The channel (Business to Business, Business to Consumer, or Both) and complexity of a sale determines the effectiveness of email marketing objectives.

The chart below shows that email marketing is most effective:

• in the Business to Consumer channel

...for these marketing objectives:

• increasing website traffic
• increasing sales revenue
• improving customer retention

Marketing Sherpa's survey of more than 1,100 marketers identified the effectiveness of email in achieving marketing and sales pipeline objectives such as building brand awareness, increasing website traffic, increasing lead generation, supporting off-line marketing programmes, increasing sales revenue, and improving customer retention.

I had a recent question from a client concerned about his email messages getting blocked by his recipients' spam filters.

We use Aweber as our email marketing platform.

Here is what Aweber provides to maximise the number of your emails that are read:

1. Highest email delivery rates
Aweber is recognised by ISPs worldwide as a professional and standards compliant bulk email manager. This, combined with the items below properly implemented, means your message won't get blocked at the ISP level.

2. Email Confirmation Requirement

When someone opts in to an email list by filling in a form on a website, Aweber's standard setting is to send an email requesting confirmation of the opt in request. This is fully compliant with email best practice, and does two things:

• checks the accuracy of the email address entered
• checks that the email address owner really has requested the opt-in

It does have the down-side of add yet another "hurdle" for the subscriber to jump over before receiving the information requested.

When an existing email list is imported to Aweber (instead of people opting in via a sign up form), the first thing Aweber does is to send an email to all imported addresses asking for confirmation that they agree to be included in the list - just as it would if they had opted in "normally".

Without this step, spammers could (and do) bombard recipients with unwanted emails, and you'd leave yourself wide open to spam complaints. (Even when people do opt-in, they forget, and may complain later.)

3. Unsubscribe Link Provided
Every message sent by Aweber includes an unsubscribe link - so the recipient can opt out whenever they want.

4. Spam Risk Assessment
Once your message is entered in Aweber, it runs a spam risk assessment. This warns you of anything in your message subject or content which could be likely to trigger spam filters. You can then edit your message to eliminate the triggers and replace them with alternative words.

5. Bounces Monitored
People change their email addresses, so if you have addresses no longer valid, or where an email box is "full" Aweber flogs this as a "bounce".
This allows you to "clean" your list - by either removing, or updating (if you can) the email record.

6. Complaints Monitored
Compliance with email standards requires that recipients can complain to the service provider if they believe abuse of their email address has occurred. Aweber tracks any complaints from your recipients.

7. Opens Monitored
Aweber tracks how many of your messages were opened by recipients - this is the key result - getting your email read.

8. Clicks Monitored
If you have clickable links in your message, Aweber will track how many people clicked the link
Aweber can also track online sales resulting from your email campaign.

9. Split Testing of Messages
Aweber allows you to split test your messages on lists of over 100 recipients.

The 1st thing to test is always the Subject - since this is a major factor determining the open rate for each message
(other factors affecting open rate are - who the message is from, and when they last received a message from you, and the time of arrival of the message)

This is very important.

Slip Test Example:

I recently sent a message to a small list of just over 400 subscribers.
I used a split test with 2 Subjects, just varying the first few words of the subject: (everything else identical in Subject and body of message)

Subject A: I'll send you a ....
Subject B: Look out for your ....

The open rate for Subject A was 140% higher than for subject B

Search Optimist! Nice title...I attended a webinar recently where the presenter used this term in stead of the more usual mouthful - Search Engine Optimisation Expert/Consultant. But "Search Optimist" carries the right concept for the internet user who is looking for information and hoping she'll find it.

The role of the "Search Optimist" is to improve the likelihood that her optimism will be rewarded!

The Role of Technology in Transforming Business Operations

Technology is transforming the way business is done, especially in the arena of small business. As a small business, you have a unique advantage to your larger competitors in that your cost for adoption of new technology is minimal, and the difference the technology can make is invaluable. Aside from being able to connect and communicate with a local consumer more easily and more efficiently than before, technology can also enable you to expand your business’s horizons – what started as a local “Main Street” type business can expand into a regional, or even international, player.

Social media is a great tool for a business, but only if used correctly. Social media puts your message into the hands of the consumers; they can post bad reviews, trash your product, and advise their friends to never come to your establishment. They can list what’s great that you offer and what could use some redesign. They can also provide rave reviews that result in your sales going up exponentially. Quite simply, that is a lot of power to put in the hands of a consumer – use it wisely.

There are three key elements that you should keep in mind...

If your company operates business-to-business, traditional social media marketing techniques will rarely make the grade. This article discusses why this is, and provides strategy tips on how to use social media effectively to promote your B2B offers.

Social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, receive a great deal of attention for their uses in business-to-consumer scenarios. In these situations, social media sites can act as a way to build customer relationships, obtain market research, identify trends, etc.

In addition, using business-to-consumer techniques to approach a business customer can even devalue your company’s brand image, making your efforts look haphazard and dated.

For the business-to-business company, social media presents its own advantages and requires its own techniques...