“Outbound marketing” is where a marketer pushes his message out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack. Some examples include trade shows, seminar series, email blasts to purchased lists, internal cold calling, outsourced telemarketing, and advertising.
Rather than do outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, I advocate doing “inbound marketing” where you help yourself “get found” by people already learning about and shopping in your industry. In order to do this, you need to set your website up like a “hub” for your industry that attracts visitors naturally through the search engines, through the blogosphere, and through the social media sites.
I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing and I advocate that those ratios flip.
Don’t underestimate the power of words! Looking for a few tips on the power of words when using writing as an advertising technique? These tips apply to anything you do with Direct marketing, Internet marketing, and even memos to your boss.
You, your, amazing, discover, now, this, these are all proven “power” words that produce far higher responses.
Use present tense – better response than past tense.
Use the word “you” or “your” far more than “I” “me” or “we.”
Understand that asking a question with the word you in it is one of the best ever advertising techniques. Don’t, however, ask a question where the answer can easily be “no, and I don’t care.”
Marketing via email is a craft. It is powerful, but easily abused. It is easy, and at the same time, really difficult. Here are a few email marketing tips.
Address Recipients with Their Name in Email Campaigns
Make your newsletter recipients feel less like mere numbers by greeting them individually and personally.
Avoid Mistyped Addresses by Requiring Retyping
Require retyping of email addresses in the signup form for your newsletter.
Create a Clear Call to Action in Email Marketing Campaigns
Make sure recipients of your email marketing message know what you expect them to do (and what they can expect in return).
Email Marketing Needs to Reflect Your Brand
Help people recognize instantly that it is your email marketing.
Experiment with Link Placement in Newsletters
Maximize performance by putting the right links in the right places.
Include an Easy to Use Unsubscribe Link in Newsletters
Unhappy subscribers are worse than no subscribers. An easy and fail-safe way to unsubscribe is a way to make subscribers happy.
