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Read the latest articles relating to email, digital and SMS marketing. Below are links to articles from extravision on a variety of topics. Many of these articles are from our monthly newsletter.

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So how do you sell email filtering software… via email ? - 11 March 2008

Some might suggest it is like asking Al Gore to fly a fleet of private jets across the world to campaign against global warming … but is it?

It is easy to unsubscribe ? - 11 March 2008

That said, have you noticed how many emails are sent with no unsubscribe at all, sometimes from high profile companies? But for those of us who pride ourselves on including an unsubscribe on all our email communications, are we really offering an effective means of unsubscribing for our recipients?

To Send or not to Send ? - 11 March 2008

Designed immaculately, planned carefully but sent without thought. Sound familiar?

Replies, replies, everywhere… - 11 March 2008

No matter what your call-to-action some people will still just send a reply. We think this is a good thing but many tell us it causes extra work and results in opportunities being ignored and ultimately lost.

So …. How does email work ? - 11 March 2008

Have you ever wondered what happens when you press the send button for an email? How does it get from your machine to the recipients inbox by giving a simple address?

Building your email list - 20 November 2007

So, what are the best ways to build and maintain your list?

An email call-to-action worth trying - 20 November 2007

We all know how crucial the offer is in generating a strong response to your email marketing campaigns. However, just as crucial is the call-to-action to take up that offer when determining your email message’s chance of success.

10 Commandments of email marketing - 20 November 2007

Email marketing was once the Promised Land for marketing professionals... and to a certain extent it still is. But not for everyone. So much email marketing that is executed today is passive at best, damaging at worst.

Case Study: Great venue, great topic… shame no one is coming. - 9 August 2007

The carefully selected venue is booked. Staff hotel rooms and flights are paid for. A clever and aesthetically pleasing mailshot has been designed, printed and posted. All set… or are you?

Legislation to consider when embarking on marketing via email - 29 January 2007

Although the legislation surrounding email marketing came into force some time ago, many marketers are still unclear as to what they can and can’t do when it comes to marketing via email in the UK. If you are about to embark on an email marketing project for the first time, or just want to check the legal status of your campaigns, the guide below should help.

Everything You’ll Ever Need to Know About RSS - 29 June 2006

RSS feeds are becoming a popular way of populating websites and e-mailings. Despite how the term is bandied about these days, however, many Internet-based businesses are unaware of how RSS feeds can help them conduct their business better and more efficiently.

Personalisation - many try but few succeed - 19 June 2006

As marketeers we all know that personalisation can be a good thing and that it will improve our communication to market. So although some of us fail to personalise our messages at all, why do so many of us who do make the effort get it so wrong?

Do Open Rates Really Matter ? - 12 June 2006

Tracking the results of your marketing emails makes good sense. You can find out which marketing tactics work best, and which fail to register with your intended customers. But do open rates give you an accurate assessment of the success of your campaign ?

Building customer profiles with email

Do companies really utilise the data they have about customers - to build profiles that tell them all they need to know about what turns them on - and off? We explore some of the reasons for developing a strategy to build customer profiles and how to go about implementing it…

Spam filters and professional email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways in which to reach new customers and keep in touch with existing ones; yet the escalation of spam is jeopardizing its very existence and filters are becoming a necessity. Is there anything that email marketers can do to prevent their genuine communications getting caught in the net?…

B2B V B2C Email Marketing, Spot the Difference?

Traditional B2B marketing campaigns require very different strategies from those directed towards the consumer market and the same is true with email marketing. In this article we compare the differences between B2B and B2C email marketing and examine which techniques work best for each…

Email marketing refresher - a six step guide

Email marketing has been getting something of a bad press of late. In this article we get back to basics and remind ourselves why professional email marketing works and how to do it successfully…

Preparing your business for changes to email laws

New regulations concerning email marketing are set to come into force on 11th December. How do they affect you? We discuss the implications and suggest some steps you can take to help prepare your business for the changes…

Email strategies for acquisition and retention

Over the past couple of years, email has become a force to be reckoned with in B2B marketing. It is increasingly, becoming a must have tool for businesses across every sector. In this article we compare the two dominant trends within email marketing: email for acquisition and email for retention. We look at which you should be doing, at what stage and strategies to manage both…

How Not to Spam

Many companies we talk to, are somewhat reticent about email marketing for fear that they may be perceived as spammers. In fact there are clear distinctions between Spam and a genuine marketing campaign, here is our guide to legitimate email marketing – that gets great results…

Your website and email

Most companies these days have a website, and more and more are using email to connect with customers and prospects. In this article we explore the ways in which an integrated Internet campaign can increase sales, improve customer service and build loyal customer relationships…

Prospecting with email

Every business needs to build its customer base and for most, new business development is an ongoing process; a process in which email marketing has a vital role to play. In this article we discuss how email can be used to help identify prospects and move them along the sales process to the point at which they are ready to buy…

Making email responses work for you

All too often, efforts are concentrated on the acquisition and execution phases of a campaign and responses are not given the same level of attention. Good response management can add immense value to e-marketing and increase the impact of future campaigns…

How to get ahead in email marketing

In the past we've explored some of the don'ts of email marketing and also expounded in detail on many areas of the email marketing process. This month we thought we'd bring all of this wisdom together in the ultimate checklist of how to run a successful marketing campaign – the extravision Guide to How to Get Ahead in Email Marketing…

B2B email marketing and incentives

The business-to-consumer world is littered with incentives to encourage customers to buy, but incentives for business-to-business marketers, can be a double edged sword. We consider the effectiveness of offering incentives in the b2b marketplace…

How to write a subject line that sells

Your subject line can make or break an email campaign. This small but highly significant success factor in any campaign has been widely written about. We describe the features of a good subject line based on our own experience…

Launching an eNewsletter

Every business needs a boost from time to time – whether you need more leads, more sales, increased profits or bigger customers, a well implemented email newsletter can achieve the desired results. Why do newsletters work and how do you launch one?…

This year I must…

New Year Resolutions are easy to make - and even easier to break. Here's our guide to some resolutions that really are worth keeping...

