mwblog

It’s February already, and I’ve just realised that my last blog post was last October… LAST OCTOBER!!

And it made me think – what a bad example I’m setting to all my clients! I spend much of my time telling people that if they are going to start something – to make sure they can keep it up on a regular basis – like blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Newsletters etc… My recommendation is always to make sure you have a plan of contact, so you know what content you are planning to run, on what medium, and when. This makes managing your various marketing communications that much easier, more manageable, and much less daunting. Well planned and executed communications also make you look much more organised, professional and interested in what you do, which are all traits that potential customers will be looking for.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s never too late to start planning, so do it now…  I’m going to!

I recently came across an old blog from an ex colleague of mine – Pete Wilson, which he wrote in 2009. It struck me that it was still a very relevant topic now, so thought it would be a good post to expand on.

“When recently posed the question – ‘What’s the most important element in a successful email marketing campaign?’ I found myself going backwards through a list in my mind similar to the following – relevant content, personalisation, design, tailored subject line, maximising deliverability, permission and data quality. In the end the reason why email marketing is so difficult to do well is that every single one of the above can make or break your activity.

If your permissions are poor people will not respond, if your email is not technically correct it will not make it into inboxes and if your content is poor your response rates will suffer. Email marketing is so much more than tactical emails sent off as and when you have something to say.”

My thoughts are that all this is absolutely true! But, on the up-side, with suitable consideration, time and planning, email communication can be a very powerful form of communication. It is highly targetable and measureable, so when carried out well, it can be an effective and low cost marketing tool for many businesses. So, I thought I’d put together a quick checklist to go through when running an email marketing campaign:

Email Marketing Campaign Checklist

1. Is your data up to date? And do you have permission to contact everyone on your database?
2. When was the last time you contacted this audience? Make sure you aren’t emailing them too often.
3. Have you segmented the data to enable more targeted communications?
4. Is your email content relevant to that specific segment?
5. Are you providing them with information that is going to be of use/ interest/ benefit to the reader?
6. Have you personalised the email where possible (even just salutation helps – as long as you are sure that your data is accurate)?
7. Is the subject line engaging? Have you tested subject lines to see what works best?
8. Does your email look appealing, interesting and easy to read?
9. Have you tested the email to check it will work in various email clients?
10. Results! Are you looking at your results, and learning from them for next time?

I think I’ve mentioned them before, but there are a number of low/no cost online tools (an example is MailChimp), which will help you to develop and manage engaging email campaigns. They have a whole area of resources with guides and advice on developing a great email marketing campaign.

I hope you’ve found this useful – and as a result your email campaigns get better and better results.

Thanks for the inspiration Pete!

What I’m talking about here is copy. It is not only important to make sure that the content and your key messages are right – but that they are correct and free from obvious grammatical, typographical and spelling errors.

This point probably seems obvious, and for many it would be second nature, but it is surprising how many examples of careless copy I see.

What you have to consider is that everything you put out there represents your brand. I know that we aren’t all selling our writing skills, and therefore aren’t expected to be able to write perfectly. However obvious typos and errors do demonstrate carelessness and the perception may be that this could reflect a lack of attention in your work. Whether brochures or leaflets, emails, tweets or Facebook posts, they all count.

Word processing packages are so good now that they check the spelling and grammar for you – they aren’t always right of course, but try to make the most of them. And we all know about that wonderful auto correct on phones, which can change things without you realising (and really change the meaning of them), so that’s a reason to be extra careful.

I know a small error here and there isn’t the end of the world – we are all human! But if it happens in all your communications, just consider – is that the type of message you want to put out about yourself and your business?

So the golden rule is – re-read before you press send… Just take a bit of extra time to check you’re happy with what you are sending out.

I’m not usually one to blow my own trumpet (ahem!), but I’ve received some lovely reviews recently and wanted to share them.

Kate Davidson – Wine Revelation

“Sarah is a great marketer who really knows her stuff particularly for small businesses in the 21st century. She gave me some great ideas and is well connected. She came to our meeting well prepared and having given my business a lot of thought.”

Elliott and Victoria Roberts – The Wheel Sanctuary

“Having never run our own business before, setting up was very daunting and somewhat challenging, especially balancing full-time jobs and family life too. We soon realised there just weren’t enough hours in the day for us to do everything ourselves, that’s where McCarthy West came into its own. Sarah West was able to offer us invaluable advice on all manor of areas, such as our banner ad campaign, rate cards, email marketing etc. And after just one initial meeting, she then proceeded to set-up these areas for us, saving us valuable time. She has since shown us how to manage these areas ourselves, so we can now be relatively self sufficient.

We particularly like Sarah’s professional but personal approach, plus her flexibility, friendly nature and the fact she is generally interested in our business and helping make it more efficient and productive. In short, we can’t speak highly enough of her.”

Next week I’m going to be running a session for the Tunbridge Wells Mums in Business networking group. I have planned an interactive session around marketing planning, which should help the mums attending help to give their businesses a kick-start following the summer holidays. The aim is to be able to provide them with some practical tools so they can actually go away and make some positive differences with the way they market their business.

If you are interested in some local networking, I can really recommend the Tunbridge Wells Mums in Business group. It’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people, share knowledge, information and ideas. Visit http://twmumsinbusiness.wordpress.com for more info, or if you are interested in coming along!