Tom Corbett says, “There are many reasons why you’d want to change your email service provider (ESP) – cost, flexibility, reliability and functionality are a few, but that’s not the purpose of this article. As many brands find themselves looking for new solutions to the complexities of a cross-channel world, I thought it would be a good time to point out some best practices for ensuring an ESP switch—regardless of the motive—is as painless and beneficial as possible. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have, over the past few years, taken control of their users’ customer experience... [...]

Beth Hayden says, “Remember when email newsletters were the latest, greatest thing in online marketing? Remember when you could add a form to your sidebar that simply said, “Sign up to receive my newsletter” and people would join your list in droves? Unfortunately, those days are over. In today’s overcrowded online market, getting email subscribers is a lot more complicated than it used to be. Most people are rabidly protective of their email inboxes, and we’re understandably hesitant to sign up for yet another newsletter we’re not going to have time to read. What people do want,... [...]

Ramona Sukhraj says, “The email inbox is a mysterious place. It’s given a private address and gets hidden behind lock and key. Only a lucky few businesses gain access to it, but once they do — it’s every brand for itself. The average consumer subscribes and receives emails from approximately 9 different brandsand when your message finally lands in a lead’s inbox, each and every one of them becomes competition. In an inbox, industries, branding, and marketing budgets are set aside and the playing field for the recipient’s attention is leveled. All any brand has to work with... [...]

Kristen Dunleavy says, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you had a small army of clones to help with the day-to-day tasks of running your business? Ok, maybe that’s a little weird. But who would argue with the extra help? Autoresponder emails won’t sign off on invoices for you, but they can help build connections with your followers. Get 100% Higher Engagement Yep, that’s right. Autoresponders get 100% higher engagement than email newsletters. How do they work? An autoresponder series (sometimes called a follow up series) consists of automated emails that you create ahead of time that automatically... [...]

Danny Sullivan says, “Wouldn’t you like to have stuff you read on mobile devices seem to load instantly? Facebook and Apple sure think so. Now so does Google. Today, Google, along with Twitter and several publishers, announced the Accelerated Mobile Page Project. That’s AMP, by the way, for short. AMP is a way that publishers can pull from a common library of scripts and other content, and optionally tap into the Google cache, to deliver fast web pages. Publishers like Vox, The Verge, BuzzFeed and the Washington Post are already live with AMP pages. And if they share such pages on Twitter,... [...]

Kristen Dunleavy says, “Last week, we announced that Atom mobile app users can now customize their mobile sign up form with their logo, background color, text and more. The possibilities are nearly endless, and customizing your sign up form is just plain fun. But did you know that a great-looking sign up form can do big things for growing your business too? Why bother customizing your sign up form? People love visuals – 90 percent of the information transmitted to our brains is visual. A great-looking, branded sign up form will do a better job communicating the value of your business and... [...]

Rainmaker team says, “If you send an email newsletter but worry you might be making mistakes or getting on people’s nerves, this episode of Hit Publish is for you. Email marketing is a powerful, intimate way to reach your readers and nurture leads. But it’s something a lot of business owners struggle with. What should you write about? How can you increase your chances of getting your email opened and read? This episode gives you an overview of what you need to know to get you started in the best possible way“. Email Etiquette: How to Delight Your Newsletter Readers Each and Every... [...]

Daniel Faggella says, “Successful email marketing campaigns are incredibly effective in reaching out to prospects and providing customers valuable content that can ensure a lasting relationship with them. In fact, email actually has one of the highest ROIs when compared with other styles of online marketing. This holds true especially when email is used congruently with social media. As a blogger with real business goals, you’re going to want to accumulate as extensive an email list as possible. In addition to using your email subscribers to help boost SEO (I’ve written previously about... [...]

Emma Snider says, “A sad but true fact in sales: Most prospecting emails don’t lead to sales. An even sadder fact: A lot of prospecting emails never even get opened. It’s thoughts like these that can send you into an existential crisis. If you send an email, but no one clicks on it, does it still communicate information? What’s the sound of one hand clapping? (Sigh.) But don’t get too discouraged. The folks at Sidekick have compiled 19 eye-opening statistics on email subject lines that can dramatically boost your email open rate (and prevent an unpleasant depressive... [...]

Pamela Vaughan says, “Are your contacts going with the flow, or are they just sitting dormant in your marketing database? If you don’t have any automated email workflows set up, your answer is probably the latter — which means you’re missing out on some major opportunities to nurture and engage your existing contacts. Did you know that B2B marketers who implement marketing automation increase their sales pipeline contribution by an average of 10% according to a report by Forrester? But wait … there’s more. Lead nurturing campaigns aren’t the only... [...]