by Suellen | Email Marketing, Online Success
Now let’s talk about email marketing audits.We touched on that subject in the last post, but we want to delve a little deeper.
It’s to our advantage to check out everything we are doing to make sure that we are making the most of our time. So why in the world are we spending so much time on email funnels, audits, and such?
Let’s take a look.
Email marketing audits are about reviewing everything it takes to create your email marketing campaign – from developing your goals to reviewing your content creation process. They also include identifying your strengths and weaknesses so that you can build an actionable plan for continuous improvement. You want to improve your conversions and make a better connection with your audience through email marketing.
The following are four important benefits from conducting email marketing audits:
Your Audits Can Improve ROI (Return on Investment)
Return on investment (ROI) is the most important metric when keeping track of any marketing strategy. If your return is low or less than what you put in, it is not worth your time or investment. Meaning adopting strategies that provide a high return on investment are where you should spend most of your time.
As it turns out, email marketing should be your top marketing priority since it converts more sales than social media and gives you as much as forty-eight dollars back for every one dollar you spend.
Your Audits Can Identify Winning Content or Strengths
Knowing your brand’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial to improving your content and in increasing your engagement with your readers. Your weaknesses are red flags, or indicators, that tell you what you need to do to better engage and connect with your audience. Your strengths can be used to improve your weak points.
Find out what is working for you, and do more of that!
Your Audits Can Highlight Marketing Holes or Weaknesses
Highlighting your weaknesses is a strength within itself, and vital to running a successful business. Of course, business is never perfect. You have to get used to that fact.
It is a roller coaster which requires constant evaluation and improvement to maintain your speed and stay on track. However, when things aren’t going well and you know exactly what to fix, you can make the fix and keep running smoothly.
Your Audits Help You Optimize Your Company Mission and Values
A valuable benefit of email marketing includes spreading brand awareness, authority, and credibility. These three factors are needed to convert your readers into loyal customers.
First, through email auditing, you can keep your message more consistent and ensure you provide the value your readers expect. Keeping a consistent message brings trust.
The more your readers trust you and value your authority, the more likely they are to make a purchase and become loyal followers.
These four benefits are significant.
By routinely performing marketing audits you are perfecting your ability as a marketer. Continuously tracking your results and committing to improvement are essential factors for a successful business.
You come away with a better understanding of your audience and a successful, fully optimized email marketing campaign.
Join the 30 Day Email Marketing Challenge. You can sign up Here!
by Suellen | Email Marketing, Online Success
It’s time to talk about “red flags” in your email funnels.
Now here is where the rubber meets the road. And I have to admit, this is not my favorite part. But it’s necessary to take notice, if you want to have productive emails.
To perfect your email marketing funnels, you need to be aware of certain factors that hinder your success. Many red flags are obvious if you just know where to look. Thankfully these red flags have plenty of solutions to them as well.
Here are five common email funnel red flags we need to notice.
Low Open Rate.
While this is not a metric you usually want to use on its own, a low open rate at least indicates that your subscribers are not reading your content.
This could mean several things. It could mean that your emails aren’t being delivered as they should. Or maybe your subject lines aren’t grabbing their attention. Or you are sending them at the wrong time.
Take notice of these three things. A good internet provider (such as GetResponse) will show statistics on all of these items so that you can see how you are doing.
Try different subject lines. Also try sending the emails at different times.Tweaking here and there can produce better results.
However, a high open-rate will not always translate to success, so you should always track other metrics to measure your results more accurately—for example, a high open-rate with a low click-through rate.
High Open Rate with Low Click-Through Rate
This means you are on the right track as your readers are interested, but something about the product you are advertising is off. Maybe the price is too high, or it doesn’t actually solve their problem.
High Click-Through Rate with Low Conversions
Again, this can be associated with the same problem presented above. The readers are clearly enjoying the content as they click through; however, you cannot make the final conversion.
This could indicate a disconnect in your landing page from your email. Your email had enough detail to persuade them to click on the landing page; however, the expectations were not set.
Be sure you don’t have any misleading discounts and that your email and landing pages have similar expectations.
High Unsubscribe Rate
This can happen for a couple of common reasons. First, you are either marketing your opt-in copy or forms to the wrong people, sending out too many emails, or are developing copy that is not compelling enough or too spam-like for your audience.
Some marketers say that to solve this you need to keep your sequences short and direct and not send emails too often.
