Email marketing and monetization - savvy blogging summit 2013

Email Marketing and Monetization

SavvyBlogging Summit 2013

Phil Hollows, CEO, FeedBlitz

@phollows @FeedBlitz

About Phil Hollows

• Founder and CEO of FeedBlitz

• Author of “List Building for Bloggers”– ListBuildingForBloggers.com

• Clients include: Seth Godin, The #SavvyBlogging Founders, Fred Wilson, Jay Baer, Brian Clark, Danny Brown, The Krazy Coupon Lady

Why Care About Email Marketing?

“I get ten times more response to my blog from my email subscribers than I do from anyone else.”

Seth Godin

The Scale of Email(source: LiveIntent)

THE SCALE OF EMAIL

Facebook Twitter EMAIL WebsitesTotal Accounts

Daily Activity

900 million

300 million

2.9 billion

463 million

60 million updates 140 million

tweets

188 billion messages

47 billion pageviews

3.3 billion searches

Google+90 million

1 billion items shared

To Make Money With Email Marketing,You Will Need…

• An email list that’s vibrant and growing.• Ways to make money that are compatible

with email.• To be mobile-friendly.• You can use email to:

a) Make money with each mailing.

b) Support and promote your other revenue generation programs.

c) Both of the above!

Four Keys to MASSIVE List Growth

1. Above the fold.

2. Social Proof.

3. Meaningful incentives.

4. Respectful popups.

Four FIVE Keys to MASSIVE List Growth

1. Above the fold.

2. Social Proof.

3. Meaningful incentives.

4. Respectful popups.

5. Don’t get complacent: Test, Test, Test!– Call to action text.– Form location.– Graphic elements.

It’s OK to Make Money

You’re not “selling out”

You deserve to be paid

Make Each Mailing Work for You

• Drive traffic back to your site.• Affiliate programs and links.• Advertising and sponsorships.• Digital product promotions.• Coupons and deals.• Event promotion• Transactional mailings.• Landing pages.

Traffic Generation

• The web is a richer, more engaging platform than email.

• Driving traffic to your web site is a great way to boost your earnings.

• Target an open rate of 20%

But BEWARE…

• Summary mailings and feeds tend to lose formatting, links and images.

• Mobile, mobile, mobile!

Affiliate Programs and Links

• Use static affiliate links.

• Make sure your email service is affiliate friendly.

• If you use summary content, do your links and images disappear?

Ads and Sponsorships

• Web-based ad networks, like AdSense, won’t work in email – You need a specialty service.

• Sell sponsorships and add to your template.

• Dedicated email blasts for sponsors

• Directly sold ads and sponsorships generate much higher CPMs than an ad network.

• Ads work best at high volumes and high frequencies.

• Pay attention to mobile!

Ads and Sponsorships

Digital Product Promotions

• Obviously, promote new products and bundles via email.

• Give your email readers a jump start on offers.

• Use every mailing to promote your products or programs.

Coupons and Deals

• DUH

• It’s much more effective – and affordable – to sell to an existing customer than to acquire a new one.

• Reward your loyal subscribers.– e.g. birth month offers

Events and Promotions

• Mail to create initial interest / activity.• Mail when milestones are passed.• Send periodic reminders: People

procrastinate!• Mail just before the registration deadline

closes or the event is about to start.

Transactional Mailings

• Transactional mailings are sent in response visitor activity:– Product / service purchased.– New subscriber / registrant.– New affiliate.

• Transaction emails have open rates 80%• Use them to:

– Promote related products or services.– Offer a deal on the next interaction.– Get the reader back to the site.– Start an autoresponder.– IMPORTANT: The marketing aspect can’t overwhelm the

transactional content in the mail

Landing Pages

• Are the most valuable pieces of real estate on your web site.

• Use them to monetize and mobilize the visitor.

• Look up “Sneeze Pages” from ProBlogger

Email is the #1 App!(source: LiveIntent)

Mobile, Mobile, Mobile!

• 30% of our opens are on mobile platforms:– iPhones, iPads, Android devices.

• iPad engagement is significantly greater than other platforms and browsers.

• Challenges on mobile: – How does your email look? – Can it be read clearly without pinch/zoom?– Are your links readily clickable, ads visible etc?

NON-RESPONSIVE EMAIL

“Desktop” email on the phone - Tables have forced the email to be wideText is too small, links are not navigable - Images and ads are too small.

RESPONSIVE DESIGN EMAIL

Same email, responsive layout - Large, legible fontsResized header image - Legible text, images and ads are great!

Questions?

?

Thank You!

• Would love to hear from you!– phil@feedblitz.com– @phollows– www.feedblitz.com

• P.S. We have an offer code for new accounts: SAVVY2013 = 10% off lifetime discount!