Why email? Now more than ever? Because it makes you money!!

We continue to focus on delivering and growing email campaigns with our customers. The importance of email is more and more obvious in an economic downturn as we are experiencing because only tactics and approaches that deliver are growing as opposed to being cut. The following are several key take aways from a recent Whitepaper from our email partner Exact Target.

Perhaps no drum has been beaten as loud and proud in email marketing circles as the Direct Marketing

Association’s annual finding that email delivers the highest return-on-investment (ROI) of any directmarketing tactic—online or off.5 In its 2008 survey, the DMA found that email generated $45.06 for every dollar spent. That’s an ROI of over two times that of other online marketing tactics surveyed and over six times that of catalog direct marketing.

So, according to the DMA, email delivers the most bang for your buck. As Ken Magill from Direct Magazine recently said, “[W]hile e-mail’s ROI far outpaces every other
channel, spending on it lags far behind, possibly because it remains primarily a retention vehicle and its deployment costs are far lower than other channels.”
Savvy email marketers understand that email deployment is only a small part of the investment required to do email right. The other key components for success are:

Personnel: Hiring and retaining knowledgeable, committed email marketing experts who are in it to build long-term results rather than pad their resumes with short-term gains.

Data Integration: Investing time and personnel in a strategy that brings website, point-of-sale, CRM, and response data together in a way that can be leveraged to make all email and one-to-one customer interactions more relevant, personal, and timely.

With data integration in place, your company will be able to introduce increasing levels of segmentation and personalization into your email marketing program. This effort will translate into email capable of honoring what we call “The Four Rights:”

  • The right message
  • Sent to the right person
  • At the right time
  • Through the right channel

    In explaining this to your C-Suite, it is imperative that you demonstrate that personalization is about far more than beginning your email with, “Dear [Subscriber].” It is about using the information your subscribers share with you, combining it with data you know about them from point of sale, CRM systems, and previous online interactions, and then delivering content that actually aligns with their needs and interests.

    Examples include:
  • Delivering account status information
  • Tailoring product content inclusions based on predictive or behavioral modeling
  • Populating email content based on abandoned cart contents or site search and browsing history
  • Moving individual subscribers to a less frequent email schedule based on explicit subscriber requests or automated response analysis

    For a copy of the whitepaper or more information on our email services contact Siewierski Consulting at 303.554.0222.
  • Loveland Ski Area, More terrain and $30 lift tickets

    The snow has not been huge but is continuing to happen in the mountains of Colorado and the western Rockies on a regular basis combined with great snow making conditions. Look for more and more resort openings and expanded terrain.

    This just in from our friends at Loveland Ski Area"

    Chair 2 Set to Open this Friday!

    Not only is there snow in the forecast, but Chair 2 will be opening this Friday, November 13th, just in time for the weekend! The snow has been falling slowly but steadily all week, and when combined with our world class snowmaking, we are getting more terrain open very quickly. The weather forecast is looking good with the chance for several inches in time for the weekend. It's no wonder Loveland is the choice for great early season skiing and riding. Come check out what everyone is talking about!

    Loveland Valley
    and Ski & Ride School Open November 21st

    The Loveland Valley, our separate beginners area, and the Loveland Ski & Ride School open next Friday, November 21st. The Ski & Ride School offers a wide variety of programs for all skill levels and disciplines. We are still offering our popular 3 Class Pass program; take three lessons packages and receive a season pass upon completion, restrictions apply. Check out the details for the 3 Class Pass and all of The Ski & Ride School's great programs online.

    Mountain Sports Club members are skiing and riding for $30 a day right now at Loveland. That is a $14 daily discount on your lift tickets. Join now and save all season long on lift tickets, gear, lodging travel and more. Half off early season special only $14.95, use promotion code pre08 to redeem offer through November 15.

    Blogs & When to email

    The debate rages on as more and more business is conducted trough blogs. With Q4 and an economic downturn, the raging questions of where to place resources is underway. We believe and continue to see tremendous opportunity in blogs for b to c and b to b efforts.

    Here is a recent headline in the topic: Blogs are Pervasive and Part of Our Daily Lives

    "There have been a number of studies aimed at understanding the
    size of the Blogosphere, yielding widely disparate estimates of
    both the number of blogs and blog readership. All studies agree,
    however, that blogs are a global phenomenon that has hit the
    mainstream.

    http://bestdirectory.com/Recommends/BloggingBP

    The reported numbers vary but agree that blogs are here to stay" is the proclamation.

    comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)
    Blogs: 77.7 Mil unique visitors in the US
    Facebook: 41.0 Mil | MySpace 75.1 Mil
    Total internet audience 188.9 Mil

    eMarketer (May 2008)
    94.1 Mil US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)
    22.6 Mil US bloggers in 2007 (12%)

    Universal McCann (March 2008)
    184 Mil WW have started a blog | 26.4 Mil US
    346 Mil WW read blogs | 60.3 Mil US
    77% of active Internet users read blogs - Now that is a market I want a piece of. Brand loyalties are just being established.

