1 Email Marketing for Your Business Workshop 2 – WorkbookAll materials and contents made available to all participants may only be used for professional development in the context of this training course. Not to be copied, handed on or reproduced in any format. All material © 2017 McCormack Associates. Access to these materials implies acceptance of these conditions. Original Photo: AnPost.ie is not an activity you always hear talked about when it comes to encouraging customer loyalty. While marketing is sometimes more associated with moving old stock at the lowest possible cost, marketing is also a very powerful tool for building customer loyalty.
2 It’s a post holiday tradition up there with returning unwanted gifts and vowing to exercise more: spending a few hours cleaning out your inbox. If you’re wondering why marketers seem intent on ing you more and more, there’s a simple explanation: it works. remains a significantly more effective way to acquire customers than social media—nearly 40 times that of Facebook and Twitter combined. That’s because 91% of all US consumers still use daily and the rate at which s prompt purchases is not only estimated to be at least three times that of social media, but the average order value is also 17% higher. Of course, we’re not saying marketers should bombard you with mindless spam. And consumer behaviour is shifting: McKinsey’s iConsumer survey reported a 20% decline in usage between 2008 and 2012 as a share of time spent on communications, with the medium surrendering ground to social networks, instant messaging, and mobile-messaging apps. Investments in these new channels are absolutely necessary for marketers to make increasingly sophisticated use of social networks and other channels to engage with consumers and convert interest to sales. However, marketers just need to take a few steps to harness the full power of the inbox. 1. Focus on the journey, not the click Marketers often obsess over every aspect of every sent, from the subject line to visuals to copy. And they should—so long as they remember that is merely the first click (literally) in a consumer’s decision journey. The is part of a series of interactions with a brand, and marketers should be just as obsessed with where an sends the user. Why invest so much time in an only to drop the user onto a generic home page? Customized landing pages—which send the user directly to the item or offer featured in the —can increase conversion rates by more than 25%. And don’t forget mobile. Nearly 45% of all marketing s today are opened on a mobile device.4 - yet many marketers fail to optimise landing pages for the platform. If you think that’s no big deal, consider this: Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing. And, even worse, 40% visit a competitor’s site instead. 2. Share the lessons The best marketing organisations view every as an opportunity to learn more about their consumer. They define clear learning objectives for each campaign, capture data, and share it within the marketing group and the rest of the organization. One clothing company that markets through multiple channels recently implemented a monthly review of its campaigns in which marketers share three “hits” and three “misses.” These reviews are attended by marketers, merchants, and brand teams, with top lessons broadcast on closed-circuit TV screens throughout its corporate campus. “We want our team to share every lesson,” the head of direct marketing said. “If what we’re doing doesn’t work, we should celebrate finding that out.” As a result of this continuous learning process, the company is on course to double e-commerce revenue as a percentage of total sales without increasing its number of campaigns. 3. Get personal Standing out certainly has become more difficult. While usage has declined, the volume of messages continues to rise: the number of marketing s was forecast to reach a record 838 billion in the United States in 2013, according to Forrester. It’s no wonder relevancy should be a priority for every marketer. The best s feel personal - and they are. Flash-sale site Gilt Groupe sends more than 3,000 variations of its daily , for example, each tailored based on past user click troughs, browsing history, and purchase history. Of course, building true customization and targeting abilities is a transformative process that requires specific capabilities and supporting infrastructure. Customer information often lives in different parts of the organisation and must be aggregated to create a single view of each consumer. A targeting engine must be built to guide the right message to the right person. And operations need to be ready for the change; creating and sending 3,000 s a day is very different from sending one mass blast. Although it’s a lot of work, it drives real returns: one financial institution increased revenue from target segments by 20% by using life-cycle events to trigger personalised s to existing customers; home-goods retailer Williams-Sonoma reported a tenfold improvement in response rates by adopting personalized offerings based on individuals’ on-site and catalogue shopping behaviour.
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17 The Meath Local Enterprise Office Mentor programme was established to help companies identify and overcome obstacles to growth. Applicants must have a registered business and be trading for at least three months before they can apply for a mentor. A range of mentors with different experience and skill-sets is available and every effort is made to match the mentor to the specific needs of client companies. LEO mentors are usually business people with a proven track record of business success who provide their experience, advice and support to client companies, with the key objective of accelerating growth and building client capability. The role of the mentor is to share wisdom gained from experience and learning. They help clients explore their goals and ideas for the future and to help them realistically appraise their current situation. As plans develop their role is to challenge and support the execution of the client’s plans and to assist them keep track of their goals and outcomes. Mentors are not encouraged to solve the problems for the client, rather to help clients develop the capability to solve their own problems. Mentors do not carry out the work on behalf of the client but can be a source of guidance and advice for them. The mentor may offer advice and opinion, but the mentor is not a consultant. Responsibility for decision-making rests solely with the client. Mentors can advise clients on: Leadership and management. Business life-stages and growth strategies. Finance for micro enterprise. Attracting outside investment. Targeted sales and marketing. Expansion into new export markets. Improved R&D, production and logistics. Navigating the regulatory framework for micro enterprises. Management succession. Staff development and team building. Intellectual property. Business sectors. The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) programmes and activities. Every Mentor signs an agreement with the LEO which contains a strict confidentiality clause before taking on assignments and will not discuss the business with third parties without express permission. The LEO will undertake to treat as confidential any information provided to it in confidence by companies and by clients, subject to LEOs obligations under law, including the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003. For More Information To find out more about the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Mentor programme, call us on to speak to one of our staff or To apply for a mentor, simply call Meath LEO on for the application form. Please note that applicants must have a registered business and be trading for at least 3 months before they can apply for a mentor.
18 Tel 046 9078400 email [email protected]Brexit and all that………. Since the UK referendum vote to leave the European Union in June 2016, the Local Enterprise Office Meath, Enterprise Ireland, Intertrade Ireland and other state agencies have been building a portfolio of supports to help Irish businesses to cope with the uncertainty and possible impacts of Brexit. In March 2017, Enterprise Ireland launched the ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’ as its latest measure to support Irish SMEs. This new interactive online platform can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit under six business pillars. Based on answers supplied by the user, the Scorecard generates an immediate report which contains suggested actions and resources, and information on events for companies to attend, to prepare for Brexit. The platform can be accessed at www.prepareforbrexit.ie Local Enterprise Office Meath, Enterprise Centre, Trim Road, Navan, C15 F6XT Tel 046 The Meath Local Enterprise Office offer a vast range of courses to suit owner/managers and their specific business requirements. Courses run throughout the year with a business training and supports guide published at the beginning of each year detailing the courses available. A wide range of one-day workshops, seminars and management development programmes are offered. Examples of courses available include: Start Your Own Business (SYOB); Basic Book-keeping and Taxation; Sage Instant Accounts Programme; Promoting Your Business Using Social Media; Protecting Your Idea or Invention; Essential Employment Law; Essential Steps to Achieving More Sales; Developing an Effective Marketing Campaign; Search Engine Optimisation; The Art of Successful Tendering; Researching Your Business Idea; Taxation for Beginners; Developing and Implementing a PR Campaign to Drive Your Business; Planning and Developing Your Business Website; Time Management and Organisational Skills for Owner/Managers; Advanced Start Your Own Business (Discovery Zone); Food Academy Start Programme; The Accelerate Programme. Courses are held at various locations throughout Co Meath. If you are interested in a particular training programme, please contact Meath LEO on