mailchimp from scratch - paulteague.com · mailchimp account from scratch • basic mailchimp...

MailChimp From Scratch

Presenter: Paul Teague

All of the slides that you see today will be made available

to you online after the presentation.

You do not need to take notes – unless you want to!

The resources page will also include useful and related

links.

• What is email marketing?

• Why should allbusinesses be email marketing?

• A look at the best email marketing services

• Setting up your (free) MailChimp account from scratch

• Basic MailChimpaccount settings

• The basic rules & regulations of email marketing + GDPR

• Email marketing techniques and tips

• Open rates, analytics and resends

• Why people unsubscribe from your emails

• Ninja tips ☺

Coming up today …

What Is Email Marketing?

• It allows you to capture the names and email addresses of your prospects and customers

• It allows you to email (follow up with) your prospects as many times as you wish, whenever you want to

• It allows you to capture whatever information that you want to about your prospects ie phone number, address, shoe size, car renewal year etc

• It gives you full analytics about who’s opening your emails and if they’re consuming your content

What Is Email Marketing?

If you do use email

marketing

• Using email marketing is like getting someone’s phone number with the promise of an appointment ... it means you can follow up, you just got a foot in the door ☺• Using email marketing means that you’re maximising the potential of your blog or web site ... it doesn’t just ‘sit there’, it’s working for you on auto pilot 24/7• Using email marketing allows you to track how well you’re doing in your marketing, so if it’s not working you can ditch it and if it is working you can do more of it!• Using email marketing means that you always have pre-sold potential buyers on tap ... so whenever you have a new offer, you have an online queue ready and waiting!• Using email marketing means that you own your data (rather than just having ‘likes’ on Facebook or ‘followers’ on Twitter). That means you can take it with you and use it with other software if you want to.

If you don’tuse email marketing

• You will be leaving money on the table• You will be letting prospects visit your web site or blog and drift away, never to return again• You will be losing out on possible repeat sales, cross sells and upsells (shout if you don’t know what I mean by that!)• You will be losing business to competitors who are using auto responders in your business• Not using email marketing in your web based marketing is like letting a customer walk into a shop, completely ignoring them, then letting them walk out again without even saying ‘Hello’!• If you were that customer, how would you feel about that?

Popular Options …

I have used all of these, except ActiveCampaign

Mailerlite is my favourite ☺

The best options …

• Free forever• 2000 email addresses• 12000 emails per month• Automation available with free accounts

The best options …

• Free forever• 1000 email addresses• Unlimited emails per month• WITH automation

I am not an expert on GDPR but …

• All businesses are in the same boat • There will be a lot more specific information coming out before May 2018• The email service providers need to take a lead on this … if they don’t, their

business is dead in the water!• I personally think that previously gathered data is going to be the biggest

issue … you’ll need to make sure you have your permissions recorded and you may well lose a lot of subscribers

• Don’t worry if you lose subscribers – they weren’t interested anyway or they would have replied ☺

To prove my point, here’s Mailchimp’s plan for dealing with GDPR: https://blog.mailchimp.com/getting-ready-for-the-gdpr/

https://blog.mailchimp.com/getting-ready-for-the-gdpr/

MailChimp has created a comprehensive guide at:https://paulteague.com/GDPR

They’re giving you lots of tools to help you to comply:

• Get consent with GDPR-friendly forms• Quickly handle subscriber data requests• Keep your data handling and processing compliant

See https://paulteague.com/GDPR2

MailerLite produced an excellent article on GDPR:https://paulteague.com/GDPR3

GDPR requirements will be enforced starting on May 25, 2018.

https://paulteague.com/GDPR

https://paulteague.com/GDPR2

https://paulteague.com/GDPR3

MailerLite is slightly ahead of MailChimp – this is their template for reconfirming subscribers.

I will be using this from early May and will send it out several times to ‘no-opens’.

I have already warned my subscribers that this is coming.

