Remember the old movie “His Girl Friday”? Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell deliver a stellar depiction of life in the newsroom: hectic, loud, frantic, and intensely competitive. Now, imagine dropping a press release on the desk of brash newspaper editor Walter Burns and standing back smugly waiting for him to drop everything as he gobbles up the breaking news about your company’s new acquisition. Likely? Not very. And in today’s newsrooms, the internet has brought about a whole new level of competitive demand when it comes to deciding what’s newsworthy and what isn’t.

The good news is that you can take some tips from the email marketing world in order to grab that reporter’s attention and convince him that your press release is more newsworthy than the eighty-seven others he received that day.

Grab Attention Right From the Get-Go

Just as the subject line of an email will make or break the success of any given message, the headline you use for your press release will either shout “Newsworthy!” or “Boring!” If you’re pitching an item about your company’s growth, phrase it like this: “20% of new car shoppers are making decisions to go green with their vehicle choices.” Not like this: “XYZ car dealership experienced growth in the first quarter.”

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Six months ago, if you had mentioned Dollar Shave Club to a room of people, you would have gotten all blank stares (even though the company has been around since June of last year). Today, there are over 4.5 million people who would nod their heads and smile. 4.5 million YouTube views. In just a few weeks. How did they do it?

A viral video incorporates strong planning, careful execution, and a little bit of luck. Fortunately for those of us who have never won the lottery, the strong planning and careful execution part carries a little more weight than the luck part. Can you design a video and guarantee that it will go viral? Maybe not, but by incorporating these lessons from Dollar Shave Club, you can at least ensure that it earns the right to be seen and shared.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

Humor is something Dollar Shave Club does really well. Seriously. There’s hardly a straight line in the entire video. But they’re not just cracking jokes either. Some of the humor is obvious and some is a little more under the radar, but all of it works together to communicate the vital information you need to know about the company. And it leaves you with that “You’ve gotta see this!” feeling.

Create a Unified Approach

Take a long look at your existing website and craft your video so that it supports your current marketing strategy. When you visit the Dollar Shave Club site, every element hangs together and sends the same vibes you received in the video. Your website visitors shouldn’t wonder whether you’re the same company as the one that produced the video they loved.

Put the Most Important Stuff First

In the first ten seconds, we know what Dollar Shave Club does, how much it costs, and what the quality of the product is. We get our questions answered: How can they afford it and are the razors any good? If we decide to stop viewing (which we won’t, because their fabulous style holds our attention) we still have everything we need to know to pique our interest and entice us over to the website.

Put a Face On Your Company

Even if you don’t have the marketing background and camera-ease that Dollar Shave Club’s founder, Mike Dubin does, it still helps viewers connect with your company when you put a face behind the name. Make the story human and people will relate to it.

Creating videos people love begins with understanding how to communicate a message they can relate to and want to share. After that, who knows? You just might win the lottery.

Today’s consumers have moved beyond being impressed with social media marketing efforts. Nowadays, it’s not impressive; it’s expected. But that’s old news for most marketers. If you don’t have a solid social media strategy in place, you’re a step behind. For those of you that do, the next step is integrating the various aspects of your marketing approach so that they work together.

Far from being competitors in the marketplace, email marketing and social media should be viewed as allies in your broader marketing approach. To accomplish that goal, start by integrating some of these popular email apps:

Social Sharing

This is a broad category that includes sharing buttons for a variety of popular networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and more. Create a copy of your email to share with your social media contacts with the click of a button.

Facebook Share/Like

Even if you don’t include a variety of social sharing buttons, you’ll want to at least make it possible for your subscribers to share your email content on their Facebook pages. Include a share/like button and recruit your loyal followers to help spread your message among their friends.

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Despite the proven benefits of welcome emails in building your brand and connecting with your subscribers, plenty of businesses still don’t take advantage of them. If you’re among those who have yet to implement a welcome email as your first point of contact with a new subscriber, take a look at these reasons you should add one to your email lineup.

It boosts open rates.

Most people will be more likely to open a welcome email than a standard marketing email. And if you can demonstrate superb value with that initial contact, you may see a difference in your open rates for future emails as well.

It increases deliverability.

Asking subscribers to add your email address to their address book right from the get-go can ensure better deliverability rates down the road.

It gives you a chance to show appreciation.

