Are Consumers Really Reading Your Email?

Ninety-seven percent of small businesses are using email marketing to reach their consumers.  Having a core group of subscribers and appropriate content are essential, but why put in all the time and effort if they’re not even opening it?

The hurdle of actually getting your consumers to open the email can be hard to overcome.  One thing small businesses should ask themselves when using email marketing as a tool for engagement should be: 

Would I open this email if I received it from another company?  

To increase your open rate:  

Are you making a good first impression?  Typically recipients see two things when sifting through their inbox:  Who the email is from, and what the subject line is.  This step is probably your biggest chance to increase your open rate.  Does the consumer know who you are?  Has your subject line enticed them enough to want to inquire further? 

Timing can be your best friend.  How are you ensuring your email doesn’t get lost in the inbox shuffle?  If you send too early, it could get missed.  If you send too late, the reader may skip over it with the intention of coming back to it later (they almost never do).  Experimenting with time frames will be essential for small businesses to develop the appropriate time to reach their target audiences. 

Don’t spam your subscribers.  Spam filters analyze a huge list of criteria.  How is your business avoiding this trap?  Some suggestions include:

·         Don’t use all CAPS

·         Avoid using too many:  !!!!!

·         Stay away from spam phrases like “Once in a lifetime opportunity!!!”

Purge your dead weight.  The more targeted your subscriber list, the more likely they are to engage and open your emails.  They signed up for a reason.  Some email marketing programs allow you access to see who or how many people are actually opening your email and how many are bouncing back.  This can ensure you are utilizing your time and investment wisely. 

Are you making it easy for consumers to sign up?  As a growing small business, you owe it to yourself and your customers to make it easy for them to receive additional offers and information from you and your business.  The harder the sign-up process, the less likely they are to do it. 

Once you’ve worked through and fine-tuned these steps, I’m sure you’re questioning what a successful open rate actually is.  Email marketing campaigns will differ per industry and your target market. 

Cause-Marketing: The New Kid on the Block

Social media is constantly changing and has become a key piece in organization's marketing mix. Not only can you connect with your friends but you can buy and sell things in virtual stores, look for jobs, recruit employees—you name it.  More and more organizations are taking to the social media airwaves to spread the word about charities, goodwill, and the causes they care about. 

People and companies like an audience and want their friends, fans, coworkers, and fellow employees to see they are doing good things.  Some of the more popular social media vehicles for doing this and reaching the masses are Facebook and Twitter.  Companies who have a more business-to-business focus may use LinkedIn as another social media tool to spread the word. 

Some of the more popular cause-campaign types, according to Mashable are:

1.       Like for Donation

2.       Simple-Action for Donation

3.       Interactive-Action for Donation

4.       Voting campaigns 

Dominating the cause-marketing vehicles over the past several years is ‘Like for Donation’.  The simple call-to-action format makes this one the most user-friendly. 

Simple-Action-for-Donation campaigns include contests or sweepstakes and are often fueled by third party applications.

In an attempt to increase user interest and make consumer activity more appealing, applications have been created and used.  Interactive-Action for Donation formats help cause-marketers drive user donations and actions.  Many of these applications have been changed and adapted for the use of online fundraising. 

Companies offer a cash or in-kind prize to causes that gather the most votes or other targeted online actions are types of Voting Campaigns.  Voting campaigns have been successful in attracting attention, awareness, and have received a lot of media attention because of the large amounts of money that is donated. 

Social media will continue to explode with new ways to reach target audiences, engage users, and adapt to social needs and wants.  The opportunities are endless for what can be done, who can be reached, and the messages that can be delivered. 

The fuzzy line between social and professional networking

Most of us know (or quickly figured out); Facebook and business do not mix.  An electronic diary of sorts, Facebook is probably sharing more than you are aware of.  If you’re in search of career opportunities, having your personal and social lives blaring about to the entire world can muddy the waters of landing your dream job.

A majority of us witnessed the viral up-rising of Facebook while in college; we latched on and never looked back. We wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, and connect to the world-wide web.  Facebook, email, instant messengers, and other social networking sites keep us connected twenty-four hours a day.
When was the last time you did not connect to the web? I bet you can’t remember. Nearly 266 million people access the internet in North America alone (as cited in “Internet Usage,” 2010). That’s nearly 78% of the entire population [North America].

Depending on your career aspirations or your business’s vertical, Facebook can be an effective way to network professionally.  According to Neal Schaffer (2010), companies are spending almost 20% of their total marketing budgets on social media. 

What does this mean for you as a career professional? It means there is an increased likelihood of potential employers and businesses seeing your social networking profiles.
Unless you want your future boss to see a photo of the night you decided to moonlight as a karaoke professional after one-too-many margaritas, I’d keep the social networking for your eyes (and your friend’s) only.
Tips for maintaining a “clean” social networking profile:

• Use social sites such as Facebook only to build relationships with your friends
• Limit the amount of images/photos you and your friends post
• Examine your profile carefully and decide what you want potential employers and business contacts to see

If you need assistance and information on up-and-coming professional networking sites, SmallBizBee.com (2010) recommends the following 40 top social networking sites for small businesses and career professionals (here’s the top 5):

1. LinkedIn
2. Meet the Boss
3. PartnerUp
4. Qupacity
5. Ryze

 I contributed this article to a professional network: WDM New View 
Internet usage statistics; the internet big picture. (2010, June 30). Retrieved on May 18, 2011, from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Schaffer, Neal. (2010, December 14). LinkedIn vs. Facebook for business in 2011-The battle begins. Retrieved on May 18, 2011, from http://socialmediatoday.com/nealschaffer/252062/linkedin-vs-facebook-business-2011-battle-begins

The ultimate list: 40 social networking sites specifically for small business, entrepreneurs, and startups. (2010, February 2). Retrieved on May 18, 2011, from http://smallbizbee.com/index/2010/02/02/ultimate-list-40-social-networking/