Email marketing

Is email marketing dead?

We recently saw a post on this topic, and it made us stop and think. If you can get Twitter and Facebook updates from your favorite companies, do you really need to get email from them too?

We put our thinking caps on, and we thunk awhile, and we decided . . . yes, yes, you do need email marketing!

Here’s why.

  • Email marketing reaches customers who haven’t jumped into social media. Plenty of boomers get email from their kids and shop online. But not all of them have started using Facebook, let alone Twitter. Email remains a useful way to stay in touch with them and let them know about sales and promotions.
  • It’s a way to establish expertise. Many companies send out email newsletters just like this one on a regular basis. These newsletters aren’t pushing direct sales. Instead, they share information about topics that are important to your customers. This knowledge-sharing can help establish you as an expert in your field – whether you’re a catering firm writing about how to host a great event, or a golf pro offering weekly tips on improving your stroke.
  • It’s a way to get the word out about sales and specials. It’s no big news that putting products on sale is one of the most effective calls to action available. That’s why mega-retailers like J. Crew and Land’s End have aggressive email marketing campaigns. Each company promotes a wide variety of sales throughout the year – sometimes it’s free shipping, sometimes it’s end-of-season discounts, sometimes percent discounts. But the sales are regular, and the emails announcing them can come weekly or even daily.

The rules of conduct governing email marketing are rigorous, and there’s no better way to ruin your reputation and get onto server blacklists than to violate them. But if you follow the rules, email can be a great part of your interactive marketing campaign.

Want to talk about your email strategy? Contact us today.

Email Marketing

Here at Atomic, we talk a lot about organic search – getting your site a high ranking on Google through strong website content, without using paid ads.

But paid ads do have a role in search, and pay-per-click is one of the best ways to utilize them.

Pay-per-click involves advertising your business on a search engine like Google. When people search for one of your keywords, your ad appears next to the search results. People can click your ad to make a purchase or learn more about you. The system is called “pay per click” because you’re charged only when someone clicks your ad, not every time the ad is displayed.

How do you know if pay-per-click is for you?

  • You need paying customers quickly. Maybe you just invested in a new location and need to start recouping your costs ASAP. You can’t wait a few months for customers to find you through organic search – you need customers in the door now.
  • Your business depends on web sales. Maybe you don’t have a storefront – you’re an online business. In that case, getting qualified buyers to your website is of prime importance, every day.
  • You’re targeting highly competitive keywords. If you’re one seller in a crowded marketplace, relying on organic search alone won’t cut the mustard. To stay on par with your competitors, you need the help of pay-per-click.
  • You have a changing product lineup. Organic search involves optimizing your site for keywords of ongoing importance – “DVDs,” for example. But what if you want to let customers know that you’ll have Star Trek in stock THIS TUESDAY? In that situation, organic search can’t get the message across quick enough. You need a pay-per-click campaign targeted to that specific release date.
  • You need to advertise a special sale or promotion. Maybe your business is having a once-a-year sidewalk sale, and you want to move as much product as possible. In that scenario, you want to take advantage of every advertising opportunity that you can afford – and pay-per-click is one of the most effective and most affordable options out there.

It helps to think of organic search and pay-per-click as dual strategies, working together to drive traffic to your website. Organic search is a long-term strategy that involves getting the best search results for your site over time. Pay-per-click is an immediate-term strategy that can get results quickly, when you need them the most.

Wondering if pay-per-click is for you? Talk to us today.