Email Marketing - Why It Works

by VENDIREX on 03/30/2015 - 11:38 am |

Tag: Internet Marketing

Obviously, everyone has an email address these days - and ‘snail mail’ for direct marketing efforts has been pretty much non-existent for some time. Though companies are in constant contact with clients, referrals, prospects and network associates, they don’t always take full advantage of these connections. Email Marketing Services will help you to turn your valuable time spent on developing business contacts into money in the bank.
 
Properly done, an email marketing campaign will allow you to learn a lot about the behavior of the audience you wish to target. It’s a numbers game - you want to achieve the highest amounts of delivered messages while making the most possible sales. Reporting aspects are vital, to ensure you have a correct a path toward improved success as you immerse yourself further into this sales tactic.
 
TYPES OF SERVICES
 
Using a Full Service Agency
 
Firms which provide full emailing marketing services offer complete handling of the entire process from beginning to end. They will have plenty of practice producing worthy content, and skills in avoiding a blacklist status (a problematic element in email marketing). Agencies will have developed relationships in various niche industries. Another advantage is that a full service provider can assist in formatting the emails and even do smaller test mailings, prior to your expending the funds for a full blown campaign.
 
Cost: Not inexpensive, this service can run into the thousands of dollars every month. However, the expertise and relationships of these providers will mean that you will hit your target more precisely and with greater frequency.
 
Purchasing Your Own Software
 
Buying your own in-house software is more suitable for larger firms who have their own servers. You will install the program and train your users, all while having complete control over how the list and campaigns are structured and maintained.  
 
Cost: No monthly fees. You will incur labor costs for your own employee to handle the process, licensing fees, and the price of the software (which can be amortized 3-5 years).
 
Caution: Since you are managing your own software, you must stay updated on the legalities of email regulations, while establishing and maintaining a good reputation with top ISPs. You need to obtain and maintain proper hardware and bandwidth.
 
Application Service Providers
 
Using ASPs is a quick and simple way for a small company to try out email marketing, and it is user-friendly. The software is hosted on the ASP’s servers, so you will login and load the contact data of your prospects, as well as the content you want to send out. The ASP sends out your message and manages the names list for you.
 
Cost: You will pay a monthly fee, dependent upon how extensive your address list is, and the total of emails sent each month.
 
Caution: You must provide your ...

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Choosing Your Direct Mail Services Ve...

by VENDIREX on 03/30/2015 - 11:35 am |

Tag: Mailing Equipment

The direct mail industry includes those vendors with a variety of experience levels, and who may specialize in specific niche areas. Essentially, if the Direct Mail Services vendor is full-service, this means they will handle the entire project for you - whether or not the whole process is done in-house. This encompasses addressing, labeling and presorting, design work and printing, and it is not uncommon that some of these tasks are outsourced under their control.
 
You may very well have your own list of business contacts and prospects, but remember that a direct mail campaign is also aimed at potential new customers. This is a specialty niche of its own, and direct mail vendors maintain lists of thousands of viable candidates, removing outdated and undeliverable addresses in the process. They are definitely the experts, and will have all the connections and licenses in place – allowing you to take advantage of their resourcefulness.
 
For instance, you will be able to select filters in order to target the audience you most want to reach. These filters may cost a bit more, but obviously it’s an expense well worth the price; filtering through demographics such as credit ratings, income, lifestyle and purchasing habits can greatly affect your results. Again, the vendor has already expended time and money to hone down the target market – why reinvent the wheel?
 
Compare pricing and services, and inquire as to how the Direct Mail Service maximizes their response rates. If one vendor is less expensive than the average, this could be risky. As with any business, when someone cuts corners to beat out the competition it’s not always the ‘deal’ of the century in the end. Any credible firm will do well by their clients, hoping for recurring business, but fly-by-night operators can make a lot of money by cheating tons of people one time. If the company is local, check out their facility and watch them in action - if not, ask to speak with a satisfied customer.
 
