Email marketing & mail shots Archives - Page 2 of 19

Your opinions, voice, uniqueness and AI

By Jim Connolly | April 25, 2023

Opportunity is knocking. It’s knocking loud and it’s knocking clear.

The best part? To benefit from this spectacular opportunity you just need to be yourself.

Allow me to explain.

It starts with a statement of fact: Your opinions are exactly that. They’re yours. They’re as specific to you as your unique blend of life experiences and lessons.

Conversely, artificial intelligence doesn’t have an opinion. Everything about its knowledge base is artificial.

Instead, AI is fed with masses of data. And it’s trained by groups of AI experts. One of the primary tasks of AI trainers, is to keep their AI as neutral to everyone as possible. And in seeking not to offend anyone, AI lacks even an artificial opinion.

In stark contrast

No person who has ever lived is neutral. Unlike AI, we not only have an opinion, we have countless opinions. This includes the opinions and feelings we have regarding the way we do business. And it impacts everything, including:

The business tactics we rule in or rule out.
The atmosphere we create for our clients or customers.
The way we sell or negotiate.
The value we place on our products or services.
The baseline quality of service or products we provide.
The type of staff we hire and the way we look after them.
The suppliers we choose.
The profile of customers we want to attract (and those we want to avoid).
The type of promises and guarantees we provide, etc., etc.

Your business, opinions, voice and uniqueness

Your opinions matter. They always have. They’re what give you your unique voice in the marketplace.

I firmly believe that today, and for the forseeable future, that uniqueness is a powerrful way, maybe the most powerful way, for your business to gain your biggest ever slice of the marketplace.

How?

A growing number of your competitors are switching to AI for their voice. For example, AI tools are creating and guiding their business plans; what to do and what to avoid. Chatbot apps are handling their frontline customer service. Chatbots are also guiding or shaping (and in many cases providing) their; newsletter content, blog posts, video / podcast scripts, advertising copy and social media interactions, etc. In short, everything that prospective clients or customers use in order to judge these businesses, is bland and lifeless.

I’m suggesting that you adopt a very different aproach to AI.

The most savvy business owners I know are also using AI. But the way they use it, excludes every area of their business that carries their DNA. Their opinions and their voice remain 100% human. It’s what guides their messaging, their priorities, their values, their commitment, their customer service and their willingness to go the extra mile. Their businesses have a pulse and personality. They are extremely easy to connect with. They are easy to relate to. And on a very human level, they’re easy to trust. Because they are human. And so is their brand. Not dull and lifeless like the previous example.

Very soon, you’ll be able to stand out and get noticed, in a way that wasn’t possible before. The opportunity is knocking. But only for those who choose to take notice of it.

Why lists dominate marketing. And why you should use them

By Jim Connolly | April 17, 2023

content marketing, list posts, listicles

Ever wondered why so many articles, videos and newsletters are based around the idea of a numbered list? It’s because lists are extremely popular. People love them. Today, I’m going to explain why, and how, you should incorporate lists in your content marketing.

Why then are lists so popular?

Lists promise ideas. Lots of ideas. And fast!

Lists promises a number of bite-sized ideas or suggestions. And quickly. So when we see “21 Business habits of highly successful people“, we’re not expecting an in-depth examination of 21 habitual characteristics of people who have achieved business success.

No.

We’re expecting lots of ideas. And we hope that at least one of those ideas will help us in some way. If it does, it will repay the 3 or 4 minutes we invested in reading it. That’s a good return for just a few minutes of our time.

Now, I have a question for you. Does your content marketing mix contain list-based content?

If not, I suggest you give it a try. Lists are perfect for sharing, which makes them ideal if you want to expand your reach on social networks. New readers who discover your work through list content, will then get the chance to see your more detailed work. Others will follow you on the social networks, where they see your lists shared. Many of my most shared blog posts are lists.

Lists can also be very powerful, when it comes to increasing your email marketing open rates. Email marketing that has a list in the subject line, can result in significantly increased open rates.

Here’s why.

Most small business owners are not expert copywriters. As such, the subject lines they use for their email marketing tend to under perform. And poorly written subject lines result in low open rates. This means no matter how good their marketing message is, very few people will see it.

