Archive for the ‘E-Mail’ Category

Tips For Running An Effective Email Marketing Campaign



It seems that what emerged as sound email principles and etiquette apply just as well to email marketing. But its not just email marketing… it’s effective email marketing.

Where previously formal letters and faxes used to be the way to communicate with clients and potential customers, the shift to the ’softcopy’ world of the Web has meant that this same type of communication would have to happen in a format pertinent to this new venue. Email and email marketing asserted itself as the prime method of contact then. From brochures to customer support, everything can now take place through a few types on the keyboard and few clicks of the mouse.

However, there still is a protocol and a proper manner for effective email marketing:

- Be clear

Email is a shortened form of communication. There is no space for flowery and overtly ego-soothing language. Basic courtesy applies, like proper greetings and such, but on the whole, emails should be short and clear. Get to the point as soon as possible. Let your recipient know what is expected of him, what he stands to gain through this communication, and how he can gain it (for example, what he has to do, such as be within the first hundred to visit a site and thus earn a discount)

- Offer value, not information

Provide incentive for the email reader to read and click through. Add value to your communication. Attract and seduce. Don’t be surprised a boring, hum-drum email is deleted as soon as the recipient reads the first few lines. Entice, and do not provide too much information in the content. The website is there for this purpose. The email is for communication.

- Prefer text

Graphics take long to load and often emails with graphics and attachments are deleted immediately or go to a junk mail folder.

- Label your images if you use them.

Some people get only the text in an email in their browser. If you include graphics but fail to label them, the whole message may not make sense or the reader may not be enticed. Providing labels lets him know what stands at such a place in the message.

- Use a hook

You should aim to catch the attention of your reader from the first line itself. A good hook works then. Its message should be relevant and clear so that the customer can then immediately decide to read on or not. Remember that a reader is won through the first few lines itself.

- Support the hook

In the body of your email, use relevant information to support your hook and its message. However, be concise, as this isn’t an opportunity for an info dump. Your information should simply reinforce your hook.

- Be short and concise

Readers won’t read every word that is down in an email. They usually scan the thing in whole. Use the space you have succinctly to maximize the opportunity to grasp the reader.

- Provide the most important information first

Make efficient use of the top space of your email. Many readers read email through a preview pane. The top third of your email will be displayed in this pane, and based on this information, a reader may decide to read the full or delete the message already.

- Use a legible and easy to grasp format

- Arrange your text in a manner that is pleasant to the eye.

- Delineate text and paragraphs using hyphens or lines.

- Use legible font such as Georgia and Verdana in a readable size.

- Use bullets and lists to more clearly define your message so it can be grasped at first glance.

- Use the active voice

The active voice ‘involves’ the reader in the message and pushes him to react.

- Know your audience

And write accordingly with appropriate wording and information.

- Avoid URLs that are too long

Such addresses in emails can be difficult to click as they lose their link when they are ‘broken’ onto 2 or more lines.

Aim to have a URL on its own line. If needed, shrink the text for the link. Or you can offer the address without a hyperlink but as a ‘copy and paste’ option.

- Avoid caps and excessive use of punctuation marks

That’s basic email etiquette, which carries forward into your business communication.

- Offer an option to unsubscribe

Always offer a ‘way out’ for your recipients. An unsubscribe link is expected to be seen at the bottom of the email.

Providing your recipient with the option to continue receiving emails or to terminate the reception shows caring and courtesy to the reader.

Also ensure that an unsubscription is effective immediately.

- Easy to subscribe as well

Make it easy to subscribe as well. Provide links and offer a way to your guest book or how to provide comments and feedback. This shows consideration on your behalf.

It is also a good idea to let your readers know that they are free to forward the email as well.

- Make it easy to change subscription address

This way, if a client or recipient changes his address, he can make sure the email follows as well.

- Make good use of your subject line

The headline of your message should go in the subject box, as this is the first glimpse recipients will have to your email. Use it judiciously to convey information.

- Address your recipients by their name

This shows consideration and a personal touch. You definitely win over more people through a personalized message than through an impersonal mass bundling.

- Avoid in holiday periods

This time is often holiday from emails too, so keep email marketing communications to the minimum too.

You could however send out a message with the holiday’s greetings and best wishes.

- Consistency with corporate design

Having the same kind of layout and formatting as your website and other business communication supports ensures that someone recognizes your email at first glance too.

Once you have found the right template/format, use it every time.

- An email address that says who you are

People are more apt to trust a message with a From line containing information about who you are and where you’re from. This will also prevent your email from being listed as spam and from ending in the junk email folder.

- The landing page should fit the email and the offer

Make sure you are leading your reader to the right destination through the links provided in the message.

People hate wasting their time, and if this happens even once, you stand the risk of losing credibility.

By tailoring your landing page for links, you also make better use of your website to further engage the customer’s interest.

- Motivate newsletter sign up with a freebie or bonus

Offer something in return as an incentive. This could win you a lot of new subscriptions.

