Many businesses look at their email marketing list in the wrong way thinking of it as a numbers game and simply adding new names as old ones disappear. Worse still are those who resort to email blasts, regardless of subject relevance. Either approach indicates an email list is being used incorrectly, with little consideration shown towards recipients. To some extent etiquette has a role to play in email effectiveness, so consider the following:

• Ensure your email recipients know who you are, and explain how you obtained their details. Speaking from experience I receive many email newsletters from businesses and struggle to work out who they are, or why they are emailing me. It's also a legal requirement to give your business contact details.
  
• Provide your recipients with an easy, instant unsubscribe process. It is pointless to continually communicate with anyone not interested in you or your products. Better by far, and cheaper, to email 500 recipients genuinely interested in your business than 5,000 with little or no interest.
  
• Review your statistics for up to 12 months after any email campaign. Checking responses, ie whether they are being sent to “trash”, filed or later reviewed, will clarify the interest rate of your emails. Understanding how recipients read your newsletters will benefit future campaigns.
  
• Use an Email Service Provider to manage your email campaigns. This will help you manage unsubscribes, improve deliverability and provide statistics on user engagement. (User engagement is an important topic we will discuss separately.)
  
• Segment your list into categories such as customers, prospects, interests. This will  prevent you from sending inappropriate offers or information.
  
• Send topical and informative emails, and submit them regularly to keep in touch with recipients. If you have not used your email marketing list for more than six months then send a re-engagement campaign. If recipients forget who you are, your email marketing list is redundant.

• Enable the “Automatic Lock” function on your device, and set the lock period to the minimum time
• Enable the “Require Pin” function or, if the option is available, the lock device on SIM card removal 
• If you use memory cards, enable the “Encrypt External Storage” option if supported by your device
• Only store essential names, numbers and documents on your mobile phone
• Check with your mobile provider if your device supports “Remote Wipe”, and know how to implement this
• Keep your mobile provider’s number handy as they can disable your phone when you give them your IMEI 
• Be prepared to notify the Information Commissioner and your customers if a mobile device with customer data is lost/stolen

There is plenty of scope for getting things wrong with email marketing campaigns; the focus here is on the most common errors made.

Poor Subject Line

Getting recipients of your email to open and read it is key to your marketing campaign’s success. It follows, therefore, that of primary importance is the field marked “Subject”. Yet research shows that the content of this title bar is often the last thing considered, and sometimes it is even left blank. What a wasted opportunity.

Equally important as not leaving it blank is devising a suitable subject. Headings such as “Free Coupon” tend to perform badly against simple descriptive titles such as “[Company] Newsletter.” My advice is to describe the content honestly, rather than “sell” it with a gimmick.

Unrecognised Source

Some email campaigns originate from unrecognisable email addresses, or companies with bizarre names few have heard of. Emails from unidentified sources are usually instantly deleted. If your company is known to everyone on the data base you are using, ensure its name (or yours) appears in the “From” field. You certainly don’t want the words “Mailing List” appearing as sender.

Awful Presentation

Emails have to be easy on the eye for comfortable reading, so how you format text is important. Central alignment of content makes text very hard to read.  Similarly, choosing an unusual font is a bad idea as it may not be among the listed styles on your recipients’ system and will consequently not display properly. Play safe – stick to the common fonts, and the standard “align left” for content.

Outsize Images

Promotional emails are sometimes simply a scan of a company’s leaflet, with a huge image embedded with little or no worthwhile text. Don’t commit this crime.  Many email programs do not display images by default, so such emails can appear empty or blank. They also run the risk of being deleted by spam filtering systems. Use images only if they are necessary, and keep them down to 10% or less of your email content.

