Email Marketing Guide

Email Marketing Guide

By Andrea Bolder

Andrea Bolder is a Gold Medal Olympian turned social media expert, consultant and strategist. She has used internet marketing and social media marketing to build successful businesses online and coaches small businesses and solo-entrepreneurs simple strategies on how to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogging to find new customers and increase revenue.

Follow me on Twitter@andreabolder

Intro To Email Marketing 4

Getting Started 5Understanding The Process 6

Step 1: Set Up An Aweber Account 7

Step 2: Setup Your First Email List 7

Step 3: Creating Your Opt In Forms 11

Step 4: Autoresponder Follow Up 16

How Do You Build A Responsive Email List? 18Definitive Goals 18

Write Hypnotic Copy 18

Email Your List Often 19

Use The Secrecy Factor 20

Metrics That Matter 21Bounce Rate 21

Delivery Rate 21

Click Through Rate 22

ROI 22

Open Rates 23

Unsubscribe 23

In Closing 24What Can You Start Doing Tomorrow For More Effective Email List Marketing? 24

Intro To Email Marketing

The money really is in the list, and companies often note email as one of their most powerful marketing strategies. But while the size of your list is important successful businesses understand that the hidden secrets to effective email list marketing starts with the quality of your connection to your list and your ability to educated your contacts about your products and services.

Effective email marketing is one of the most important pieces to your overall marketing plan.  If you are not building a list or not taking care of the one you have you might as well be throwing money out the window. It’s as simple as that. The thing is, even if you’re able to build a massive list, it  doesn’t  matter unless you know how to do the following:

•Understand the power of email copywriting•Understand the importance of building relationships

With so much focus put into online lead generation, it can be difficult to figure out what to do with those leads once you’ve gotten them. Maximizing your profits online comes down to building a responsive email list and if you follow the hidden secrets I am going to lay out for you, you’ll be able to make every subscriber count.

Look, it took me months to learn how to my create an effective email list marketing campaign and to get my list to “respond” to me. I had leads that I had no clue what to do with. I was scared to engage with them on a personal level via email and even more scared to use aggressive calls to action. I’ve been there, so don’t feel bad if you’ve been neglecting your email list as well. It’s just that no one taught you how to build your list the right way.

In the following pages you’ll learn the types of communications you can send to your contacts, how to grow your subscriber lists and a roadmap to your email marketing success.

Getting Started

Email marketing can be powerful but can also be scary.

Not only do you have to figure out what to say to your contacts you have to learn how to integrate email with your other social media strategies in a way that will help grow your subscribers and bottom line.

But one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business owner is not starting an email list right from the start. An email list is important because it’s the most

direct way to communicate and engage with your fans, customers and subscribers. If you are planning to sell something, the list is often the primary money maker.

Furthermore, you can always take your list “with you” where ever you go. For example, if your blog or website crashed and burned for whatever reason you would still be able to directly contact a great percentage of your followers through your list. Without a list, you’d have to start again from scratch and it could take years.

In this chapter we’ll show you how to get started and what you need to know to set up your opt in forms and integrate them on your sites.

Understanding The Process

First, it’s good to know exactly what happens once someone signs up through an opt in form on your site. Here’s a diagram below that outlines everything that should happen:

As you can see, there’s quite a bit involved, but I’ll help you through the entire process below.

Step 1: Set Up An Aweber Account

You have many options when it comes to signing up with an email marketing service, but Aweber is by far the best in my opinion. I use it and have been really impressed with the ease of use, deliverability and quality of customer service.

Also, you have the ability to manage several lists from different websites under the same account, if you choose to do so.

Step 2: Setup Your First Email List

After you register for your account and sign in, you’ll be taken to your control panel. Now, we need to setup your list.

Step 1:

Go to the “my lists” tab. Click the “green button where it says create a new list” and give your list a name.

In basic settings add and update your information:

Input a list description, who the email is originating from along with a contact address.

