by Wikus Engelbrecht - GraphicMail Marketing Team
20. ottobre 2009 03:36
Integrate your communication channels - from blog to social network and email marketing
You've created a great email campaign. At least you think it rocks - the images are well balanced against the text, your teasers are irresistible and you have even personalized your email newsletter. You also have your opt-in lists set up. It's all ready to go. But just before you hit that send button - pause. Do you know that you can publish your information using different methods? With GraphicMail, not only can you hit that send button and send newsletters to eager email subscribers, but you can also publish your information via an RSS feed, SMS/ text and a microsite.
Let's start off with the coolest toy - RSS and our new FeedMail feature
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It allows internet users to "subscribe" to websites that provide RSS "feeds". The RSS feeds provide a list of content, a brief description, and a link to the webpage with the full article. For example, in addition to reading the news headlines via email, you can read the latest news via web browser bookmarks or through an RSS reader.
How using an RSS feed benefits you
By using RSS, you can re-purpose (or "syndicate") your email content via a second medium. This gives your audience another way to receive your message and provides you with an additional route to reach readers. RSS is a great complement to your email marketing program. Also, RSS is filtered through the web, thus ensuring seamless (and trackable) delivery to your subscribers. Create a "feed", link and promote it on your site, and you're well on your way towards creating a new communication channel with your audience.
No time to send email newsletters? Send an RSS message directly to someone's inbox - FeedMail is here!
So you might already be blogging away, but you don't have time to create and send out an email newsletter. You know that you would increase your readership if you could also use the email channel.
After all, email marketing is still the most widely used, high-yield medium marketing communication channel. Also, you would like to push your content to the people who do not have time to read the feeds. GraphicMail's FeedMail feature helps you easily publish any feed, like your blog, to an email newsletter and send it to your readers on a scheduled basis.
The benefits of using this tool include a choice of templates (or you can use your own), access to all of GraphicMail's open and click tracking; and the list management tools which manage subscriptions and bounces.
But the tool is more powerful than that because RSS feeds are not just blogs. They can be event calendar services, notifications of when products are in stock; and they can be feeds from social sites like Facebook or Twitter.
By sending your RSS feed out using GraphicMail you'll get our reporting tools which will enhance your understanding of your readers interests.
There's another cool toy. Some call it the thumb war.
With 1 in 3 people globally owning a mobile phone - SMS provides the ideal route to reach the unwired, at any time, anywhere. GraphicMail's SMS gateway connectivity offers you access to a secure, dependable, high capacity SMS messaging system.
Connect with your audience via SMS/ texting. There are basically two options of how you can publish your information via SMS/ texting. You can use SMS as a standalone tool to send links to your latest newsletter/blog and to alert subscribers about an email newsletter that has just been published to their email inbox. Or, when sending text-messages (SMS), you can exclude recipients that have already received your newsletter or promotion via email, saving money by using the more cost-effective email route for sends whenever possible.
Publish your email campaign to a Microsite
Hang on. How does a Microsite differ from your main website? The main website generally provides an overview of all features, products and services that your company provides, while a Microsite offers an easy way for you to store past newsletter content online, accessible as web pages. This way you are able to provide consumers with desired, very targeted and specific information.
How does publishing to a Microsite benefit you?
- Your archived newsletters often contain a wealth of information, which new subscribers have missed out on. Owning a microsite will give each subscriber access to useful information.
- If the Microsite is being used to promote a product or to update a company event or private function, you can encourage subscribers to bookmark the site. This will encourage them to come back and visit to get the most up-to-date information.
- If you have Google Analytics enabled you can view click-through rates and reach prospective clients. The more time that is spent on your site allows for more opportunity to track and obtain your clients individual interests.
- Your Microsite can be optimized for search engines. Other websites are able to link to your website, and links pointing to your website boost your search engine traffic.
Okay. You can now hit that send button.
