Direct Marketing Archives | Page 2 of 2 | waveSpawn Marketing

September 18, 2010

Succeeding in Buffalo with social media marketing

Small business owners in the greater Buffalo area have a lot of marketing options to leverage. Many of these are changing by the minute. Services such as Groupon, foursquare, Yelp, Facebook Marketplace, Yahoo Places, Twitter, and too many others to mention are waiting for local retailers to exploit. With GPS technology and mobile apps at consumers’ fingertips, local businesses can create more visibility than ever before. By harnessing the power (of a combination) of these social media platforms, Buffalo businesses can successfully generate brand awareness, in-store traffic, product buzz, and ultimately revenue.

Many of the strategies and underlying concepts of social media marketing are derived from traditional marketing; however, there are many new tactics and technologies to incorporate. Businesses need to open their minds and be creative. Innovation is paving new opportunities for businesses to market themselves and secure customers. Integrated marketing campaigns with direct mail and PPC advertising can yield even more significant results. Whatever your objectives are, social media can be a powerful communication tool to help spread your message.

waveSpawn is a pioneer in social media and located right here in beautiful Buffalo, NY. We are proud to work with a number of local businesses and assist with their marketing efforts. Please feel free to download our white paper on Understanding Social Media ROI. For specific questions or information, please feel free to contact us.

January 26, 2010

Email optimization strategies to boost revenue

Email optimization strategies to boost revenue Successful email marketing incorporates a combination of strategies. I’ve condensed a long list to what I would consider the top five best practices

Compelling content
Effective email strategy starts with intriguing content. Don’t just send emails preaching about how great your company is. In order to captivate the attention of your readers, you first need to fully understand your audience. It’s a good idea to do some research and identify topics that will be of particular interest and timely. Share your knowledge of the industry or a unique perspective on an important subject. Continually mix up your creative messages and styles. Feel free to use a rotation of different templates to give your newsletter a fresh look.

Segment your audience
It takes a lot more time and preparation, but segmenting your list of recipients allows you to speak directly to your customers and prospects. You’ll be able to clearly identify common business problems and cover topics that truly captivate you audience. The key is planning, organization, and testing.

Delivery dates
You can significantly increase the effectiveness of your newsletter by determining the best day of the week and time to send. Know your audience. For many businesses, Tuesday or Wednesday are the best days to deliver. Mondays can be hectic and Fridays can be busy or people may be rushing to cut out early. Know your audience and more importantly know their schedules. This will help you to determine which day they will be most inclined to open and read your e-newsletters.

Maintain lists and keep them updated
e-Newsletters can only be effective if your customers and prospects actually receive them. In today’s economy, turnover rates can be high. Periodically confirm that you have the correct information – more importantly, make sure you have the most appropriate contact person on your list. If an assistant is receiving the information, there’s a good chance, it’s getting filtered into the trash bin. Also, clean out undeliverable addresses and respect those who unsubscribe.

Optimize landing pages
As your email links back to your website, take the time to optimize the landing pages and highlight the information that you want them to see. Take full advantage of the qualified traffic you are generating. Highlight upcoming events, new product releases, and other relevant announcements.

While there are many strategies which can improve the effectiveness of email newsletter campaigns, I have taken excerpts from our white paper which discusses in-depth best practices to boost revenue. We encourage you to share your success stories or challenges with email marketing.