Hot on the heels of the new Subscribe Button, today we’re happy to announce another simple tool that makes it easy to grow your audience with eConnect Email. As of today, every list in your account now has its very own Subscribe Page, a simple, customizable page that lets anyone join your list – no coding required.

Unlike the Subscribe button, or our copy/paste forms, which you need to integrate into your site and touch code, the Subscribe Page is just a simple, webpage/URL that you can easily share with anyone. Check out a real-world example of it in action.

Customize everything

We’ve made it easy to tweak everything on this page so you can keep it consistent with your own brand. Change the background color, choose from a range of font styles, or add your own logo.

Just like the subscribe button, you can also choose which fields you’d like to show, in what order, and even set certain fields as required. You can also customize the confirmation message when a new person joins your list.

Looks great on mobile

Just like our Subscribe Buttons, we made sure every Subscribe Page looks great on any mobile device but still stays true to any customizations you’ve made.

Easily track signups

Just like we do for the Subscribe Button, we’ll keep track of how many subscribers have joined your list via the subscribe page so you can see at a glance how it’s been working for you.

Subscribe Pages are live and available in all accounts now. You can find them in the Grow your audience section in the sidebar for each of your lists. We can’t wait to see how you guys start using them.

Introducing the new and improved eConnect Email, your go-to email marketing platform. Featuring enhanced usability, customization and security- the new eConnect Email will make building your email campaigns a breeze!

To begin, we restructured eConnect Email from the ground up with several new and exciting features. We now have a template builder where you can create custom rock-solid templates optimized for both desktop and mobile applications.

How about those clients of yours in different time zones? Yep, the new eConnect Email will automatically send your email campaign to your recipients in their specific time zone. In addition, we have beefed up security on both ends with back-end authentication and relationships with top ISPs and industry-leading mail servers.

Worldview

See who is opening and what they’re clicking on with real-time data, all beautifully displayed on Worldview (our gorgeous maps app). Don’t forget about the bread and butter, you know, ROI- the new eConnect Email boasts in-depth reports on your email campaign’s performance and deliverability.

Social Integration

Social. Yes I said it and yes we did it. You can now allow your Facebook friends and fans to subscribe to your newsletter directly from your fan page. We also report every “Like” and “Tweet” your campaign receives as part of our stunning reports. So now you can see not only which subscribers are sharing with their friends, but also what they’re saying about you.

So what are you waiting for? Dive in and set up a new eConnect Email account today for free!

In nature, “nurturing” always implies a particular relationship between the nurturer and the nuturee: the party with more knowledge/experience/information/power shares those qualities with the party possessing less, with the goal of bringing about positive change. Appropriately, “lead nurturing” in the email marketing world refers to the educational relationship you create with subscribers, with the goal of persuading them to act. When you get it right, you’ll not only get more customers to say yes, you’ll also build a core of loyal clients who throw their business your way again and again.

Basics of Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing isn’t just sending emails once a week. It involves providing relevant, useful information to the subscriber about the offer you want him to accept. And it requires planning.

• Create a target audience persona. Your email list includes a variety of personality and customer types, but in order to create the most effective email campaign, you’ll need to choose one target persona to focus on. Create each email with that personality in mind. What motivates them? What information do they need? What questions do they want answered? Focus on building a relationship with your target audience in order to earn their loyalty.
• Determine a consistent email frequency and sequence. Every new lead on your list should receive the same emails in the same order and at the same frequency. Each new message should have a specific goal and call to action. Frequency should be no less than once a week; every five to six days works well in most cases.
• Create content. Each email should contain helpful, actionable, and educational content. Be creative. Try videos, FAQs, surveys, special reports and other formats to get the most important information about your company and your offer into the hands of your subscribers. Emails should build on each other, creating forward momentum and culminating with your ultimate call to action.
• Use offer-based opt-ins. Provide an incentive for opting in to your email list that is related to your ultimate offer. If you’re selling a weight loss e-book, for instance, your opt-in offer could be a free report detailing seven secrets to reducing the risk of Type II diabetes.
• Use autorepsonders. Autoresponders ensure that each new lead gets the same emails at the same frequency. It’s the smartest way to keep your email campaign ducks in a row.