Using an average list title as the subject line of a marketing email, will always, always out perform an average, regular subject line.

Should you focus exclusively on lists?

No.

No you shouldn’t.

Seriously.

Don’t!

Allow me to explain.

True, there are YouTubers making a fortune from creating only list-based videos. And yes, there are sites that attract millions of page views, who rely very heavily on list-based content. The business model behind both of these examples is primarily advertising. If your business sells ads based on open rates, keep churning out the lists.

However, for every other kind of business, relying exclusively on lists is a bad idea. And they should be used sparingly.

For example, I could have written this article as a list.

It would have taken me a lot less time to write.
It would have been shared a lot more on social networks.
And the email version of the post would have been opened by a lot more people.

However, I wanted to dig a little deeper into one subject; the content marketing effectiveness of lists. I didn’t want to weaken that focus with “10 Reasons why lists dominate the internet”.

Going a deeper than a list

Sometimes, you need to offer more substance around one subject. Other times, an issue could be impacting your audience and you need to address it. And there are times when you want to share one really useful idea, which wouldn’t work if you broke it down into a list of sub-ideas.

The surface level approach that makes lists so popular, renders them ineffective for anything that requires depth.

So mix it up. But include lists as part of that mix.

In short, if you haven’t already used list-based articles, videos, podcasts episodes, posts or newsletters, give it a go.

Experiment. Test different types of list. Measure the feedback. Check the numbers, including; sales, client enquiries, open rates, social shares and new subscribers, etc.

And let the numbers be your guide.

A genius marketing idea from a 19th century artist

By Jim Connolly | March 21, 2023

Back in the 1800’s, Edgar Degas said: Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

The same is true of great marketing

Successful marketing paints a compelling picture in the mind of a prospective client. It doesn’t list a series of facts or features. Instead, it talks directly to the needs and wants of your clients. It paints a picture of how you can help them. It illustrates how you’re passionate about helping them. Everything is rooted in what’s best for them. Everything.

Ineffective marketing paints a picture of the provider. It’s all about their business and the products or services they offer. It’s dry. It’s dull. It’s forgettable. And it fails to motivate people to take action.

The message, my friend, is simple. If you want to attract better clients, paint better pictures.

AI created content: Big changes ahead

By Jim Connolly | February 13, 2023

People have been asking me lots of questions lately about AI. Specifically, regarding AI created content. And rightly so. Everything is going to change. Those asking me can be split into two groups.

Business owners wanting to switch from paying content writers, to using AI.
Content writers, who are worried that AI created content will wipe their business out.

Here are some thoughts, observations and ideas for those in either of the above groups.

Switching to AI created content?

It was 2016 when I first wrote about AI as a content creation tool, in a post called Don’t let the robots kick your ass. I’ve followed AI content developments very closely ever since. And yes, things really have improved.

However, for a business owner thinking of replacing their content writers with AI, you’ll have some small issues to contend with. That’s because it’s not currently a like-for-like swap.

In my opinion, AI content isn’t good enough to use without some editing. Here’s a piece I created in around 10 seconds using ChatGPT, with no edits, so you can see for yourself. I simply asked the software to write an article for me about the limitations of AI writing. Here’s what it produced, including the article’s title: Limitations of AI in Writing: Context, Tone, and Nuance.

Whilst the spelling and grammar are fine, the content doesn’t flow naturally as you read it. This is a common problem and means the business owner needs to know what to edit and how to edit it, so that it reads correctly and is ready to publish.

Editing takes time, if you’re not used to doing it. And quality is an issue, because the quality of the content you end up with, will be determined by your editing skills… not AI. Yes, the quality of AI content will improve to the point where little, if any editing is required. But in the short-term, it’s not quite there.

AI and content writers

Content writers who operate at the higher end of the market have nothing to fear from AI content. You’re a proven writer. You can connect with readers, engage with them and deliver the results your clients need. You’ll be absolutely fine for a very, very long time.

High quality, human crafted content, which engages the reader, with things like nuance, irony, passion and compassion, will always have a market.

The challenge, I believe, will be for content writers who serve the middle of the market.

Why?