Using email to promote events

Promoting a corporate event, such as a conference, seminar or webinar, is one of the most challenging and pressurised campaigns a marketer can be involved in. Email is the perfect channel for instantly promoting awareness, building momentum and ultimately selling the event…

Appraising your email campaign…

Marketers often focus purely on click through and open rate when it comes to assessing the success, or otherwise, of their campaigns. In fact there is much more to measuring success. Here is our guide to how best to assess your email campaigns...

It's all in the timing….

It's easy to get caught up in the creative elements of planning an email campaign and there's one important element that is often overlooked - timing. We look at why timing is crucial and offer some tips to help you time your campaign for maximum effect.

Email as a sales tool

Email strategies are usually seen as the domain of the marketer; a means of enhancing a company's profile over the long term. As a sales tool however, email is invaluable - we explore some of the ways email can be used to enhance selling opportunities and increase sales.

Seasons e-greetings (say it with email)

Sending a seasonal greeting by email that's highly personal, and personalised, is not only a great way to stand out from the crowd but it is more likely to be remembered than a traditional card – and may even elicit a response. Here are some seasonal hints

Is the UK failing to capitalise on email?

Many UK companies are failing to capitalise on the power of email when it comes to marketing, according to the results of our recent survey. We look at some of the reasons why email marketing is so under-used in the UK and suggest how to incorporate email into your marketing plans.

How to write great email copy

Writing copy for email marketing campaigns is vastly different than for any other medium - and getting it right is crucial if you want that carefully planned campaign to succeed. Over time we've learnt a few lessons about how to write good emails - and here we explain a few tricks of our trade.

The extravision email marketing survey 2002.

At extravision we like to keep our customers informed about the latest trends in email marketing; in the past we've analysed the results of surveys, such as the Direct Marketing Association's annual e-commerce survey. We also regularly test the opinion of senior level managers and business owners and recently undertook a survey of our own.

Viral Marketing

Viral Marketing uses the single most powerful aspect of the Internet – that we now communicate with many more people on a more frequent basis through email – to carry marketing messages in a far more effective way than traditional advertising.

What can you expect from email marketing?

For many companies email marketing is a bold step which can often seem daunting. Most of our clients however tell us that they wish they'd started months or even years earlier.

extravision announces partner programs

To address the needs of a growing number of companies that wish to expand their customer base and offer the benefits of email marketing, extravision have developed a range of Partner Programs. Alastair Campbell explains how the Partner Programs work.

Email Campaigns - What NOT to do

Even the most superbly worded and beautifully designed email campaign in the world will fail to get the high response rate it deserves without a bit of know-how. Here at extravision we have a list of over 40 dos and don'ts that ensure our campaigns are successful. We've described five of the more obvious ones.

eNewsletters

Publishing a newsletter is no mean feat, it takes a surprising amount of time to manage and many marketers find there's a lot more to it than they thought. In this article we'll explore some of the things to bear in mind if you're considering publishing a company newsletter and how to make sure that it gets read.

The DMA ecommerce survey findings

The Direct Marketing Association recently published their fifth annual Ecommerce Survey, which for the first time includes a section on email marketing practices. Here we examine what this study says about current email marketing practices and what the trends might be in the coming year.

Making your campaign deliver a great response

At extravision we've had years of experience of delivering email campaigns that are a cut above the rest and deliver great responses as a result. This article offers a few pointers to help you run a successful email campaign.

Data Protection: Do your email campaigns comply?

Compliance with data protection is a complex business, here at extravision we've put together a simple guide to the current legislation that should keep you out of court – and give you an idea of what is considered best practice.

EU Directive on email marketing

The European Parliament has been reviewing all aspects of electronic communications and have presented their findings in their document which outlines their position. This article presents what the Directive will mean to email marketers and provides links to download the full document and/or a summary.

We tried it and it didn't work

Lots of companies we talk to have said that email marketing is just not for them. In many cases this is because they are not exploiting the benefits that email marketing offers. This article will highlight some areas where you might be going (or have gone) wrong.

Direct Marketing Vs. Email Marketing: eNews

There are some fundamental differences between traditional methods of Direct Marketing Vs. Email Marketing. Email marketing has a number of unique attributes that make it an invaluable method of communicating with your customers and prospects. So just what are the differences?

Relationship Marketing

How much do you know about your customers? - probably more than you think. The information you have in your sales database, accounts system etc is valuable as it allows you to personalise your communications in a manner that means you will build a relationship that will help build customer loyalty.

Building Email Lists

Email marketing is low cost and generates exceptional response rates. The problem is, if you don't have email addresses then you can't conduct an email campaign. There are a number of things you can do to build your email lists quickly and effectively. This article tells you how you can build your lists.

Why Email Marketing ?

Over 100 million email messages are sent in the UK every day. Email is a great marketing tool as people pay attention to content rich email and response rates reflect this. It makes a great addition to your current marketing mix and delivers results quickly.

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