Your contact address will be shown at the bottom of each of your emails, as required by law (the CAN-SPAM Act). If you’re on my email list, you can see this address at the bottom of my emails, which is my business address. If you don’t have a business address, that’s okay – you can simply insert your home address, but just know that whenever you send an email to your subscribers, your address will show up – so you may want to use an address other than your home address if possible.

You can also enter an email address to receive notification every time a new subscriber is added to your list. Once you have completed these steps Click on save settings.

Step 2:

Add your company name, website and email signature. Make sure to include your website address, phone number, skype ID and Facebook Fan Page so you make it easy for people to connect with you and find you.

You can enable social media sharing where you can integrate with Twitter and Facebook. By default I share every broadcast message on my face book fan page.

Once complete, save changes.

Step 3:

In the Confirmed Opt in tab you can create a customized confirmation message when people opt-in.

A confirmed opt-in email is an email that gets sent to people immediately after they subscribe to your newsletter. This email contains a link that is used to confirm that the person is indeed a human and is someone who is interested in joining your list. Also, it helps you make sure that the email address that they entered is valid, and not a fake one that they used just to grab a hold of whatever freebie you might have to offer.

You are given the option to turn this feature off. If your goal is to boost your number as it is when you are first getting started I would not enable the double-confirmation feature. This way your subscribers will be able to get your follow up messages right away. So click OFF.

This email is usually already pre-written for you, but you can customize it a little if you wish, just to make it a little bit more personable.

Step 4:

If you decide to turn on the Opt-In Confirmation feature you will see underneath the confirmation message an area marked “Success Page”.

This is where you insert a URL back to your website which is exactly where your subscribers will be taken after they click the confirmation link in the email (Thank You Page #2 in the Diagram):

On this page, which you’ll have to create on your own website/blog first, you can do a number of things:

•Thank the person for their confirmation.•Welcome them to your newsletter, and announce that they will

be shortly receiving an email from you.•If you’re giving away something like an eBook, for example,

you can let them know that links to their gift will be included in the next email.

•You can ask your new subscriber to “white list” your email address so it will not be blocked by spam filters.

•You can provide a way to easily contact you in case they have any issues regarding your newsletter.

•Advanced: This is also a great opportunity to add in an offer for either a product that you already have for sale, or an affiliate product related to your niche.

If you’re interested, here is my Success Page.

Note: Thank You Page #1 as shown in the diagram is setup when you create a web form that you insert onto your webpage. I’ll talk more about this in a second.

Save your changes and now your list has been created.

Step 3: Creating Your Opt In Forms

Step 1:

To create the webform or opt in box you need for your Facebook Fan page, click on the tab “web form”.

Click on the button “create a web form”.

Here in the “design” section you can design the look of your web form. There are a number of different options and templates to customize your form.

Edit colors, change the headline or add a new field.

You can change the content in the privacy label, resize the form, make it bigger or smaller. There are a lot of options you can play around with it until you get a form you like.

Many people, including myself, choose to place an opt-in form in the sidebar, mainly because it gets shown on every single page.

However, you can create multiple web forms for several different pages of your site, like the one I created on the page where I explain more about my Facebook Marketing Map eBook.

Typically, people collect just the name and email address of the subscribers, although depending on what you do and what niche you’re in, you can add different fields, including phone number, address, or any customized field that you’d like. Some people don’t even grab the names, and simply ask for an email address, although if you do this you won’t have the ability to use the {!name} code for personalizing your emails, which we talked about earlier.

Additional Tip: The default text within the submit button is simply “submit”. I recommend changing this text to something better that either tells your potential subscribers what they are getting, or is an actual call to action. For example, on my own buttons I have “Get Instant Access Here” or “Get In”, because it’s describing the access you get to my eBook or newsletter.

When you are done editing your webform, save it, move on to the “settings section” and give your form a name.

Step 2:

Next, add the url to your special thank you page. This is the first page a new subscriber will see once they opt in - the “Thank You Page #1” that is in the diagram that I showed you earlier. This is the page that people arrive at immediately after clicking on the “submit button” while the confirmation email is being sent to them at the same time.

