Setting the Scene – Ballina Info Case Study

As we said in the previous email marketing case study introduction there are certain things that we have done well in the Ballina Info newsletter, and some things that really need improvement. Unfortunately, as much as we would like things to run by themselves, there is no substitute for time and effort when it comes to running a business online.

I am personally looking forward to this case study, as it means that I will be spending more time on the Ballina Info newsletter, as well as showing you just what we do and what can be done to improve an email marketing campaign.

Setting the Scene – Determining our Goals

Because Ballina Info is mainly an informational site targeting the local area, the main goals of the whole operation is to generate good traffic numbers to sell online advertising. The newsletter has two main goals:

• to generate traffic to the site – especially repeat traffic to help build our online community
• to attract enough newsletter subscribers to become an attractive  form of advertising for local businesses.

We know already that the site generates good traffic numbers, so we are a little disappointed in the subscriber numbers. We see this goal as being the most important, so we will mostly try and focus on the goal of increasing the number of subscribers.

Subscriber details

We currently have 644 subscribers, with 580 confirmed contacts. Email Marketer automatically keeps track of the subscribers who have confirmed or who have unsubscribed. The list is attracting on average about 10-20 new subscribers a month. Considering that the site has between 10,000 – 20,000 visitors per month, this is a very low conversion.

Our aim is to have at least 1,000 subscribers before we can consider it a viable entity, so as you can see, we have a fair bit of work to do. On the positive side, we do have the traffic already coming to our site, we just want to send them to the places we want them to go.

How we collect email addresses

Currently we collect email addresses solely through a form on the website. If you click on the screenshot you will see the button that is placed on the side navigation throughout the site. This links through to the subscribe page.

This could possibly be a key factor in the low subscriber count. On most screens and on most key pages, this is down low (below the fold) and not really eye catching. Even with the red arrow next to it (which is just for the screenshot in case you are wondering) it doesn’t jump out.

This will be one of the elements we will test. Getting potential subscribers get to the subscriber page will be a very important part of the process.

The next step – the subscription page

The Ballina Info Newsletter subscription page uses one of the forms straight out of Email Marketer, placed into one of our pages. Email Marketer allows you to create a customised form to place in your site to extract as much detail as you need from your subscriber. The forms also handle all the stages of the double opt-in process to make sure you have a fully legitimate list.

One of the problems that you face is the more detail you extract, the more flexible and targeted your campaign is, but the downside is that people hate filling out long forms. Ballina Info currently asks for First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Preferred format and the security code.

We will also test the effects that this has on the subscriptions, as well as work out how to extract as much detail as possible.

I guess at this stage, that gives a pretty good idea of the actual sign up process that we use to get our subscribers. In the coming weeks we will document our efforts in refining the process of signing up, then we will move on to the actual content of the newsletter. If you have any questions, please feel free to post a comment below and I will be happy to answer them.

Make your Email Undeletable!

A lot of the time you can get a little bit caught up in the “metrics” of how and why your email marketing campaign is not working, when often you are missing the big picture – if you do not make your email campaign something that people want to read, then chances are they won’t read it.

The very first thing you should do with any campaign is work out what it is that you have that will make users go to the trouble of signing up, confirming, opening, and eventually reading and clicking your email.

If you get your basic plan in place early, then spam compliance, catchy subject lines and compelling content can help get your message accross, but it is the product or service that you offer that makes your email undeletable.

One of my favourite newsletters that I have recieved for years I would class as undeletable. The email often gets caught up in the spam folder, or marked as spam by our server – mainly due to its content – but because the information inside is such good quality I have gone to the trouble of whitelisting the email address so that I will recieve it without a hitch every week.

Some times deliverability can be a bit of a battle, but building up a reputation and relationship with you audience through quality content is the key to great email marketing.

Ballina Info E-mail Marketing Case Study Series

At the end of the day marketing is marketing, you choose a delivery platform, carefully compose your message/offer and hope that it has a positive impact on your business.  Traditionally marketing agencies have concentrated on print media and television to broadcast their message to the masses.  These mediums still have broad appeal but are very difficult to measure unless you have an extremely diligent sales process or a multinational budget. Read more

Reap the Benefits of Email Newsletters Done Right.

Communicating with your audience is always a challenge – regardless of whether you are aiming at attracting new customers, or keeping your existing customers informed. Although there are a few obstacles to overcome, one of the most successful ways of communicating with your customers is through an email newsletter.

But how do you go about it? Email has never been easier to send, but at the same time it is becoming increasingly difficult to get the message through. Spam filters will block you at every opportunity, and if you do succeed, the time restraints of the modern day consumer means your carefully crafted newsletter could end up straight into the Recycle Bin.

It may seem that this is all too much, but consider the advantages. An email list is a valuable thing, representing a highly targeted market for your product. People have actively made the choice to receive your email newsletter, so right from the start they are willing to hear what you have to say. Additionally, people don’t have to make the effort to seek out your information online or through other media. With one click, users can open your newsletter and (if done right) can quickly see all that you have available.

Another major benefit of focusing your marketing efforts on the newsletter is the direct feedback you can achieve. As with so much of your online marketing effort, analytics programs can almost instantly tell you whether your are heading in the right direction or whether you need to rethink your marketing plan. Try getting that from television or the newspaper.

In the next few weeks we will publish a few articles that will steer you in the right direction, helping you get your email marketing campaign up and running with as little drama as possible, and show you that email communications done right will help give you a competitive edge in the market place.