In an earlier post, we discussed Google Wave and its pros and cons.  Well, less than a year after it’s launch, you can wave it goodbye. See what I did there? Despite its loyal fan base, Wave just didn’t get the following they’d hoped for. So, they decided to pull the plug.

When it was first announced, it caused shock waves (OK, I’ll stop) through the Internet community. It was touted as an “email killer.” The hype was out of control. So much so, that I wondered if it was going to be able to live up to it. I guess I didn’t have to wait too long for my answer.

So why did it fail? I’ve got a few theories. First, I think Google’s marketing department dropped the ball on this one.  Perhaps they think they’re above effective and creative marketing. The entire Internet is Google’s marketing department, after all. Hopefully, they’ve realized this just isn’t the case. If you’re not a total geek who spends hours browsing the web for the latest technologies (like me), chances are you haven’t even heard of Google Wave. The majority of people I’ve asked haven’t. It goes to show that no matter how great or revolutionary a product is you still need to get the word out. Google failed in that regard.

Next, it was just little too complicated for the average user. One might argue that it wasn’t designed for the average user, but without them it’ll fail to get mass recognition. The best way to get people to use something is to have more available features but to make it as simple and easy to use as possible. There is no way my grandma would be able to use Wave, even though she can use email and even Facebook.

eCards on the other hand...

Another reason is that I honestly think it was too ahead of its time. I know I gave it some grief in our previous blog, but I really think it was a revolutionary and useful tool. People weren’t ready for something so advanced. They liked the simplicity and straight forwardness of email and didn’t see a need to change.

Speaking of change, people just don’t like it. It’s the same reason my mom still uses Internet Explorer and Hotmail.

Wave will still be available for use through the end of the year and Google will extend the technology to its other projects, so it won’t disappear completely. For those who simply can’t live without it, rejoice. There are many alternatives out there. Unfortunately some are paid, but if it is that important to your daily routine it should be worth it. If you absolutely refuse to pay, design your own, cheapskate! The code and protocols are open source, so you can continue the innovation yourself!

In my current position at Search Influence, I do not work with email marketing on a daily basis.  However, in my previous job, I did.  I worked with both consumer emails and eNewsletters within organizations.  My intention here is not to call-out the small business who sent this email – but, to hopefully allow other small businesses to learn from their mistakes with some very basic email marketing tips.
For starters, I will show you a screen shot of the email that I received.  At first glance, how many things can you find wrong with it?

This is just to give you a visual.  There are some things that you cannot tell just by looking at this screen shot.

At first glance, here are some things that I noticed that you should NOT do when sending an email to your customers:

1. The very first thing you might notice is that the entire email is written in ALL CAPS and has a million exclamation points!!!!!!!!  This actually lessens the impact of your message and may appear that you are SHOUTING AT YOUR CUSTOMER!!!  It can also land your email in your customer’s spam folder.

2. There are some obvious grammatical errors here.  One in particular is the misspelling of what is supposed to read “your” in the last line.  It is evident that whoever wrote and sent this email was in a rush and did not proofread their own work and also did not get someone else to proofread the work.  (And, if they did, then….well…I will leave it at that ) You should ALWAYS proofread your work, and even get someone else to give it a once-over before you hit the “send” button.  In addition to proofreading, you should also send out test emails to yourself or fellow staffers, to make sure that it is functioning properly and that it looks just how you want it to look.

3. The subject line used in this email reads “get your spring glow NOW.”  This is a weak subject line because it does not give a peek of what you can find inside the email; it pretty much IS all of what is inside this email.  The actual content of this email itself is not much more than what is listed in the subject line.  In the article “15 Email-Marketing Best Practices”, Mitchell Harper says “When your email arrives in your subscriber’s inbox, you generally have about half a second to catch their attention with the subject line of your email. After this, they will either delete your email or ignore it.”  He later suggests, “In your subject line, try and specify a benefit that the subscriber can expect by reading your email.”

4. Here is something that you may not be able to see in the screen shot:  All of the recipients of the email are visible.  It is an email marketing best practice to not disclose the email addresses of the recipients of your email.  It allows your customers privacy.

5. Second thing that you cannot tell just by viewing this screen shot:  there is not a single link within this email! How is the consumer supposed to dive in deeper and get more information? This is a major rookie mistake.  This particular business has a website.  Why would you not want to drive more traffic to your site?  This is a missed opportunity indeed.

