Archive for the ‘Email’ Category
Yellow Page Advertising Fails Again
Just received a very interesting email marketing blast from YP.com or Yellow Pages which was addressed to one of our clients’ email address that is only used on our end for specific account sign-ups—not this one.
This email managed to get my attention for two reasons: 1. They thanked us for signing up—we did not. 2. The gross failure of this email’s message to connect to the reader even if we had signed up–further evidencing Yellow Page’s lost roll in the digital age of marketing.
Let the dissection begin. 
“Thank you for joining the clever, growing droves of YP.com devotees and for signing up for our most excellent email missives.”
Droves? Devotees? Really? Did Bill and Ted come up with the “most excellent” part? And since we’re targeting the masses, let’s toss in the word “missives.” Yes, it is a word, as I also had to look it up—nothing like connecting with your target audience at the most basic level.
“We look forward to charming you with holiday features, travel ideas, contests, deals, how-tos, where-tos, go-tos and other fresh local interests — all bundled into our convenient monthly newsletters.”
Charming me? Did I ask to be charmed? And what exactly are “where-tos and go-tos?” Another first and a made up word this time.
The big wrap up: “To help us out, we hope you’ll take this op to review your profile details — so we can more keenly direct our charms, of course”
Ok, now I’ve got to do something for you because you don’t know your demographic and I have to fill you in—oh, I see.
“We hope you’ll take this op.” Op. How hip. And another made up word. I suppose they just couldn’t find it in themselves to spell out “opportunity.”
And what an opportunity this is, I can’t wait for them to more keenly direct their charms.
Jason Jantzen is President of Phoenix Marketing Associates and a skilled marketer whose experience in growing small businesses is based on real world experience and proven, repeatable strategies. His company uses an integrated approach to online marketing by implementing Search Engine Optimization, Website Content Creation, PR and Social Media campaigns which have had a marked impact on their clients’ overall exposure to their target market.
Email Marketing as Part of Your Overall Demand Generation Strategy
When attempting to market a product or service, growing your database of prospects should be your number one goal; number two should be staying in front of your prospects and existing customers on a regular basis.
It’s very possible that a potential client is not a perfect match for a particular product or service you are pushing at this very moment, but could be a great fit at some future point in time as your offering evolves.
However, that potential customer will never know about it unless you stay in front of them through email marketing. You can execute a loyalty campaign to existing customers advertising new products or services in conjunction with a prospecting campaign where your goal is to drive traffic and convert leads into customers.
A regular email marketing campaign should be executed 1-2 times per month and can include: a company newsletter, press releases, white paper teasers, etc…with a link embedded into the email driving traffic back to your website onto an appropriate conversion landing page.
Success with email marketing is most often realized through proper testing and the implementation of lead capturing landing pages.
It is imperative to determine which subject lines induce the most openings of the email, which message induces the highest click-thru rates and ultimately which landing page captures the most leads.
Executing a successful email marketing campaign will go a long way in aiding a company’s promotional efforts, new product launches and increasing overall web traffic.