One way to save a bit of money is when your in-house staff is capable of designing and/or printing the materials to be mailed; then simply drop-ship them to the vendor’s location. This might also be a good idea if you tend to revise and review several times before any business collateral is approved. Repeated proofs can be costly through outsourced design companies or the mail services vendor, pushing the price way over what you originally were quoted.


 

Why Use Outbound Telemarketing?

by VENDIREX on 03/27/2015 - 11:34 am |

Tag: HR Software

As an advertising tool, Outbound Telemarketing Services work very well for smaller businesses with lower sales budgets. Outbound tasks would include making sales calls, upgrading existing orders and helping to add more retail business by soliciting appointments for your firm’s sales staff.  
Generally, you will provide them with a list of your current and prior clients, and names of any referred contacts. Call lists can also be acquired with specific targeted demographics, which allow the marketers to go after new leads. If the service has the same contact management software (CMS) as you do, it will make the process more transparent for you, as well as easier to load.
 
Advantages of Outsourcing
 
Whether you are going through a growth spurt, or dealing with a seasonal decrease in volume, outsourcing allows you to roll with the pace without it affecting your in-house staffing needs. Telemarketing service providers already have the manpower, hardware and economy of scale to operate at less of a cost than you do.
 
When you choose a telemarketing service with experience in your industry, or history with the type of campaign you are interested in running, you will also have the advantage of them having paved the way already. What works, what doesn’t? Those are costly trial and errors to do on your own.  
 
These vendors can not only create lists, but also design scripts and run tests as they manage your campaigns. Technology and reporting capabilities make it easy to track success patterns.
 
Factors for Choosing Your Vendor
 
Price is important, of course, and dependent upon your available budget. However, it’s not always best to take the lowest bid. Consider this as a partnership, not a hunt for a bargain deal. These folks are going to represent your image to potential customers, so it’s vital they not only do it right, but also do it very well.

Ask about the pay structure of the people who will be making the calls, and inquire as to the minimum requirements they must adhere to in order to be hired. Ask for the typical length of time their employees stay with the company; if 35% or more remain with their firm for three years or more, that’s a good minimum, and 50 percent is better.
Inquire as to what their training program consists of and whether they provide incentives, like promoting from within the ranks. Ideally, you will participate in the training, making certain the marketers understand your company’s vision and its product or services. If you can listen in to a few of the calls as the campaign begins, all the better.
 

Videos are The New Black

by VENDIREX on 03/20/2015 - 11:31 am |

Tag: Internet Marketing

Whether yours is an Internet-based business or a brick-and-mortar establishment with a website, videos are one of the best marketing tools for a firm today. They can be a useful SEO tool to help your website rank higher in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), but there are hundreds of ways Video Production can be utilized to gain the largest audience in your target market.

Though there are dozens of make-your-own-video tools populating cyberspace right now, where your image is concerned, a professional video is a must. Just because you can watch a tutorial and tape yourself talking to the screen, does not necessarily mean you are capable of creating a valuable marketing tool. If you wonder what more a video production service can provide just ask them - you’re sure to be amazed with all the innovative ideas, expertise and marketing advice they come back with!

Think about how much money and connections it would take to put yourself and your company on television or secure enough popular radio spots to gain new business! It would certainly run well into the thousands of dollars, and that’s if you can get a foot in the door in the first place.

The beauty of professionally produced videos is that you can place them - and take them - just about anywhere. A few ideas: add them to your website, upload them to a private-label YouTube channel, enclose them in your emails, create a membership site and gain followers, or use them as demo tools at trade shows and presentations. The possibilities are limitless, really they are.

We’ve discussed some of the shorter version videos in this post, but of course there are also the full blown extravaganza productions. With a full video crew, lighting, custom backdrops and several speakers or participants, you can create an amazing training tape or a documentary and use them to educate and tell your story. Visual is everything, and nothing does it as a video with you speaking about your own concepts with passion.