Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays

Next year, kiddies, you’ll know which subject line to test for your email campaigns. A great post on a test that matters to you seansonal marketers out there. Does it really make a difference whether we say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas.

Well, based on a test it very much matter which words you put in your subject line.

According to this blog post from Conversion Voodoo, a specific test they ran shows that a difference of nearly DOUBLE the click through rate when using MERRY CHRISTMAS v. HAPPY HOLIDAYS. Test it next year, and see for yourself before you assume.

You’re killing your list with volume!

If you own an email list of customers, leads or buyers that you have collected on your website, you have a valuable asset. And valuable assets must be well taken care of. If you take of your email list, that list will take care of you.

One of the biggest mistakes that list owners make is sending WAY too many emails to their list, in the hopes of volume driving revenues.

But the old adage that “less is more” is definitely true in email list monetization.

We have seen companies come to us saying “we have this incredibly valuable list, and we hear you can make more money than any other email monetization company on the planet.” Which is true! ;-)

They send us some “virgin” test data, and it performs amazingly well, getting $2+ EPC (earnings per click). We then let them know it well work incredibly well, and we should start monetizing the whole list, live and archive data.  They start sending us the rest of the data, and the EPC rates drop well below $1 or even 50 cents EPC. When it falls below 50 cents, the monetization won’t even cover the overhead email costs.

Here’s a typical conversation we have when this happens:

Us: “Hey, um, the list was working well, but all of a sudden it is WAY down. Any ideas what’s going on?”

List Owner: “Uh, not really, maybe you guys screwed something up.”

Us: “Hmmm. OK. Well. Every other list we’re running is performing as usual. Your list is the only list that went down in performance.”

List Owner: “I dunno. If you can’t make it work let us know.”

Us: “OK. I had a question… How many other emailers are sending to this list?”

List Owner: “Just you… (long akward silence) and 3 other mailers.”

BUSTED ;-)

Us: “Well, that makes sense. We’ve been doing this for a very long time, and you’re going to kill your list with this type of spammy approach, and in the long term you will make LESS money, not more.”

Generally after a couple of weeks of conversation, we are able to convince the client to shut off all other campaigns, and focus on one email marketing strategy. And what the client will find is that with less headache to the list, the client will make MORE money. Really.

We have a simple approach to monetizing email lists: Show love, get love. Give value, get value. And it works every time.

Our simple strategy is to give email lists newsletters packed with information that is beneficial to the end user on the email list, and then send about just enough offers to those people to where it brings them VALUE, not spam.

If you are trying to send MORE emails to your list to make more money, your going to lose out. Your killing your valuable list. Pick one company to market to your list, and you well do better financially, and you’ll be provide a valuable service to your list, not SPAM.

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I know, I’ve lost you on this one. You’re trying to sell a product or service, getting someone to hate you is certainly not the way to do that!! You’re right. But, getting people to love you, will mean that you WILL get some people to hate you in the process. People love leaders, people that put their neck on the line, and share their opinions. When you do this, people will identify with you. Connect with you. And become a part of your tribe.

Stir up controversy and you’ll ultimately stir up sales from your devoted fans.

So, be a little controversial, heck, be really controversial. It’s not the size of your list that matters, it is the connectedness of the list to you or your company that matters. People who stand by you, will ultimately follow you wherever you go!

Hate will translate into weeding out your list those who would never show you any love anyway.

But those who love you, will eagerly wait in anticipation for your offerings! And that’ll really show YOU the love.

Sounds simple, but people blow this all the time.People assume you are lying, and are NOT going to believe your opinions.

Worlds Best Coffee. Really? You sure?

Ever go into a restaurant, and it says “the best coffee in the world”. That is an unqualified opinion, and you absolutely will lose credibility. As Seth Godin would say, “You are a liar!” And now your copy smells like rancid cheese festering on an old mouse trap, waiting to slap down on the most downtrodden, hungriest, stupidest rats.

To bring proof, you must have some sort of factual data. Using the above lame “best coffee example”, we would use some sort of authority. “Voted best coffee in the world, by International Travel Magazine’s readers.”

Testimonials (of course, use in line with the lame-oid FTC regulations) are an awesome way to have someone else share their experience with your product.

Specific historical data that you may have about your product. “99.7% satisfaction rate for our current clients.”