I have a different take on this. Of course, you don’t want your true customers to start unsubscribing. However, when people unsubscribe, I just think they aren’t my true customers. In fact I don’t want people on my list who are totally disinterested in my information.
So the idea is to know your target audience well, including how you can help them. Then you can develop the right content, products, and services to prevent a high unsubscribe rate.
Usually, your unsubscribe rate is not a problem if you start with your buyer personas in mind. There will always be a few, and you can’t worry about that.
Varying Unsubscribe Rates Per Sequence
You want to take notice of this one.
Some email sequences may be too long, too short, or seen as spam. Also, some customers may end up in the wrong sequence leading them to unsubscribe. (Thus you should be sure most of your readers are in more than one sequence).
Email marketing isn’t an exact science. You are working with many different people and many types of personalities. Don’t take it as an insult when people don’t open. don’t buy, or unsubscribe.
We notice these red flags so that we can increase our effectiveness. We continue to look for the right people and offer them an opt-in. Then we notice if they open, if they click, and if they buy.
Then we boldly and confidently try new things. We might land on a truly successful approach which will surprise us.
Successful email marketing will always require consistent reviewing and updating.
And the more we continue, the more successful we will become.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Online Success
Most entrepreneurs know that planning is essential for a successful business. If you have a brick and mortar store or if you have a professional business, the need for planning is obvious. Ordering the inventory and promoting it. Generating client appointments. And so forth.
Somehow, home businesses can start sliding in this area. The relaxed atmosphere can hinder the intentional aspect of business. Then before you know it, you find yourself not accomplishing what you wish for.
Remember the saying, If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up some place else.
So this year I plan to change that. I want to set really solid goals, and then make a plan to see them through. Finally I want to accomplish much more than ever. Inspire more people. And make more money.
Do you set aside time regularly to plan what you want to do in your business? If it’s not something you currently do, I strongly encourage you to embrace it this year.
Let’s start off by taking a look at why business planning is “the secret” to success. There are a few different factors that come into play here.
The first is efficiency. When you have a clear plan, you can focus on what’s most important. Instead of spending time trying to figure out what you should be working on, what pieces of the puzzle are missing from your product funnel, or what you need to do to break through to the next income level, you know exactly what needs to come next.
You’ve thought it through – and you’ve made your plans.
With a clear goal in mind and a plan for the year, it becomes easy to step back to create effective and efficient daily to-do lists. Work on what needs to get done each day and you will reach your goals.
Next, set big a goal for yourself, and work from there.This helps you to think outside the box.
If you don’t believe me, try it. Decide on a big income goal for the coming month. Write it down. Keep it in front of you.
Then get to work and start to notice what happens next.
You start to think of things that didn’t occur to you before.
You come up with creative ways to get more traffic.
You decide to run a fun promo that adds dollars to your bank account.
And when an important deadline comes up unexpectedly, your get-it-done attitude kicks in. Think back on that time in college when finals rolled around, or the last time your in-laws told you they would stop by later in the day. You got very creative about studying and cleaning respectively.
Last but not least, let’s talk about the subconscious. So far we’ve been focused on what we are actively doing to make progress by making a plan, setting goals and following through.
There’s another dimension to all this and that’s what’s going on in our subconscious mind. While we are busy plowing through our to-do list, cooking dinner for the family, and even sleeping, our subconscious mind is working towards those goals as well.
In short, setting goals and making a plan to reach them are real keys to the success you want so much. That means you end up with more money for yourself and your loved ones while spending less time slaving away at your desk.
So my goal is to reach many more people this year. There are many who need help with their blogs, their books, and their speaking engagements, and I want to help them.
I also want to supplement my writing income so that I can share my Christian messages freely.
My first plan is to take time analyzing and implementing my email practices. I want to grow my list and to increase my email effectiveness.
I would love to have you join me. It’s free.
You can sign up Here.
by Suellen | Meeting the Challenges, Online Success
Is email still important?
Every now and then this question comes up again. Is email still important to your business?
And the answer is always the same. A resounding ‘Yes!‘ It is one of the most important aspects of your business.
Whether you are an author, blogger, tech person, or store owner, your email list and your emailing habits are a major thrust of your effectiveness. And your profit.
I know that you are inundated with thousands of emails which go into the trash. However, some emails stand out and you open them. Especially if the sender is someone you trust and if you think this will be helpful.
