There are several ways by which you can improve your Email Marketing campaign.  And interestingly, there are important precautions you must take in order to avoid legal problems. How you can do it? Let’s see!

Firstly, be aware of the Spam Laws in order to avoid legal issues or penalties.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 refers to email that are sent with the purpose of advertising a product or service, including content on a Web site. It provides penalties to spammers and companies whose products that are advertised violate the Law.

Hey! This is serious! The first thing you must do before launching an email marketing campaign is to get involved with these Laws at a Federal and State level. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is authorized to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act. And, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has the authority to put into effect criminal sanctions. In addition, other federal and state agencies can enforce the law against companies under their jurisdiction.

Now, let’s see some important aspects to keep in mind:

• First of all, your email must reveal the person who sends it and include the correct originating domain name and email address.
• The subject line of your email must be clear and reflect the content of the message.
• You must also have a return email address or another Internet-based response method to provide the option to unsubscribe for future email messages.
• Email marketing campaigns must be clearly identified as ads and also include a valid physical postal address.

If you violate one of these rules, you will be penalized! Fines are up to $16,000. But, some additional fines are available for other violation’s rules such as generating email addresses with a “dictionary attack”, using scripts to register multiple emails, among others. Then; if things got worse, you could go to trial.

For getting information about the Spam Laws in your State, check out this Website. For instance, the California State Law considers that is illegal to send unsolicited commercial email from California or to a California e-mail addresses. Furthermore, certain emails must include contact information and opt-out instructions. At the beginning of the subject line, they must also have the label “ADV:” or “ADV:ADLT”.

Tips to improve your Email Marketing campaign

Subject length and personalize information. Having an attractive and concise subject is essential because this is crucial at the moment of deciding to open the email or not. Clients will only open it if they are seduced by the subject. So, you must think and summarize the main idea. Keep in short!

In addition, personalizing email campaigns is also very important. Only if the message is customized, there are more opens and clicks. It’s highly recommendable that you use a custom template to raise brand recognition as well. According to a study by Mailer Mailer, the best day to send emails for marketing purposes is Monday with both the highest open rate and click rate.

Interactive and attractive content. Once you reach the audience with an interesting subject, you should motivate them to read it until the end. So, say the most important at the beginning! Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words, so include some images. If you just add text, your audience will be likely to get bored. And subsequently, you won’t get many results.

Make the unsubscribe process easy and clear. You will not only avoid legal issues, but also maintain a good reputation with your customers. Including this simple option, you let your clients that your intention isn’t to disturb, but respect their choices and decisions.

Analyze your results. Email marketing campaigns are measurable, so analyze your results and check which strategy is working better for you.

In conclusion, Email Marketing is an effective way of sending your message and increasing sales. But, it’s crucial to get familiar with the Spam Laws. Furthermore, think of ways by which you can improve your strategy. Be responsible and increase your sales respecting for Spam Laws!

Recommended sources:

Email Marketing Q&A’s

The Enormity of Email – Ogilvy

8 Steps To Email Marketing Success

Tips for Tracking Email Marketing Campaigns – Google Analytics

http://analytics.blogspot.com/2009/03/tips-for-tracking-email-marketing.html

Create Your Own Custom HTML Template and Better Your Brand Recognition

Email Marketing Metrics Report – Mailer Mailer – June 2009

CAN-SPAM Laws

Can Spam and email Marketing

DoJ scores largest ever CAN-SPAM prosecution

New spam tactic: Spam profiles on social networks

Federal Laws: The CAN-SPAM Act: Requirements for Commercial Emailers

State Laws: Email Spam – State Laws

Now, it’s real! Since August 2009, Digg, the social bookmarking site review that receives around 40 million unique visitors each month, has been using an experimental advertising platform that includes the same social voting system of the Web site.

Digg explained that its new voting concept appears to be a more effective effort than the ad approaches done in Facebook. Why? Maybe because it gives more control over which ads are displayed on the Web site.

How it works

• Users vote “digging” for the ads they like, and vote “bury” against the ones they don’t.
• Ads that get more votes also get a lower cost-per-click rate for the ads, and it’s likely that the ads stay visible on the Web site much longer.
• Ads that get more “burying” have a higher cost-per-click rate, so advertisers are more likely to eliminate their ad from the Web site or change it.

Interestingly, now with this new tool, advertisers and marketers have some benefits:

• They can receive instant feedback and they can figure out what ad is working and what isn’t
• It helps them generate social buzz around campaigns
• They can gain more exposure

Digg said that the company has surpassed expectations and it plans to syndicate this voting method on other Web sites.

Digg has also begun testing Digg Content Ads widgets that contains previous home page stories relevant to advertisers.

Finally, if you want to find an interesting ad, start with Digg!

Sources:

Digg’s Disarmingly Direct Approach to Internet Advertising

Digg’s Vote-for-Ads Experiment Is Raising Revenue

Digg’s Ads Make Me Want to Click On Them. I’m not the only one.

Speed is the key to social media understanding. One tweet can be enough to launch a huge gossip and generate negative buzz on the Net. And at the day of today; what happens online, happens on real life.

Traditional media has no longer the information monopoly; that means the brands have less control on their image and if we add the real-time issue of powerful Web 2.0, this is a warning that every company should consider.

