1. First things First - Always test your email!!!
Be sure to test your email thoroughly, in as many email classes as possible, not only to ensure that your email looks pleasing to the eye , but also to confirm that it will land in people’s inboxes and not their spam filters.
2. Simple is often better!
Make your design clear and your point obvious. Don’t rely too heavily on images, as these are often not displayed by default and can cause issues with spam filtering. Keep text concise and include links to your website; people will rarely read an essay in their inbox.
3. Branding is important!
keep your branding consistent. This could be as simple as choosing the right colour scheme for your email or including a logo.
4. Not everyone will want to hear from you!
There are many reasons why it’s a bad idea to contact people who haven’t said that they want to hear from you. Permission marketing will achieve a much higher click rate. If you don’t have the agreement of your subscribers, don't send them emails. Simple as that.
5. Don’t bombard people with emails
Emailing your subscribers too frequently will often result in them unsubscribing. A good rule of thumb is to contact someone no more than once a week.It can often be effective to establish a regular sending routine, this will build anticipation in your subscribers and have them looking forward to hearing from you.
6. What about after you click send?
Sending your email is really just the beginning. Once it’s out there you can begin to see how people are engaging with your email and brand. Using simple analytic tools you will be able to see open rates, click through rates, what links were clicked, forward rates, bounce rates, unsubscribe rates, how many times the email was opened, who opened it and when they last opened it.
7. Enticing Subject Line
The email subject should be fairly short, not too sales led but be intriguing enough for the recipient to open it, you could insentivise or personalise the subject line.
www.cflmarketing.co.uk
Monday 28 February 2011
Data Capture - 12 tips presentation
CFL have processed millions of Data Capture forms over the past 25 years, from employee and customer satisfaction surveys, to free tickets, loyalty schemes or preference forms.
We have compiled 12 essential tips for compiling data capture for your company or project. Following these guidelines will help ensure accurate results, save you money and provide accuracy during data entry.
We have compiled 12 essential tips for compiling data capture for your company or project. Following these guidelines will help ensure accurate results, save you money and provide accuracy during data entry.
Data Capture - 12 tips
View more presentations from CFL Marketing.
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Why There is still a place for Direct Mail!...
Businesses evaluating their direct marketing campaigns are finding there is still room for Direct Mail to play a role.
The way consumers absorb information has changed vastly over the past few years and the sheer number of available channels which brands can use to reach their customers has exploded.
Direct Mail and print has long been a traditional channel of many marketing campaigns, however, it has struggled in recent years as digital becomes more popular.
Many people in the digital world believe print has had its day, however here at CFL we believe different!!
One of the advantages of print is that it can be more personal than digital, making customers feel more valued.
The truth of the matter is ALL Direct Marketing channels do work to a point, but you don't see full value until these are used in tandem as a fully integrated Direct Marketing campaign.
If you would like a steer on how this could be achieved give us a call on 01225 782 669 - www.clfmarketing.co.uk
The way consumers absorb information has changed vastly over the past few years and the sheer number of available channels which brands can use to reach their customers has exploded.
Direct Mail and print has long been a traditional channel of many marketing campaigns, however, it has struggled in recent years as digital becomes more popular.
Many people in the digital world believe print has had its day, however here at CFL we believe different!!
One of the advantages of print is that it can be more personal than digital, making customers feel more valued.
The truth of the matter is ALL Direct Marketing channels do work to a point, but you don't see full value until these are used in tandem as a fully integrated Direct Marketing campaign.
If you would like a steer on how this could be achieved give us a call on 01225 782 669 - www.clfmarketing.co.uk
Monday 21 February 2011
Email marketing drives more sales than social media efforts, marketers believe.
Email marketing is still more effective than social media when it comes to brand building and boosting sales, the latest research shows.
A study by a communications agency, which looked at the views of 100 marketers, found that older digital marketing disciplines, including email marketing, search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising, are rated more highly that creative social media marketing efforts.
17 per cent of those questioned said social media was very effective at driving sales, compared to 21 per cent who held this view about email marketing.
Despite the increasing use of social media, many marketers still hold more faith with other longer standing online marketing channels."
However, a recent study by comScore found that email marketing may not be as effective at reaching younger audiences.
The research found that in the US, email usage is down by 60 per cent among people aged between 12 and 17 years of age.
CFL are able to advise on how to target this age group with and intergrated marketing campaign - www.cflmarketing.co.uk
A study by a communications agency, which looked at the views of 100 marketers, found that older digital marketing disciplines, including email marketing, search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising, are rated more highly that creative social media marketing efforts.