In fact, your email list is still one of the most valuable assets of your business. These people are your customers. They are on your list because they signed up for something. And though they may not open their mail for many days, when the time is right, they will.
They may wind up being your very best customers in the long run.
So starting January 10, I am sponsoring a challenge to optimize our email effectiveness. We will be looking at how we monetize them. Making the most of our efforts.
There are several actions we can take. One of the major ones is to always have a good, productive funnel in place. A funnel which will offer something special to our list.
(And often pour some moolah into our bank accounts).
So get ready to join me in optimizing our businesses.
Let’s make 2022 the most productive – and the most lucrative ever.
You can sign up Here for the challenge.
See you there! Let’s do this.
by Suellen | Start Your Week With Purpose, Success, Uncategorized
Digital Devices have transformed our lives, and I love them. Yet, often we allow ourselves to be controlled by them, and not the other way around.
Digital noise is a real thing. It’s all those distractions coming from our phones and computers that prevent us from focusing on the important things in life, like our loved ones, our businesses, or our health.
Answer these questions to determine if digital noise is affecting your life.
- Do you feel like you must be online all day every day?
- Yes, otherwise I might miss out on news, events, or speaking to prospects.
- Not sure; I don’t really think about being online. It’s just a part of my life.
- No, I can unplug on the weekends and/or after business hours easily.
- Does your online work on your computer or phone take away from your physical activity?
- I’m the definition of a couch potato with a sedentary lifestyle.
- Sometimes, it all depends on my deadlines.
- I still fit in time for exercise and meal planning.
- Do you use your phone while watching TV, eating dinner, or spending time with your family?
- Yes, my clients need me.
- Sometimes; I’ll turn it off during dinner but then I need to be online.
- My family is more important than business.
- How long do you spend on social media each day?
- I have it turned on all the time.
- Too much; I really need to cut back but don’t know how.
- As little as possible. I outsource my posts, so I only go on to answer questions or to post in my private groups.
- How many times a day are you interrupted by notifications from email, social media, or other platforms?
- Too much; it’s really a nuisance.
- I haven’t noticed.
- Very little. I never sign up for those push notifications.
- Do you take your phone on vacation?
- Yes, my clients might need me.
- Sometimes but I only use it at night when the kids are in bed.
- No, I prefer to stay focused on my family.
- Do you answer every phone call, no matter what time of day or night?
- Yes, it might be a future customer or client.
- Sometimes, it depends on the caller ID.
- I have client boundaries and office hours for a reason.
- Do you miss important conversations or fun activities with family or friends due to phone calls?
- Yes, but my family knows I’m running a business and I have to be on call.
- Sometimes I have to excuse myself to take a call.
- My clients know I stay unplugged after hours.
- Does your work impede your sleep habits?
- I have clients from around the world and figuring out time zones is a pain.
- Sometimes I work late, depending on deadlines.
- No, I have an evening routine that I live by, including no phones in the bedroom.
- Do you actually accomplish work on your phone or are there too many distractions from various sources?
- Yes, my phone is a necessary part of my business and I can’t live without it.
- Sometimes; I use it mostly for phone calls and recording live videos.
- No, I can’t do real work on my phone. I need my laptop.
Now you do the assessment. Do you notice any patterns?
Take a look at the following points to see where you need to make adjustments:
Adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep daily in order to be productive. Televisions, cell phones, email, and social media right before bed can cause sleep patterns to be interrupted.
As a result, we can be sluggish and tired when we wake up.
Daily exercise and healthy eating are also vital parts of living longer but our phones and sedentary lifestyles in front of the computer are hampering that healthy living.
Learning to set boundaries and office hours as well as taking breaks during the day gives you small bits of time for stretching or walking to get your blood flowing.
Lastly, all humans need attention but will feel slighted if you have to work during their special time. Directing your undivided attention to your most favorite people will help them to feel special and will strengthen that relationship.
And if you have children, remember that you are their first teacher and they will follow your example. So, if you constantly have your head in your phone, expect them to do the same thing years down the road.
Take the quiz and decide where you might need adjustments.
When we are conscious of these things, we will be able to improve our lives – and our performance.
2022 Here We come!! Let’s make it great!
Blessings,
P.S. Start your 2022 on the right foot with this offer: 2022 Blueprint for Business Success