Badly Coded HTML

This is a technical issue but worth mentioning to anyone with coding knowledge, or in-house programmers. Emails are single or multi-part templates with many HTML emails using CSS and <HEAD> tags for text coding and display commands. However, some email programs (especially web based ones) strip out <HEAD> tags to prevent security problems. Any style code commands listed here will be stripped out, thus mangling the coding and making the email impossible to read. To add style to your email, make sure inline CSS coding is used. Be aware, too, that HTML exports from some programs, such as Microsoft Word, Publisher and PowerPoint, can create very bad HTML that does not work in email.

No "Unsubscribe" Link

There are pointless risks run with either not offering an “unsubscribe” link, or putting a “Reply with Unsubscribe” link in the Subject/title bar. Recipients of such emails will instantly hit the “Spam” button, and you could get blacklisted. Instead, make it as easy as possible for recipients to leave your list by providing a simple “one click” instant unsubscribe link. That way they will think better of you, and you will not be wasting your resources emailing uninterested people.

Spam Appearance

Marketing emails that are blatant promotional messages will resemble spam and, like all junk mail, end up being deleted. It is wise, therefore, to steer clear of highlighting text in bold, to refrain from displaying content in capitals, and to avoid using too many colours. Using the word “free”, particularly in bold or coloured text (whether in capitals or lower case), can also trigger automated spam filter systems if usage in ratio terms is out of proportion to other words used.

Unfamiliar Contacts

If it has taken far more than a year to build up your list of leads, and if you are not in regular contact with everyone on it, will they remember you? Don’t email infrequent customers and prospects out of the blue; some may have forgotten you, been replaced or changed their email address. Instead, turn a potential negative into a positive by sending a short and sweet re-subscribe email along the lines of:  “We know it has been a while since we were in touch. If you are still interested in hearing from us, please click here to subscribe.” 

Sending email newsletters involves overcoming different obstacles so my tips for tackling the basics may help you when compiling and transmitting your own.

Some email marketing beginners get off the starting block by creating a simple email message, sending it to multiple recipients via their email client. There are pitfalls to be aware of when doing this, which were highlighted in one of our articles last year, entitled Multiple Recipient Emails.

Email Nuisances

People who send out too many emails can find themselves in trouble with their ISP (Internet Service Provider). Those who commit this crime and are deemed a nuisance by their ISP can, as a result, find their internet connection cut off. Don’t run this risk; instead of annoying your ISP, use an ESP (Email Service Provider).

Email Service Providers (ESPs)

A much better method for transmitting email newsletters is to use an Email Service Provider, who is specifically set up for this purpose, and is skilled in managing emails to thousands of recipients at a time.

ESPs come in all shapes and sizes, from those who provide full campaign creation and management, to the “self-service” providers who allow you to build your own campaigns via a web interface. Service costs vary; the most inexpensive method is to use a self-service provider.

Self-Service Providers (SSPs)

SSPs provide a simple graphical interface for you to design your own email newsletter, plus easy-to-use options for uploading and adding your email recipients. They will also manage any “bounces” (undelivered emails) and “unsubscribe” requests for you, saving you both time and hassle.

Reliable Recommendations

AGUK uses and recommends the following providers:

• Mail Chimp*
• Constant Contact

They offer similar services at similar prices and personal choice is down to individual preference on the interface provided. Both companies are based in the USA and charge in US Dollars, with a free service for lists of up to 100 email addresses. In our opinion, there are no UK-based ESP services to rival the level of options provided by these two companies, but if you know of one we would be happy to hear from you.

Please note that using a hyperlink ending with an asterisk (*) , as shown above,  may result in a small financial referral contribution to AGUK. This in no way influences our recommendation and if you wish to avoid this automatic reward, you can instead use the following link: Mail Chimp

Having previously given tips on free website business listings, in particular with Google, this month I am covering Online Directories. It makes good business sense to consider these, for the reasons given below. Use my quick links for fast and easy access to AGUK's recommended directories.

Long before we had the internet, people automatically turned to their phone books to find the person or business they were looking for. Today, that automatic action is the same. The only difference is that phone books are now also online. People familiar with the internet increasingly search online, so it's worth spending time checking your own listing with these directories to ensure it is (a) there and (b) correct. Adding and amending your listing is completely free of charge. The added benefit is that, with some of them, you receive a free listing in the corresponding printed directory.