17 per cent of those questioned said social media was very effective at driving sales, compared to 21 per cent who held this view about email marketing.
Despite the increasing use of social media, many marketers still hold more faith with other longer standing online marketing channels."
However, a recent study by comScore found that email marketing may not be as effective at reaching younger audiences.
The research found that in the US, email usage is down by 60 per cent among people aged between 12 and 17 years of age.
CFL are able to advise on how to target this age group with and intergrated marketing campaign - www.cflmarketing.co.uk
Friday 18 February 2011
UK businesses are increasingly reliant on email says new DMA report
The latest Email Benchmarking Report (Half 1 2010) from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reveals that UK marketers sent over 1.7 billion emails in the first half of 2010, an increase of 50% over the same period in 2009.
According to Dela Quist of the DMA’s Email Marketing Council, “businesses turn to email in adverse economic conditions because it is very versatile from a tactical perspective and extremely cost effective.”
Despite the increase in email volumes the Report also shows that average Open Rates for email appear to be holding up year on year at around 24% for retention emails and 11% for acquisition emails. “What we are seeing is evidence that email marketers have become better at targeting their promotions and that their customers are getting used to receiving email from brands they trust which is great news” says Quist. Much of the growth is being driven by acquisition email programmes, which represent almost one third of the volume sent over the period covered.
The latest Email Benchmarking Report can be downloaded from www.dma.org.uk/research
CFL have also seen a huge increase in email marketing and have sent just under 5 million for their clients, in 2010.
Phil Martin, Marketing Manager at CFL Marketing said "Email Marketing is most definatly on the up - however we have found this mechanic to work best if used as part of a tactical integrated campaign"
If you would like to see example of CFL's HTML marketing emails please contact us on 01225 782669 - www.cflmarketing.co.uk
According to Dela Quist of the DMA’s Email Marketing Council, “businesses turn to email in adverse economic conditions because it is very versatile from a tactical perspective and extremely cost effective.”
Despite the increase in email volumes the Report also shows that average Open Rates for email appear to be holding up year on year at around 24% for retention emails and 11% for acquisition emails. “What we are seeing is evidence that email marketers have become better at targeting their promotions and that their customers are getting used to receiving email from brands they trust which is great news” says Quist. Much of the growth is being driven by acquisition email programmes, which represent almost one third of the volume sent over the period covered.
The latest Email Benchmarking Report can be downloaded from www.dma.org.uk/research
CFL have also seen a huge increase in email marketing and have sent just under 5 million for their clients, in 2010.
Phil Martin, Marketing Manager at CFL Marketing said "Email Marketing is most definatly on the up - however we have found this mechanic to work best if used as part of a tactical integrated campaign"
If you would like to see example of CFL's HTML marketing emails please contact us on 01225 782669 - www.cflmarketing.co.uk
Thursday 17 February 2011
Direct Mail - 10 tips presentation
Research has shown we have three seconds to convince our target to open our mailing. If we don't hook people then, it will be lost to the bin!
Nearly three-quarters of all envelopes mailed are plain white like most of the other envelopes, look and feel like every other envelope in our target's mailbox. Fortunately, there are things you can do to prompt people to open your mailers.
Here is our top 10 hints presentation
Nearly three-quarters of all envelopes mailed are plain white like most of the other envelopes, look and feel like every other envelope in our target's mailbox. Fortunately, there are things you can do to prompt people to open your mailers.
Here is our top 10 hints presentation
Direct mail, 10 tips!
View more presentations from CFL Marketing.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
CFL Marketing Consumer Database growing!
CFL's prospecting database contains information on nearly 50 million UK consumers collected both online and offline. The core of the database is opt-in electoral roll information which is overlayed with credit agency data, survey responses and additional compliant data sources. A continued data collection programme provides new, relevant and recent data sources which are utilised to fill the ever widening edited electoral roll gap.
The database contains both actual and modelled datasets to provide key variables for driving segmentation and targetting strategies for successful recruitment, retention, reactivation and cross-sell campaigns.
The database is regularly screened against industry preference services (i.e. MPS, TPS) and various data cleaning services (e.g. bereavement registers, gone away databases, etc) to ensure data accuracy and recency is maintained.
CFL can compile a list to fit your campaign, given pretty much any profile you can think of. We have access to CAMEO profiles which can be used to further analyse your data, providing you with highly targeted campaigns. Don't think this just applies to consumer data - we can also supply business data at the same level of detail, if not more!
Whether it's topping up your own data or a complete list, we've got what you need. - http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/, 01225 782 669
The database contains both actual and modelled datasets to provide key variables for driving segmentation and targetting strategies for successful recruitment, retention, reactivation and cross-sell campaigns.