I’ve been testing the research version of ChatGPT for some time and right now, it can create a piece of content on any subject, thousands of words long, in seconds. Scan it with a plagiarism checker and it will pass as unique. Note, in the example I gave earlier, I just pasted the text from the software, formatted it and added an image. An experienced writer will be able to edit it and turn it into an average quality piece in under 30 minutes.

That’s exactly what a lot of content-based service providers have been doing for years. They’re able to charge a low fee and earn massively more than those charging 5 times as much, because they’re producing 20 times as much content.

Soon, AI will create content that’s already as good as the average piece that’s human created. Some in my profession say it’s already possible. Either way, it won’t need human editing. It will be ready to go. And the software is already extremely simple to use, so there’s nothing to stop those with average budgets from bypassing content writers, and doing it themselves.

I think that’s the point were the ‘real’ disruption will happen.

Some thoughts

Not much is likely to change in the very near future. Though with Microsoft and Google / Alphabet now investing billions in the battle for AI supremacy, and advertising their offerings everywhere, this will change. I think a wider, general awareness of AI content will see a surge in content service providers using it, which will force fees down. It should also result in more people switching from hiring content creators, to doing it themselves with AI. As I said earlier, it’s already very easy to use.

Content providers who charge industry average fees, to clients who’ll pay industry average rates, always find it hardest to thrive. And it’s about to get even harder. Because those who currently hire them will be able to create their own content, and create as much of it as they wish, for pennies or free. Those who sell content services into the middle will need to switch to a new content service model, which is built to thrive in the age of AI. More of the same isn’t a viable option.

As with every disruptive technology, there will be winners.

Maybe a useful way forward, is to ask yourself what a winning model for your business will look like, now AI content creation is going mainline. Consider how you might put the amazing power of AI to work for you, rather than have it work against you. There’s no reason for you not to prosper mightily from the disruption.

10 Ways to increase your email marketing open rates in 2023

By Jim Connolly | January 1, 2023

One area I often get asked about, is how to improve email marketing open rates. So, I thought I’d share 10 of the most common reasons why emails remain unopened.

In no particular order:

1. The recipient of your email uses Gmail

Gmail automatically dumps valid emails into the recipient’s promotions folder. This means they get no notification when your emails arrive. As such, open rates plummet. I know from personal experience that my Gmail newsletter subscribers miss over 90% of my emails, unless they’ve added my email address to their contacts list. This happens, even though they used Gmail to double opt-in to receive my stuff.

2. Your email subject line didn’t motivate the recipient to open it

Obviously, people only discover how valuable or interesting your email is, after they’ve read it. To read it they need to open it and to open it, the email subject line needs to motivate them. It needs to compel them to want to find out. Getting this right is trickier than it sounds. That’s because many of the words used to inspire people to open an email, are also triggers for junk mail filters.

3. You sent the email at the wrong time of day or on the wrong day

This can have a massive impact. Despite what some people say, there’s no universally ideal day or perfect time to optimize email open rates. For example, different timing is required for when you target consumers, compared to when you target businesses. Different times also work better for different industries. For example, hotels work completely different hours than accountants. They also have totally different peak times, when they’re unavailable to check email and are least likely to see your message. One time doesn’t work for all. Test and measure until you find your email open rate sweet-spot.

4. The recipient’s email address is on a list you bought

If you’re using a list you bought, rather than one you grew yourself, you’re emailing strangers. And to make things worse, the strangers on these ‘sold lists’ get bombarded with tons of marketing emails, from all the others who bought their email address. This means they’re far more likely to have very, very aggressive email filters.

5. Your list is out of date

Some people work so hard to build their list, that they very seldom remove inactive contacts from it. As a result their lists contain lots of addresses that no longer exist or are no longer monitored. Non-existent email addresses will register as ‘bounces’, and are easily cleaned with email marketing software. Unmonitored addresses, for example, when someone’s left a company, but their email hasn’t been deleted from the system, can still receive emails, so they don’t bounce. Most email marketing software will let you automatically delete contacts after ‘X’ number go unopened. Use it.

