your time and money, then they should have proven themselves to their customer base by now. This can come in a couple of forms. For instance, ratings and reviews online are often a great indicator of overall reputation.

With that in mind, you’ll want to spend an evening looking at what current and past customers have said about their services. It’s best to read more than a couple of reviews per company so that you can get as accurate an impression as possible.

Once you feel more confident in a possible company choice and are ready to take the next step, you should ask for several referrals. Reading reviews is one thing, but talking with real individuals can give you even more detailed information. Don’t forget to write down some questions you can ask them, including questions about timeliness, reliability, knowledgeability, and much more.

Be sure to emphasize to a potential company that you want referrals no older than a few months. Since a company can change a lot in a year or less, you’ll want to avoid getting information that could be outdated.

4. Reasonable Prices

While email marketing is important, it shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg. This is why you can’t skip the step of comparing and contrasting prices.

The best email marketing companies will have different prices to suit the needs of particular customers. For instance, some customers only want the main service without anything else. Other businesses might want to go the extra mile and get all the bells and whistles.

It should be up to the customer to decide what price is worth the investment in their growth. Oftentimes a business is limited by their budgets. Once you grow larger, then you’ll have the option of affording more services in addition to the main ones.

If a company isn’t forthright about its prices, then that’s a red flag. They shouldn’t have any problem providing you with at least a ballpark quote. Once they know more about your business and your needs, then they should give you something even more accurate.

5. Strategies That Fit Your Business

Put in the simplest terms, there are no one-size-fits-all email marketing strategies. If you’ve hired a company that is giving you the same tips and tricks and never tailor-making their strategies to your needs, there’s a problem.

After all, why would an email marketing campaign for a bookstore look the exact same as one for an escape room business? That’s not to say that there isn’t software and other nifty tips and tricks that can be shared across campaigns. However, there should also be a generous amount of customization.

Not only this, but the company should alter and fine-tune your strategies based on analytics. That way, those strategies can become even more successful over time. The worst thing that could happen is that your growth suddenly tapers off because the same exact things are being done again and again.

Ready To Hire An Email Marketing Company?

Now that you’ve learned all about five qualities to look for when choosing an email marketing company, you can feel much more confident once you start working with one. With an email marketing specialist on your team, you’ll be able to achieve so much more and overcome any business growth plateaus.

With basic and pro prices to fit your budget, Vertical Response is here to offer you the best marketing services around. Our clients have loved working with us and now we’d love to work with you as well.

For tailor-made strategies, feel free to contact us.

The post 5 Qualities to Look For When Choosing an Email Marketing Company appeared first on VerticalResponse.

At this point, small businesses can’t afford to ignore emails as a powerful force for marketing. To launch a successful email marketing campaign, it’s crucial to have an email marketing manager on your team.

Are you wondering why they’re worth your time and effort to hire? Keep reading to learn all about what an email marketing manager can do for you.

Duties of an Email Marketing Manager

As a small business, you need all the exposure you can get. Brand awareness is the key ingredient of success. An email marketing manager can handle all the tasks associated with email marketing campaigns and much more.

The first order of business for this kind of manager involves setting goals. Are they trying to get the word out about a new product, establish your brand’s authority, or all of the above? It’s often the case that a manager will have multiple goals of varying priority.

Once that’s clearer, they can start designing emails that will appeal to your exact audience. This can be as broad as the email’s content and as specific as the subject line of the email. All of this can contribute to something that a potential customer either opens and reads or sends to the trash.

It’s always the case that an email will have at least one type of actionable goal at the end of it. Some of these include a purchase link, a sign-up link, a subscription button, or something else.

In addition to all that, another goal of the email marketing manager involves building your email lists. You can almost think of an email list like the number of followers on social media, except this list is even more valuable. There are many ways to build this list up, but the sooner you can start, the better off your business will be.

It’s also important to ensure that all email lists are kept clean of inactive or unresponsive emails, which is another duty of the email marketing manager.