The database is regularly screened against industry preference services (i.e. MPS, TPS) and various data cleaning services (e.g. bereavement registers, gone away databases, etc) to ensure data accuracy and recency is maintained.
CFL can compile a list to fit your campaign, given pretty much any profile you can think of. We have access to CAMEO profiles which can be used to further analyse your data, providing you with highly targeted campaigns. Don't think this just applies to consumer data - we can also supply business data at the same level of detail, if not more!
Whether it's topping up your own data or a complete list, we've got what you need. - http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/, 01225 782 669
Monday 14 February 2011
More consumers are happy to receive email marketing messages than social media communications.
Email marketing drives more traffic to retailer websites in the UK compared to social media sites, the latest research has revealed.
According to a study of 10,000 visitors to the biggest e-retail sites, which was carried out by market research company ForeSee, consumers think communication from brands via email is far more acceptable than social networking interactions.
Although 64 per cent said they would not mind being contacted through a promotional email, only two per cent said they would be happy to receive such messages from retailers through social networking sites.
To see how email marketing can work for you logon to http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/ or call 01225 782669
According to a study of 10,000 visitors to the biggest e-retail sites, which was carried out by market research company ForeSee, consumers think communication from brands via email is far more acceptable than social networking interactions.
Although 64 per cent said they would not mind being contacted through a promotional email, only two per cent said they would be happy to receive such messages from retailers through social networking sites.
To see how email marketing can work for you logon to http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/ or call 01225 782669
Consistency 'the key to email marketing success"
Consistency of design is vital to ensuring the success of email marketing initiatives, it has been claimed.
The key to the success of email marketing initiatives on a long-term basis is consistency, according to one specialist.
Marketing expert Steve McGrath told Utalk that organisations contemplating the use of address verification tools will find that the design needs to be consistent if the initiatives are to be as effective as possible.
He advised: "Follow your consistency through to your templates and stick to the same (or at least a similar) design depending on if you are sending out your newsletter, promotional or transactional email."
The expert added that this is the key to boosting brand awareness and ensuring that customers recognise the emails simply by their design.
Meanwhile, according to a recent study of 10,000 visitors to the largest e-retail sites carried out by market research company ForeSee, the majority of consumers believe that communication from brands through email is far more acceptable than social networking interactions.
To see how email marketing can work for you logon to http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/ or call 01225 782669
The key to the success of email marketing initiatives on a long-term basis is consistency, according to one specialist.
Marketing expert Steve McGrath told Utalk that organisations contemplating the use of address verification tools will find that the design needs to be consistent if the initiatives are to be as effective as possible.
He advised: "Follow your consistency through to your templates and stick to the same (or at least a similar) design depending on if you are sending out your newsletter, promotional or transactional email."
The expert added that this is the key to boosting brand awareness and ensuring that customers recognise the emails simply by their design.
Meanwhile, according to a recent study of 10,000 visitors to the largest e-retail sites carried out by market research company ForeSee, the majority of consumers believe that communication from brands through email is far more acceptable than social networking interactions.
To see how email marketing can work for you logon to http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/ or call 01225 782669
Thursday 3 February 2011
Mobile Marketing on the up
Mobile marketing looks set to become more important this year, with brands planning to increase their spend on the platform, according to the latest research.
The study, which was carried out by the Mobile Marketing Association and the Association of National Advertisers, suggests that 88 per cent of client-side marketers will use the platform this year.
Three-quarters of those questioned said they expect to increase spending on mobile marketing campaigns, by an average of 59 per cent on 2010's spend.
http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/services.html
The study, which was carried out by the Mobile Marketing Association and the Association of National Advertisers, suggests that 88 per cent of client-side marketers will use the platform this year.
Three-quarters of those questioned said they expect to increase spending on mobile marketing campaigns, by an average of 59 per cent on 2010's spend.
http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/services.html
Wednesday 2 February 2011
10 Tips to ensure your direct mail is opened!
Research has shown we have three seconds to convince our target to open our mailing. If we don't hook people then, it will be lost to the bin!.
Nearly three-quarters of all envelopes mailed are plain white like most of the other envelopes, look and feel like every other envelope in our target's mailbox.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to prompt people to open your mailers, and some of them appeal directly to the way human brains are hardwired.
1. Opportunities that are limited to certain groups of people or to certain times are perceived as more valuable than others. Therefore, they can trigger an instinctive response. Try a date or an "urgency phrase" like "Update," "Response Needed" or "Second Notice" stamped on your envelope.