6. The content of a previous email didn’t engage the reader

Your next email campaign’s open rate will be impacted by how successful your last email campaign was. The people who failed to engage with your previous campaign, will be less motivated to open the next one. Remember: You never have ‘a list’. You need to earn and re-earn their permission. So stay useful.

7. You send marketing emails direct from your desktop email software

This is a universally terrible idea. Always use a trusted, commercial email marketing provider. These providers can deliver over 99% of your emails every time. By sending your marketing emails via your computer’s regular email program, even to a relatively small list, your IP address can get blacklisted for sending too many identical emails. Once blacklisted, your emails won’t even reach the recipient’s junk folder. Tip: You can check if your IP address is blocked, using Spamhaus.

8. The email content triggered email filters

One of the ways your email junk filter protects you from spam, is by checking the content of incoming emails. If an email contains certain words, this increases the likelihood of that email being junked. These words range from swear words, to words and phrases often used by spammers. Tip: Think hard about the wording you use in your calls-to-action.

9. The email contained too many links or images.

This is closely connected to the previous point. One of the tricks spammers use to bypass junk filters, is to hide their spammy words in images, rather than write the words in regular text. Another common factor in spam is the use of lots of links; certainly more than a regular email might have. So, go easy on the number of images and links.

10. You built your list by offering a freebie

Something internet marketing gurus often fail to mention, is that people seldom use their primary email addresses for give-aways. If your list was built on the back of offering lead magnets, be aware that a subset of the contacts on your list may not be regularly monitored.

Email is a spectacularly powerful marketing tool. And sometimes just a few improvements can lead to dramatically better results. So, take a look at the above points. See if you can identify anything you’re missing, which will improve your 2023 email marketing open rates.

Why email marketing doesn’t work in 2023

By Jim Connolly | January 1, 2023

A reader shared an interesting observation with me.

She told me she had “found out the hard way that email marketing doesn’t work“.

She asked me for my thoughts on why email is so ineffective. I said I’d share them here, as I’m sure some of you will find it useful.

Email marketing works

Email marketing works. In fact, email marketing works extremely well.

Just ask any business owner who’s using it correctly. Whether it’s used for newsletters or promotions, the return on investment is off the charts.

Email marketing also works more predictably than just about any other form of marketing. And the tiny financial investment required for email marketing makes it the most cost effective form of marketing out there.

Email marketing doesn’t work when…

What doesn’t work is ineffective email marketing. Just ask anyone who’s doing it incorrectly. Here’s the thing: ineffective email marketing can’t work.

Here are just a few, very common examples of how small business owners get email marketing wrong.

A poorly written email won’t work. It will fail to motivate the reader to take action; to call you, email you, visit your website, make a purchase from you, whatever.
A professionally written email, sent to the wrong people, won’t work. It will fail to reach those with a want or need for your services.
A well written email, sent to the right people, with a dull subject line, won’t work. That’s because no one will open it. The subject line has to be compelling or no matter what your message is, it will literally be ignored.
A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, offering a generic product or service, won’t work. No one wants to switch to a service that’s no better then their current service.
A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, but sent on the wrong day of the week, won’t work. At least, it won’t be anything like as effective as it would be, if you research the best time of day and best day of the week, to send it.
Oh, and if you send your emails frequently, or not frequently enough… that’s right, your email marketing won’t work.

You get the idea.

In short, before you reject any form of marketing as ineffective, make sure you’re using it correctly.

So, instead of telling yourself that email marketing doesn’t work, ask yourself why YOUR email marketing doesn’t work. Otherwise, you’ll needlessly miss out on one of the most powerful forms of marketing on the planet!

You’ve grabbed your reader’s attention. Now what?

By Jim Connolly | December 20, 2022

You have grabbed the reader’s attention.

However, getting their attention is the easy part. You can do that with a clickbait headline or an outrageous statement.

Your message now needs to tell them something or sell them something. And it absolutely must be consistent with that headline or statement you used.

If not, you lose twice over.

You’ll lose the sale.

You’ll lose the reader and the chance to market to them again. They’ll remember that you used an inaccurate headline to trick them into opening that email or clicking that link. They’ll feel foolish. They’ll feel duped. They’ll remember for a long time.