• I have given you free access to my Mailchimp Unboxed book on the slides download page

• This shows you step-by-step how to set up your Mailchimp account correctly

• Once you work through it, you will know how to do the basic set-up, how to set up your first list, how to create a web form, use templates and send out your first email broadcast ☺

http://mailchimp.com

Let’s take a look …

• Set-up• Lists• Campaigns• Forms• Sending emails

• A/B split testing• Pro set-up tips• Split tests• Analytics• Facebook connection

I have recently begun to send much more personalised emails, and these are working very well with my readers:

• https://paulteague.com/EM1

• https://paulteague.com/EM2b

• https://paulteague.com/EM3

https://paulteague.com/EM1

https://paulteague.com/EM2b

https://paulteague.com/EM3

You can’t just email anybody ... rules and regulations apply!

We call ethical email marketing ‘permission based marketing’ because we never send out emails without consent and permission

Email Marketing Essentials …

You must make sure that you add in your full and accurate business details

You must make sure that you add in the ‘You are receiving this email as an XYZ customer.’ section, because it will stop people unsubscribing.

You must have an unsubscribe link available on every marketing email that you send.


• You must include your contact information inside every promotional email that you send, including a physical mailing address where you can receive mail or a PO Box (not a website or email address.)

• You may not falsify your contact information or subject line.

• Even if you are outside the US, most servers live in the US (all US standards have to be observed).


The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations

I’m not a legal expert BUT:

• It mainly relates to data protection

• In very simple terms, don’t do bad stuff ... make sure you have permission, don’t sell data, don’t lose data, don’t publish peoples’ data ... just behave ;-)

• It is unlawful to send someone direct marketing who has not specifically granted permission (via an opt-in agreement) unless there is a previous relationship between the parties. Organisations cannot merely add peoples’ details to their marketing database and offer an opt out after they have started sending direct marketing.


I register every year via: https://ico.org.uk/

It costs me £35 annually

It’s a simple process

I’m issued a certificate every year andI note this on my web sites

You can now do it online ☺


Don’t be put off by any of this

Follow the simple rules and you’ll be able to go about email marketing with no problems.


• Email marketing is a skill, which you need to practise, tweak and get better at – don’t expect to be brilliant immediately!• Don’t just think of it as ‘another email’ ... a different subject line, a more creative treatment, a unique offer can improve your open rates and click rates• Test different techniques ... do more of what works, do less of what doesn’t• There is not ‘one way’ to do email marketing ... you have to build your relationship with your own subscribers• Keep it friendly and informal – who likes stuffy?!


• Write a meaningful subject line• Write an eye-catching subject line• Keep the message focused and sharp• Avoid attachments and images [Spam alert!]• Identify yourself clearly• Be positive – always!• Proofread before sending• Be conversational• Respond promptly to queries• Do not be too ‘salesy’

Writing emails – simple tips


•Put your main point in the opening sentence. Most readers won't stick around for a surprise ending unless you’re a very good story teller!

•Don't use ALL CAPITALS (this is considered shouting in an email)

•As a general rule, PLZ avoid textspeak (abbreviations and acronyms): you may be ROFLOL (rolling on the floor laughing out loud), but your reader may be left wondering WUWT (what's up with that?)


Writing emails – simple tips

•Tuesdays and Fridays produce the highest email open rates

•Fridays produce high email open rates as it’s almost the weekend and people in general are more relaxed after working the week

•Mondays and Thursdays bring average email open rates, which are still okay

•Wednesdays, in my finding, produce the lowest response of all weekdays

•Weekends bring the worst response of all days! It is as low as less than half of the average responses on weekdays even!

Findings from an Internet Marketer ...

Source: Email Marketing Blueprint

Be aware of these differences in your own industry ... test and tweak!


My email blunder!

The first time I ever sent out a split test campaign I set it up incorrectly and sent out 4 different versions of the same email to 1000 people


My email recovery!

I sent out a full apology and explanation the day after and ended up getting my best ever feedback response from an email campaign ... and it improved my ethical reputation no end ☺


An open rate indicates the percentage of emails sent out that were actually opened

Why is that important?

It’s immediate feedback

If you pay attention to these stats you can see what works best and what works worst

You can resend the email to those people who didn’t open the first time ☺


A resend is when an email is sent again to somebody who didn’t open it first time around but it has a different subject line to entice them to open it

Why is that important?

You should use resends

We’re all busy and we don’t open every email ... so a resend gives another opportunity to access your content

Don’t be afraid to resend a 3rd and 4th time for a really important offer!


Facebook ...