Whether the subscriber is a new customer, a business contact, or just someone interested in your company, they deserve a sincere thank you for signing up. And while just saying the words can go a long way toward building a relationship, you can also sweeten the deal by offering a discount or other gesture of appreciation.

It’s automatic.

When you use automatic triggers or email auto-responders to generate your welcome emails, you don’t have to worry about adding any extra steps to your email campaign. Just set up your trigger/ auto-responder to send an email upon completion of a purchase or registration.

It reinforces the opt-in.

That first email can act as a reminder to the subscriber that they’ve opted in to receive communication from you. This is a smart move when it comes to decreasing the number of subscribers who hit the spam button or opt-out when they receive your messages.

It gives you a chance to up-sell and cross-sell.

If your welcome email is responding to a purchase, you can suggest other items of interest or highlight special deals the subscriber might be interested in. You can also remind customers of items they may have added to the shopping cart without completing the purchase.

These are just a few of the benefits a welcome email can bring to your online business. Can you think of any others, please share them with below? As you start work on the design of your welcome email, you’ll find all the tools you need in your eConnect Email account. Set up automatic triggers, monitor open rates, and use our custom design templates and tools to make sure your subscribers receive compelling messages from the very first day they register.

How do you define a great email campaign? Effective copy, concise subject line, clear call-to-action, sure. But putting hours of effort into an email campaign means nothing if you don’t see results. A successful campaign boils down to your brand understanding how to meet (and exceed) the expectations of your audience.

I, like most of us, am subscribed to numerous newsletters for a wide variety of reasons. Some for aggregated news purposes, business tips, daily deals or retail companies that offer value. I think we all know our favorites by the excitement we get seeing the new email freshly unopened in our inbox. This for marketers is a dream come true; these loyal subscribers are the pulse of the messages they create and move the needle for what’s to come.

A company recently caught my attention and now goes into a short list of brands that I not only enjoy watching, but admire their email campaigns and overall integrated marketing.

One night, killing some time before dinner I walked around downtown San Diego and went into the Goorin Bros. hat shop. The store pulled us in and almost back in time as we tried on hats reminiscent of the 1960s, old derby days that radiated class. It was so fun spending time in the store that on my way out I wrote my name in a book to be added to their newsletter list.

A few days later I received my first email from the Goorin Bros. and I was able to open it on my phone without a hitch. I thought the email looked very clean, sharp and with closer notice to this and emails to come, I was continually impressed with the beautiful, thoughtful design, clear messaging and access to information.

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With more than 100 million registered users, LinkedIn is the number one professional networking website online today. As the popular site becomes more commonly referenced as a hiring and promotion resource, businesses should be familiar with how LinkedIn can help build their brands and increase company awareness. Ready to get started? Let’s dive in.

Flesh Out Your Profile

The most important thing you can do to boost visibility on LinkedIn is to flesh your profile out as much as possible. Make sure profile completion is at 100% and be sure to include as many skills and experiences as possible in order to increase your likelihood of showing up in search results.

Create a Company Page

LinkedIn’s Company Page feature helps you network with other businesses, gets you listed with Google’s search engine, and creates a platform for you to promote company news and services. Your company page includes information such as a company description, specialties, logos, Twitter and RSS feeds, company news, career opportunities, and more. Fill out each section of your company profile as completely as possible to boost visibility and attract page views.

Build Credibility with Groups and Answers

These two features are essential for building brand awareness. Let’s take a closer look at how they can boost your credibility:

• Groups—By joining a LinkedIn group or starting your own group, you can connect with others in your field or with potential customers. Taking an active part in group discussions also demonstrates expertise in your field. If you’re starting your own group, be sure the headline communicates clearly what the group’s purpose is in order to attract the right types of contacts.
• Answers—The Answers section enables you to provide input on questions relative to your field, thereby demonstrating your knowledge of the subject matter and increasing the relevance of your comments throughout the site. Posting on other members’ questions also increases your visibility and can establish you as a credible, thinking leader within your field.

Promote Your Company Profile

Once you have established your brand within LinkedIn itself, you can begin promoting your company profile on other venues. Invite followers with a button placed on your website, blog, email communications, and other points of contact.

Ultimately, the best advice I can offer regarding LinkedIn is this: keep it current. By making sure your profile remains up to date and that you’re interacting regularly, you can ensure that you stay visible to the people you want to reach.