by Debbie Weil, Publisher, WordBiz Report

Which content formula is the right one for your target audience – a teaser followed by a link to the full article on your site? Or inclusion of the complete article in your e-newsletter?

If you’ve launched an e-newsletter, you’ve already pondered this question. But you may not have the final answer. If you’re planning an e-newsletter for the first time, this is a key consideration.

Here are five questions to help you decide how to handle this piece of your content formula:

What Is The Objective Of Your E-Newsletter?
Primarily Promotional

Be honest here. If your e-publication is primarily a promotional update on what’s new with your products and services, then a promo blurb followed by a link back to your Web site may be most appropriate.

You want to drive readers back to your site to sign up for that special promotion or download a trial version of your latest software release or a sample chapter of a new book.

Stand-alone Editorial

If you’re providing your readers with original, useful and thought-provoking content, with the objective of branding your company or organization as an expert, then including the full text of your articles makes sense.

What Do You Know About Your Target Audience’s Reading Habits?
If you’re like most publishers, you do an informal survey in your office to find out who likes to read on-screen and who prints out to read later.

One VP of Marketing Communications told me, “We made the conscious decision to do whole pieces in our e-newsletter, basically forcing us to write good copy and to write tight. That way people can read it on the train or in the loo …” She admitted that her office survey showed a “propensity to print out our e-newsletters.”

Open, Click-Through and Conversion Rates
According to DoubleClick’s Q1 2003 Email Trend Report:

Average click-through rates increased 11.3%, to 8.9% in Q1 (compared to 8.0% in Q4).

Open rates increased 7.7%, to 39.2% in Q1 (compared to 36.4% in Q4).

Bounce-back rates declined 8.0%, to 12.5% (compared to 13.5% in Q4).

For every thousand pieces of mail sent, more than 2.35 purchases result.

Average order size was $110.18.

The revenue-per-email-delivered was $0.28.

According to DoubleClick’s Q4 2002 survey:

Email contributes to a successful online holiday season. Retail and catalogue companies found higher open rates and click-through rates than ever in Q4 2002, significantly boosting online purchases.

The ‘from’ line is the most important factor motivating consumers to open emails, followed by the ’subject’ line.

Tuesday continued to be the most common day of the week for emails sent.

Nearly 70% of male respondents said they were more likely to open permission-based mails that contain news or compelling information in the subject line.

Women were more likely to open email that cited discount offers in the subject line, with 64% stating that this would influence them to open emails.

——————————————————————————–
» Email Marketing Use and Growth
DMA Interactive
54% of small businesses surveyed rated e-mail as the top online promotion to drive site visitors and customers to their web sites and storefronts.

Forrester Research
Demand for email-marketing services will accelerate to create a $4.8 billion industry by 2003, $3.2 billion of which will be spent on companies helping marketers retain their customers by mailing to their in-house lists. The remaining $1.6 billion will go to outsourcers helping marketers acquire new customers through email.

eCommerce marketers are finding that email is the most effective way of boosting customer retention and increasing sales. In 2004, marketers will send more than 200 billion emails to take advantage of the medium’s potency.

The email marketing industry will soar to a $4.8 billion industry by 2004.
Intermarket Group, August 2002
Around 65% of marketers say they plan to increase their use of email newsletters.

Jupiter Research
Commercial e-mail spending will grow from $164 million in 1999 to $7.3 billion in 2005.

Email will cannibalize 13% of direct mail revenues by 2005.

——————————————————————————–
» Consumer Acceptance and Preferences
According to DoubleClick:

Permission-based email is far and away the preferred method of online merchant communication for consumers. 75% rated it as their preference, with only 25% preferring postal mail and 0% choosing telemarketing.

78% say they want to receive e-mail from their favorite online merchants.

Permission-based email motivates consumers to purchase: 78% of online shoppers have purchased as the result of clicking on an email link.

Emails have latent and cross-channel impact. Consumers not only made immediate online purchases as a result of an email but also purchased online at a later date and offline as well.