2. Use "eye magnet" words. Numerous eye-tracking studies have revealed that certain words simply attract the human eye more than others. Write your teaser copy using words like "announcing," "introducing," "new," "now," "finally" and "soon" to increase your target's engagement with your piece.
3. When people aren't sure what decision to make, they look to others and do what they do. To trigger this response, use customer testimonials or stats about how many customers you have.
4. People are often more motivated by the avoidance of pain than the achievement of pleasure. So instead of saying "Take advantage of this great offer," you should try "Don't miss this great offer."
5. Design your mailing to slide in under the radar. People will quickly scan a piece of mail to determine if they need to open it. If your piece looks important or official, it's much more likely to get opened.
6. Personalisation is key – make sure the recipiants name is clearly used throughout the piece. This tends to work best when digital print is used and is integrated into the artwork.
7. Don’t use an envelope at all! – Avoid the mailer not being opened at all – use a postcard, tabbed folded card or even a transparrent polybag – The Recipiant will be able to see the detail instantly on the door mat!.
8. Make sure the design and creative is fit for purpose – not just pretty to look at but easy to read, and inline with the target audience.
9. Implement the Hiarachcy of messaging – 1. Who is it from, 2. What is the offer, 3. What is the sub-offer, 4. Rersponse mrchanic, 5. Support Copy…..You have a very short length of time to get from message 1 to 4 before the decision is made to respond (or not) to the mailing.
10. Less is very often more! What can be sacrificed to ensure the best communication?
If you would like to see some examples of direct mail that works...please give us a call on 01225 782669 or log onto http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/
Nearly three-quarters of all envelopes mailed are plain white like most of the other envelopes, look and feel like every other envelope in our target's mailbox.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to prompt people to open your mailers, and some of them appeal directly to the way human brains are hardwired.
1. Opportunities that are limited to certain groups of people or to certain times are perceived as more valuable than others. Therefore, they can trigger an instinctive response. Try a date or an "urgency phrase" like "Update," "Response Needed" or "Second Notice" stamped on your envelope.
2. Use "eye magnet" words. Numerous eye-tracking studies have revealed that certain words simply attract the human eye more than others. Write your teaser copy using words like "announcing," "introducing," "new," "now," "finally" and "soon" to increase your target's engagement with your piece.
3. When people aren't sure what decision to make, they look to others and do what they do. To trigger this response, use customer testimonials or stats about how many customers you have.
4. People are often more motivated by the avoidance of pain than the achievement of pleasure. So instead of saying "Take advantage of this great offer," you should try "Don't miss this great offer."
5. Design your mailing to slide in under the radar. People will quickly scan a piece of mail to determine if they need to open it. If your piece looks important or official, it's much more likely to get opened.
6. Personalisation is key – make sure the recipiants name is clearly used throughout the piece. This tends to work best when digital print is used and is integrated into the artwork.
7. Don’t use an envelope at all! – Avoid the mailer not being opened at all – use a postcard, tabbed folded card or even a transparrent polybag – The Recipiant will be able to see the detail instantly on the door mat!.
8. Make sure the design and creative is fit for purpose – not just pretty to look at but easy to read, and inline with the target audience.
9. Implement the Hiarachcy of messaging – 1. Who is it from, 2. What is the offer, 3. What is the sub-offer, 4. Rersponse mrchanic, 5. Support Copy…..You have a very short length of time to get from message 1 to 4 before the decision is made to respond (or not) to the mailing.
10. Less is very often more! What can be sacrificed to ensure the best communication?
If you would like to see some examples of direct mail that works...please give us a call on 01225 782669 or log onto http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/
Our new contact details.....We have Moved!!
As you know we have moved to bigger and better offices!
Our new contact details are as follows
5-6 The Midlands
Holt
BA14 6RU
Tel: 01225 782669
Fax: 01225 728636
Our new contact details are as follows
5-6 The Midlands
Holt
BA14 6RU
Tel: 01225 782669
Fax: 01225 728636
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Direct Mail Campaign Tips!
Do you think ....“Direct mail doesn't work”, “direct mail is too expensive”, New media is more effective” — Don't be fooled into this line of thinking. The flexibility and versatility of direct mail as part of the overall marketing strategy is unmatched.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind before you embark on the next direct mail program:
- Have a clear idea of who your ideal customer is and what that customer is worth to you. It’s important to know who there are as people, what are their values? as well as their social and economic background.. Knowing your customer value will influence how the DM mechanic looks and feels as well as the delivery method, what your offer is, and how often you mail. If you always take into account how much a customer is worth!