Securing Action With Lead Nurturing

Once your campaign is up and running, keep a close eye on your analytics. Monitor which links are being clicked, how many subscribers convert, how many new leads you get, and where those leads are coming from. Tweak your campaign based on subscriber behavior.

Persuading your target audience to say yes begins with a strong lead nurturing campaign designed to educate and build relationships. Strong content, effective planning, and a solid approach to email creation and distribution will create a loyal audience that wants what you have to offer.

You’ve outlined a game plan, picked an email-marketing provider and even typed up some traffic-generating content but you failed to pull the trigger on the campaign. Why? Because you read some article about the migration to social communication and how it’s more effective than email? Well let me be the one to tell you that is an absolute fallacy and there is no quicker, more cost-conscious and measurable platform than email marketing. None. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media and the revolutionary candidness it is creating in people but no one likes to login to their Facebook or Twitter and see a bunch of ads or posts about a new polyester sweater that comes in a fruity sherbet color and runs two sizes too small. Social media is just that, social. The companies who are successfully using social media to market their business are the ones who are interacting and engaging their audience with real-life questions, answers and at times, unrelated content. So save your sales pitch for that email marketing campaign you’re about to send off as soon as you finish reading.

As pointed out in the infographic by b2bmarketing.net, there are numerous irrefutable metrics further solidifying my point that email marketing is:

• More visible
• More measurable
• More effective

And it’s a great tool for:

• Generating leads
• Building your brand’s identity
• Driving sales

Now if those aren’t some insanely valuable statistics then I don’t know what is. So log back into your email-marketing provider (hopefully eConnect Email), choose a catchy and thought-provoking subject line and hit the SEND button. You’re welcome.

Source: CRMSoftware.TV

Is your email marketing campaign not producing the results you’d like? You’re not the only one. Many users of e-mail marketing services are running into several hurdles that these three critical steps are sure to overcome.

1.    Saying Hello

After obtaining a customer’s email most marketers don’t send an introductory “Hello” email but rather wait for the next newsletter to roll out. This is a big mistake as the first 48 hours are crucial in client retention, as you will never have a second chance to make a first impression. Brian suggests that marketers touch base with their newly acquired follower just as a courtesy. Reach out and introduce your company, suggest a service, give them a preview of what’s to come in next month’s newsletter, etc. This will guarantee some type of engagement and make your new follower feel welcome.

2.    Keep The Conversation Alive

So they signed up for your newsletter, you’ve touched based with them and you’ve received a reply. Now what? Keep the conversation going. If you know what your product does and how it creates value for the end-user then formulate a 2 or 3 step process that will guide your follower toward a purchase.

3.    Follow Up on Abandoned Carts

The last and probably most important part of the process is the follow up. You have managed to guide your follower through the majority of the purchase process but right before they commit they abandon ship. It’s like running the yardage but not scoring a touchdown. If you notice this happen, try your best to follow up with them within 24 hours. Thank them for filling out the form/stopping by/adding items to their shopping cart/etc. and ask if they have any questions. Let them know that you are there to help by giving them a way to communicate with you should it be your blog or a direct line. Most of the time, you will find that the only thing stopping them from completing a purchase was a question they had. The follow up is key in converting those people that just need a light push in the right direction.

Mobile marketing has received a lot of press lately, so much so that some short-sighted marketers have loftily proclaimed email marketing to be dead. But before you send flowers, stop and check the pulse of your email marketing campaign. It may be much more alive than you think.

Is Texting the New Email?

I’ll admit it. I don’t have a smartphone. I was the last of my friends to get a cell phone of any kind. And at the end of the day, I still prefer sitting down at my computer to texting. I realize I’m not the typical consumer (there are now more people using smart phones than basic cell phones and texting is the most popular use of phones of any kind), but think about it for a minute. If you don’t have a smart phone and you receive a text with a link or URL in it, how likely are you to go find a computer and type that URL in so you can shop? Not very. That means that for the 41% of people who still use basic cell phones, your marketing message was wasted.

Which One Is Better?

Although it’s a natural question, it’s really not the right one to be asking. Don’t think of email and texting as being in competition with one another. Think of them as being partners on the same team, with different jobs.

