5 Tips for Successful Email List Maintenance

Email list marketing is a great way to interact with current clients, attract new ones, and share good information about your company and solutions they can provide. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of any email campaign is strongly tied to the validity of the list to which it is sent. Keeping an email list up to date can be overwhelming or downright tedious, but by not doing it, there is a direct negative effect to the ROI of any campaign that uses that list.

1. Give the recipients the power

If you give your recipients the power to enter their information, it is more likely to be correct. It also means that they have taken the initiative to ask for the communication, so they are more likely to open it and click within once it is received.

2. Vigilant updates

As your email list marketing campaign progresses, capture the data and take action. When you receive bounce backs, delete those entries, or mark them for follow up and correction. Remember to be careful with requests to unsubscribe. There are laws protecting consumers from receiving communications that they opted out of.

3. Be strategic about leads

While it is true that any lead could be the next customer, staff time and company resources are limited. Not every lead is a strong one and deserving of the resources it takes to develop them. Have a targeted approach to where the leads come from and the kinds of leads you seek for email list marketing.

4. Utilize a service that can grade

Some agencies are equipped with the software and know-how to go through large email lists and grad and score them. The entries are checked for their fit to your company and graded for future use. They can also be sorted for appropriateness to certain sub lists within the master.

5. Use the list often

It should already be part of your marketing plan to send regular communications. This does more than simply keep your brand at the forefront of your customer’s mind. It also helps you keep your list up to date, by gradually revealing inactive accounts and mistakes every time it is used. With a sparkling clean list, you have a better ROI and chance of increasing business through clicks.

If you would like to learn more about email list marketing in Dallas, click here.

How Does Mobile Fit Into My Marketing Strategy

The use of mobile devices is here to stay. While a marketing plan should include a varied blend of channels, a mobile marketing agency can help you create an effective strategy for attracting, reaching, and helping customers through mobile devices. Every day, more people utilize mobile devices, from their laptops, to smartphones, to tablets. If you aren’t tapping into this new and powerful marketing area, then your company is missing out.

Because of the huge technology component of mobile marketing, it isn’t possible to simply transfer traditional marketing techniques over to the mobile channel. While some things are universal, like adherence to brand guidelines, encouraging sales through promotions, and striving to improve customer loyalty, the way it is used is very different. A mobile marketing agency can help show you the power of tracking content that customers view on their devices, as well as optional tools that could help drive business.

Email blasts formatted for phones and social media posts are still important. Of course, websites should still be optimized for easy use on smaller mobile screens. But the latest

and greatest change change that a mobile marketing agency can help you with is interacting with your client in real time. There is now the capability to tap those walking outside of your store with coupons and sale information, to entice them to enter. You can create a mobile-friendly environment, where people snap images on tags in the store for more information or help. No matter how you choose to implement it, mobile marketing should be part of your overall plan.

If you would like to learn more about a mobile marketing agency in Dallas, visit Comark Direct.

5 Reasons to Start Working With A Marketing Portal

1. Streamline communications

A marketing portal can be used to streamline communications. One of the biggest investments any company makes is in their staff. Time spent drafting emails, developing marketing pieces, and creating general marketing collateral could be better spent on strategy, rather than on basic tactical activities. Creating brand compliant templates that can be easily accessed by all office staff and locations creates an instant time-saver.

2. Maintain brand control

A line of competitors in the market make it more important than ever to protect a company's brand. The most successful brands have sustained a unified message for years or even decades to achieve saturation. Companies spend a lot of money and time developing a brand. It only works with a unified message. A marketing portal can provide an overall view of individual initiatives, as well as everything as a whole, so they can be compared to the brand message and guidelines.

3. Multi-Channel management

Marketing these days relies on a complicated plan, involving many types of channels. In most cases, there is significant usable data that can be collected and then applied to real-time current and future decisions. A marketing portal creates a place for a wide variety of channels to be managed and monitored. This control over information is invaluable to any business.

4. Centralize ordering and tracking processes

A marketing portal can also help with ordering and tracking. This area of business can be complicated to handle, especially for medium to large companies with multiple office locations. Knowing who has ordered how many of what can create a mess quickly, without the proper organizational tools. To keep from unnecessary stockpiles or inadequate supplies, it is good to have a tool to track and provide ordering and shipping activity.

5. Improve marketing performance

The end focus of all business efforts is to improve profitability. Marketing can help achieve that goal, through the creation and implementation of strong marketing plans. However, a marketing portal can help improve that process, by providing a single place for all marketing activity to be easily kept and monitored. Easy reports help inform staff and guide tough decisions.

If you would like to learn more about a marketing portal, click here.

Are You Ready to Launch an Email Direct Marketing Campaign?

Email direct marketing is a tried and true method of distributing information about your company to a wide range of prospects. Most people use email as a main method of communication in both business and private dealings, so it is a convenient package for receiving content about your company. However, there are best practices to make sure that the campaign has a solid return on investment.

The first step to any email direct marketing campaign is to develop a good contact list. While it is sometime appropriate to cast a wide and indiscriminate net, the most effective marketing campaigns tailor the list for accuracy. Perhaps the list is past customers that received similar services, people within a certain geographic area, or business contacts in a certain industry. There is no wrong answer, but sit down and consider the target audience of the email and pair down the email list accordingly.

The next step is to craft the email. Many things go into a successful email direct marketing message. A strong subject line, your branding image, a focus on the needs of your customer, attractive and easy-to-load images, and brief, but engaging content are all necessary components. It is also imperative that you include a clear and compelling call to action. The reader needs to know what step to take next. Links to your website and text bubbles with key phrases are great options to help the reader. Also remember to include opt out links, to stay in accordance with the law.

The last component of email direct marketing is the logistics. It is generally best to utilize the service of a bulk email provider. They can not only handle the volume, but often provide the last step, which is the tracking and analytics. No marketing venture is worth doing, unless it is profitable. The only way to know if an email campaign has been successful is to track the opens, clicks, leads, and orders generated. This information can also be used to create guidelines for creating future emails.

If you would like to learn more about email direct marketing in Dallas, visit Comark Direct.