Skills of an Email Marketing Manager

An email marketing manager is more than just a valuable resource for email marketing tips. The best managers have a wide range of skills they can put toward your business’s benefit.

For instance, they should have an impressive ability to change and alter tones and styles. Sometimes a more upbeat and funny tone is necessary for an email while other times a professional one is needed. If a marketing manager can’t connect with a specific audience, then a campaign has failed before it’s begun.

Not only should the style be appropriate and relatable, but it should also be comprehensible. Clarity of writing is something an email marketing manager can offer you in spades. As if that wasn’t enough, the best ones have superb attention to detail and can spot and correct every single typo so that all emails are perfect.

Another skill that an email marketing manager can bring to the table is search engine optimization (SEO) expertise. Paired with search engine marketing (SEM), your manager’s strategies will be a powerful force.

There are a lot of software and analytical tools your manager can use to access progress in real-time and after the fact. With their honed communication skills, they’ll be able to explain the programs and the overall meaning of the results to you and the rest of the team.

Some specific pieces of software they’ll be proficient in include Basecamp, Google Analytics, and even some basic coding programs. They’ll also know the best email marketing platforms your business can use, such as Hubspot, Mailchimp, and CakeMail, among others.

Find Your Audience

Put in the simplest terms, some email marketing strategies are more successful than others. One of the most important qualities an email marketing manager should have is the ability to adapt. This could apply to a range of situations, such as homing in on a more accurate idea of a customer base.

With each marketing campaign comes a lot of bits and pieces of valuable data. The manager should take those pieces and create a comprehensive and understandable whole. That way, they’ll have a clearer vision of the customer base and how to connect with them in the best way possible.

It’s often the case that an email marketing manager can keep track of the main customer base and several or more subsets that may be smaller but no less crucial for success.

During their work, you can expect your email marketing manager to work with various colleagues, including your overarching marketing manager, graphic designers, data analysts, the content manager, as well as third-party vendors.

How to Assess a Manager’s Effectiveness

If you’re bringing a whole new expert onto your team, then it’s natural to monitor their progress and overall success.

The good news is that there are several ways you can get hard facts that relate to an email marketing manager’s effectiveness or lack thereof.

For instance, you can see how many of their emails produced a click-through. A click-through will tell you whether a not an email was deleted or whether they clicked on the link to buy or subscribe, for instance.

Looking at the conversion rate is yet another piece of data that is great for assessing a manager’s effectiveness.

Ready to Hire an Email Marketing Manager?

Now that you’ve learned all about what an email marketing manager can do for you, you can hire them to take your strategies to the next level. There’s nothing quite like an expert who can manage everything on your behalf. That way, you can focus on other matters.

Vertical Response is here to be your email marketing resource center. From email list building to social media marketing, we can do it all. Email strategies can work wonders for hotels and many other businesses.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or want to get the ball rolling.

The post What Can an Email Marketing Manager Do for You? What to Know appeared first on VerticalResponse.

Many people think emails are old news. They’ve turned their sights to social media campaigns and Google Ads. While social media is crucial to modern marketing, there’s still power behind an email.

Because a single email holds so much power, it’s crucial to optimize your email campaigns to reach maximum results. Creating emails is overwhelming to a beginner, so we’ll offer some guidance.

Below is a guide to eight crucial email marketing optimization strategies. Make sure to keep reading to build the ideal email marketing campaign.

What is Email Optimization? Why Is It Important?

If you’ve recently cleaned out your inbox, the thought of receiving another email might make your blood boil. Many of us receive dozens of emails per day.

Because millions of emails are being sent per day, it’s important to use optimization strategies to cut through the static. Email optimization is the intentional act of improving how you construct an email … from the subject line to the signature.

Improving your emails leads to higher ROI and greater website traffic.

Let’s get into it!

1. Create a Catchy Subject Line

The first thing your email subscribers see from your marketing campaign is the email’s subject line. Whether they’re glancing at a phone notification or sifting through their inbox, make sure your subject lines capture their attention.