• Email Marketing: Your Online Powerhouse

Email marketing lets people click on a link immediately, visit your full website, and take action. There are no usability problems and no worries about whether the subscriber has a phone with web browsing capabilities. People can visit social media pages, interact with your call to action, browse your website, and make a purchase using a coupon much more easily via email.

• Mobile Marketing: Your On-the-Go Solution

Mobile marketing, on the other hand, is perfect for quick, on-the-go messages. People tend to check their phones more when they’re out and about, and texting is the communication medium of choice for those situations. Use SMS messaging for appointment reminders, quick alerts, interactive messages, and instant access.

Which Basket Gets Your Eggs?

Dividing your marketing efforts between texting and email marketing is a smart move, but how do you know which basket gets the most eggs? You’ll need to observe your audience, learn how they typically interact with your content, and invest the most resources in the medium that promises the greatest return.

Both texting and email bring benefit to the marketing table: determining which one is best for you is simply a matter of determining objectives, knowing what each tool can do, and using the right one for the job.

Almost everyone who uses the internet has interacted with affiliate marketing in some way, though you might not have realized it. Affiliate marketing enables merchants to partner with a third party, or affiliate, to promote their products and services. It seems like a match made in heaven: the merchant gets free advertising, and the affiliate makes a commission on each sales. And in many ways, it is a perfect set-up. But before you jump in with both feet, make sure you’re making an informed decision.

The Good: A Beneficial Partnership

Both merchants and affiliates can reap huge benefits from an affiliate marketing program. Amazon, one of the largest affiliate marketers in the world, has more than a million affiliates happily making money from their ads. Let’s take a look at the pros for both parties:

• Merchant Benefits: Free ad space, broader audience, greater brand exposure, and—did I mention?—free ad space. Merchants benefit from placing their ads on a wide variety of website types, reaching a much broader audience than they otherwise could—all for free (mostly—see below).
• Affiliate Benefits: Cash, cash, and cash. Affiliates can make money at home, at work, on the golf course, or on the beach. Just by devoting a small square of their website to advertising.

The Bad: A Risky Proposition

Just as both sides can benefit from affiliate marketing, both sides assume some risk as well. Don’t assume that affiliate marketing is all a bed of roses. Grit your teeth and take a look at the cons:

• Merchant Cons: False advertising and commission costs. An unscrupulous affiliate can use shady methods to promote your advertisement, causing significant damage to your brand’s reputation. Merchants can also take a hit in the commission department, especially if the advertisements require significant investment of time and resources to create and maintain.
• Affiliate Cons: No cash, low cash, stolen cash. Fraudulent merchants may end the affiliate program without warning and refuse to pay what they promised. They might also hook affiliates into the program by promising high commission rates and paying less than promised. Finally, affiliates face the risk of getting hacked and having their commissions stolen.

The Ugly: Schemers and Scammers

Because affiliate marketing offers potentially high dividends, it has become a target for nefarious internet bandits. Schemes and scams abound, but if you do your homework and know the risk, you can still benefit greatly from entering into an affiliate marketing agreement.

While affiliate marketing does carry risks, the potential for earning money and gaining exposure far outweigh the negatives. The key is to know as much as you can about the company you’re dealing with and talk to people who have dealt with them before in order to avoid the scammers.

Did you know that eConnect Email has an affiliate program?  Visit the following link for more information on the eConnect Email affilate program.

When was the last time you went to a website and thought to yourself, “Wow, this copywriting is really fantastic! Look at all the bullet points!” Yeah, me neither. That’s because good copywriting is like the lighting guy at a concert: invisible, but essential for showcasing the main attraction (your information). Bad copywriting crashes the party by jumping in front of the information and hollering “Look at me! I’m making it harder for you to find what you want!” Writing effective online copy is all about identifying the party-crashers and escorting them from the premises so you can showcase the main attraction.

Party Crasher #1: Complicating the Message

In any given industry, you have jargon, technical terms, and insider idioms that you use when communicating with others in the business. If you bombard you website audience with these things, however, you’re making it harder for them to understand what you mean. So don’t make them get a realtor’s license in order to understand your real estate website. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Party Crasher #2:  Grammar By the Book

I’m a firm believer in good grammar and spelling. However, with online writing you get to break a few rules—discreetly. It’s okay, and even desirable, to use sentence fragments, begin sentences with “And” or “But,” use slang, and write in first person. The goal is to be conversational, talking with your readers rather than at them.

