Please ignore the silly joke above.  Time to put our poker face and be serious about is.  Ready? And… go!

One of the many problems we have to face when we start an email marketing campaign is how, dear God, how to make these emails interesting.  Remember those days on which you would end up with nothing but fliers and leaflets in your pockets?  Do you remember anything interesting?

That’s what I thought.  Sadly, it’s all the same with email marketing.

“This is so boring… let’s send it!”

When did we stop reading the contents we send to our customers?  Really, guys, what’s going on?  Did I fell asleep during one of the meetings?

Probably I did, while reading one of these boring email campaigns.

It’s unbelievable that we cannot even put up interesting content!  That is one of the things we should be doing in the first place: create contents that drag customers by the eye to our website.  But most people send these gray, bland and flimsy campaigns that seem to be designed by the same robot that writes 90% of the spam I get on my email.

If you want to create an email marketing campaign that works, please: make it fun or go to the default route and send funny pictures of cats wearing hats.  At least your potential customers won’t hate you as much.

“Thsi is well wrtien… lets sned itt!!!!!!!!!!!”

One more thing: PROOFREAD!  Customers open their hearts and ears and take a leap of faith, in hope that they won’t stumble with spam.  The least you can do (and I mean the LEAST, as in “the minimum standard requirements that will prevent an angry horde from chasing you”) is to write, read, proofread, edit, correct and only then send your email campaign.

Spelling mistakes, typos and dodgy grammar will not make you sound dumb: it will make your company, products, services, co-workers and family (okay, that was a stretch) sound dumb.  Be careful and, once again, PROOFREAD!

How to make exciting email marketing campaigns?

• Think of what you would like to read on a corporate email.  You are the only one who knows your company and the only one who can fine-tune the language used on your contents
• Give, give tons.  Useful information, something nice or funny or inspirational.  Give twice as much you would like to receive.
• Don’t be too uptight.  Emails allow themselves to be a bit more intimate and loose on the protocol.  Think of this as an email you’re sending to someone you know about a company you happen to think it’s awesome.
• Design here is key.  The more organized your email looks, the easier will be for your customers and prospects to follow.

Keep these things in mind before you send a seven-paged email campaign about your company.  If you don’t want to read it, trust me on this one:

No one will.

I don’t want to brag about us, but, honestly, we don’t have cheap products.  If there’s something we take some pride of is that, well, we create good, competitive, attractive websites for an affordable price.  Every single site we build is done to be user-friendly, attractive and easily positionable, in order to fit any marketing/advertisement agenda.  It’s not an easy task but, hey, someone’s got to do it.

Do you want to know how to make the most of your web design and how to keep it affordable?  Keep on reading, then.

Good web building practices can take you places.

Think about it for a second:  Why do you need a website?  To promote your company?  To create a database?  To sell your products?  Some people just want to have a web site to say “Hey, you know what? we have a website!”.  While that last argument is respectable (who are we to say what do you need a site for?), having real goals keep costs lower.

Once you know the main purpose of your site, you can think of the essential sections and, that way, you can keep the site functional and simple from its very start.

Things your website might definitely need (for starters).

• An intention (sales, brand awareness, conversions…)
• An inviting, clean homepage (think of it as a business card: it’s gonna create a long-lasting impression)
• A means to be reached by your visitors (an email, a phone number, an address… anything.)
• A brief description of your products and services (see, bullet-points can do wonders and keep people reading… hey, you read up to here! Doesn’t that say something about them?)

You see, these are some of the basic things your website must have.  These, along with an attractive, simple-to-use design, can take you places you’ve never been.

… places where big bucks are.

The straightest line between you and your customers.

Internet Marketing blends digital media, advertisement and customer service in one package.  You have to keep those bases covered.  The good news are that you don’t need to spend tons and tons of cash to do do.  Planning saves you a pretty penny and, well, being realistic helps a lot.

In the end, an affordable web design is a cheap web design when you do it the wrong way.

However, in a few special cases, I find the mastership of a craft.  How can you convey these very evil texts, ideas and contents in a small space?

Even better: how can you find these very, very evil texts, ideas and contents in a huge, say, cyberspace?

Not THAT different, but different nevertheless.

One of the most common problems when dealing with advertisement companies is that they constantly try to impose their old tricks to new media.  It’s true: the principles of good copywriting and advertisement apply to Internet ads, but there are some differences (in fact, these differences are additional to the elements that constitute marketing contents).

The main core of marketing is persuasion: you HAVE to grab your customers by the nose and make them take an action.  Sometimes it’s making them buy, sometimes it’s making them share some information with you.  The differences appear in two main aspects: timing and rhetoric (when to say it, how to say it).

When and how.