Be specific, use an authority besides yourself, and support your claims.

(Focus on your product’s benefits, your solution to their problem)

Be your own boss. Ah life is good.

Say what?!?!? Don’t sell. Bear with me on this, lemme ‘splain. There is a difference between trying to SELL something, and sharing how your product or service provides a needed solution to your prospect’s painful problems. Or better yet, fulfilling a deep desire or dream of your prospect, helping them to achieve their dreams. Becoming the person they always dreamed of. Ah, fulfilling the deepest, most heartfelt desires, utter bliss. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Let me ‘splain even more specifically:

• Your prospect has a problem in need of a solution: “Are you sick and tired of your prospect list sitting around collecting dust, doing nothing? Wouldn’t be nice if there was someway to actually make money from you lists without lifting a finger? That’s what our list management and data monetization services provide, found money deposited directly into your pocket.”
• Fulfilling their dreams: “With our services, you’ll your own online business ready and making money, in less than 47 seconds.”
• Help them become a better person: “You’ll be able to fire your boss! You become the CEO, the one who decides when and how long your vacation lasts! People will look up to you, you’ll be admired by your neighbors.”

Thought I’d post this up as a reminder to bloggers that if you’re going to endorse products AND get paid for those endorsements, you need to clearly disclose that you’ve received compensation for that endorsement.

If you’re a marketer or affiliate and your putting claims and endorsements in your ads or pages, you need to be very careful that you completely disclose those endorsements. If you’re using testimonials, they need to be the average experience of customers. Some interpretations say that as long as you CLEARLY state that the testimonials are not the typical experience, you’re OK. But others say that isn’t even enough. You need to make testimonials the average experience.

Here’s the link to the FTC rules and regulations for paid endorsements.

Although, if you’re now shaking in your boots, here’s an article from Fast Company that gives a response from the FTC that basically says, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Apparently the $11,000 fine is not true. And the FTC seems to be consistent that first time screw-ups get a warning letter, then cease and desist, then fines…  Here’s the Fast Company Article.

So I guess, as long as you try to follow the rules and change your ways if you do get a warning letter from the FTC, then you should be OK. You want to make sure you’re treading properly so that you can make a few bucks on the front end and money with data monetization services on the back end.

Tell them the story.

Good copy is sharing a story, sharing your enthusiasm, excitement, faith in your product. Don’t write a paper or article, TELL THE STORY.

When you write the words, do as if you are speaking to them directly. Use 6th grade level words, don’t voraciously pontificate employing parables Thoreau would be proud of.

Speak plain English. Use excitement. Let them feel your joy. Have their emotions run wild with anticipation at the thought of buying your widget! Allow your energy to soak their brains with desire. To become connected. Allowing your hyperactive energy to fill their senses.

People will feel ya, they’ll get ya, and wanna buy from ya.

And as you build your list, remember good ol’ DMS as another tool to increase your profits, by using our list management and data monetization services. We can help you to drive your profits higher and higher.

Make the action CLEAR

Ok. I know you know that I know Data Monetization Services focuses on taking your list and helping you get the most money from that list. Whether it be email, phone or snail-mail (postal marketing). However, there are a few tips we’d like to share with you to help you better market you growing list your self.

We’ll give a few tips over the next few months to help you with you email marketing and list building. Driving people to action through words!

Secret #1 is Driving your audience to take an action. (Call to Action)

The first step you need to take, is to make a clear definition of the action you want you prospect to take. Don’t beat around the bush, make it so clear that it jumps off the page to let them know what they need to do.

Next, make sure your remove friction. If you have a lot of fluffy words, that do nothing but fill space, remove them. Get to the point, tell them why to do it, show the value and exciting result of the action they take, then tell them exactly what to do.

Our team includes a top-notch law firm that has been practicing in the crazy legal world of internet marketing for years. We will help ensure that we are on top of the latest legal compliance information, and also make sure you know the latest info to keep your website privacy policies compliant with current legislation.

Data Monetization Services keeps up with the latest CAN-SPAM compliance laws, and will help work with our clients to make sure they can keep sites compliant. Of course, we cannot and do not offer legal advice, but we can help you make sure you are getting the latest information concerning your lists to make sure that marketing your data is legally being monetized.