Quality not Quantity

There are numerous online directories but a listing in the most popular ones is all you should aim for.  Below are my recommendations for those where your business should be listed. 
 
Top Dogs

• Scoot
  A popular directory used mainly by consumers

• Yell.com
  Listings also appear in printed Yellow Pages

• BT Phone Book
  Listings also appear in the printed copy of The Phone Book

• Thomson Local
  Growing in popularity, and used to power many other online directories, thus providing increased exposure. Listings also appear in their printed directory.

Remember, these websites allow you to list your business free of charge, and without obligation. They may also present you with paid options. If you are uncertain whether the costs involved are worth the benefits, seek advice from an independent professional. 

Despite being IT literate, many businesses continue to issue paper invoices in this electronic age. There is no legislation stating invoices must be sent via post, and it is easy to harness new technology to do this easily, more efficiently and cost-effectively.
 
HM Revenue & Customs' website provides detailed and helpful information on electronic VAT compliant invoicing under their Reference Notice 700/63 (June 2007). For an easy link, click here.

E-Invoicing Advantages

Electronic invoicing is beneficial for a variety of reasons:

• No postage or stationery costs, resulting in substantial savings
• Invoice arrives with recipient same day, with no risk of loss or delay
• No requirement for paper storage on premises, saving valuable space
• No requirement for secure filing and shredding in line with DPA regulations
• Less paper usage therefore better for the environment, and less of a fire hazard

E-Invoicing Options

To generate an electronic invoice there are a number of options. You can adopt one of the many popular accounts packages, such as Quickbooks and Sage, for the generation of a PDF invoice. Or, if you prepare your invoices manually, you can simply copy your invoice into a plain text email message.

As regards presentation, if you want your invoice to reflect your corporate branding and follow your letterhead style, my suggestion is to use a print-to-PDF program. This will generate a PDF by just printing a document. My tip for a good, free program is PrimoPDF, and for an easy link clickhttp://www.primopdf.com

Now more than ever businesses are looking to increase their online presence. In these tough trading times the $64m dollar question is "How do I improve my Google listing?"  What better time then to give you some useful tips on how best to use Google Local Business Listings.

Behind the Business Listing Concept

Regarded as the number one search engine, Google now includes business listings within its search results. Click here to see a good example of this working.

Initially these listings were collated through data obtained from Thomson Local directories. This means your business may already be included but not fully optimised. To see if your business is already listed go tohttp://maps.google.co.uk and search for your company name.

Claim your Business Listing

If you are listed on Google, then the next step is to claim your listing. You can do this by clicking the [more info>>] link and then [Add or Edit your business]. Next, Google provides you with a number of ways to confirm your ownership. The main options are via either post or mobile text message.

Optimise your Opportunity

If you are not listed on Google, then make the most of this worthwhile business opportunity. To do this, simply clickhttp://www.google.com/local/add/  to go directly to the "Google Local Business Center" where you can add your own listing.

Once you have added, or claimed, your listing there are a number of additional options available to you. These include creating keywords and categories.  Again, you should make the most of these opportunities as they can help optimise your listing.

Other Opportunities

Creating your listing with Google is just the first step to improving your ranking. Optimising it is how you increase your online presence, attract a wider audience and bring in more customers.

Spending money to increase daily website visitor numbers, even to thousands a day, widens your audience.  However, the expenditure is probably pointless if the end result is no actual customers. This month I am focusing on this issue, and two of the most common topics raised when I am asked about websites.

Keyword Advertising

There are companies paying hundreds of pounds a month, and more, on keyword advertising. This is the bidding process for chosen terms on search engine sites such as Google Adwords. The results can be impressive. Businesses are happy to declare "We spent £500 last month and received an extra 2,000 visitors to our website." But are they tracking performance? How many of those visitors viewed the website's products and/or services in detail?  How many revisited the site? Most importantly, how many of them actually got in touch and became customers? 
 