Use buzzwords, funny phrases, and/or a sense of urgency to persuade subscribers to click on your email. You can even use fun emojis to reel in iPhone users.

Tip: Don’t send too many emails. No matter how catchy your subject line is, people will stop clicking if you bombard their mailbox.

2. Keep Them Interested

They’ve clicked on the email notification. They’re now looking at your actual email. You need a hook to keep them reading.

Creating a hook or an element of surprise is crucial in marketing emails. Include a shocking opening statistic, hint at a fun incentive mentioned later in the email, or paste a funny GIF into the email body.

Your subscribers may not read every word, but it’s important they read enough to discover your reason for sending the email.

3. Personalize the Email

Add personal touches throughout the email to build a better bond with your subscribers.

Personal touches communicate your company’s values and attitude. It shows subscribers your sense of humor, professional attitude, care for details, etc.

For example, if you wish to maintain an air of professionalism in your email campaigns, use clean fonts and minimalist themes. You may find no need for extra frills.

However, if you want to be a bit bolder with your emails, include exciting visuals and amusing graphics. Select colors and fonts that add a burst of energy to your campaign.

Further personalize your campaigns by creating custom marketing email lists. Not everyone needs to receive the same marketing emails.

4. Write a CTA

Getting a consumer to read your email is great, but the end goal should include an action step for the consumer to take. Show them what to do by writing a call-to-action (CTA)!

In most situations, the CTA is placed at the conclusion of an email. It’s straightforward and concise. C’mon, who likes confusing instructions?

Examples of CTAs include:

• “Click on this link to learn more about our services.”
• “Check out our site to see the other exciting products we offer.”
• “Call today to schedule a free consultation.”

Whatever you use as a CTA, make sure you’ve included any needed hyperlinks or contacts.

5. Increase the Sense of Urgency

No one’s going to be excited about your company if you don’t appear excited yourself.

For prime email optimization, increase the urgency in your marketing emails. It’s a sales tactic that’s worked for ages.

Create urgency by building a feeling of scarcity or defining a time limit on a special deal. Even though you’ll probably end up extending your sale or offer, they don’t have to know that.

An example of creating urgency might look like, “Get it now before it’s too late!”

6. Make It Visually Appealing

Have you ever stumbled upon a website that made you click off immediately due to poor design, overwhelming graphics, and/or disorganization? Poor design is off-putting for consumers.

Don’t rush your email designs. Take time as you organize the layout. Use fonts and colors that are welcoming and easy to read.

One of the top tips we can offer for email marketing is: Always make sure to include whitespace in your emails.

Whitespace is empty, negative space that separates your header, body, and footer. It makes the email digestible.

Are you struggling to create an email layout? Most ESPs provide premade templates.

7. Ask for a Second Pair of Eyes

Just like a piece of literature, revision is important before sending out the final draft. Ask for a second pair of eyes to look over your email before clicking send.

Instruct your second pair of eyes to look for formatting errors, grammatical and spelling errors, and any other area in need of improvement. They should also click through all of your hyperlinks to make sure they lead to the intended page.

If you aren’t able to find a second set of eyes, step away from your email for a few hours. Come back with a fresh mind to read through it yourself.

8. Test Your Campaign

Always test your marketing emails before distributing them. Many ESPs have testing features. If yours doesn’t, create a contact list for the sole reason for testing.

Send the email out to your testers. Ask them to open the email and click through any of the links.

Make adjustments if the email is being sent to a spam folder or crashing upon opening.

Drive Sales With Email Marketing Optimization

When creating an email campaign for your business, it’s important to invest time in marketing optimization. Cutting through the static aids in boosting business and driving sales.

To get started on your optimization, make sure to follow the above tips. You can trust us because we’re experts in email and social media marketing.

Vertical Response is dedicated to improving your marketing strategies with our extensive list of features. Check out the features we offer, including our advanced reporting system and landing page builder.

The post 8 Email Marketing Optimization Strategies for Your Campaigns appeared first on VerticalResponse.