59% purchased in a retail store after receiving a merchant email; while 39% purchased through a catalog and 34% purchased by phone and 20% through postal mail.
According to eMarketer: Good email marketing wins over consumers
Well-executed permission email marketing campaigns can have a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes towards companies.

67% of US consumers said they liked companies who, in their opinion, did a good job with permission email marketing.

58% of consumers said they opened those companies’ emails, while 53% said that such emails affected their personal buying decisions

Growing companies trying to figure out how to make a splash in the marketplace sometimes pay consultants thousands of dollars for advice on the subject. And they get suggestions that will cost them even more. But if you´re clever and ambitious, there are plenty of ways to get noticed without spending a bundle.

Business Card
Always have your business card handy, you never know when an opportunity to market your company or services might arise. Make sure your card is of professional quality, in many cases it is the first impression of your company so, put your best foot forward.

Network Groups
Join a networking group they are a great support and a source for business leads.

Press Releases
Write and distribute press releases that are newsworthy, and send them to newspapers, magazines, and television and radio stations. If only one media outlet airs the story, you´ll have free access to thousands of people. Design the headline to grab readers´ attention in as few words as possible. Use active verbs. Get to the point quickly, with a lead sentence that will draw the reader into a convincing piece.

Trade Shows
Renting space at a trade show can be expensive, but the best shows are a great way to build your business. Have plenty of promotional materials ready to hand out to interested people. When the show´s over, follow up. Call your leads in order of importance, but get in touch with all of them within seven days. Above all, keep every promise made at the booth.

The Internet
Establishing a home page for your business is relatively inexpensive and can reach many people. Use newsgroups that focus on areas similar to your line of business to draw attention to the site. Always include a phone number or e-mail address so that interested visitors can contact you. If you are a retailer, consider putting photographs of your products online, even if you´re not ready to let people to order your wares over the Internet.

Direct Mail
Direct mail results depend largely upon how much you´re willing to spend on finding your target market and delivering quality materials to them. The per-customer cost is much higher than you´ll pay for print ads, but if you create a finely tuned list of recipients, you will reach more highly qualified prospects. Few small firms are qualified to do their own direct mailings, so find a reliable specialist to do the work for you. Interview at least three or four mailing list vendors before you commit your money to a direct mail campaign.

Yellow Pages
Most ads get turned into fishwrap within days, but consumers hang onto the yellow pages all year. Remember to cross-reference your listing. If you do yard work, for instance, list your business under landscaping, maintenance and home improvements. You want your ad to stand out, so consider springing for a larger ad or perhaps even hiring someone to design it.

Public Service.
This is a great chance to do well by doing good. Sponsor the Special Olympics http://www.specialolympics.org or participate in the annual Rotary Club http://www.rotary.org Christmas Tree sale in your area. Donate your product to local charities or speak to students at area schools about your business. All of these are terrific ways to position your company in a positive light in your community.

Games and Premiums.
Periodic prize drawings can help create interest in a retail store or other business.

Promotional materials like T-shirts, coffee mugs or pens emblazoned with your logo also help spread the word.

Every day, you’re inundated with hundreds advertising messages. If you’re like most people, you’re spending huge amounts of energy just trying to block out those message.

Now, turn this issue around and ask yourself: “How do I get my message across when most people are trying hard to dismiss it?” The answer is in your USP – your Unique Selling Proposition.

USP Defined

The concept of “USP” is credited to Rosser Reeves, chairman of the Ted Bates & Co. advertising agency in the 1950s. He was one of the first to develop a technique for communicating in an overcrowded marketplace. His definition of what makes a USP holds true today:

• All advertising must make a proposition to the customer: Buy this, and you will receive a specified benefit.
• The proposition must be unique; something competitors cannot claim, or have not chosen to emphasize in their promotions.
• The proposition must be so compelling that it motivates individuals to act.

USP is nearly synonymous with positioning, and is integrally related to branding strategy. These concepts share a common focus – making a specific offering unique and desirable to a specific audience.

Why it works. USP works because of a simple fact of cognitive behavior. One of the ways the human mind handles the barrage of advertising it receives is to pick something to believe, then hold that notion until forced to change. Snap judgments become permanent beliefs, since it is uncomfortable and difficult to change convictions once formed. The mind tends to filter out new information that doesn’t support already held beliefs. This attribute of the mind, called “anchoring,” explains why USP is an effective strategy.