    After blogs our next most frequently asked questions are related to email. How much, when and what to whom are the questions.

    So if you don't have the cash flow or you're just sick of spending your hard earned money on Google Adwords or other paid advertising then you need to look seriously at this affordable
    and effective blogging and an email blueprint.

    On the question of the following, "Emails sends. When is best. Key to know for Q4" this is a piece we found interesting and we plan to test with clients in the coming weeks.

    So if you don't have the cash flow or you're just sick of spending your hard earned money on Google Adwords or other paid advertising then you need to look seriously at this affordable
    and effective blogging and an email blueprint.

    Sunday-night anxiety. It's that nervous feeling that creeps up on you when you can picture all the work piled up on your desk for Monday morning. Fortunately or not, depending on how you look at it, people seem to be channeling that anxiety into action by using Sundays to check their e-mail before the official start to the work week.

    The newest e-mail metrics report from MailerMailer confirms this new trend: e-mails sent on Sundays garner the highest open rates. From looking in my own inbox, I can only guess that the higher Sunday open rates are due to the lower overall e-mail volume. Typically, I don't get a lot of work-related e-mail on Sundays (yet!). If I were to check my e-mail on Sundays, which I try to refrain from doing, I would probably have more time to do online shopping.

    Call us or email us for assistance in your blogging, social network, email and online strategies.

    The eve of the election, Social networks and twittering away...

    As the country engages in the last rites of this presidential election we have one thing to say to
    everyone. Go vote. Make your voice be heard as it does and can make a difference. We are fortunate to live in the American democracy.

    As we continue to spend more time with various social network applications for our businesses and those of clients here are some interesting observations and morsels uncovered today.

    Guy Kawasaki's use of Twitter is a great living example of how the new Twitter phenomena is driving the success of his online property alltop.com.

    This is a great interview with Guy Kawasaki on his efforts and project:

    http://www.vator.tv/news/show/2008-11-02-guy-kawasaki-on-why-twitter-is-key-to-alltop

    We continue to be pleasantly pleased with the combined effort of our blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Linked In, Twitter and 2Dogs effort. The combined strength we are seeing continues further time and resource commitment. Observation: it is not one silver bullet but a synergistic strength to reach the market very effectively. It needs to be ongoing and thought out. This entire space allows lots of testing and quick response.

    I have been using Twitter for the last couple of weeks and keep finding great resources and making connections. Very surprised. Let's share tweets...

    For more detail on Digital Marketing solutions and support contact us at www.Siewierski.com. be sure to follow and join us at MySpace, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.

    Tips and Concerns for Holiday Shopping and Online Marketing

    As the election nears and everyone is looking and hoping that bottom has been found in the marketplace we find it imperative to keep topics alive to help you make the right decisions to keep your business thriving.

    One question we are asked everyday is, "Will online sales continue to grow in the face of the economic downturn?" If so how much and will it be across the board. Our expectation is that online sales will be up, but there will be winner and losers. Not everyone will show an increase even past stars may very well stumble.

    The word form the experts varies. Here is one analysis that states "Good but not great"

    http://blog.shop.org/2008/10/24/holiday-08-good-but-not-great/

    Now on the email front with increase cost of direct mail more and more marketers are using email more often. The tendency is to send more Q4. Will this strategy help or hurt? What are the costs long terms vs short term gain? See this analysis. While during the holiday stretch there is more tolerance for increased frequency, one must segment, personalize and target. Mass batch and blast over time erodes your brand and business loyalty. This is a time to stand out and spend time making sure your campaigns have relevance and speak to the needs and wants of your audience.

    http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2008-10-24-online-discounts_N.htm

    Email, video & Social networks

    With Social networks and video still all the rage, where does email fit? As we have proposed to
    clients, use email to drive customers to video and social networks. Coordinate all three elements together in a synchronized fashion to truly drive results and interactivity. Contests and then celebration of the winners and their user generated content that engages and tells your story for you will ensure success on all three fronts and a larger aggregate share of market and brand awareness.

    http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3631272

    Tell us your thoughts and let us know what is working for you.


    October 28, 2008