- Have good multimedia if you are using it

If you are using audio or video, make sure they are of good quality and can be accessed easily.

- Reply to requests within 24 hours

This is basically common courtesy but it pays to be recalled. Ensuring prompt replies show you care and value your customers.

- Email should be service oriented, not marketing oriented as with paper

Your aim through email marketing is to inform and provide an ‘easy’ access to your company.

- Customize so it doesn’t look like spam

Make sure your message is unique in its content and format so it isn’t brushed off as spam.

- Offer user control if possible

Wherever possible, give your reader the opportunity to tailor your communications to him. People are most apt to listen to the information they have asked for.

- Provide contact information for you

Always provide a way of contacting you. The signature in emails is one of your greatest effective email marketing assets.

By making use of these email marke
ting tips, you should be able to create a successful and effective email marketing campaign.

Blackberry Vs LG Mobiles: the War of the Best



Blackberry is a wireless hand held device which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. Whereas LG mobiles are also called as T-mobiles which does not have much coverage as compared to a blackberry, which is a wireless e-mail device.

A Blackberry is primarily known for its ability to send and receive e-mail wherever it can access an atmosphere of wireless network. Some black berry devices don’t depend on mobile phone service coverage as they are WiFi compatible just like any other hand held device that are on the market place. The latest GSM Blackberry mobile phones have an Intel PXA901 312 MHz processor with 64 MB of flash memory. Blackberries are basically based on Qualcomm MSM6×00 chip sets that also include an ARM 9-based processor with GSM 900/1800 roaming.

LG mobiles are just like any other T-mobiles. They are long range-portable electronic device which uses a network of specialised base stations known as cell sites which enables communication. These mobiles also support many other additional features such as SMS, text messaging, email, packet switching to access Internet and MMS for sending and receiving photos and videos. LG mobiles connect to a cellular network of base station which is then interconnected to the public switched telephone network.

Blackberry devices come with a QWERTY keyboard which uses the “Alt” key to enter numbers and special characters. It also uses an “Auto text” feature which is used for frequent words and easier input of special characters like umlauts. It has a proprietary multi tasking operating system which makes the heavy use of the thumb wheel. It also supports for MIDP1.0 and WAP1.2 which allows wireless synchronisation with Microsoft Exchange Server’s e-mail and calendar as well as with Lotus Domino’s e-mail.

Latest LG mobiles as well as Blackberry are wireless handheld devices which are used for communication. Therefore, just be smart and intelligent and buy these high-tech devices according to your needs and usage.

How Can You Trace a Gmail Email Account to the Owner



Copyright (c) 2008 Ed Opperman

When Gmail first jumped onto the web based e-mail scene a few years ago, its service was available only to those who had been invited to use the service. Now it is free to anyone who wishes to use it and it has become one of the most popular free web based e-mail services on the internet. This is due largely to its large storage space and extra features like POP3 access and chat. Of course, Gmail is also very attractive to cyber stalkers and like other web based e-mail services, is popular among those who use e-mail to send uninvited harassing or annoying messages to others.

If you have been receiving unwanted e-mail from a Gmail address, there are steps that you can take to find out who has been sending you the e-mail and get them to stop.

Your first step should be to use the reverse e-mail search offered by Gmail itself. This is because it is easier for Gmail to search its own e-mail records than it is to get them to reveal information to an outside source. If you are a Gmail account holder yourself you might also have more leverage than you would as an “outside” e-mail account holder. Try using Gmail’s reverse e-mail lookup system to see what kind of information you can uncover about the identity associated with the e-mail address that has been sending you unwanted e-mail.

If you don’t have much (or any) luck with the Gmail reverse e-mail search system, there are a lot of independent reverse e-mail search systems on the World Wide Web. A simple search with any of the major search engines will turn up plenty of different search systems in which you can look up the identity that has been assigned to the e-mail address that keeps turning up in your e-mail inbox. The key in this search is to be tenacious. Do not give up if you don’t find out who has been sending you unwanted e-mail with your first reverse e-mail search. One search service might have an easier time of accessing Gmail’s records than others.

If the e-mails feel particularly malicious you might consider hiring a professional to run a reverse e-mail search for you. Gmail is especially attractive to the cyber bully because Gmail will strip the senders IP information from the header. Thus the Internet stalker thinks that he cannot be identified from a header trace.

While it is true that the header information from a Gmail email is useless in tracing their identity. That does not mean that it is impossible to identify and locate the sender of a Gmail email.

Every time a person uses the Internet or signs up to an online service and enters their email address, they leave a footprint and that footprint can be tracked and traced back to the sender. The professional investigator has developed years of sources and resources in order to obtain this information that may be unavailable to the average person.

There is also something called the “deep web” and this information is not accessible by a simple goggle search but it is available to a seasoned investigator that has spent years developing methods to search these areas of the web.

So a Gmail account may be more difficult than the average reverse email search. It may even be too difficult for the average person to trace but It’s by no means impossible for a professional that specializes in email tracing