Better to be first. The easiest way into a person’s memory is to be first. In the mind, second is not a unique position – it’s merely the start of “the rest of the pack.” The mind can remember some levels beyond “first” and “other,” but divisions quickly become fuzzy among the also-rans.

Because of the “anchoring” tendency, being first is better, even if being first is not logically important.

Developing your USP is the art of choosing and communicating a dimension in which you can make a compelling claim to be first – and therefore, in the marvelously illogical mind, best.

Components of USP
To find your USP, answer these three questions:
1. What benefit is unique to your offering, and what is the basis of this claim?
2. Who is the target market for whom this benefit is of compelling interest?
3. What USP has been claimed by significant competitors for this target market?

Creating a USP is a matter of balancing these components, to describe a position you will hold in the target market’s minds that differentiates you from your competition. Let’s consider each of the components.

Your unique benefit. Before a purchase is likely to happen, a magical act of transformation must take place: Features must be turned into benefits. A feature is anything you have designed into the product or service. A benefit is what the customer gets out of it. A feature may be useful, but it is not of compelling interest in and of itself. A benefit is a solution to a problem, a fulfillment of a desire.

Even if you can’t find a completely unique feature to promote, search for one that other competitors have overlooked. When you find it, you’ve got the “U” for your USP.

The target market. To understand what will be compelling to your target market, you must know what these consumers value. Study what they buy, and how they make their purchase decisions. Consider your potential customers in terms of their demographics, lifestyle and purchase characteristics.

Your goal is to match the benefit you promote to the needs and issues customers care about.

Competitors. Since it’s often better to be first than best, it’s important to know what beliefs the target market now holds about you and about your competitors. What might research tell you? Remember that competition can come from direct or indirect sources. For example, while all publishers of how-to books are direct competitors to the Dummies books, indirect competition also comes into play from how-to courses and seminars.

It is difficult and expensive to challenge a competitor for a position already occupied, because of the “anchoring” phenomenon. When you know your competitors’ positions, you can choose to avoid direct challenges and instead carve out your own niche, where you can be both first and best.

Finding your “first”
If I walked up to you on Main Street and asked you to name three local bookstores, the one you mentioned first would likely be your favorite. If I asked you why you named it first, you could probably rattle off a reason. What you’re doing is communicating that bookstore’s USP. The fact that you know it shows they’ve focused their advertising to get their name and USP into your mind.

If your product or service has obvious and desirable points of difference from your competitors’, your USP need only emphasize that key point of difference. “But we’re all pretty much the same,” you say? There must be a compelling benefit implicit in your offering, if not necessarily your product. Even marketers of commodity products find ways to establish a USP.

Consider your strengths and your competitors’ weaknesses. Where is there an opening that you can claim?

Some common attributes around which the USP can be created are:
· Quality
· Selection
· Fashion/styling
· Price
· Service
· Location
Challenged?

Consider these strategies for uncovering a unique benefit:
1. Against a competitor or category. Remember the rental car giants Avis vs. Hertz? Avis’ “We’re No.

2. We try harder” turned a disadvantage into a memorable emphasis on service. When soft-drink leaders Coke and Seven-Up butted heads, Seven-Up promoted its “Un-cola” status to set itself apart from the whole category of cola beverages.

2. Reposition the competition. Make your competition the villain, rather than the benchmark of good performance. When Tylenol took on conventional aspirin, it did so with ads that proclaimed, “Aspirin can irritate the stomach lining…. Fortunately, there is Tylenol.”

3. Focus on the problem. All photocopiers do pretty much the same thing – make copies. But the latest technological enhancement is an internal modem that can place a service call, even if the copier is unattended when it breaks down. Dealers for the enhanced copier stand out from their competitors by focusing on the problem of downtime.

4. Better value. When other products deliver the same benefit as your offering, then something other than product features must set yours apart as the better value. Your convenient location, or extended warranty, or free home delivery, or lower price point may be your USP.

