CCPA

by Audrey Julienne, Raison d’Etre

I had the pleasure to present today the monthly Business Meets Technology Brown Bag Braintrust about Email Marketing Does & Don’ts. If you missed it, here’s a summary of what was discussed.

Why Email Marketing?

It’s affordable: Email marketing is an easy way to stretch a tight marketing budget. Unlike direct mail, email marketing requires virtually no production or postage costs.

It’s effective: You can turn your customers into loyal customers. By staying in touch with them you make sure they remember you when they are in need of the products or services you provide.

It’s immediate: Email communication can generate an immediate response. A quick last-minute announcement or special can instantly drive more sales.

It’s measurable: Unlike most marketing options, email marketing is measurable. Most email marketing services allow you to easily track who opens your emails and what links they click on. You actually know who is looking at your messages!

It’s easy: Email marketing services make it easy for you to create professional-looking campaigns with no design or expertise.

Does & Don’ts

Gathering email addresses

DO: Invite people to sign-up themselves, check for email fraud

DON’T: Gather emails here and there and add them to your list

List management

DO: Segregate your lists and by interest and provide information via email based on that information

DON’T: Send a lot of information about everything to everyone

Frequency

DO: Adapt your frequency to your message and your audience

DON’T: Send as many emails as possible

Email Settings:

DO: Turn the permission reminder on

DON’T: Write lengthy email subjects with plenty of words like “Win” or “Free”

Look & Feel

DO: Design an inviting and branded email

DON’T: Write miles and miles of copy about several subjects without separating them in articles

Content

DO: Keep your content clear to the point, relevant to your audience and interesting

DON’T: Gather a bunch of specials and promotions, sent randomly whenever there is enough info to fill

Analytics

DO: Refer back to the analytics of the sending software

DON’T: Ignore the numbers and assume that people will call if they’re interested in something

What’s next

DO: Adapt your content to what your audience reads, clicks, respond to

DON’T: Send emails without getting feedback from your audience once in a while

This is a very simple summary, a lot was discussed around the table, if you have any specific question you can contact me here or  put them in the comment section.

We’re talking about a real estate leader here… the man owns most of hipster neighborhood Northern Liberties!

Bart Blastein, principal at Tower Investments, Inc. gave a good story from his childhood in Northeast Philadelphia: “When you grow up in the Northeast, it’s another world. They even have their own airport”, his first investments and successes: “I knew how to invest money at 23. I took my earnings and I bought a Porsche”, to his risk-taking deal “Most men do stupid thing when they’re in mid-life crisis” that conducted him to create Northern Liberties.

An enlightening story about the launching of Piazza at Schmidts and the double-murder that could have killed the place but instead create instant buzz, and the support shown by his tenants. And finally, as the audience tried to pick his brain on real-estate investments, some genuine advice: “Trenton, Norristown & Camden are dumping grounds. Not good places to invest.”

If I heard it right, keep on looking North. Temple and east of Temple is the way to go, and there is no better time to invest. So if the economic shake-up didn’t leave you without cash-flow… you might want to listen to Bart Blatstein.