Massmailsoftware Blog

Most people have an image of “sales” as the process of convincing someone to conduct trade with you, whether you’re selling a product or providing a service…and that’s the wrong way to look at it. Effective sales is the process of solving problems. In 1938, the Dr. Roy Plunkett discoverd Teflon while working for Du Pont. Full-scale production of Teflon took another ten years to get going, and even then it was only for industrial applications. Then, in the early 1950’s, a Frenchman named Marc Gregoire (who was using Teflon to prevent his fishing lines from sticking) heard his wife […]

On Wednesday, I talked about the question “Why use email marketing?” The simple answer was “Because it works.” However, that leaves the question “Why does it work?” unanswered. There are a variety of factors that contribute to the overall success of email marketing, with one of the biggest being the fact that an email marketing campaign using an opt-in list is reaching a very targeted audience. If someone signs up for your email newsletter, decides to opt-in to your list in order to take advantage of a free offer or bonus or just to simply sign up as a user […]

In answer to the question “Should a blog be part of your marketing plan?” the answer is yes. There are millions of blogs on the internet today; most are of the personal variety, with the blogger writing about what they did that day or their favorite television show. But blogs are increasingly becoming a part of the online marketing world as well. With a blog, your business can achieve several things: Connect with your customers, both current and potential. Reach new customers that might not otherwise hear of you. Open a new line of communication with your customers. Help you […]

Inevitably, when the subject of email marketing comes up while deciding the marketing strategy for a business, the word “spam” is spoken, followed by “Why would we use email to market ourselves?” Because it works, that’s why. Your ROI (Return On Investment) with email marketing can easily be higher than any other form of marketing you do, provided you do it well. But don’t take my word for it…Datran Media conducted a survey of over 2,000 marketers in December 2007. Their results? Overall, 82 percent of the marketers surveyed by Datran Media indicated that they plan to increase their use […]

Constructing an effective email newsletter may seem to be an art, but there’s a good bit of science involved as well. Each article in your newsletter should answer the “Six W’s” known to all journalism students…Who, What, Where, When, Why and hoW…about their subject. However, there is one other question you need to answer is “Why should I care?” That is the big one. The first six won’t matter if you don’t show your subscribers why the subject is important to them. Don’t assume they will figure it out…make it clear. You may be offering an anecdote or tip that […]

When you have an opt-in newsletter for your website or blog, your focus is getting your subscriber number as high as you can. Obviously, the more people that receive your newsletter, the more effective it will be in helping your image and your business. However, there is one person that should be subscribing to your newsletter…the most important one. You. Why is it important to subscribe to your newsletter? Because that’s the only way you can get the “end-user” experience. This can be very valuable if you take the time to read your newsletter with a critical eye, and ask […]

When putting together your newsletter, it’s easy to get so caught up in concentrating on the sales aspect that you forget something very important, especially when it comes to email newsletters. Content. If your newsletter offers the subscriber no content, except for new product or service announcements and a run-down of how things are going for you, then your marketing plan will probably get little or no value from it. I’m not saying a newsletter shouldn’t have those elements included…far from it. But if that’s all you have in your newsletter, you’re limiting its effects, because the vast majority of […]

Sheryl Crow’s hit song “Soak Up The Sun” has a wonderful line in it that we can take a lesson from. “It’s not getting what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.” This is a definite key to peace and happiness, and it should also be a cornerstone of your marketing campaign. Your potential customers think they know what they want, but sometimes they feel cheated after they get it…whatever it was that they thought they wanted didn’t turn out to be what they needed, whether it be a consultant, a piece of software or the latest gadget from late-night […]

There’s one word that can carry quite a bit of power when used as part of your marketing message: “Free”. Admittedly, “free” doesn’t carry the weight it used to. With everyone reaching the point of becoming over-saturated with marketing messages, something that has the word “free” attached to it has almost become a turn-off…especially online. But it can still be a very effective tool, when used correctly; for example, as an inducement to opt-in to your newsletter or email list. In many people’s minds, a successful marketing message has lots of exclamation points, underlines and flashing messages. These things were […]

Email marketing can be one of the most effective ways of improving your business, but there’s one simple step you can take to improve how your email campaign is received. Whenever possible, address your customer by their name. Simple, right? Unfortunately, it’s not obvious to quite a few online marketers. Everyone has received basic spam email marketing messages in their inbox, and most of the time it’s either a generic message, or a message that addresses someone by name…just not yours. This is why using your customer’s name can make you stand out from everyone else. When you say “Listen […]