Since then, email communication has gotten so sophisticated and normalized that most people can’t help checking their inboxes multiple times a day. This is one reason why email marketing can be quite effective. Of course, it can be next to impossible for a single person to send out thousands of emails a week, which is why email automation is so crucial.

Have you ever asked yourself, “What is email automation?” Keep reading to learn all about it and how it can help your business.

What Is Email Automation?

If you’ve never heard of email automation, you should know that it’s something many small businesses use across a wide range of industries. As the name suggests, email automation is automatic and allows you to send pre-formed emails to people based on a determined action. There’s a lot of variety in email automation, which allows you to tailor it to whatever needs you may have.

It’s important to distinguish email automation from mass email broadcasts. Mass emails are those that get sent to every email address on your list. On the other hand, email automation only occurs if a certain action triggers it, and then it will be sent to that specific person.

A popular type of email automation occurs when people sign up for mailing lists. The action of signing up is the trigger that sends a welcome email to the new person on your list. Other possibilities of email automation include purchase confirmations, invitations to review a specific product, profile password changes, appointment confirmations, and so much more.

Since the exact type of automated email will depend on the action performed, you can tweak the emails so that they are more personalized and targeted.

The beauty of email automation is that it only needs to be set up once. From then on, you can allow the system to run itself while you focus on other small business tasks. If you ever need to update something, then you’ll be glad to know that the process is as easy as tinkering with a single form email.

How Can It Help Your Business?

Aside from saving you a vast amount of time, email automation can also make sure your business itself is on time. For instance, it could be bad form on your end if you were to send an email to a customer at 5 in the morning. Things can get extra complicated if you have customers who are spread across different time zones.

When it comes to email marketing tips, you can use automation to send emails at the right moment according to different time zones. After all, the recipient is less likely to open up an email if they get it in the middle of the night. Not only could it get flagged as spam, but it could also get buried beneath other emails that are sent by the time a user checks their inbox.

Automated emails can also make your email marketing campaigns more successful overall. The reason for this is that the emails people receive through automation will be relevant to their actions and other information. With this in mind, users are much more likely to click on links and perform other actions that can increase communication and engagement.

This also helps a lot with retaining customers. Keep in mind that it takes much more energy and resources, in general, to recruit a new customer than it does to keep an older one. Email automation has also proven itself effective with customer retention.

The main differences between a successful email and one that gets trashed are timeliness and personalization. Most people will get rid of an email that was sent a few hours after you signed up saying, “Hey, there! Long time no see. Please come back to our site!”

How Can It Manage Growth?

Put in the simplest terms, all email marketing strategies will hit their limit if you are taking advantage of email automation. The more you grow your list, for instance, the more your team will be spread thin. Instead of waiting for this outcome, you can allow email automation to manage and scale your business’s growth.

In one way, email automation is like hiring a whole new staff, except it’s something that can work like clockwork at any time of the day or night. While automation is focusing on the rote and form emails, your real staff can focus their brainpower on very specific and custom emails. They can also expand their horizons and shoot for the stars with ambitious email campaigns.

After all, you wouldn’t want to have your team scrambling for help when your email lists double or even triple within a short span of time. Not only will email automation lift the weights from their shoulders, but it can also provide your team with more useful data.

Aside from the actions that spur an automated email, you’ll learn how effective such emails are. Every click-through, sign-up, and online purchase will contribute to a data pool that can inform your overarching email marketing strategies. They say that knowledge is power and that definitely applies to the world of marketing.

What Is Email Automation? Now You Know

Has a friend or family member ever asked you the question, “What is email automation?” Now that you’ve learned all about it, you can explain it to them in detail. If they have a business as well, be sure to recommend the tech to them.

We at Vertical Response have all the marketing expertise and automation software you could ever need. From an easy-to-use editor and automated follow-ups to surveys and advanced reporting, the tools you’ll have access to can heighten your business’s success.

Best of all, we have two service packages that can fit whatever budget you may have.

The post What Is Email Automation? A Complete Guide appeared first on VerticalResponse.