It’s a terrible tactic with a limited lifespan. The longer you use it, the more prospective clients you will alienate. That means when you have something to share with them, which is well-written, which is worth their time, which is what they need, which is what they want… they won’t click on it or open it.

By all means, grab their attention. Just make damn sure that your message is of interest to them, that it’s consistent with your attention-grabbing headline or statement, and that it motivates them to take whatever action you require.

That way, you win twice over.

You’ll win the sale.

You’ll win the attention of the prospect, because you’ll have trained them that you’re worth taking notice of.

Now that’s a win-win situation worth striving for!

Going narrow and deep

By Jim Connolly | November 25, 2022

If you find it hard, time-consuming or confusing, to be present on lots of different social media platforms, relax. You don’t need to! Today I’m going to show you a far better alternative. It’s based on the approach I use. I call it going narrow and deep. So, here’s how it works, and how you can benefit mightily from it.

This blog is in its 14th year. And I’ve been publishing a newsletter since the 1990’s! When I mention this to people they often ask how I have managed to update my blog and publish a newsletter, very regularly, for so long.

I really don’t do much

Sadly, I don’t have some kind of productivity super power. It’s a lot less impressive than that.

You see, my ‘secret’ is all about how little I do.

I don’t have a Linkedin account.
I don’t have a Youtube channel.
I don’t have a podcast.
I don’t have a Facebook Page
I don’t have a Facebook Group.
I don’t have a TikTok account
I don’t write books.
I don’t give many interviews.
I don’t have a business account on Instagram or Snapchat, either.

Lots of business owners do most of the things on that list. And I bet they produce at least as much information across those platforms as I produce for my blog / newsletter.

The difference is in what we choose to do with the content we produce.

They go wide. I go narrow

Let me flesh that out a little.

Having been involved in social media marketing since its inception, I’ve seen how easy it is to lose your account, and audience, on any platform you don’t own. And if a platform ceases to be popular, you can also lose your audience, or most of it, when they move to the next new, shiny thing.

Plus, it’s extremely hard to create a significant marketing impact, or foster deep engagement across multiple platforms. So, you end up with a wide spread of shallow encounters. That’s why I chose to go narrow and deep.

I own my blog.
I choose where it’s hosted.
And I can use any commercial email provider to mail my newsletter to subscribers.

The benefits of building your own platform are many and varied.

The best-known benefit of going narrow and deep

Maybe the best-known benefit is that you’re building your very own publishing business, which grows in value literally every day.

For example. Jim’s Marketing Blog has thousands of pages of marketing and business development information and a 14 year pedigree. It has built trust and a deep connection with thousands of people worldwide who read it regularly.

So today.

If I wanted to.

I could form partnerships with online training providers, promoting their courses here, for a commission on each place sold.
I could create a dedicated store here, providing products that appeal to my reader demographic.
I could cash-in. The last offer I received for Jim’s Marketing Blog was huge.

There are multiple revenue generating opportunities open to me, because I built everything here. Combined, they would easily create a significant enough income to become a stand-alone business. Imagine if I’d spread my ideas and work across social media platforms / social networks. None of the opportunities I just mentioned would exist.

So, consider the commercial value of creating your own platform. Your own publishing business. And I mean, seriously consider it. Because it could be worth a fortune to you.

The least-known benefit of going narrow and deep

I think the most overlooked benefit, is the incredible focus, clarity and freedom it gives you.

With the multi-platform approach, different types of ‘content’ work better on one platform and less well on another. All of a sudden, you need to add lots of tasks to your daily workload. So, you’re no longer ‘just’ running your business. You need to find time to be a photographer, broadcaster, video producer, audio creator, short-form writer and networker. Plus, there’s the time required to monitor all those different places every day for replies or responses.

You also need to be careful how often you publish. Most platforms will make your content less visible to your audience, if you publish what they deem to be too often. Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram are notorious for this. Blogs do the opposite, because fresh content is rewarded by search engines. It’s a sign that your blog is being supplied with new and updated material. A sign that your blog is worth recommending to those searching for up-to-date information.

With your own platform, you publish when you have something useful or interesting to share. That’s it. It’s extremely liberating.

