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Sunday
October 26, 2008 10 Steps to Creating Successful Email CampaignsFiled under: Marketing Love it or hate it, email is now one of the most prolific and accepted forms of business communication. It is also a great way to drive prospects, looking to buy to your LogoMall site. If you’ve been debating on sending emails to your customers that are beyond simple messages from Outlook or Entourage, but are wondering how to get started, you’re not alone! Based on a class I have been teaching at ASI Show events, here are my 10 first steps to creating a successful email campaign. Step 1 – Visit www.campaigner.com or www.constantcontact.com and set up free trials of these easy to learn programs. Spend 30 minutes playing with the program and familiarizing yourself with the tools. They are great for design, analytics, managing lists and SPAM. Step 2 – Update and fill out your contact database. Be sure you have all first name, company name, and email address fields filled out correctly! Export your database as a .CSV file. Step 3 – Follow the instructions on the site to upload your list to the email company of your choice (see Step 1) Step 4 – Develop three compelling reasons to email your customers that will drive leads. For example, you could make a special offer on golf products and link to the Golf Gear niche catalog on your LogoMall site. Step 5 – Pick the best of the three reasons in Step 4 and develop two different subject lines for your email. Make sure the subject line is personalized by first name. Step 6 – Draft the copy for your email using these rules: Step 7 – Using the email company software, or an HTML Web professional, design an email using the following rules: Step 8 – Upload your email, set a distribution date and time, split your list in half by the subject lines, take a deep breath and blast them out Step 9 – Track your results. Note click throughs that called or requested information from your LogoMall site. These are your ‘hard leads’. Those that clicked through but did not request more information are solid ’soft leads’ that you may want to follow-up with in the coming days. Step 10 – Evaluate, learn, and repeat! If you have any questions or feedback on my top 10 list please let me know. You can reach me at dmennig@asicentral.com. Warm regards, Don Mennig, is a 15 year marketing communications veteran and the Executive Director of Marketing at ASI. Before joining ASI, Don ran his own advertising agency and directed the marketing functions for several high technology firms. He has produced branding and advertising campaigns for companies such as Agilent, McDonalds and Unisys and has helped over 50 small businesses gain traction and find success in both B2B and B2C endeavors.
Saturday
August 9, 2008 Keeping a Consistent Marketing ImageFiled under: Marketing What is one of the biggest marketing challenges you face as a distributor? Now, a lot of things may come to mind, but one thing that we here at ASI have been hearing more and more frequently is the struggle to keep a consistent marketing image. Establishing a uniform brand and message across multiple channels is a battle every business faces. In the highly competitive world of promotional products it can be the difference between closing the sale and losing it to the other guy. Recently, ASI Catalogs introduced the brand new Digital Spectrum. This new sales tools allows you to tie together your offline and online marketing efforts. Now here’s the cool part…Digital Spectrum is an online virtual catalog that is available directly from your LogoMall website, coinciding with your print Spectrum catalogs. The multichannel consumer has shown to be the most valuable segment of buyers. A multichannel buyer is a buyer that uses multiple ways to complete a purchase. Catalog, Internet, phone, etc … An effective multichannel distributor is able to provide their customers with a seamless shopping and buying experience across a variety of channels. Spectrum is the most proven and successful catalog in the industry and now you can make it available 24/7 using your industry leading online solution, LogoMall. The combination of these 2 power tools is something that has never before been available and something you should definitely take advantage of. Why rip your hair out with the constant effort of multichannel branding? Let us handle it for you. Give Dan Brown, ASI Catalogs Manager, a call for the details at 800-546-1392. Colin Graf
Monday
February 25, 2008 Monthly $1000 DrawingFiled under: Marketing We are often asked if the monthly $1000 drawing of promotional products on LogoMall is real. It’s absolutely real (I sign off on the bills) and you should be taking advantage of it. The $1000 drawing is an incentive you can use to attract visitors to your site. Not only does it entice visitors, it will help you to build your marketing prospect list. The best news for you is that it won’t cost you a thing…ASI pays for it. Here’s how it works. Your LogoMall site comes equipped with a link to an entry form where visitors fill in their contact information. Whenever someone enters the drawing on your site, you will get an email notification. We also store all drawing leads in your Resources section of ASIsecure.com. Once a month, the LogoMall team selects a winner from the pool of all entries submitted across the LogoMall network. If your visitor is selected, the LogoMall team will contact you, then you contact your customer. This is where you get to play Ed McMahon. You get to tell them they won $1000 worth of promotional products from your LogoMall site. You’ll guide your winner through the product selection and then send us the invoices from the LogoMall suppliers you purchased from. ASI will reimburse you $1000. Promote your site and the $1000 drawing with promotional products today! It ties in what your company does and shows how your company can help with their next promotion.
Sunday
February 17, 2008 Social Networking 101Filed under: Marketing So I am back in the office after a blink of an eye maternity break with my new baby. While I was out, I kept in touch with the outside world by exploring social networking sites connecting with friends and colleagues, old and new. Social networking is the hottest new, unconventional vehicle for marketers to reach out to potential buyers. Savvy marketers are taking advantage and incorporating social networking into their marketing mix. ASInetwork.com is an industry example of social networking. As an ASI member, you can create your own personal profile and begin connecting with thousands of distributors and suppliers. Social networking is about meeting people with common interests, sharing experiences, bouncing ideas, finding solutions and having fun. To connect and reach out to people outside our industry, you could try social networks such as LinkedIn.com, geared towards professionals and Facebook.com, a more casual way to hook up with friends from present and past. Might I mention that all social networking site members are potential buyers of promotional products? As a marketer, how can you jump into the pool? Proceed with caution! A social network is a community. And just like in any community, you need to respect the members, abide by the rules and behave. Know your audience. How you present yourself on LinkedIn may be different than your postings on Facebook or other social networks. The number one rule is…people do not want to feel like they are being sold or marketed too. Once you have determined which social networks to join, you’ll be asked to create a profile. Create a network within the network with your own user group. Use this feature to start a professional group that members can join. Post videos demonstrating the latest product ideas or give them a tour of your office. I have a friend with a clever new invention for a game controller organizer. On his profile, he posts a video demo of his product which I have often shared with family and friends that may be interested. Blog your marketing expertise. Most social networking sites have a blog feature. Post your articles on how to select the right product for their next campaign. Share your recent tradeshow experience. What did you learn and what ideas did you bring back with you to help your customers. Sprinkle in product examples and a link to your web site. Blogging establishes you as the expert and builds your credibility. Now get out there and make the connection. |
