E-Mail marketing is not a new concept with its history dating back to the mid 90s that is around the time emails came into vogue. But it has drastically changed over the years and moreover with the recent E-Mail 2.0, the scenario has become far more professional and sophisticated.

But is there anything you need to know about E-Mail marketing that can go a long way in consolidating your relationship with the customers? Yes, there are certain things you need to brush up on in order to make your E-Mail marketing campaign a roaring success.

So let’s browse through some of these steps:

Choose the right software: The kind of software you choose for the purpose is a very important deciding factor. There are lots of them available in the market like Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, CRM systems etc. While the former two are simple consisting only of more basic e-mail database and campaign management services, the CRM systems can be complex since it has many facilities. Now, it completely depends on what kind of features you wish to tap for materializing your goals.

Get a list ready: Getting a list of addresses ready is an absolute must. But ensure  that you don’t send mails too frequently for it may frustrate your potential customers and jeopardize your chances for good. So, the thumb rule is not to send more than two mails per month.

Set up a Contact Information Capture Form: You can also set up Contact Information Capture Forms so that it’s easier for visitors to leave their contact information when they visit your website.

Set your goals right: Set clear goals before sending out your emails. Or else your mission will never be accomplished.

Set up an autoresponder: You can also set up an autoresponder by scheduling at least 6 mails to be sent out on a given date and time. But make sure you don’t sound like a salesperson. Instead try to come across as someone who wants to build a relationship with one’s customers. Also ensure that your auto-respond mails are littered with links so that your probable customers have access to repositories of information. In this way you can prevent them from defecting to other brands or products.

Use a trigger: There are several ways in which you can disseminate information and one of the most potent ways is to use a trigger. As soon as your client clicks a link, a message about your product or service is automatically triggered. This way you can pass along various information and also hold your customers’ interest.

Monitor your campaigns regularly: Keeping a track of your E-Mail campaign is a must if you want to leverage it rightly for business. Find out the number of click-throughs your messages are getting and in case they aren’t try and experiment with different tactics rather than sticking with the old one. Some people feel E-Mail marketing is simply a waste of time but E-Mail 2.0 marketing is an effective way of engaging prospects and eventually convert them into customers.

You can read more about E-Mail marketing strategies here.

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With Facebook’s users touching a whopping 500 million, its community building credibility should be hailed with aplomb. So, at this juncture let’s discuss some of the tips while building a Community Page.

* Since online visibility is the be all and end all of community building always make it a point to post your comments when most of the people are online. This would enable them to view the comments readily instead of having to scroll down.

* Be cautious while posting content and don’t overdo. Otherwise people may feel disgusted and instead of reading may hide your comments to avoid going through them.

* Investing in engagement ads when starting a Facebook Page has been found to increase visibility.

* Never hold any irrelevant competition that does not adhere to the guidelines for promotions and competitions. There have been several instances when Facebook pages got deleted because of non-conformity to competition rules.

* While adding applications always resort to ones that are easy to use. Or else people may refrain from using them.

But finally hats off to Mark Zuckerberg and the entire team at Facebook who fought like gallant warriors even after repeated condemnation and came out victorious in the end.

You can read the source article here.

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With Twitter grabbing all the headlines in mainstream media these days, the viability of this 140 character medium as a potential tool for business has been amply discussed and deliberated upon. But how do you think Twitter can drive business? There are lots of other ways but retweeting perhaps holds the key to maximum visibility that your business can get. However, this is not only true in case of profit making companies. In fact non-profits can equally capitalize on this tool for promoting their cause.

Here’s a quick sneak-peak into some of the tricks of getting retweeted:

* Write relevant content.
* Include links instead of just posting a tweet.
* Give your tweets a personal touch.
* Get the hang of trending topics first and then be the first one to break them on Twitter.
* Sometimes you may even send a DM requesting for a retweet. But this should not be used superfluously.
* Find out which is the right time for posting tweets.
* Always remember to acknowledge when people retweet your message.

Anyway these are only some of the tips of getting retweeted. For more click here.

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Do ideas really change lives? Yes, they do and this has been proven perhaps a zillion times. Yet more often than not we are hard pressed for ideas only to find ourselves in midstream with no shore in the vicinity. The bottom line is if you cannot give your customers something new or different, they will go elsewhere.

But can you really do something to keep yourself over brimming with ideas? Yes, of course you can. There is a 3 step process of preventing your thoughts from running dry. When you are very badly in need of ideas, try ‘design thinking’. This is an innovative technique that will not only help you in looking at things from different perspectives but also enable you to come up with innovative products and services.

