Martin Lieberman's Blog Posts

Would you be interested in reading an article called “Great Time-saving Tips?” What about an article called “7 Great Time-saving Tips?” Which of those two options would you be more willing to read?

You may dismiss using numbers in a headline as just another attention-getting trick used all the time by glossy women’s magazines, but I’m guessing that when presented with the two headlines above, you chose the option with the number in it, right? It’s amazing what adding something so small to a headline will do to attract us.

Now put yourself in the shoes (and inbox) of those on your mailing list. When faced with so many email messages and not enough time to read them all, a subject line with a number in it will usually be more attractive than one without.

Saturday is Halloween, one of my favorite holidays. It’s a day for dressing up in costume, being someone else for a change, and of course, eating lots of sweets. Looking back on my younger days, whether I went out dressed as Darth Vader or the Incredible Hulk (true stories), I always hoped for Nestlé Crunch bars or Kit Kats — actually, I still prefer those — and was disappointed whenever I’d get a Sugar Daddy or Snickers bar.

Are you thinking about your email marketing like a dressed-up kid thinks about trick-or-treating on Halloween? The most popular house is always the one giving out what everybody wants (in this case, the best candy), and the one with the least traffic is the one giving out something lame that nobody wants. The same holds true for email: The businesses and organizations with the most people on their mailing lists (and the highest click-through rates) are the ones that give their subscribers exactly what they want.

More great content was shared on day two of MarketingProfs’ Digital Marketing Mixer. The day’s highlight was easily Dr. B.J. Fogg’s keynote address on why Facebook and Twitter have succeeded. For example, Facebook’s “hot triggers” — those emails that alert us when someone’s sent a friend request, commented on our status, or tagged us in a photo — have helped create ritualistic behavior, and they keep us visiting Facebook, not because Facebook tells us to, but because we want to.

“Email enabled Facebook,” Fogg explained, adding that texting paved the way for Twitter. “Today’s platforms enable tomorrow’s rituals, and winning rituals become the behaviors of tomorrow.”

Most inspiring was Fogg’s suggestion to start small and not to get frustrated if things don’t go well the first time you try something. “Everything big started small,” he said. Fogg made many in the room smile (including me) when he said that small businesses and startups have an advantage versus the bigger companies because of necessity; smaller businesses simply don’t have the resources, financial and otherwise, that bigger businesses do. Thus, because smaller businesses tend to focus on smaller wins, and can be more agile, they’re better positioned to succeed.

Here are some other highlights from day two of the Mixer:

I’m here in Chicago for the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer. No surprise, the main topic this week is how to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to expand the marketing reach of businesses and organizations. But rather than echo last week’s Wall Street Journal article about social media's growth signaling the end of email, on day one, some of the marketing world’s leading experts were talking about how email and social media can work together.

In one session, Harvey Morris, from the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, explained that if your customers are more engaged, they’ll want to participate in social media with you and give you their email address. Less engaged customers may only participate in social media and won't give you their email address. He added that social media should be used to spark customers’ interests in what you have to offer, and email marketing should be used to maintain it.

Later, at Wednesday’s keynote session, Scott Rosenberg, a co-founder of Salon and the author of Say Everything, explained that new forms of media don’t kill off “old” media like email — they just redefine them and how they're used. It's similar to how people thought the movies might kill live theater, or how television was supposed to kill off the movies. Email will continue to evolve as social media continues to evolve. It's not going away anytime soon.

Suffice it to say, it was a great day for fans of email marketing. Here are some other takeaways from day one of the Mixer:

Ever since the Wall Street Journal wrote on Monday that email is dead, the blogosphere has been buzzing. Gail Goodman, Constant Contact’s CEO, wrote an article about this very subject on Entrepreneur.com in July. “Let me tell you in the strongest terms: This is not the case,” she wrote. To read Gail’s thoughts about why the inbox is still the most important communications tool in a marketer’s toolbox, click here.

Forget all that talk that social media is going to have a negative effect on email. According to a recent report by the Nielsen Company, people who are heavy users of sites like Facebook and Twitter actually use email more than those who are lighter users.

Nielsen’s study revealed that the time heavy social media users spent using email significantly increased between April 2008 and April 2009, from around 80 minutes to more than 180 minutes. As the chart below illustrates, there’s a wide gap between those heavy users and those who do not use social media as often.

It’s here. Today marks the official release day for The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing, written by our very own Eric Groves, senior vice president of global market development.

The book contains tips and suggestions for creating effective email marketing messages, and it's filled not only with inspiring customer examples, but also with the kinds of best practice advice you find on this blog, in our Hints & Tips newsletter, and in our webinars.

More importantly, The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing is a comprehensive guide to building stronger customer relationships. As Eric says in his book, “When you invest in building relationships with your customers, they return the favor by thinking of you first when the time comes for making a purchase. Customers who have a relationship with you will also go out of their way and ignore the competition.”

To get more insights like these, pick up your copy of The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing today at your favorite local retailer. You can also get more information about the book and read an excerpt by clicking here.

Much has been said about how marketing via email to members of the Millennial generation — those between the ages of 18 and 25 — is ineffective because these people are more connected via social media and don’t use email as much. Well, according to the most recent Global Consumer Email Study from the marketing services firm Epsilon, the opposite is true.

How do you know what aspects of your email newsletter are the most popular? If you’re only looking at your open rate or your click-through rate, then you’re only getting half the story.

A great newsletter is interactive, and has plenty for the reader to do — whether that’s in the form of calls-to-action or links to click on. And the more you give people to click on, the more you’ll learn about what catches readers’ attention.

We want to know: What is your greatest challenge when it comes to surveying your customers and members? Share your answer in our latest poll. After you vote, you'll be able to see what other people have said, and you'll know how your answer compares to theirs.

Look for the final tally in next month's issue of Hints & Tips.