Last days, the multinational Swiss giant Nestle got involved in a serious problem due to contaminated cookie dough it recalled from the market. Even if that expensive operation was the right thing to do, it wasn’t enough. Nestle completely ignored the social media impact unleashed by its crisis.

Real crisis in the cyberspace are abrupt, unexpected and hard to control. The only way is to fight fire with fire.

Planning

A Crisis management plan is the way to successfully respond to an eventuality. Companies usually have crisis manuals and what-to-do forms in order to act properly and cause the less possible damage. Those measures are clearly insufficient when they lack a social media component.

Response

Hundreds of Web links easily take the users to blog posts. In addition, tweets, YouTube videos and random forum comments about the Nestle issue are constantly damaging the brand’s image. An eye-to-eye response from the firm is not just likely, but necessary to protect all prestige building efforts Nestle has done over time. Think through what you would prefer users to find if they looked at keywords about your Company and your issues. Do something about it. Take action before it’s too late!

Recovery

The two-way communications aspect of social media works as a mediator in any digital crisis. Monitoring what people say helps to notice how the response strategy is functioning and help the company as a guide for further action decisions until the brand is completely recovered.

The cookie dough crisis is just an example. Lots of all sized companies have been taken by surprise by social media. It can happen to anyone, and never is too early to plan. So, what would you do?

Sources

The Associated Press. (2009, June 20). E. Coli Fears Prompt Cookie Dough Recall.

United Press International (2009, June 20). Recalled Nestle products leave 66 sick.

Fulhaber, P. (2009, June 3). Social Media and Crisis Management.

Until last year, advertisers’ online budget wasn’t more than 15%, but this situation is about to change due to the significant growing of social networking sites and online video. Nowadays, Internet is the only support with accelerated growth, at the expense of traditional media such as TV spots, radio and magazines.

The pitiable situation of today’s economy is also causing the search for lowest prices and production costs with clearest and easy to understand outcome metrics. According to Merrill Lynch, the total growth of Internet advertising will overtake radio and magazines’ ads investments before 2010.

On the other hand, media agencies are changing their structure, creating new spaces for online advertising, changing the way they understand and conceive creative briefs and copywriting, molding their campaigns and messages in order to get the highest impact at the lowest price.

The most important thing when we’re about to advertise online is to think we have no more than half a second to get the user’s attention. When online, they have a whole world of information in their hands waiting to be chosen by a click. So grab attention, create curiosity and call for action is the three steps formula to create effective web advertising.

How to get there? You must combine three ingredients:

• The first one is to know everything about your product. Why is it different, why makes it the best option for the client.

• Second, to think about your consumers, who they are, what Web sites they like, and even what they do/read/watch/play/want/dream/think!

• And third, to understand how the Web works as the biggest world’s marquee. What about users’ behavior? Learn how the message is caught, where to say what you need to say and how to do so.

Online advertising is a big deal and it gets bigger and bigger. We’re experts. We know about it, it’s our thing; so let us help you to cross the line and get into the world of web ads successfully! Just call us now at 1-800-932-2580.

Sources:

• Lynch, quoted by Dans (2008). Transformed by Internet. The Wall Street Journal Media & Marketing.
• Web Source. (2009). Online Advertising.

Now your local company can face the challenges of an extremely competitive business with Google’s Local Listing Ads! These new “weapon” attempts to win over its rival: Yahoo’s local ad unit model.

Local Listing Ads will simultaneously appear on Google.com in local results and in Google Maps. Up to know, the ads are only available in San Diego and San Francisco, but are expected to expand nationally and internationally after the initial testing period.

Internet search is a big tool not only for big corporations, but also for small businesses. Did you know than more that 80% of people look at Google when they want to find local information?

So, if you own a local business and you are willing to achieve success you should consider Google’s Local Listing Ads as one of the main sections of your marketing tactics. People use online search engines like Google to find local information about almost every product and service they want.

Okay, let’s see how and why you should consider Internet search as a key element for your company!

• Flat monthly fee and no maintenance required. Unlike Google AdWords, Local Listing Ads won’t be sold according to pay-per-click bidding via auction. This new listing service will cost businesses a flat monthly fee. It’s easier as they require no maintenance or budget management. Google will determine a cost that guarantees that your ad is seen by the highest number of online users.

• Extremely useful marketing information. With Local Listing Ads you’ll be able to know how they find you, who people are searching you and where they are coming from. This valuable information can help you identify trends for your future tactics. For example, you will know how many of the phone calls that you receive come from your Local Listing Ad. You will also be able to study and understand your target audience deeply and keep on growing.

• The first 30 days are for free and you can cancel any time. If you notice that you aren’t ready for online Internet search, or if you prefer to postpone this type of strategy you can cancel any time. The first 30 days are for free! Give it a try; you have nothing to lose!

Nuff said! What are you waiting for? Your goal is to attract new customers in a competitive business world. Take control of your business online listing and let customer know what you are all about! If you need any help, just call us today at 1-800-932-2580.

Sources:

Google Local Business Center

Google Offers a New Way to Advertise For Local Businesses

Google Goes Local; Begins Limited Test Of Listings Ads