Internet Marketing Blog

In their effort to get better exposure for their company online, many companies will anoint the youngest (and obviously most “techy” staff member…) to set up their social networking/online presence.  The amateurs guide to posting your online presence “Playbook” usually developed by those who either have accounts, or know someone that does says that to be a successful online company in 2011 it is essential for your company to have:

1. Facebook Page
2. Twitter Account, WITH Tweets
3. Youtube Channel
4. Linked In
5. Blog
6. and coming soon, the 6^th pillar- Google+ (for business)

OK- by that measure you’re successful.  Now what? Most companies make the mistake of turning their message and online brand over to someone are young and seem to have played every PS3 / Xbox 360 game in existence- because they think by that virtue they understand how Social Networking works.  Well, some of that’s true (about 10% of it).  Anyone can set up a Facebook page or upload a YouTube Channel (and become a “viral” celebrity overnight…  see “Webcam 101 for Seniors”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcN08Tg3PWw)- but to sustain a long-term internet marketing program takes time to establish a strategy that will live past the initial push.  Anyone, given the right circumstances can attract a crowd; light yourself on fire and people will come to watch you burn- but after the flames diminish and there’s nothing left, the mob will disburse . Before the first login/password combination are compiled for your company to venture down this path careful consideration needs to be given to:

1. Study (and possibly rethink) your brand and message
2. Study your clients then go back to step “1”
3. Establish and rethink your strategy- is it consistent with “1”
4. Select the “right” person to establish your presence, not just a logical “able-body”

These are beginning steps to making sure you start off on the right foot for a long-term social networking strategy and not become a flash in the pan.  For this series of blog posts on Social Networking strategies I’ll dive more into ideas for developing a strategy based on segmenting your clients and prospective clients into categories and focusing on them, as well as how you can use Social Networking sites to develop your message and help with your SEO rating (with Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc…)- EVEN IF NO ONE EVER VISITS those sites. Next Blog in Series: “What are the essential components of  a successful Social Networking Strategy- and using that to drive SEO”

Email Marketing is a great way to remind existing customers about your business, drive traffic to your site, and to keep customer relationships fresh and healthy.  Today’s spam filters getting tougher on incoming email and email marketing services such as Constant Contact® are making guidelines for sending email more strict and less forgiving. Follow these five tips out of trouble and maximize the effectiveness of your email campaigns.

1) Clean Contact list – Only send email to people/customers who you have done business with or have opted into receiving your emails. Failing to do so can get you banned from email marketing providers and hurt your reputation with potential and existing customers.

2) Clear Straight to the Point Subject Line - A email subject line designed to lure the reader into opening the email might actually never reach that intended reader. Subject lines with a dozen exclamation marks, all caps,  or content that doesn’t match the body of the email likely won’t pass muster with most ISP’s (Internet Service Providers)  and could go straight to the spam/junk folder of the recipient.

3) Relevant Content – Know what your audience wants. Sending them content they have no desire to read or engage in could give them the wrong impression of what your company has to offer them. Find the niche they need and show them why they should choose you albeit a better price, quality, service or all three.

4) Professional Design – A professional designed email template catches the eye but is not overbearing. Like a well designed website it melds functionality with aesthetics. Some of the most effective email designs look just like the website or e-commerce store they are representing.  Remember to always make the follow through by the email recipient as easy as possible. This can be done with links to actual products, links to forms, easy to read 800 number, ect.

5) Handle Unsubscribe Requests Quickly - Removing unsubscribers from your email marketing lists promptly will keep you from being labeled a spammer and avoid the hassle of trying to get back into good straights with your email marketing service provider.

Email marketing is a great tool to actively engage customers and draw traffic to your website. These five tips are designed to keep your email marketing campaign efforts in the clear and maximize their effectiveness.

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When a customer sets up an account, purchases a product, changes their password, or registers for a newsletter at your Magento store they are automatically sent emails notifying and documenting the interaction/transaction. For first time installs it is paramount that you customize these emails so your customers are not sending emails to their customers with the default Magento logo and contact info. If you have ftp access and a HTML editor like Dreamweaver the process will go quicker but these tools are not absolutely necessary. The process to match the design of your  email templates from your Magento Store Design is a simple process and is laid out below.

A) With FTP you can locate these files at:

/httpdocs/app/locale/en_US/template/email
*don’t forget the sales folder also

-With your HTML editor do a mass find and place with the logo image and dummy contact info with your own.

B) If you don’t have FTP access or just completed step a,  log into your Magento admin panel and go to:

System—>Transactional Emails

-Add new template
-Select default template to load (I suggest going through all of them one at a time)
-Load template and edit contact info and dummy contact information if you haven’t done so yet. You can also customize the template to your liking here. Just be careful not to get rid of the critical Magento calls that control the dynamic content in the email (ex. {{htmlescape var=$customer.name}})
-Save template under new name (I recommend using the same name)
-make sure to preview all templates and format accordingly

C) Load your customized email templates in your Magento Admin Panel at:

System—>Configuration

-Go through the left nav options and add your new email template to associated areas

As always test the system and make sure everything is formatted correctly and you married the correct email template with the corresponding action.  If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.