5. Users and usage. If the “80/20″ rule of thumb holds true, it’s likely that 80% of your business comes from the 20% who are your best customers. What are these people like? Dramatize their loyalty to your offering, and you will attract others like them. Consider using a high-profile spokesperson from this group of loyalists to get your message across.

By now you should be getting a clear idea how to give your offering a memorable USP. If you still feel like you’re in the dark, create a list of the features of your product or service. Then, rank them in order of importance as you think your best customers would rank them. Look for benefits associated with the top-ranked features. Have you perhaps heard customers comment on this feature? What got them excited about it?

How to use your USP
Once you know your USP, use it to inspire your creative approach. Incorporate it into every advertising message you publish and every marketing move you plan. Integrate your USP with your branding strategy.

The following article contains a number of questions and tips designed to get your web project off the ground and on the right footing.

GETTING STARTED

Background:

1. What is the nature of your business?

2. Who is your target audience?

Message:

1. What goals does your company intend to reach with a new web site?

a. Informative online brochure.

b. Business processing tool – accept monies – gather information.

c. Online store – e-commerce.

Perception:

1. Use adjectives to describe how you want your site to be perceived by the user. (Ex: conservative, progressive, friendly, formal, service-oriented, professional etc.)

2. How is your company currently perceived? Do you wish to carry through the same kind of message through your web site? (Ex: same type of wording as on your print work, color theme, logo, etc.

3. What web sites do you find compelling? What do you find the most interesting about these sites, look, layout, services, forms ease of use.

4. Are there other web sites you’ve seen that have functionality that you would like to have on your web site?

Style:

1. Do you have company colors or a color scheme you want us to use or that you prefer?

2. Describe any visual elements or styles that can be utilized from existing marketing materials or collateral.

3. If we are providing graphics, what style would you like them to be in: photography, illustration, cartoon,  etc:

4. Do you already have a site layout or look in mind ?

Content:

1. Will this site use existing content: If not, will you be creating content in-house or using an outside provider or copywriter?

2. What is the basic structure of the content, and how is it organized?

3. Will you need to request any sensitive information on your site? (ss numbers credit, etc)

If so, you will need to acquire a security certificate.

Commerce Sites:

1. How many products or services do you plan to sell on your web site?

Will these change often?

2. Do your products have any variations? If so, do they apply to all the products?

List the variations, or packages.

3. What are your payment methods? List them:

4. Are there any special pricing rules we need to know about?

5. Will you be accepting credit cards? List them:

6. Do you need online credit card authorization (cybercash or ATS)?

7. Do you want to accept checks or money orders?

Marketing / Updating:

1. What are your short-term marketing goals? (in the next two years)

2. How will this web site help to meet your goals:

3. Do you have an existing or planned marketing strategy in mind to promote this site?

If so please describe:

4. What do you feel is your number one business problem? (Ex: change image, increase customers,  promote company, etc.) List them:

5. Do you have a hosting service in mind? Are you going to need secure service? Do you own your own domain name? (Ex: mybusiness.com)

6. What methods of distributing the URL already exist within the company? (Ex: business cards, flyers, brochures, sales reps.)

7. Do you intend on keeping the site updated: If so, how often? Who is responsible for updating and providing content?

8. What are your budget limitations? Can this project be broken in a phased manner to help you meet your goals?

Technical Issues:

1. Who is going to maintain your site ? In house / Outsource

2 .Some of the latest technologies are not fully backward compatible or require plug ins, would this be an issue ?

3. Who is going to make the decisions as to the look/content/technical choices ?

4. Where are you going to house or host your website?

Search Engine Optimization is much more than putting a few keywords into your meta tags. Even though many of the major search engines are converting to a pay to play model and there is a lag time involved in websites showing up organically for relevant topics, in the long run optimizing your website for organic search traffic will pay off with highly targeted traffic.

As your site grows in perceived value a well optimized site will rise organically in the search engine rankings. The perceived value of a site is  determined by, site age, quality of in bound links and the depth of focused content related to keywords.