Mailchimp integrates with your Facebook business page.

It’s a ‘nice to have’ but these days isn’t as useful as it once was

Very advanced!

Using Facebook, I can import my leads via Power Editor, and if they’re on Facebook I can remarket to them, only paying when they click one of my ads. So they’re pre-sold, but they cost nothing unless then take action ☺


Add A Form To To A Web Site ...


Take notice of opens, unopened, clicks (CTR=Click Through Rate), unsubscribes, complaints and industry average opens


Targeting correctly? New territories?

How are you

doing?

Can you improve?


Why do people unsubscribe?

• People will unsubscribe ... don’t take it personally!• Do take it personally if lots and lots of people unsubscribe ... it means you did something wrong!• You’ll get a constant trickle of unsubscribes – it hurts at first!• You’ll get complaints too – people forget they subscribed (which is why it’s important to complete the ‘where you subscribed’ info)


What’s most important?

• I’m most concerned about my open rates and my click through rates• I improve open rates by working on my subject lines• I improve click through rates by improving my email writing and my calls to action• If I get high complaints or high unsubscribes I’ll dig deeper and spend some time figuring out what caused it (Horrible offer? Too commercial? Bad humour? Careless spelling?)


• Email marketing is not as effective as it used to be

• Youngsters tend not to use email

• Internet users spend more time checking their Facebook and Twitter account daily.

• Many people use mobile devices, make sure your emails can be read on mobile

Email marketing truths


• In email marketing, a segment is a particular group of people

• This group of people may be defined by the following factors:

- Geographical location- Buyers/non-buyers- Opened email/did not open email- Registration source (blog, web site Facebook etc)

• You can send customised emails depending on the segment that the prospect or customer belongs to

Segmentation


In Mailchimp, I use the groups facility to segment my list.

I segment by product type mainly, but also by people I consider to be new prospects


Email Marketing Essentials … MailChimp now offers automation with free accounts … this is a good

thing because it makes MailChimp a much more powerful tool ☺

Email Marketing Essentials … Some of the automations are advanced or require 3rd party tools to use

– several of them are ‘best practice’ email marketing techniques …

Email Marketing Essentials … Using recurring dates can be a useful tool for re-engaging with

customers – imagine how useful this could be to a florist or childrens’ party venue!

CRM stands for ‘Customer Relationship Management’ ... it is something you should consider using longer term in your business.


‘Customer relationship management (CRM) is a model for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.’


CRM notes

1) Not for beginners2) Usually quite expensive

3) Usually quite techie4) Essential as your business grows

5) Essential if you have a large customer database6) Essential if you take payments online

7) Amazing functionality!8) Choose with care!


Popular CRM Examples


GMail, one of the leading email providers, had recently implemented the ‘priority markers’ feature allowing their users to mark selected emails as important and thus change the ways people prioritise their emails for reading consumption every time they check their inbox.

And let’s be honest: promotional emails rarely ever reach PRIORITY status!

They have a smart system that detects and filters spam emails and it gets tweaked frequently, therefore making even legitimate email marketing harder.


Spam!

• Choose your opt-in method wisely (go for double opt-in)• Don’t use purchased, rented, or scraped lists (ever!)• Don’t assume that you have permission (even if they’re already

customers!)• Set expectations when people join your list (monthly? weekly? daily?)• Don’t wait too long before contacting your subscribers (email lists go

stale)• Treat your email campaigns as an extension of your website, store, or

brand (how you email matters!)• Don’t hide the unsubscribe/opt-out link in your campaigns (ever!)


Avoiding the Spam folder!

See: https://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/how-to-avoid-spam-filters/html/

https://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/how-to-avoid-spam-filters/html/

1) Make sure you use email in your business2) Plan ahead when selecting your auto responder service3) Stay legal at all times4) Use a CRM when your business needs it5) Don’t pay for subscribers who are wasting your money6) Do recycle subscribers in clever and more cost effective

ways so that they can re-engage with you when they’re ready

7) Spread the word! Many local businesses won’t even know that email marketing is such a great tool!

More information and resources

about

email marketing:

https://paulteague.com/MC2

https://paulteague.com/MC2

mailchimp from scratch - paulteague.com · mailchimp account from scratch • basic mailchimp...

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