Keyword advertising can be a great way to get instant results, but you need to be able to measure those results in ways that are meaningful to your business.  My advice, if you cannot do this, is to suspend your keyword advertising until you have had some training. 

Tracking Visitor Behaviour

In order to improve your website's customer conversion rate you need to understand visitor behaviour. This is achieved by viewing the daily/weekly/monthly statistics on your website visitors. If you do not have access to your site's visitor statistics then organise this before investing any further in your website.
 
My tip here is to set this up free by using Google Analytics. This is a popular statistics service providing comprehensive information, the results of which you could find very interesting. Tracking your visitors will enable you to analyse how they use your website and what they are looking for.  By understanding what your visitors are interested in when they visit your site, you can take action and turn them into customers. Tracking them can also help you identify where future website improvements and changes are needed.  

Email is now an accepted form of communication, perceived as cheap and immediate and regarded as either an advantage or necessary evil.  But just how instant and reliable is email?

Have you ever sent an important email only to learn it hasn't arrived? Perhaps you've waited all day for an email that was supposedly sent hours ago? This month AGUK provides a brief insight into how emails work and system hiccups.

Along with the dramatic growth in email usage came unsolicited email (spam) and the ever increasing risk of email viruses. Email providers and systems have struggled to battle against these threats and, as a result, many email users are noticing some side effects. What was once a method of near instant communication has become less so and there are a number of reasons for this:

• Congestion
  The internet, just like the UK road transport system, can get congested with traffic. Emails travel via the internet's equivalent of a road network, with traffic lights and junctions along the way to stop them bumping into each other and getting lost. Just as there are rush hours on the road, the same happens on the internet;  at busy times, the traffic slows down and queues start to form. Hence, an email sent off-peak, say, in the middle of the night, arrives immediately, yet one sent at 16:45 can be held up by a closing day's congestion. 
• Security Checkpoints
  As a result of the growth in spam and viruses, the number of security checkpoints has increased. Airports are a good analogy here.  When you jet away on holiday, or business, you may find yourself held up by Customs and kept waiting while your credentials are checked.  The same can happen with your email;  it is called "Greylisting".  A first email from you to anyone can be delayed by a few minutes to a few hours while credentials are checked. Similarly, just as a frequent traveller can be recognised by Customs and simply waved through checkpoints, the same can apply to your email. 
• Checking Your Bags
  In addition to primary checks, further checks may be made.  As in the airport analogy whereby Customs choose to check some bags and sift through their contents, so a similar action is taken with emails. Many email systems now check the contents of emails for abusive words, or anything appearing to be spam, and will check attachments for harmful viruses. Again, like Customs, they only have the capacity to carry out so many checks at once. Consequently, your email may end up in a queue for checking before it is forwarded to its recipient. Plus, the bigger an email attachment, the longer the check. 
• Out For Lunch
  Where immediacy is concerned, an aspect of email often overlooked by senders is an assumption that recipients are at their desks, with their email clients open to receive messages.  However, if they are chatting to a colleague by the coffee machine, in a meeting, or out for lunch, there will be an obvious delay in reply.  A much longer delay will occur if your email recipient is actually away, and has not set up an automatic message to notify you of their leave of absence and date of return.

What Can I Do?

Here are our tips:

• Understand and appreciate how emails work.  They are fast, economic and effective but should not be relied on as a fail-safe form of instant communication.
• Where urgency is paramount, consider the alternatives of either reverting to the long trusted technology of the telephone, or using a mobile/fax/or SMS text messaging service.
• If you know your addressee needs time to respond but want to check your email has arrived safely, set up a receipt confirmation request.
• Show email consideration to others:  if you are going to be out of the office for any length of time, set up an automatic email advice notification to explain your absence, giving the name of a colleague if the matter requires attention before your return.
• Ensure emails containing customer data are handled correctly, and your email policy complies with the Data Protection Act