Optimizing your website is an ongoing process and not a one shot deal. Search Engines are constantly changing their algorithms and your competition is adding relevant content, links and keywords. Staying competitive in the search results requires patience and persistence.

The following are the basic optimization steps you should take to prepare your website for the major search engines and directories:

• Research your industry and locate the current top ten competing sites then analyze these sites for the following: a. Keyword density in the title, descriptions and content of the pages.
  b. Keyword placement (order) in their meta tags.
• The frequency of searches done on major search engines daily for the major terms used in your industry.
• Keyword density on the face of you document compared to the keywords in your meta tags.
• Research for less competitive keyword strings to maximize your placement on a smaller playing field
• Word count and relevancy of on page text compared to keyword targets.
• Page structure and code for search engine robot readability and load speed
• Development of link structure both internal and external to maximize keywords

Optimizing your website further involves:

• Creating your meta tags, text and text location on your pages for top placement
• On page content editing, and code revisions for keyword placement and search engine robot reading ease
• Hand submitting your site to search engines and directories.
• A proactive link campaign to industry, content or complementary topic websites.

Big No No’s in search engine optimization – Over optimizing can hurt you

• Keyword stuffing in description tags and page titles
• Placing hidden text in the page background full of keyword phrases
• Over use of keywords in alt tags behind images
• Nonsense sounding sentences constructed of repetitive keywords
• Mirror or gateway sites with identical content to main website.
• Over submitting your pages for review to search engines

We hope that this basic article on search engine optimization and the beginning steps to take will help you understand some of the efforts that are involved including optimization tricks to avoid.

The Media Collective specializes in Search Engine Optimization strategies contact us today for a site review.

by Scott Stratten, President of Un-Marketing

Writing articles are not only one of the main techniques of Marketing and PR, they can pay off years down the road. When you write a quality article, with a “Pull & Stay” byline (explained below), it gets passed on to people exponentially. One person passes it to three people, who pass it to 5 etc…

However, the hardest part about this wonderful article is writing it in the first place! What’s the topic? Where do I begin? Nothing quite like suffering from writer’s block when you don’t even consider yourself a writer!

One of the easiest methods I’ve used to get over it is to create the “Top 10″ list article. Pick the need you fill, the problem you solve and write an article that would be similar to advice you would give a client. For example, when I created my Un-Marketing Teleseminar, I started with a Top

Seven list of ways to market your business without spending money:

1. Good Websites

2. Quality Newsletters

3. Helpful Articles

4. Message boards

5. Networking Events

6. Word-of-mouth

7. Referrals

This list got me over the “block” I had and broke it down to seven manageable sections. If I were to write an article on Un-Marketing (which I am now….. Well a book actually I can use this list.

What is your Top 10 list that people would find useful?

If you’re an accountant, why not “Top 10 Ways to get your taxes done before the deadline” or if you’re a designer “The Top 10 Website Design Mistakes that can cost your business $$$”. All of these types of lists position you as an expert on the topic. The local newspapers and website/newsletters publishers love them because they are short and sweet and have no fluff and bring useful information to their reader base.

In you closing paragraph include a good “Pull & Stay” byline meaning you say who you are, company name, and something that requests the reader to pursue further action for example: signing up for you newsletter, call for more information or pass this along to a friend.

In today’s world people have less time to sit and listen to your 10 minute business dissertation. With increased financial pressures and stress you need to insure your message hits it point and makes a big impression on your target market quickly and effortlessly.

Do you have that time to spend on uninterested targets when you can qualify interest in 30 seconds or less and save yourself 9.5 minutes, (add that up over a year period). If they nibble, after your 30 second promo, then additional time will be well spent with a qualified lead.

Not only does this theory work for person to person contact but it also applies to all of your marketing collateral, including your web site.

A common web user behavior is to scan pages quickly so keep your main web page information brief with the option to view further in depth information if they so choose.

Give them the web elevator pitch:

Basically, utilize your main pages as a book index, the user can quickly see what is in each chapter

If your initial web elevator pitch was successful then they will be able to navigate to the information they were looking for quickly without having to guess where the information they are looking for is located.

