E-mail advertising has always been a simple and economical way to advertise. And now that economies all over the world are in the tank, there’s more incentive than ever to use e-mail to sell products and services.. But simple and cheap doesn’t always translate into “successful.”
The “from” address should make sense.
The subject line should be clear. If your target audience doesn’t understand it instantly, the e-mail gets deleted instantly.
The “to” information should be your recipient.
The offer should be stated very early in the text. People won’t spend any time at all searching for it.
The message should nearly always be short. No one wants to read long e-mails.
The copy should be clear and direct. Just because it’s e-mail doesn’t mean you can get away with sloppy copy. Oh, and it should be in the same language as the recipient!
The links should be worded clearly. Example: If you’re offering a free e-book, the link text should include the words “Free E-Book.”
The e-mail should follow all best practices. This isn’t just to avoid spam complaints. It helps create trust.
When you’re creating or sending an e-mail, always ask yourself, “Does this make sense to the people I’m sending it to?”
Friday, March 27, 2009
Facebook ::: Build Brands !
“If you’re going to build a community, don’t center it around your product, but rather on something deeply relevant to a particular consumer group,” said eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey. He also suggested keeping fans of your brand pages happy by giving them a lot of content and letting them share the love with others.
The February 2009 Facebook numbers are striking.
Each day during the month, Facebook users averaged over 3 billion minutes on the site. They updated their status 15 million times and became “fans” of a particular company, brand, product or person 3.5 million times daily.
In addition, Compete found that that US residents spent more time on Facebook than any other Website, beating out previous leader Yahoo!.
However, Nielsen Online still ranks the site third behind AOL and Yahoo!.
But Facebook’s rapid user growth has not translated into advertising revenues.
The habits of social network users are one obstacle. In 2008, IDC found that 43% of social network users never clicked on ads, a dramatic difference from the 80% of other Internet users who did so at least once a year. Further, 23% of nonusers who clicked on an ad then made a purchase; only 11% of social network users who clicked on ads did the same.
If not through advertising, how can marketers leverage Facebook for their campaigns?
More and more every day, the social networking giant Facebook is becoming a large part of the overall Internet experience. Company estimates state that over 175 million people have joined since its founding in 2005, and the users themselves contribute millions of pieces of content daily. 
The February 2009 Facebook numbers are striking.
Each day during the month, Facebook users averaged over 3 billion minutes on the site. They updated their status 15 million times and became “fans” of a particular company, brand, product or person 3.5 million times daily.
In addition, Compete found that that US residents spent more time on Facebook than any other Website, beating out previous leader Yahoo!.
However, Nielsen Online still ranks the site third behind AOL and Yahoo!.But Facebook’s rapid user growth has not translated into advertising revenues.
The habits of social network users are one obstacle. In 2008, IDC found that 43% of social network users never clicked on ads, a dramatic difference from the 80% of other Internet users who did so at least once a year. Further, 23% of nonusers who clicked on an ad then made a purchase; only 11% of social network users who clicked on ads did the same.
If not through advertising, how can marketers leverage Facebook for their campaigns?
Mini Clubman::: New ad is so fake
These people drive like post-drinks drivers on the N1 on a Saturday night
Don’t Take the Bait- Buying Email Lists is Bad Business
(The following is based on an interview with Patrick Knight, Director of Client Deliverability for mobileStorm.) In the world of email, bought lists are pretty common. Buying a list is not against the law per se(CAN-SPAM never specifically states it); however it’s not such a safe bet since it’s not necessarily clear how these lists are compiled. In many cases they contain addresses that were collected by third-parties who use pre-checkboxes, `and or contain harvested, spam traps (old addresses used to monitor and identify spam activity) and invalid addresses (addresses that are no longer active and bounce).
Contrary to what many marketers think, purchasing lists is not very cost effective, when you consider the facts. Anywhere from 80-90% of these lists have data that is useless. Not to mention the costs marketers incur by having to resolve issues as a result of using these lists.