You have 5 options of what you want to happen to your subscribers at this point:

The first three options are pages on Aweber that they’ve created for our convenience.

They each let the subscriber know that an email will be sent to them that contains a confirmation link

that they must click in order to subscribe to the newsletter.

The Audio and “Smart” Video Versions are great because they tell the user exactly what to expect and what links to click, so there is no confusion.

However, understand that many people may not be able to listen to audio, or may not have the ability to watch a video (i.e., people subscribing while at work who have restrictions on internet access).

•I choose to use a Custom Page because it keeps the subscriber on my site. Here is what you should include on this page:

•A short note that a confirmation email has been sent to them that contains a link that they must click.

•You can include pictures of what the link will look like, just to avoid any confusion.

•What to expect after they click the confirmation link in the email.

•A notice to “white list” your email address so their spam filters will not block your emails.

Advanced: This is again a great opportunity to add in an offer for either a product that you already have for sale, or an affiliate product related to your niche.

What you decide to happen to your subscribers at this point is really up to you.

Step 3:

Under the Publish tab, choose I will install my webform and choose either show javascript code or show html code. It’s much easier to copy the javascript snippet because if you go back into Aweber and change your form, it will automatically update on your website. Also, you can keep track of statistics like impressions and signups easier too.

Copy this code and paste the aweber code wherever you will be collecting leads. Click save and check the page to see the opt in form.

If You Have a WordPress Blog, you can use these two simple options:

1. Copy and Paste the Code into the HTML Editor for a Post or Page: If you want your form to show up within a blog post, or within a page that you create, you’ll have to copy and paste the code into the html editor, which can be found next to the “Visual Tab” in the upper right hand of where you write your posts/pages:

2. Copy and Paste the Code Into a “Text Widget” for Your Sidebar: If you want your form to show up in the sidebar, probably the easiest thing to do is go into your WordPress account, and under Appearance > Widgets, create a new “Text Widget” for your sidebar and copy the snippet into there, as shown below:

Make sure to test the opt in form to ensure i t i s w o r k i n g p r o p e r l y a n d transferring your lead to your list and redirecting them to the thank you page.

Step 4: Autoresponder Follow Up

What do you do once your leads are on your list?

Follow Up Messages

In your autoresponder account you will need to create a series of follow up messages.

To do this you can click on messages and choose follow up. Click on the “green button” to create a new follow up message.

The first message you want to create is a Welcome or thank you for subscribing email.

You can put in the subject. Thanks for subscribing or Welcome!

In the body you can add “Welcome valued subscriber to the name of your newsletter, training program, etc.”

If you are offering a free gift or download - include the link that directs them to your download page in the body of the message.

Add your contact details and any other info you want them to have.

For your first follow up message you will Choose “0” for interval because you want this to be sent right away.

When you create your second follow message you can put for interval “1” and that email message will be sent 1 day after your welcome email.

Broadcasts

A broadcast is a message that you send out to your subscribers that is not involved in the autoresponder follow up series, meaning it’s not a pre-written email that gets sent out after a certain amount of time after people subscribe. It’s a one time email (although you can save it to broadcast again later) that gets sent to your list.

What you include in it is up to you, but note that your list will get this email in addition to whatever emails they may be getting from you from your followups. Many people use broadcasts to talk about “one-time” events, such as recent news, launches for products, etc.

You can write a broadcast email at any time, with the ability to schedule it’s delivery – just make sure you use broadcasts wisely.

Following up with your new subscribers on a regular basis is a crucial and necessary step to cultivating a relationship with them and turning them in to a loyal follower. Your job from here on out is to provide VALUE and content that will not only give your new subscriber solutions to their business building challenges it will establish you as an expert in your field.

Every newsletter broadcast or follow up email should have a call to action. Even if they don’t do it right away, don’t worry. You can send them reminders as they continue to receive content from you.