Facts of life, people:  The attention span of the average Internet user is quite small.  I don’t mean to say that people’s dumber nowadays (although I feel inclined to think the exact opposite whenever I watch reality shows), but we don’t have much time and we need to extract essential information in a short period of time.

When? ASAP.  How?  Well, that’s a tricky question…

Really… how?

• Internet marketing, unlike traditional marketing, can generate conversions immediately.  That’s why you have to have a call-to-action (buy, share information, vote, anything…), something you can’t have on TV.
• You can target a very specific group through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
• Being assertive is key here.  Be brief and to-the-point.

Wait a minute… wasn’t this an internet about Internet VS Traditional marketing?

Not really…

What I was trying to say, in the end, is that the same principles apply, but you have to get your message through in an immediate way that, ten years ago, wasn’t as urgent as it is now.  People are ready to make business, more than ever.  The economy is so crazy nowadays that everyone is always looking for the best deal.

It could be your deal, if you know how to put it.

How can you explain that?  The Internet is that endless land of milk and honey.  Shouldn’t you be getting, at least, a few more deals?

Cut all corners and you’ll end up with nothing.

There’s a difference between being good at budget management and being a cheapskate.  It’s rather subtle, since both require the same skills: a firm pulse to cut corners.

The rumors are 100% honest: Online advertisement is affordable and effective, online companies make tons of cash every day.  The problem is not about spending little and saving tons but to KNOW how to spend your cash.  There are things that can only be done by professionals.  It’s the Three Little Pigs logic:  everyone can make a house… for how long will it stand when the Big Bad Wolf puffs and puffs?

Where to spend a fistful of dollars?

It’s a simple principle:  In order to get something, you have to give something.  However, giving lots doesn’t really mean getting lots, so learn how to spend your money wisely and effectively.  You need results, not huge bills to brag about how much your company invests on marketing.

Upgrade and maintain your website. Can you believe there’s people out there who really don’t care about keeping their websites up to date?  Every single change (from a change of look to new contents or sections) counts and keeps customers interested - without mentioning its SEO benefits.

Position your company. Internet turned us into lazy people.  If it’s not a couple of clicks away, then it’s an endless endeavor and it should be avoided at all costs.  Good web-building practices makes your page easier for your customer to navigate and even easier for search engines to find it before it finds others.

Generate conversions. So your potential customers saw your pretty site.  Wow… impressive… let me yawn in amazement.  You really need to generate conversions in order to justify having a website.  If it doesn’t bring you customers, then it’s just like lipstick on a pig.  Make sure your site generates conversions and put your money in there.

Advertise like there’s no tomorrow. I’m not saying this for the sake of saying it.  There is no tomorrow.  Time is a tricky concept and we tend to leave things for tomorrow.  Really… can you honestly trust you’re going to have an eager audience for tomorrow?  You never know.  Invest on online advertisement today, now.

You can save yourself a good amount of cash, but you will never get anything for free.  Spend your online marketing budget wisely and effectively.

Until a customer comes to us asking for the impossible.

We can’t do miracles.

Sometimes (and I’m just glad it is not often) we stumble upon a customer that has no clue at all.  They don’t know what they want, they keep drawing doodles and little notes they use to explain their (incoherent, mumbling, intricate) concept to our techies/SEOs/designers/copywriters (including yours truly)/janitor/customer support staff/visitors/other customers and so on.  Their demands are odd if not impossible to satisfy and, in the end, they’re willing to pay absurd amounts of cash for miracles.

In the end, everybody loses:  we waste time and annoy our customer. Our customer loses money on something that has no rhyme or reason and I find myself abandoning all hope of making sense of those doodles written on a sticky note.

So I think it is proper to tell you what we are not.

What an Internet Marketing Agency Is Not

1. We are NOT traditional marketing agencies: If you come to us with a HUGE budget to spend on traditional marketing solutions, much to our general dismay, we will have to refuse your offers.  it is our interest to help you get the diffusion you need for a reasonable amount.  That’s the charm of Internet Marketing: big results for little cash
2. We are NOT a factory: We are an agency.  That means we take the time and we make every single possible effort to guarantee our customers that they will get nothing but the best marketing solution available.  We keep in touch with our customers and develop customized solutions.  None of us likes to work en masse: we know you deserve better
3. We are NOT just one guy in a basement with a tablet, a PC and a pile of pizza boxes by his bed. We are professionals.  As in “a bunch of ‘em”.  We are a team of hard-working people with a know-how, tons of experience and, for crying out loud, lives to live.
4. We are NOT what Willis was talking about:  Sad but true, we have to live everyday with that mark of shame upon our heads.
5. We are NOT friends of speculative job:  We believe in an honest market, where our customer gets nothing but the unmeasurable efforts of a team and that is why we are solidary.  We don’t support speculative job: we respect our work and the work of others.
6. We are NOT jacks-of-all-trades: We know how to create online businesses that bring loads of revenue, clicks, recognition and status to our customers.  We know how to create campaigns that work, maximize on a budget and have fun while at it.  Beyond that, you’re on your own.
7. We are NOT indulgent with mediocre jobs: We frown upon lousy execution.
8. We are NOT a company made out of snobs and lil’ know-it-alls: We all work hard but we know that we have limits and we will always be humble when it comes to accept criticism.
9. We are NOT robots: While we want to make sure you get the best job we’ve done up to this point, we ask of you to demand reasonable deadlines and project outlines.
10. We are NOT perfect: Maybe the Internet shuts itself down at the office.  Maybe someone spills coffee over the printer.  Maybe some of us didn’t have much sleep.  We take pride in what we do but we are a company made entirely of people.  We will give our 100% every time, but we are not flawless.