6. There is no unsubscribe option given in this email.  According to Wikipedia, “The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 16, 2003, establishes the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions.”  Wikipedia later explains that under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, “A visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism must be present in all emails.”  This gives your customer the option of no longer receiving your business’ marketing emails.  Furthermore, if your customer decides to unsubscribe from your emails, you have 10 days to honor their request.

7. They are not promoting or offering anything worth my time to take any action here: no percentage off, no BOGO (buy one get one), no sale information.  You get the picture.  What are they trying to get me to do here?  And, an even better question: what are they willing to do to get me there?  There was no planning involved in this email.  Try to offer your readers something unique in each email that you send, whether it be a promotion or an important news story relevant to your business.

8. The are no images in the email to catch the reader’s attention.  It is not a necessity to include imagery in your email content.  However, it is a good idea.  Pleasant and relevant imagery can catch the reader’s attention.  Even something as simple as including your company’s logo can help to build your brand recognition.

9. Another not so obvious factor:  this email was sent out on a Monday.  According to the article by Mitchell Harper entitled “15 Email-Marketing Best Practices”: ”Studies conducted by online research analysts have shown that the best days to perform a mail-out to your list are Tuesday and Wednesday, as this is when people are more receptive to communication. This means that they are more likely to read your content and click on links, meaning more sales. On Mondays, everyone is still recovering from a hectic weekend. On Thursday and Friday, people are already too busy looking forward to the weekend.”

Search Influence‘s in-house email marketing guru, Janna Vastola, adds that she believes “The best time to send is Tuesday between 9-10 am.”

These are only a few basic email marketing tips. Essentially, what you put in is what you will get out.  First impressions are everything.  If your customers open an email from your business, such as the one outlined in this blog, they may not open another one, if it makes its way into their inbox.

Take your time, plan and have a purpose for your email.  No matter how many email addresses you have on your email marketing list, they are all valuable to your business.  Your customers’ time is also valuable.  Make it worth their time to open your email and actually get something out of it.  Just because you operate a small business does not mean that you cannot create an email marketing campaign that rivals the biggest and best! 

{ Prepare + Promote + Proofread + Professionalism = Positive Brand Image + Conversions + ROI (Return on Investment) }

Resources:

• 15 Email-Marketing Best Practices by Mitchell Harper via www.interspire.com
• Wikipedia
• Many thanks to fellow Search Influencer, Janna Vastola, for her comments.

Photo Credits:

• “Pug Shot” http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerry_reynolds/1449005045
• “Privacy, Please!” http://www.flickr.com/photos/nitot/3488350975
• “Unsubscribe” http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhaydon/4349744825
• “Weakest Link”  http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/3371440496

There are several reasons I recommend e-mail newsletters. Not only do they provide free information, they are also one of the least expensive and most effective tools to draw attention to a site.  Below are some additional advantages to implementing a company e-mail newsletter.

Stay in Touch

Stay in contact – Keep your business top of mind to your customers so that when they need a service you provide, they will contact you.  Newsletters serve as a reminder to customers to come back to your site.

Develop relationships and trust - You become familiar to your subscribers. Familiarity encourages return visits and establishes customer loyalty.

Promotional tool – A great way to communicate new products and announce new services.  Specials or discounts are a way to attract customers back to your site.  Offers entice subscribers who may not necessarily need the service but will be prompted to act during a special.

Increase site traffic – Again, good to send out when launching a new product or service.  Gives subscriber a reason to visit the site, helping drive additional traffic .
Set specific delivery time – Complete control of when information is disseminated.

Trackable – Use the newsletter as a research tool to see what people read about most and what they are most interested in hearing about.  Research will allow you to write a newletter for a specific target audience.

Provides immediate results – Real time statistics and data provide you with the information needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the newsletter.  Tweak future newsletters from that information.

When developing your newsletter consider the following:

• Content has to engage readers.  Articles should be more informative and less like an advertisement.
• Keep articles brief.
• Use images to attract reader’s attention.
• Use links and provide URL’s as additional resources.
• Frequency is key. Stick to a regular schedule. Try to send out same time every month or week.

So if you are looking for a cost efficient way to target and reach a large group of customers or potential customers, consider an e-mail newsletter.