How Do You Build A Responsive Email List?Definitive Goals

The most crucial aspect of your email marketing campaign is to is to actually determine what you want to get out of your list. Do you want to turn subscribers in to customers, leads into reps. prospects into clients? Are you an affiliate marketer that is looking to promote a number of different products and or services in a particular niche? Every email you write must have a very specific purpose so know what it is that you want to achieve before you send out your first email message.

Be clear to your target market about what they will get out of subscribing to your emails. give them a clear description of what the value is and over deliver. For example, will your emails offer: (1) tips and tools on how to run their business more efficiently, (2) product updates from your company, or (3) special offers via email?

Your audience will want to know “why” they should subscribe before they decide to inundate their inbox with even more emails.

Your email list is your most valuable asset and you need to treat it like the precious gem that it is! Make sure that you are supplying your list with fresh content that is unique to you but focuses on solving their needs. This will attract more people to you and you will also be branding yourself while providing tons of value. You want people to opt-in because of YOU!

Write Hypnotic Copy

How you write your emails will determine how much money you make from your email list. Just as you would in an article or blog

post, you must have a subject that grabs your readers attention. It must stand out like a shiny new penny amongst the heap of junk and trash that inundates our email boxes daily.

If you don’t have a hypnotic headline then no one is even going to read what you wrote and they sure aren’t going to get to what you are promoting. So you need to have a kick butt subject line and email content that piques curiosity and has your target wanting more.

Here are some of my most effective email messages where I got open rates over 30%. Most are either questions or a topic that didn’t really even have anything to do with the content that was inside the email.

•You Want To Make Money Right?•Vegas Bound…•30 Seconds To Reveal The Leaks In Your Business•What Does Freedom Mean To You?•Facebook Marketing is Dead!

What made these subject lines effective was that they engaged the reader by asking them a question or it got them curious enough about what the email was about to go ahead and open it. Your subject lines don’t have to be totally random, just play around with new ideas and concepts.

Think about the emails you open and which ones you trash, then model your headlines after what gets you to take action.

Email Your List Often

The truth is this…I buy from people who email me often! Maybe it’s those extra exposures, or the fact that I feel like I have a better “relationship” with them or know them better. It may even be that I just learned more from them because they were constantly sending me high quality content. But whatever the reason, I know that I tend to buy from people who send me more than the occasional email….And since this is what I respond to I am looking for the same

type of people. I’m looking for the type of people who are hungry about learning, who want to know more, I’m looking for people who are serious about building their business, committed to moving toward success each and every day and actually want to hear from me every day.

Look, my feelings are never hurt when people unsubscribe from my list because those people are not the type of people I am looking to connect with. If you can’t handle the daily value I provide, then move on to another list.

It’s up to you how often you want to email your list. I choose to email my list multiple times a week. As with everything else in life do what feels comfortable to you AND what you can maintain with a level of consistency. Just keep in mind that it is your duty to give your subscribers regular value so there is not doubt in their mind  just how committed you are to them and to your online business.

Use The Secrecy Factor

Always use “the secrecy factor”. Why? Because it works!! The secrecy factor will make people  want  to click on your links. For example:

“NAME, can you believe it. Look at what they’ve been hiding from us. This is so top secret that I am not sure how much longer the video is going to be up and it’s probably going to be taken down any minute now.“

This works because people like to discover, uncover and unlock “secrets”…especially when they think no one else is looking. LOL! It’s just human nature!

Metrics That MatterTo assess the performance of your email marketing campaigns, you must pay attention to several key metrics. This way, you can compare the performance of each one of your campaign’s against your own averages to know whether a specific campaign outperformed or underperformed your internal email benchmarks.

Your email service provider (Esp) will provide a plethora of data on each campaign you run and on your ongoing email performance. In this chapter we will cover the most important email metrics to measure and how you can use them to improve the performance of your email marketing program overall.