In short, I probably don’t produce content more often than you or anyone else involved in marketing their business. I certainly spend a lot less time creating it.

I just put it in the same place and let it build steadily over time. Eventually, all those little molehills become a mountain.

Content marketing topics to grab your prospect’s attention

By Jim Connolly | November 9, 2022

I write a lot about the importance of being useful with your marketing. A number of you have asked me if I can give you some specific examples, which you can apply to your content marketing.

And that’s exactly what I’ve done in this post.

Their needs and your products or services

Start off by thinking about the services you provide or your product range. Then, consider the following topics (or theme ideas) and how you can incorporate them into your content marketing messages.

People have an inbuilt need to feel connected: Share ideas to help your prospects connect with useful contacts. The Wall Street Journal wrote about how I achieved this for one of my clients – 4 Marketing Strategies That Paid Off For Small Companies.

We also share a common need for a sense of belonging: Share ideas to help your prospects feel like an integral part of your business. I do this with my newsletter. From day one, I focused on building a reader community of prospective clients. And every day, readers contact me with questions, ideas, updates and concerns… knowing they will always receive a reply from me.

Everyone is trying to succeed at something: Share ideas to help your prospects achieve their targets, goals or dreams. Obviously, as with pretty-much every topic here, if you offer a specific product or service that can help them in this area, incorporate that into the content.

We all need to feel safe and secure: Share ideas to help your prospects reduce risk or feel safer.

Everyone wants to avoid wasting time: Share ideas to help your prospects maximize their time, or help them complete certain tasks faster, etc. I’m not a time management expert, but I’ve shared tons of ideas in this area, based on decades of running a successful business, without working crazy hours. The response is always excellent. So don’t be put off sharing from your experience.

People want to improve and expand their knowledge: Share your industry knowledge, sure. But ALSO share your experience with them. For example, if you’re an accountant, don’t just focus on tax, profit and loss or the latest business news. They can get that anywhere. Tell them the common factors you’ve identified in successful businesses. And the ones you’ve identified in those that flounder or fail. Your experience is extremely valuable.

We also want to avoid unnecessary stress, especially now: Share ideas to help your prospects feel more relaxed and assured. If there’s a specific product or service you offer, which can assist them with this, incorporate that into the message or idea.

Aim for unmissable

Are any of those topics missing from your content marketing? If they are, look for ways to incorporate them. Because this kind of useful, relevant information is the cornerstone of successful marketing. You’ll know you have the balance right, when your content marketing is SO USEFUL that people would miss it if you stopped.

Unleash the power of vigorous, written marketing

By Jim Connolly | October 29, 2022

Most of the written marketing I see is at least 75% too long. Overlong marketing lacks impact. It also lacks clarity and totally fails to motivate prospective customers or clients.

I want to help you avoid this expensive mistake.

And it starts with one of the best-known quotes on the subject.

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that he make every word tell.
Professor William Strunk Jr. – The Elements of Style.

The vigorous writing referred to here, is writing that is strong and full of energy. That’s the kind of writing that moves people to take action; to contact you, buy from you or hire you. It’s the kind of writing that gets the results you need.

How can you and your business benefit from the power of vigorous, written marketing?

The answer comes from understanding why the problem exists.

Google usually gets the blame

That’s because Google’s search algorithm needs overlong, written content. It prefers 2500 words to 250. So, for over 20 years, online marketing writers have been rewarded for high word counts. That’s certainly not what’s needed for vigorous, written marketing.

But Google isn’t responsible for the wider problem.

Email marketing and off-line media is just as ruined by overlong content. Neither of those formats have ever required the writer to dance the Google dance.

The problem exists because most written marketing is created by people who lack sufficient training. It’s either written by business owners who ‘dabble’ or by below-par marketing writers.

The solution?

The business owner wishing to switch to the vigorous, written marketing they need has two options.

Learn how to do it effectively.
Pay someone who already knows.

How to decide?

The cost (in time) of learning is considerable. It takes years of practice. However, you’ll start seeing improvements relatively quickly.
The cost of hiring an expert is lower. And it’s a lot faster.

The price you pay for starving your business of vigorous, written marketing is far higher than either of those options. So pick one of them and run with it.