Archive for the ‘technology’ Category
A New Report for Your Email Campaigns
If you’ve been using our newsletter tool you’ve always had access to reports like link clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, activity over time and forward to a friend activity. Now we’re happy to bring you a report outlining the email program (email client) that people are using to read your newsletter. So, why is this important? Well, knowing the email client helps in the development of the design, updates to design and spam testing exercises. Some email programs are very picky in how they interpret your well designed newsletter (the actual html) and can often make your newsletter look like a disaster. We want all of your audience to have a similar experience when reading your newsletter, so we’ll use this information to work with you in developing some core design standards.
Beyond a design perspective, understanding that most people are reading your newsletter on their smartphone vs. sitting at their desk in the office tells you that your audience is on the move. Use this information to influence and build upon your other online initiatives. Maybe you should be considering how to use sms messaging (texting) to interact with people? Is your website optimized for a mobile browser? Is your current website full of flash and won’t display on the iPhone? Maybe time to update? These stats should be monitored with the same importance as your website’s analytics. It’s all about your audience and how they’re perceiving your reputation online.
Okay enough with the reporting. Here are a couple of strategies to help you keep your campaign efficient and effective.
Stick to the basics.
When it comes to email, no frills is the way to go. Many email clients don’t support complex html, so plan accordingly and test continuously.
Build with your audience in mind.
Provide value to your readers and deliver quality content.
Use a campaign management system.
Using a tool like our Campaign Manager gives you the tools you need to manage and measure. In addition to valuable stats it reduces your chance of being blacklisted by many of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Have permission.
Sending people unsolicited email, commercial or otherwise, is against the law in many countries. Wouldn’t you rather be talking to people who you know are interested in what you have to say?
Keep your house clean.
Scrub your subscriber lists. Build processes and checkpoints into your contact management practices. Nothing hurts more than having half of your campaign bounce back because of incorrect or stale email addresses.
Watch the wall.
Send on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. When it comes to readership Saturday is considered ‘the wall’, so avoid sending late in the week and you’ll see the benefits.
Maintain a frequency.
If you tell people that you’ll be sending monthly emails, push to hit that target. Don’t send more frequently because people have an understanding that they’ll only be receiving emails once a month. People are busy and get enough emails, so don’t add to the mess.
Keep the subject line concise.
Try to keep your subject lines relatively short and work to avoid using spammy words like “money”, “lowest price guaranteed”, “increase the size of your whatever” and of course “viagra”. You’re headed for junk mail if you include too many sketchy words.
Use list segmentation.
Open rates and clickthrough rates will dramatically increase if you target your campaigns. Segment your lists into different categories and send people a targeted email versus a generic catch all.
Posted by Adam on May 11, 2009 in technology
SXSW 2009: What’s the Buzz? Part 1
I’m back from my trip to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas! I met so many interesting people doing great things in the digital media industry. I was able to learn and talk about emerging trends and best practices relating to the online and technology industries. I’m excited to be be back and looking forward to incorporating some of those new processes and ideas into the work we do here at Balance.
There was so much to absorb at SXSW, but I wanted to share what was buzzing in Austin.
Quick Response (QR) Codes: Also called 2-D barcodes, consumers can take a picture of a QR code associated with a product using their cell phone, and can then view similar products and even purchase the exact product advertised directly from their phone. QR codes have been used in Japan for years, but they’re just starting to hit the mainstream here in North America. This article about QR Codes from Advertising Age explains a bit more about them.
Augmented Reality in Flash. If you haven’t seen the new GE Ecomagination campaign, you should really check it out. This technology allows you to see a hologram or 3-D image when you hold up a piece of paper with a specific printed icon to your webcam. The opportunities for creating unique interactions with your brand are endless. Not to mention it’s pretty darn cool.
Using the Wisdom of Crowds. There are some really interesting ways for companies to listen to their users and make their companies / websites better. By interpreting analytics information, or asking your customers to answer simple, easy questions (ie: do you like this–yes or no), you can learn valuable lessons that will help you respond quickly to feedback and give your audience what they really want.
There were too many things to list in this post, so stay tuned for part 2 where I’ll outline some more of the buzz coming out of Texas.
Posted by Andrea on March 18, 2009 in events, industry, progressive, technology