Bounce RateThe bounce rate is defined as the percentage of total email sent that can not be delivered to the recipients inbox. A high bounce rate indicated potential problems with your email list.

There are two types of bounces: Soft and Hard.

Soft bounces are a result of a temporary issue with a valid email address. The recipients email inbox may be full or their is an issue with the recipient’s server. Once the issue clears up your emails will be delivered.

Hard bounces are a result of invalid or fake email addresses - there are emails that will never results in a successful delivery.

Delivery RateHow many of the emails you send to your subscribers are being delivered to their inboxes. Delivery rate is calculated by subtracting hard and soft bounces from the total number of emails sent, then dividing that number by the total number of email sent.

To engage with your leads the message must find it’s way to their inbox.

Look for a delivery rate of 95% or higher. If you delivery rate is low you may have an the following issues:

•Too many invalid email addresses•Examine the subject lines and content (compare campaigns

that have lower than average delivery rates - perhaps something in that particular email is getting flagged as spam)

•Check your service (may be time to upgrade to a more reliable services)

Click Through RateThe proportion of your leads who actually clicked on one or more links within your email message. Your click through rate gives you a great idea about how relevant your message is.

It also tells you if your particular audience is engaged enough in the content you are putting out to take action. It also gives you an indication of how compelling your offers are.

Keep in mind that newsletters tend to have higher CTRs than promotional emails.

ROITo measure the return on investment for any particular email campaign divide the total revenue generate from the campaign by the number of email sent.

This is important for marketers who generate a lot of direct sales from their email marketing campaigns.

Open RatesWhile this metric is probably what most marketers use to measure their email marketing success it is really not a great indication of how well your email marketing campaign or isn’t. Your recipients can open an email but never actually read the content.

Also many times an html email will only be counted as ‘opened’ if the recipient also displays the images embedded in that message. By default, many people have their email settings to disable images. Ever get asked if you want to display images when opening an email?

A large percentage of your email users likely have image-blocking enabled on their email client. This means that even if they open the email, they won’t be included in your open rate, making it an inaccurate and unreliable metric for marketers, as it under- reports on your true numbers.

Focus on click-through rates. It will give you a much better measurement of whether or not your emails are successful.

UnsubscribeThe metric we love to hate. As with open rates, the unsubscribe rate isn’t a reliable picture of the health of your email list. Many subscribers who are tired of receiving email messages from your brand won’t bother to go through the formal unsubscribe process. They’ll just stop opening, reading, and clicking on your email messages.

And those that unsubscribe are not necessarily an indication that your messages and offers are bad, they are just not a good fit for the subscriber. Again, tracking your click-through rates and conversion rates is a better way to monitor subscriber engagement and interest. But checking your monthly unsubscribe rate is helpful for calculating your overall list growth rate, and to watch for sudden spikes after a particular email campaign.

In ClosingWhat Can You Start Doing Tomorrow For More Effective Email List Marketing?

1. Introduce yourself to your list. Send them an introductory email telling them a little bit about who you are, your story, your purpose and where you are going with your business. Your list needs to know the person behind the email.

2. Know when you are going to send out your emails. Develop an routine and be consistent.

3. Make sure you are staying in front of your readers and subscribers.

4. Use a call to action! If you are going to make money from your list, you have to ask them to buy. Some people are so afraid to ask their list to take action. If you never ask, you’ll never receive.

5. Take the time to research email marketing strategies that work. Not everything that works for one persons list will work on yours. So continue to learn new tricks, expand your knowledge base about copy writing and effective email list marketing and try new things out.

6. Stay on top of your metrics and to regularly clean up your email list by removing those addresses that are no longer engaged. You can identify these addresses with metrics such as opens, clicks, or website activity.

Even the smallest of lists can make huge profits. It’s about knowing what to say, keeping your subscribers engaged and knowing what it is that you want to do with your list.

Effective email list marketing is not as scary as you think. Take baby steps and above all else make sure you are actively connecting and strengthening your relationships with your subscribers. The stronger your relationships, the more money you will make!

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