Blogs

A recent study by TNS, a global research firm, confirms that consumers trust information and recommendations from their friends more than they do those from other sources, including TV, newspapers, advertising, and online media.

These recommendations typically are the most reliable because when one friend tells another about an organization, the recommender is putting his or her reputation on the line to do so. And the person who was referred comes with a higher level of trust and confidence in the organization because of that.

Are you taking advantage of the power of word-of-mouth marketing? With email marketing, it’s easy. When you share great content with customers, you show off your expertise and remind customers what you offer. And when you communicate with customers on a regular basis, you keep your organization top-of-mind.

Shirley Leung, business editor at The Boston Globe, just gave a very interesting keynote about the state of the economy and the effect that small businesses can have on the recession. Leung opened her remarks on an optimistic note by saying “the worst of the worst is over,” but cautioned that the economy is still fragile and that the roller coaster may continue.

The real key to economic growth, Leung said, will be the entrepreneurial spirit that always fuels the creation of small businesses in a down economy. More layoffs means more people are starting their own businesses, and thankfully, both President Barack Obama and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick are supporting innovation and technological advancement. It’s because of the efforts of all kinds of entrepreneurs that we will come out with an economy and a world that is “bigger and better than before,” Leung said.

After an active brainstorming session, Forum attendees declared, “We are part of the solution” and shared some great ideas on how they can better help their members. Here are some highlights:

Checking in from Constant Contact’s Champions of Small Business Forum, where Gail Goodman, Constant Contact’s chief executive officer, has just completed welcoming representatives of New England–area Chambers of Commerce, SCORE chapters, and SBDCs. “We believe in small businesses and share your commitment to helping them be successful,” she said.

The theme for today’s event is “Collaboration and Communication,” and Gail discussed how both are critical in a recession, when many small businesses are looking for help.  Chambers, SCORE chapters, and SBDCs are uniquely positioned to provide assistance to small businesses, and we’re hopeful that this summit will generate new ideas for how these organizations can reach out to small business owners and work together during these tough times.

No one likes spam, and here’s one more reason why: It’s bad for the environment.

According to the security technology company McAfee and its “The Carbon Footprint of Email Spam Report,” it takes 33 billion kilowatt-hours of energy to send, process, and filter these unwanted emails each year. How much energy is that? Well, think about it this way: that’s the same amount of electricity it takes to power 2.4 million U.S. homes, and it creates the same greenhouse gas emissions as 3.1 million cars using two billion gallons of gasoline.

Most people assume the sending and reading of email is environmentally friendly because it’s paperless. But it seems everything has an impact on the environment these days, and sending unwanted emails can really add up.

We don’t like to admit that we put a high value on what other people think, but we clearly do, as reflected in the huge buzz around social media and user-generated content these days. Social media and user-generated content are all the rage largely because they are methods to harness the herd mentality. Human nature makes us curious what other people are saying. Often we want to be part of this and share our own thoughts. As a business, if you are willing to listen and respond in the right place with the right tools, you can grow your email list and increase your reach.  

Sound interesting? How do you do it? One way is to use a short online topical questionnaire (survey) where your target audience spends time.  Here’s how…

Polls are a fairly effortless way to get much more from your marketing. Part 1 of this series highlighted one neat way you can use polls to step up the experience your web visitors and email readers have with you.

Polls are also an easy way to help solve the biggest catch-22s of these times: people have so many options but so little money to spend. How can your organization be the stand-out choice in good times and bad? By letting people know that others just like them found success and satisfaction with this same choice.

How easy and fun is it to participate in polls? In just a second, you can cast your vote on a topic you care about and have the benefit of knowing how other people answered. It is instant gratification.  

Deliver this same benefit to your customers by posting polls in your emails, on your website, and on your social media sites. Beyond stepping up the experience your visitors and readers have with you, you also gain quick, easy insights into the attitudes and preferences of your audience. Here is one simple, practical way to really step up your website and emails with a poll.  

We’ve just about reached the end of our series about how to get even more feedback from your online surveys. In part 1 and part 2 of this series, we covered the right content to include in your survey invitation and how to ensure that your invitation stays clear of the bulk folder and lands in your recipients’ inboxes. Now, here are the best ways to engage the people who didn’t respond to your first invite.  

Your survey invitation is what’s in between your survey and lots of useful feedback.  Get your audience interested in taking your survey by first adding in the right content, which you can discover in part 1.  Then give your audience the opportunity to take your survey by having your invitation make it into their inbox.  If your invite ends up in recipients’ junk mail folder, which most people don’t look at, you will greatly decrease the amount of feedback you get.  Here are the 5 keys to getting your survey invitation delivered successfully into the inbox, not the junk folder.