There is never a time when you should send messaging to people who didn’t opt in. The question to ask your self is …Did these people request to be on my list? Do they expect to receive emails from you, have you sent emails to these people before. The main point here is consent. These people did not give you permission to send them messages.
Those marketers who do buy lists run serious risks. Beside the fact these people never sign up to receive your messages, even if you were to perform a permission pass campaign you run the risk of hitting spam traps, and in the end, it’s just not worth the risk.
A sender’s reputation is based on measuring many variables including, spam trap hits, number of complaints, and invalid addresses. As mentioned, many of these lists contain addresses that affect these variables negatively which can hinder if not ruin a good senders reputation.
Ultimately, good senders can end up being listed by major blacklists. IP addresses used to send messages in some cases can be permanently blocked. Furthermore, subscribers who have given permission to receive messages will most likely not receive it because of blocks place on your IP.
It may also take a significant amount of time and resources to repair your reputation. If utilizing an ESP this can also cause collateral damage to your provider.
Trojan::: "Hard Times"
Brand: Trojan Condoms
Agency: The Kaplan Thaler Group
Review Date: March 24, 2009
Everyone is talking about the horrific economy, so it shouldn't be all that surprising that Trojan is getting in the game, offering assistance in these dark times with its own "stimulus package.
" Sex makes everything better! A new commercial breaking this week opens with the patriotic image of an eagle against the backdrop of the American flag.
As the music swells, the voiceover informs viewers that the company is offering its own stimulus package "to help America cope," the Pleasure Pack. And then comes the bes moment in the spot, when the voiceover wraps up the pitch with the line, "Because we believe we should ride out these hard times together."
You know someone's been dying to get that line on air since all the talk of stimulating the economy began. And you can almost hear the target chuckling in response. Probably the most unique economic play yet.
Agency: The Kaplan Thaler Group
Review Date: March 24, 2009
Everyone is talking about the horrific economy, so it shouldn't be all that surprising that Trojan is getting in the game, offering assistance in these dark times with its own "stimulus package.
" Sex makes everything better! A new commercial breaking this week opens with the patriotic image of an eagle against the backdrop of the American flag.
As the music swells, the voiceover informs viewers that the company is offering its own stimulus package "to help America cope," the Pleasure Pack. And then comes the bes moment in the spot, when the voiceover wraps up the pitch with the line, "Because we believe we should ride out these hard times together."
You know someone's been dying to get that line on air since all the talk of stimulating the economy began. And you can almost hear the target chuckling in response. Probably the most unique economic play yet.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Skype::: Largest Long-Distance Phone Company
TeleGeography says that cross-border telephone traffic grew 14 percent in 2007 and is estimated to have grown 12 percent in 2008, to 384 billion minutes.
Falling prices and rising popularity have flattened the revenues (see graph below the fold). The big bump in minutes (and the flattening of revenues) has come courtesy of Skype, the company owned by San Jose, Calif.-based eBay.
Skype’s cross-border traffic grew approximately 41 percent in 2008, to 33 billion minutes — equivalent to 8 percent of combined international telephone + Skype traffic. Skype uses wholesale carriers such as iBasis and Level 3 for handling its network traffic. Five years after its launch, Skype is now the largest provider of cross-border voice communications in the world, Telegeography says. Or as my friend Andy Abramson would say: The world’s biggest minute stealer.
Skype’s cross-border traffic grew approximately 41 percent in 2008, to 33 billion minutes — equivalent to 8 percent of combined international telephone + Skype traffic. Skype uses wholesale carriers such as iBasis and Level 3 for handling its network traffic. Five years after its launch, Skype is now the largest provider of cross-border voice communications in the world, Telegeography says. Or as my friend Andy Abramson would say: The world’s biggest minute stealer.
The book is composed of two PDFs, ‘How We Look’, and ‘How We Think’. The first takes the reader through the evolution of the Skype logo and covers the key rules to be followed when considering the Skype logo for display, including mash-ups. The second is all about Skype’s philosophy as a company. They are both beautifully illustrated and will be especially useful for people who are interested or work in brand design.
Skype- corporate identity_ how do we look
View more documents from Ayman Sarhan.
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