As mentioned earlier this a three-step process which consists of inspiration, ideation and implementation. If these processes are followed diligently they will give you desired results.

*Inspiration - Knowing your customers well is the most important aspect of ‘design thinking’. You first need to get the hang of your customers’ preferences, demographics, average age, emotional struggles etc. Wondering how to achieve this? The answer is rather simple. You can do it through observation, interviews, role plays or surveys.

*Ideation or Idea generation - The information gathered in the first step will help in the smooth transition to the second. Sometimes we may feel that certain ideas are too outlandish. But we need to shed these inhibitions. Ask your colleagues or acquaintances to come over and then brainstorm. Or in other words prototype. Just in case you are thinking this is a luxury for a small entrepreneur try out the less expensive techniques like videotaping, building quick models, building a mini product, and writing down stories.

*Implementation – Now is the time for getting your ideas on board. So build a marketing strategy and implement your ideas judiciously.

Like an automobile, your brain needs refueling too. Sometimes there are lean patches that may leave you high and dry. The processes outlined above are great intellectual stimulants that will help you in bubbling up with ideas again!

Go through this article for more insights into ‘design thinking’.

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What is the first thought that crosses your mind when you see an awesome website? Which organization does it belong to and then your inquisitiveness rises to a crescendo eventually forcing you to get to the heart of it. Yes, web presence is definitely important but a beautiful website will draw the audience only once. The users won’t keep coming back unless they experience something really marvelous. 

Gone are the days when you had static websites. These days they are meant to engage the audience by being interactive, social and mobile. Moreover, with the big time emergence of media on the global scene, consumers are much more intellectually stimulated and it is no longer possible to fool them with gimmicks. You have to make your customers feel as if they are also an integral part of your company and this is possible only if you enhance your web presence.

So, what are the rules you should follow to make the consumer experience a jaw dropping one:

*Keep your target audience in mind.

*Provide people with the right tools like “Add This” etc so that they can share information and spread the word about your company easily.

*Expand your marketing network.

*Reward your brand loyalists adequately by including them in the brand.

*Allow your fans to be a part of the content generation process just like your internal team.

*As you know negative comments can be detrimental to the reputation of your  company, monitor and moderate comments before publishing them.

With more and more companies joining the bandwagon for making their digital experience a more human one, read this article for a better sneak peak into the world of web marketing.

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Newsletter campaigns have emerged as one of the most effective ways of online marketing. But if you do not know the tricks of the trade you may have a tough time penning articles for the same. Also, when content is the most important aspect that can put your campaign ahead of the pack, you should of course imbibe techniques that will eventually help your business flourish.

So here’s a list of steps that can help create fascinating newsletters:

* Your newsletter may have less content but it should convey the purpose and objective of your campaign well. You can either use a template specifically designed for the purpose or may even resort to plain text. Since Facebook is a trendsetter when it comes to writing content for Email Newsletter Campaigns you can browse through this link.

* Persuade customers into buying your products and services but the persuasion should be subtle and explicit. If there is any news worthy item, inform customers about it. Also, make sure that you give them some useful items for free like freebies etc.

* Tell people real life stories of how your products and services have been beneficial to your customers and how they can use the products.

* Also inform customers how your product or service has been useful to the society. because community service can always give you an extra edge over your competitors.

For more tips and suggestions browse through this article.

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In our previous blog post we discussed ways to improve chances of customer acquisition, while in this one we are going to talk about ways of retaining them. Both the premises are equally important if a company wishes to cement its position in the market. The fact is you can still acquire customers but unless you can make them happy, customer retention can become a terribly painstaking exercise. So, building trust and providing quality services over a consistent period of time is the cornerstone of any successful business undertaking.

However, in today’s world where shifting loyalty is the order of the day, what can you actually do to prevent customers from defecting to your competitors? If you abide by superior standards customers will continue to purchase your products in huge bulk and also spread good word about your company. So, in this way you can retain customers.

As you know this is a typical B2B scenario, under these circumstances customers hugely depend on third party feedback. Moreover, in this age of information explosion, customers too want to be a part of the development process.

So, how can you make it possible? With the help of social media? Correct. But how? It is a brilliant platform through which you can talk, engage and build relationships. Social media channels are the most trusted means of getting that much needed feedback from your clients. Not only does it enable you to announce your future plans but also accelerate the buying process. Interact with your customers, invite their opinions and allow them to be an important part of the decision making process. This will encourage customers to invest their time and efforts in your company and in the process become happy and content.

Browse through this article for a deeper understanding of customer retention techniques.

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