- Direct mail does not have to be a postcard or a standard flat envelope. It can be a box, a tube, a package, even a free gift. Direct mail can give you unlimited ways to get attention and response.
- Don't rush the job. It just doesn't work. So whether you are a boss or a client, don't expect a good job if you rush a project through at the last minute.
- Investigate what your competitors are sending. This goes If you don't know what's going on in the marketplace for your particular project, you weaken your chances of success.
- Build a mental or physical pool of direct mail components and tactics that works!, so you have ideas to draw from when the need arises. Study old direct mail examples when you get a chance for ideas that can be re-used.
- Look for ways to use direct mail on a small scale as well as large, particularly around a key moment such as a Birthday, Christmas or Easter – the more targeted the higher the response!
http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/
Here are a few tips to keep in mind before you embark on the next direct mail program:
- Have a clear idea of who your ideal customer is and what that customer is worth to you. It’s important to know who there are as people, what are their values? as well as their social and economic background.. Knowing your customer value will influence how the DM mechanic looks and feels as well as the delivery method, what your offer is, and how often you mail. If you always take into account how much a customer is worth!
- Direct mail does not have to be a postcard or a standard flat envelope. It can be a box, a tube, a package, even a free gift. Direct mail can give you unlimited ways to get attention and response.
- Don't rush the job. It just doesn't work. So whether you are a boss or a client, don't expect a good job if you rush a project through at the last minute.
- Investigate what your competitors are sending. This goes If you don't know what's going on in the marketplace for your particular project, you weaken your chances of success.
- Build a mental or physical pool of direct mail components and tactics that works!, so you have ideas to draw from when the need arises. Study old direct mail examples when you get a chance for ideas that can be re-used.
- Look for ways to use direct mail on a small scale as well as large, particularly around a key moment such as a Birthday, Christmas or Easter – the more targeted the higher the response!
http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/
Marketers' secret weapon: direct mail
When marketers talk Direct Mail, it's usually in the context of the drop in mail volume to the tune of tens of billions of pieces. Or about how expensive it is. Or about how they've stopped using it, or have cut back and re-assigned the traditional budget to digital campaigns. Except they have not stopped using mail — not if these latest numbers are to be believed.
In the US for instance - Direct mail spending will grow 5.8% to $47.8 billion this year, driven by acquisition mail increases, according to a forecast released in January by the Winterberry Group, a marketing consultancy.
Mail also remains the largest channel in terms of direct marketing spending.
The DM industry has not seen that level of increase in mail for five or six years. That growth, driven in part by a return to economic confidence and will be seen in both letter and catalog mail. And the the upsurge in financial services mailings witnessed in late 2010 will continue this year.
The workhorse benefits of mail remain: it is highly customizable, it enables marketers to communicate more information in a single package, it's trackable and it can be particularly effective when integrated with other media channels.
The Postal Service conducted a study five years ago to define that moment as the daily ritual during which the consumer, typically the head of household, brings the mail in to sort through and read. The study revealed 98% of consumers retrieve mail from the mailbox the day it's delivered, and 77% sort through it immediately. Marketers may not have more than a few seconds to captivate consumers, but they do get their attention
The simple fact is direct mail works.
If you would like to see some samples of CFL Marketing’s Direct Mail mechanics, please email sales@cfmarketing.co.uk or log onto http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/
(Reported in the Direct Marketing News)
In the US for instance - Direct mail spending will grow 5.8% to $47.8 billion this year, driven by acquisition mail increases, according to a forecast released in January by the Winterberry Group, a marketing consultancy.
Mail also remains the largest channel in terms of direct marketing spending.
The DM industry has not seen that level of increase in mail for five or six years. That growth, driven in part by a return to economic confidence and will be seen in both letter and catalog mail. And the the upsurge in financial services mailings witnessed in late 2010 will continue this year.
The workhorse benefits of mail remain: it is highly customizable, it enables marketers to communicate more information in a single package, it's trackable and it can be particularly effective when integrated with other media channels.
The Postal Service conducted a study five years ago to define that moment as the daily ritual during which the consumer, typically the head of household, brings the mail in to sort through and read. The study revealed 98% of consumers retrieve mail from the mailbox the day it's delivered, and 77% sort through it immediately. Marketers may not have more than a few seconds to captivate consumers, but they do get their attention
The simple fact is direct mail works.
If you would like to see some samples of CFL Marketing’s Direct Mail mechanics, please email sales@cfmarketing.co.uk or log onto http://www.cflmarketing.co.uk/
(Reported in the Direct Marketing News)
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