Party Crasher #3: Disguising Your Main Points

You’ve got fabulous information that your target audience needs to know. But if you disguise it as a long, boring paragraph, they’ll never get around to reading it. Show off your main points with bullets, numbered lists, and bolding.

Party Crasher #4: Becoming a Slave to Keywords

Keywords are an essential SEO tool, and every website needs them. But when your copywriting becomes a slave to your keywords, it can sound stilted and disjointed. Effective keyword density generally hovers between 1% and 5%. Keywords should appear in titles and headings and should sound natural when used in your copy.

Party Crasher #5: Robotic Style

Remember the computer from the original Star Trek series? For any non-trekkie people out there, it spoke in monotone, sounded robotic, and communicated only the essentials. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, however, the computer had acquired a personality. Now she was feminine, warm, and personable. That’s the difference you want to achieve in your writing style: the difference between “it” and “she.” Let your personality shine through in your writing.

When you simplify your message, write conversationally, highlight your main points, use keywords effectively, and develop personality in your writing, you effectively escort the party-crashers off-stage and allow your fabulous information to enjoy the limelight. It is, after all, what the audience came to see.

I “Like” you. I’ll “Share” you with my friends if you impress me. If I really “Like” you, I may even “Comment” about you. No, these are not notes dug out of a middle-school girl’s locker. They’re the short version of what (hopefully) goes on in the minds of your Facebook fans every time they see your content in their newsfeed. Want to know how to engage your fans even more? First let’s talk about how you earn a spot in the newsfeed to start with, and then we’ll discuss some strategies that will increase visibility.

EdgeRank Demystified

Edgerank is the mysterious algorithm used by Facebook to determine which news stories show up in the newsfeed. Fortunately, the Facebook wizards have given us three factors that affect this all-important process:

• Affinity—Likes, shares, and comments determine a fan’s affinity, or engagement with your brand.
• Weight—Weight measures how popular your site is overall. It’s determined by how people engage and how often they engage with your content.
• Time—Time refers (obviously) to how old your post is. Newer posts are deemed more important than older ones.

How to Build Your Brand With EdgeRank

Now that you know the three factors that determine your Edgerank score, you can build your Facebook strategy around maximizing their impact.

• Create Fabulous Content

Valuable content is still the best way to earn fan engagement, and of the possible content formats, photos tend to carry the most bang for your buck. Make your content fun, upbeat, and relevant to the reader’s life.

• Give Your Audience What They Want

People are on Facebook to interact, smile, or otherwise get a boost for the day. So give your fans what they want. Study them to find out what kinds of content they engage with most often (pictures, videos, or witty comments?) and when they’re most likely to consume that content. Then tailor your posts accordingly.

• Practice the Three S’s

The most popular posts tend to be short, straightforward and seasonable. As people scroll through a newsfeed, they don’t generally take the time to read long posts. So keep it short. Don’t be afraid to ask for likes, shares, and comments. And be sure to include current content about breaking news, trending topics, and holiday items.

• Follow Up

Once you’ve earned the coveted engagement, follow-up by replying with a comment yourself. Many times, your comment will earn another like, strengthening your connection with that fan even more.

Capitalize on the Edgerank process by catering your posts to your audience. As you earn their loyalty with quality content, engaging and readable posts, and reliable follow up, you’ll see a boost in your Edgerank score. And that’s the key to staying visible.

Is your writing full of jargon and technical-ese? Most writers, myself included, have been guilty of boring readers to death with a hard-to-follow style, just for the sake of sounding intelligent. Unfortunately, in the lightening-paced realm of the blogosphere, readers have become less and less forgiving of such a mistake. But the good news is that you can grab reader attention and communicate your message in a memorable way by paying attention to the new rules of writing for an online audience.

Rule #1: Be a real person.

Share experiences, talk in first person, and let readers see not only your strengths but also your mistakes—especially if you learned something from them that’s worth sharing. Think through every post and determine your message and main points before you just dash off something for the sake of having new content.

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