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With the holidays approaching quickly, holiday advertising is already in full swing. We have noticed a significant increase in traffic across all of our websites in the last ten days - with the largest increases on the retail websites.

The beauty of the Internet is that you don't necessarily have to have your entire marketing plan completed in the middle of the summer. You still have time for developing and changing online and e-mail campaigns since production turnaround is quicker - especially if you use a program like Constant Contact. If you do not have a program in use, try Constant Contact's Free 60 day trial by clicking here.

Before you start blasting out emails, make sure that your client and prospect list is clean! The last thing that you need now is to be banned from many of your customer inboxes because of a few bad apples on your list.

Think Web 2.0 when planning your email campaigns this year. Consumers have grown used to sharing and minimal clicking. Offer one-click checkout for customers that already have accounts with you. Make it easy for the email to be forwarded and offer an online version that can be bookmarked at social sites or onto facebook profiles.

With the amount of spam recieved by people now, it is important to be colorful, original and festive in your design. Catch thier eye and interest with a great subject line. The inbox is getting more crowded and spending is expected to be tight during the holidays due to our weak economy. Be a stand out in a dull world!

Highlight products in the email that are top sellers so that your readers can see what other customers are purchasing this holiday season. If they know which products are hot (or you say are hot), you can create urgency and alter demand. Remember to allow your customers to bookmark pages on your website also!

For non-retailers, remember to use email to nurture your prospects and current customers.

Give Constant Contact a whirl this fall and watch your 4th quarter sales or leads increase substantially.

Labels: email marketing

Testimonial Marketing

Testimonials ... we all see & read them in some form or another, online as well as offline. What is a testimonial? In short it’s a tribute by an end user for a product or service. Testimonials have an uncanny knack of directly increasing sales & attract prospects rather than drive them away as it is one of the most effective advertising techniques used today.

The key is that the testimonial has to be done correctly.

Always use real testimonials instead of made-up ones. Even the most skilled copywriter can rarely make up a testimonial that can match the sincerity and credibility of genuine words of praise from a real customer or client.

To increase the believability for your testimonials, attribute each quotation. Include the person's name, city and state, and (if a business customer) their job title and company.

Your customers want to know if your company keeps its promises and offers products that deliver results. Use testimonials that clearly show those results -- in as specific a way as possible -- and your customers will show YOU sales.

Send out a customer testimonial in your next email newsletter and watch the sales soar!

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Labels: email marketing, increase sales, testimonial marketing