Posts by Jaime McCall

6 Compliance Terms Every Email Marketer Should Know

May 10, 2012 By Jaime McCall Leave a Comment

I adore my older brother. He is the unsung hero who helped fashion the geekinista that I am today.

However, sometimes he irritates the heck out of me. Especially when I try to explain to him exactly what Constant Contact does. Twice now, I’ve started in on my spiel and he’s interrupted me with “Oh, so you send out spam?”

No more Christmas presents for him.

I don’t share this to just rag on my brother though, I want to make a point.

As email marketers, we have the misfortune of being lumped in with a lot of businesses that aren’t exactly respectful of people’s inboxes.

Not only do we have to do our best to send out quality, permission-based email, we need to know the key terms and concepts of the industry, especially when it comes to email compliance.

Knowing the ins and outs of email marketing allows us to put our best feet forward. Here are the 6 compliance terms you should get comfortable with: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: , ,

How to Make Sure Your Subscribers Don’t Drown in an Email Flood

May 8, 2012 By Jaime McCall 5 Comments

My husband and I have decided that this spring we’re going to accomplish a home improvement project every weekend. This resolution has resulted in a brand spanking new garden in our backyard… and me learning about the dangers of over-watering.

Over-watering is like over-communicating. It’s a risk when you’re working with plants, and it’s a risk when you’re sending emails to your customers or members. After all, we all know what it’s like when the same company or business sends us five emails a day. Not only do we tend to not open all of those emails, but we may even unsubscribe from the list.

So, how can you make sure you aren’t drowning your contacts while keeping them well-watered enough to blossom into customers? As always, it helps to have a plan! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: , ,

How to Easily Track and Redeem Daily Deals Coupons

May 1, 2012 By Jaime McCall 2 Comments

When you’re busy running a business, it’s easy to forget to use all the tools at your disposal.

And that’s especially true when you’re running a daily deal and customers are scrambling to redeem coupons before time runs out. Luckily, if you’re using  SaveLocal coupons, it’s easier to track and redeem them than ever before.

Why does it matter?

Sending out your deal into the void of the consumer market is a risky proposition when you don’t keep an open ear for the results. When you take the time to formally keep track of what coupons are redeemed you can:

  • Know if your offer is compelling enough – If you don’t get a lot of response back for your coupon, you might need to sweeten the pot. Or maybe you should think about how much time you are giving customers to use the coupons. If things expire too quickly, you might be losing out.
  • Keep tabs – You didn’t set a specific number of coupons to be available only to have someone reuse them more than once! When you keep track by redeeming, you can enforce a “one customer one coupon” rule more easily.
  • Mark trends – If you pay attention when your coupons are actually redeemed, you can get a better idea of what potential surges in activity to expect in your overall sales.

Alright, How Do I Do It?

There are three ways to take the burden of tracking your redeemed coupons almost entirely off your plate.

  • Right in your account – Just log into your Constant Contact and mark coupons as redeemed right then and there. It’s all under the Reports/Redeem icon.
  • Apps, baby – Through the Save Local for Merchants app for iPhone you can mark a coupon redeemed with a few taps, just like that.
  • Use a QR code scanner – Every coupon that goes out automatically has a QR code on it. Just scan it with your mobile device’s QR code scanner and boom, the information is in your account.

It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Now all you need to do is make the deal, promote it, and watch success come your way.

How do you keep track of coupon redemption? Let us know below! And for more information on SaveLocal, check out these SaveLocal features.

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: ,

How to Mobilize Your Event Invitations and Registration Forms

April 26, 2012 By Jaime McCall Leave a Comment

Man about to press smartphone screenRecently, I got an invitation to attend a pre-screening of an upcoming movie.

There was an opportunity to meet the director, the original author, the whole works! Registration was required and attendance was limited so naturally I found myself scrambling to sign-up through my “smart” phone on the way home from work.

There were so many fields to fill out, I eventually gave up and just waited until I got home.

It just goes to show you that even the most enthusiastic people can get daunted if they have problems when registering for an event. That’s why it’s so important to keep the mobile experience in mind when working with event registration forms or invitations.

So let’s talk about the sort of things you want to think about when creating your invitations and your registration page, as well as what Constant Contact makes easy automatically.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Event Marketing Tagged With: , ,

4 Ways to Bulk Up Your Email Contact List

April 16, 2012 By Jaime McCall 1 Comment

Man flexing bicepWith so much emphasis on creating emails with sharp content and even sharper designs, sometimes it’s all too easy to forget about your contacts.

Resist the temptation!

Good results don’t just appear from nowhere and any time spent maintaining and growing your list is time well spent. After all, new contacts mean new potential customers. Sure, it may not take much to keep your lists in fighting shape, but how do you bulk them up?

Here are four ways to attract and keep people who subscribe to your email list. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Facebook + Exclusive Video = Fans

April 13, 2012 By Jaime McCall 5 Comments

Remember when I told you last month that there’d soon be a way to embed videos right into your Social Campaign with no fuss or muss? Well, the wait is finally over! Now there’s an easy way not only to link to videos, but to embed them in your Social Campaign. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , ,

3 Guidelines for Great Looking Emails

April 10, 2012 By Jaime McCall 2 Comments

In the past few years I’ve helped my father get his human resources related newsletter out to his hospital audience, my church get its announcements out to its congregation, and (during my time in Customer Service) many people put the final touches on their promotions, invitations, and newsletters.

And before I send any emails, I follow the same simple rules of thumb to make sure they look great before they go out the door. Allow me to share them with you today [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: ,

Beyond Basic Forms: How to Customize the Sign-Up Experience

March 28, 2012 By Jaime McCall Leave a Comment

There are tons of ways to have people sign up to receive your emails.

That’s good news because the easier you make it for people to join your list, the easier it is to help your business or organization grow by reaching those that want to hear from you.

That’s why Constant Contact offers the following ways, beyond the basic sign-up form, that people can join your list: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing, Event Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Surveys and Feedback Tagged With: , ,

How to Put the Icing on Your Email Images

March 23, 2012 By Jaime McCall 2 Comments

Whether you’re creating an email, a survey, or working on your latest social campaign, images are like the icing on a delicious and engaging marketing cupcake.

But, have you seen cakes with awful icing before?  It’s not a pretty sight!

Images are always a great addition, but you have to make sure that they fit well with the content around them.

Here are four simple tricks to help you do that. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Rev Up for a Deal

March 20, 2012 By Jaime McCall 3 Comments

two cars racingWhile I’m not likely to ever step foot in a racecar, I know that it’s someone’s job to get things prepared ahead of time when there’s a race. Whether it’s making sure that the oil is topped off or checking tire pressure, it’s all thought of before the wheels hits the track.

Knocking those details out ahead of time allows a driver to focus on the race, just like doing a little bit of prep work can allow you to focus on getting your first SaveLocal deal out the door quickly.

So, what are the things you want to “top off” before you start creating your SaveLocal deal? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , ,
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