Think About It Thursday ~ In our Weekly Productivity Program, Thursday is our day that has several meanings behind it. There is a combination of how we use this day to be the most productive in our work week. This week is Think About It Thursday – you want to focus on one element of your business and “Think About It” – is there something you need to change, update, do different or is it working awesome? Make your notes of what needs to be done and schedule the tasks in your Tickler File. Wlla, you have completed Think About It Thursday.
Email Marketing…
This is the process by which you communicate and promote to your target prospects via e-mail. It works best when you’re able to build a large list of qualified prospects and then make offers to them, based on your knowledge of their psychology, feelings, buying behavior and more.
Email marketing is a way of life today! IF you are not building a list, an audience if you will, for your message to market to – you are behind in the game. We have talked about it tons – “The Money Is In The List”, how is your list going?
Do you have an email marketing tool/program already? Did you know there several differences in programs and pricing plans? Be sure you know the best way to choose or use the email marketing platform you are looking at.
Do you actually pay for unsubscribed contacts in my account?
All email marketing companies charge by the amount of email addresses/subscribers you have BUT they calculate it differently. Some will consider your total number of email addresses in your account and some consider ONLY the active, the subscribed email addresses on your account. For example, you have 500 people you CAN email market to and you have 100 unsubscribed you cannot email market to – some companies will keep you at the 500 email contacts list and some will bump you up to the next level! You can be paying for contacts you cannot even market to!
What are the differences with platforms and unsubscribed contacts…
Aweber is one that charges this way – even though they have a top notch product and there are not only a lot of security features in there and a lot of sharing capabilities, I don’t like their billing practices. The fact that they do not tell you that you are being charged for ALL emails in your account active AND unsubscribed bothers me a bit. When I questioned them about this, their advice was to export/delete ALL of the unsubscribed people in your account – this will help maintain a constant billing for only active receivers.
GetResponse is another email marketing platform that bills in this manner. You are billed for your active and inactive (unsubscribed) emails on your list. Again this email marketing platform has a lot of features to it – and is fairly inexpensive BUT no one should waste money on people you cannot market to.
Constant Contact, they charge for ONLY your active email addresses. Even though your unsubscribed contacts stay in your account you do not get charged for them. You get to keep a record and a history on each contact you have had over the years.
iContact is an email marketing platform that looks and feels a lot like Aweber and GetResponse but has a billing practice like Constant Contact, you pay for only those contacts that are active and are not on your unsubscribe list. You get to have access to the history of your contacts without being charged for the unsubscribed ones.
Knowing who unsubscribes is important…
Why is it important to know who unsubscribed or when they unsubscribed? For me a virtual assistant that works with several clients using different email marketing platforms, it helps answer several questions for the “marketer” like: how many total people have I had on my list? What is the opt-out rate or percentage? Clients have called asking why they are no longer receiving the ezine or broadcast – we can look them up and let them know that somehow they ended up unsubscribed and even the date – allowing them to resubscribe. And most important to me – you cannot re-import someone’s contact info IF they are on your unsubscribed list – without one you can mistakenly put their name in again asking them to opt back in and run the risk of not only pissing them off but having them report you as a spammer.
A lot of marketers take it personal when people unsubscribe from their list, yes they get notified every time someone unsubscribes. They are emailed that contacts name and email address noting they have opted out or unsubscribed. Most of the programs have a section for the person unsubscribing to enter a reason why they are unsubscribing and most people do not fill that out.
Choose to unsubscribe if you want to.
Benefits to unsubscribe…
As a reader it is important to choose who you want information from. It is important to be honest and not just stay on a list and not unsubscribe because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. Unsubscribe and be sure to put a reason, be positive and honest – everyone will appreciate the feedback. You as a reader will lighten your load of materials in your inbox.
As a marketer you don’t want people on your list that will never read your message or are uninterested in your products/services – look for the unsubscribes, read the reasons for unsubscribing and take them into consideration – this opens your marketing space for those who want to hear from you.