Keep the “Say It Quick” theory in mind with all your business and marketing collateral.

As you can also see all the main pages of The Media Collective have the elevator pitch

Here is the basic’s on the “Elevator Pitch”

It happens almost every day. Someone asks you ‘what do you do?’

Depending on who is asking the question, the answer you give could be your ticket to fame and fortune.

Typically you have 30 seconds or less to describe your business or product in a way that will make the listener want to know more and perhaps seek you our for your product or service. (this time is even less on web sites)

Speak about your business or product (or what you do), in 30 seconds or less, in a way that makes the listener (or reader) want to know more.

Did you give a polished intriguing presentation, or did you stumble and quickly run out of words?

Polish your elevator pitch, and next time the opportunity arises you will be amazed at the positive response you will get.

Here is a Example Elevator pitch that we use.

Hi I’m Sally Smith, with The Media Collective

I specialize in web site design, internet marketing and the development of, across all media, marketing collateral, plans and advertising strategies.

I can help you plant the seeds that will yield your company brand recognition, increased sales, and productive communication with your clients, prospects and employees.

Would you like to, increase your sales , brand awarness and customer loyality?

Please call me (hand them your card) for a free consultation. That’s it pure and simple.

To be successful in traditional and internet marketing take the time to define where your market is, who it is and how they want to be communicated to.

Prior to beginning your marketing and advertising campaign it is essential that you identify your marketing targets. This step enables you to find and maximize your opportunity’s to reach qualified prospects and increases your likelihood of successful contact and conversion.

By defining your marketing target it gives you the information needed to focus on the buyers that are interested in what you have to offer. This can save you both time and money.

There are three prime areas that you must identify when it comes to developing your marketing strategy:

• Your Target Market

• Your Buying or Conversion Target

• Your Communication Target

Understanding how these components work together will be the ground work for the development of both a successful traditional and an Internet marketing campaign.

• Your target market is who you aim your marketing efforts to. This is the group that you want to sell your products or services to. They have an interest in what it is that you have to offer. A target market can be broken down into segments that can include demographics, psycho graphics, income levels, and age levels.
• Your buying target is the group of individuals or businesses within your defined target market that needs your product or service and can actually afford to purchase it.
• Your communication that you use to target this market is referred to as your communication target. It is the different methods or styles that you will use to reach your defined target market or audience. This aspect involves understanding, your target markets interests, what they read, where they go for information, buzz words and the lingo they use to communicate. The messaging that you send through your communication target can be presented both formally or informally through traditional mediums or via internet or other communication technologies.

Each aspect of defining your marketing target is equally important and all the pieces must carefully interlock and work together like a well oiled machine. By identifying and knowing who your target is, you will develop and deploy a cost effective marketing program that will bring in new customers, create buzz and most importantly help you convert prospects into buyers.

Organization is really the mainstay of effective design. First, you need to know what point you’re trying to make. Whether it’s a newsletter or an ad, if you don’t know the main theme you want to get across, you’ll be designing things forever trying to get where you want to go by trial and error.

Try to sum up your main point in a few brief words, or at least one sentence. Then build the basis of your entire design, including and sub points you want to make, in the same way you organize the points you want to cover in a presentation or a group discussion. Think of a good ad design as a great piece of artwork, expressive and able to relate a little bit to almost everyone. That’s where your main point helps your focus. Then, add in all the little sub points you also want to make, and work them in according to their order of importance.

Remember, not everyone will pick up everything you put in an ad or design. So keep the points simple, cover just a few things, and cover them in the order of most importance.

Like art, a good design is very detail oriented, but just like an exceptional piece of art, an exceptional design only puts in exactly what it needs and nothing more. Intricate detail is always important, just remember that good detail adds to the overall effect, it never takes away from it. If you have too many details, the reader doesn’t know where to look first.

A good design helps the reader to focus and understand what you’re telling them. If you’re not sure that a point should be made, it probably shouldn’t. When you keep your designs simple, and follow a few basic rules, you’ll increase your reader’s ability to follow what you’re saying 100%.

Also see related article: “Say It Quick”

Contact The Media Collective