Get Started with Email Marketing in the Social Age

Jill BastianTraining and Education Manager

VerticalResponse

• Create email as awesome as your business- we'll make sure it looks just as good on phones and tablets

• Simple reports show you what's working• Spread your message on Facebook and

Twitter.• Try it free – verticalresponse.com

Agenda

• Email Marketing Basics• Email Best Practices• Overview of Social Media• Email and Social Media Together• Tools & Resources To Get You Started• Q&A

Email Marketing

Email Marketing Basics

Purpose:• Inform/educate• Talk about your company/product/service• Stay in front of your audience• Establish yourself as an expert• Build relationships• Drive traffic to your site

Email Marketing Basics

A very good investment

Email Best Practices

• From label – Who are you?• Subject line – Why open?• Pre-header – Supports the email open• Links – Get them to your site• Images – Eye candy, break up text• Content – Key to engagement• Social Media – Share and Follow buttons

From label – Who are you?

• Tells your audience who’s sending the email• Be consistent with the company name• Company name usually works best

Subject Line – Why Open?

• Tells people what to expect• Don’t repeat your From label• Stick to 40-50 characters• Don’t use all caps• Avoid overusing punctuation!!!!

Pre-header Text

• Supplements subject line• Use a different message than subject line• Provides compelling info to entice opening the

email

Pre-header Text

Links• Give your recipients lots of opportunity to get

to your website• Read long articles easily• Make them social by including a link to post

on Twitter or Facebook• Use Call-to-Action buttons

(Buttons.Verticalresponse.com)

Include Logos and Images

• Engage your audience• Think about what your audience sees• Break up blocks of text• Brand with your logo – Email

will look more professional• Link your images! • Use Alt Text• Balance of text/images

– think 80/20

Content – Meat and potatoes

• What’s your story?• Put your audience first • Your readers must desire your content• They must invite you into their circle of trust• The best marketers and salespeople are story

tellers.

Content is More than Words

• Images• Video • Infographics - http://visual.ly• Charts• Live & recorded demos• User generated - quotes, testimonials

A Little About Social Media

Social Media Drives Sales

Get Started One Step at a Time

• You don’t need to be everywhere!• Choose the networks where your customers

already are• Pick 2-3 social platforms and start building

from there

Use What You’ve Got!• Promote your pages to current customers: send an

email, add links in emails & blog, website etc.• Content is King• Post often, with relevant & useful material that you

already have:• Hosted link of your emails• Social messages• Videos & photos• Coupons• Sales

Facebook

• Use email to engage people to like your page • Share pictures and videos • Coupons or specials• Ask questions• Post regularly• Share content you enjoy• Promote your best stuff!

• www.facebook.com/business

Twitter

• Tweet blog posts, company news, contests, sales, etc…

• Share media that you consume– Industry trends and studies – Relevant blog posts and articles

• Follow people and brands you like for good content, and retweet them

• Tweet regularly• https://business.twitter.com/

Pinterest

• Share emails through hosted link• Post regularly• Pictures, pictures, pictures! Fun, beautiful and

engaging ones.• Create business and fun boards – mix it up!

• http://business.pinterest.com/

Most Importantly…• Promote your social presence across all your

marketing channels• Email, website, blog, traditional, cross-platform• Your customers can’t find you if they don’t know

you’re there

But…• Don’t just lead with the “ask,” give them a reason

why• Exclusive content:

promotions, up-to-date news, giveaways, access to special deals

Let’s Put it All Together!

Use Social Media in Every Email

Increase Social Media presence Give recipients an incentive to click through to

your Social Media pages Grow list

Make Every Email Sharable

• Forward to a friend• Share on Facebook and Twitter or any Social

Media platform you are using

Summary

• Keep your readers in mind – make sure your emails are easy to read and work with or without images.

• Use what you’ve got to engage your readers or followers.

• You don’t have to be everywhere, but be where your customers are

• Make sure you’re thinking about social when you’re managing your email and vice versa.

VR Resources

• Buttons - buttons.verticalresponse.com• Resources:

https://www.verticalresponse.com/marketing-resources 8 Email Marketing Basics to Remember Simplify Social Media for your Biz Email Marketing Reporting Basics Email + Social Media = Success

• VR Blog - Verticalresponse.com/blog