website

Monthly Archive for March, 2010

A/B Testing: A Simple But Effective Way To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Is it possible to create a perfect email marketing campaign?
It is pretty hard to answer this simple question because every campaign is influenced by a number of variables that we cannot control. Regardless, a good email marketer should make all efforts to optimize results and find the best strategy for future email campaigns.

One of the best ways to increase performance and conversion is through testing and, in particular, using a technique called A/B testing.
A/B testing consists of comparing two versions of an email where only one element is varied, and choosing two random samples of your list. Send half of the list one version of the email, and send a second version to the other half.

In theory, each element of the email may be tested through this system. It is best to focus on only principal elements of the message in order to get relevant information for future email campaigns.

If you are new to A/B testing, keep it simple. Change only one element among the following: subject line (for optimal open rates), message size, delivery times and days, layout or call to action. After running both A/B campaigns, analyze your stats (opens, clicks and conversions) to determine which email campaign was more successful. You will be amazed when you observe how the results may differ with just few changes!

If you are using SendBlaster 2 do not miss the opportunity to run these tests in combination with Trackreports, our new email marketing tracking system and Google Analytics.

This post is part of a series of guest posts authored by popular bloggers and internet business consultants.
Today's guest post is written by Dean Shanson, a professional writer and a regular contributor to some of the Web’s leading marketing blogs.

Guest Post: Your Messaging Routine — and When to Break It

Writers starting to produce a giant opus are told to create a regular routine. It’s the best way, they’re informed, to ensure that they’ll get from introduction to conclusion one step at a time and without giving up halfway through chapter two.

The same advice should be given to email marketers. Messages delivered to inboxes might be able to generate some extra cash, but when you’re looking to build a business, those messages have to be delivered regularly, reliably and predictably. Whether you hit your list once a week or once a month, if you can get the messaging into a routine, you’re less likely to miss a mailing… then another, until you find that you’re not mailing at all any more.

Sometimes though, it can pay to break that routine, adding extra mailings to the regular messages that you send out at fixed times.
Continue reading ‘Guest Post: Your Messaging Routine — and When to Break It’

SendBlaster 2 Receives 5 Cow Rating!

We are happy to announce that our latest release  SendBlaster 2 has just received  a 5 Cow Rating, the best possible rating by Tucows, Inc.
We would like to thank all our users for their suggestions, comments and feedback that helped us improve SendBlaster. Thanks everyone!

Check out their Video Review below.

Continue reading ‘SendBlaster 2 Receives 5 Cow Rating!’

Help Spread The World And Get A Free License Of SendBlaster PRO 2

Help us getting the word out, and you will get a FREE license code of SendBlaster PRO 2.

If you are a blogger or internet columnist download SendBlaster Free Edition, test it (it has no expiration date!) and post a review about it on your blog or website.
Once you posted your review, please contact us at newsATsendblaster.com and provide link to your article. We will review your article and send you a SendBlaster PRO 2  license for free. Sounds good?

What are the requirements?

  • Your article must be published in a website/blog indexed by Google (no reviews or comments on third-party sites!)
  • The review must contain at least one link to SendBlaster’s website (sendblaster.com is fine)
  • You can put the article on your index page or sub-page
  • The article should be at least 200 words long

IMPORTANT NOTE
DO NOT create new websites/blogs for the sole purpose of getting the free license (we may request the site be shut down too!)

Please note that we will reserve the right, at our sole discretion, not to accept any particular reviews for any reason.

We are excited to annunce a new series of guest posts that will be authored by popular bloggers and internet business consultants.
Today's guest post is written by Dean Shanson, a professional writer and a regular contributor to some of the Web’s leading marketing blogs.

Guest Post: Put the Personal Power of Social Media in Your Email Messages

One of the changes that social media has brought to marketing is that it’s made selling personal. Because tweets and even Facebook pages are created by individuals who display their photos and share personal details, they allow the entrepreneur behind the business to form a personal relationship with members of his or her market. Leads become friends as a way of turning them into customers.

That’s a powerful change. People usually do business with people they know, like and trust, so the ability to create personal relationships, even shallow ones, can create the kind of long-term connections that businesses need for reliable sales. That’s why the most successful commercial Twitter streams are those that allow the twitterer to mix personal comments with professional announcements. Starbucks do it well, and so do Zappos.

And email marketers can do it too.

Continue reading ‘Guest Post: Put the Personal Power of Social Media in Your Email Messages’

Email Marketing Campaign Checklist

Before you hit the send button, it is useful to ask yourself a number of questions. Following is a checklist that will help you be sure you did not miss anything.
Ready to test your email campaign?

FROM & SUBJECT LINES
1. Am I using a valid FROM email address?
2. Does my brand appear in the subject line or “From” address?
3. Is the subject 40/50 characters (including spaces) or less?
4. Does it relate to the content of the email? Does it create a “sense of urgency”?
5. Does it grab the reader’s attention without looking like spam?

LIST
6. Am I sending it to the correct list?
7. Do I have permission to send emails to the people on my list?
8. Did I segment it appropriately?

Continue reading ‘Email Marketing Campaign Checklist’

Making The Unsubscribe Process As Simple As Possible

A clear and reliable unsubscribe process is key for maintaining your reputation among your subscribers (and ISPs) and for increasing conversion rates.
If people want to leave your list make it easy on them!
In the new version of SendBlaster you can place the unsubscribe link with one single click by pressing the Insert unsubscription link button in the Compose message panel.

SendBlaster will automatically generate your personalized HTML code. You will only have to specify the text your recipients will click on (e.g. Remove me from this list):

<a href=”mailto:#managingemail# ?Subject=Unsubscribe”>Remove me from this list</a>

Unsubscribe Link

SendBlaster is able to manage distribution lists by downloading email messages from a dedicated e-mail address (that can also be different for each list). This means that each email with subject “Unsubscribe”, received by the List Managing Email Address, will be automatically removed from your mailing list.

Please keep in mind that working unsubscribe links are required by The Federal CAN-SPAM Law, enacted in 2003:

“an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender “

In particular the CAN-SPAM policies require:

  • A visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism is present in all emails
  • Consumer opt-out requests are honored within 10 days

Also, never hide deliberately the unsubscribe istructions or making them complex. If your readers keep getting unwanted emails, they will be annoyed with your company and, because of this, they will be encouraged to report you as spam, even if you are still sending your emails legally. Much better to make them leave!




Load Times Plugin made by Cheap Web Hosting