We hope you understand that we expect you to be clear, honest so we can be clear, honest and effective at our job as an Internet Marketing Agency.  Thank you.

I encourage you to ignore That Guy (you know who That Guy is:  he sits at the meetings with an perennial expression of disgust, frowns upon every single idea and usually smirks in despite whenever suggests something… he probably wears a black turtleneck too).

THAT GUY is the most dangerous element for your marketing agency because THAT GUY (yes, I’m looking at you right now, gazing into the secrets your soul can no longer hide!) is the one that postpone and procrastinate the launch of a campaign.

Whatever you do: launch your campaign, don’t fear mistakes and, for the love of Christ,  don’t stop.  That Guy feeds out of procrastination.

The only way to place your products is to be proactive.

Fear of Failure: Product Placement’s Worst Enemy

Whatever good or bad ideas your team might have will inevitably crumble in the crummy fingers of That Guy.

Internet Marketing is not an exact science and the only thing we can do as marketers is to know our trade, know our market and cross fingers they’ll love us.

Please underline “know your trade”.  This does not apply to people who are just guessing what might appeal a certain audience because, well, you cannot take a bunch of variables, toss them and come up with Insta-Procter-and-Gamble.  It takes research and constant sharpening of one’s skills.

However, if you’re not willing to take risks, you might as well abandon your business.

Marketers Have Swimming Bladders.

“Responsibility for the responsible”, some say.  Every decision implies a series of consequences, which can range from successful to miserable.  It’s always a hit-and-miss game.

However, if you don’t go a bit further and dare, you’ll never know what works.  The world is for the risk-takers (take a look at this… okay, so it is a site for kids, but the information in it is inspiring.  Get off of your comfort zone, will you?) and only when you venture far away from what you know is when you begin the real work as a marketer: knowing your customers and stating offers in an appealing way.

Where to begin?

1. DO.  That’s the basis.  Create, test, launch, take notes (always knowing what you are doing.  Procedures, not results, is what we know best).
2. DARE.  Get off the pedestal you created to praise your own marketing skills, pull back your sleeves and put some elbow grease into your online marketing campaign! Talk with your designers, your copy writers, your SEO techies and learn how to maximize the potential of your team.
3. DREAM.  So you think that, just because you managed to pull through, you can stop?  Every marketing campaign represents a new challenge.  New ideas get stale pretty quickly.
4. DON’T DIE.  Just follow the first three, have something warm to drink and call me in the morning.  You’ll feel a hell of a lot better.

You have to move.  Most of the times, THAT GUY (yes, I’m talking to you, you… uh… guy) is a voice that comes from our own minds, making us pile up our work and forget about taking risks.  Marketing success is only for those who dare.  Don’t listen to him.  Do.  Just do.

It can be pretty, it can be state-of-the-art or sponsored by Internet’s heavyweights… if it doesn’t bring you more business chances, it’s not a website.

First things first:  why to have a web presence?

By now, I assume that you guys have had some experiences with the Web.  Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this (or maybe someone printed it for you… I don’t know… I can’t keep track of every single possibility…) .  The question I made to start this paragraph is not to force-feed you the multiple benefits of having a website.  I need you to seriously think about the main goal of it.

Do you want:

• …an online store?
• …to position your brand online?
• …to have a catalog so people can browse easily through your products or
• …to create a community around your brand?

These might be similar goals to the untrained eye, but each of them need a different set of strategies.

There is one thing in common:  commercial sites must be attractive and talk to customers and prospects in their own language.

Now that you know why… how?

Keep always in mind that:

1. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  Make things easier for your customers.
2. Language should always be simple to follow.  Tell stories, make your offers exciting.
3. Spend less time talking of how AWESOME your company is and more time talking about the things you can do for your customers.

Of course, there’s not one way or a safe formula to get people to know you.  But clear goals and clear language can help you.

You know what else can help you?  an Internet Marketing Agency that understands your advertisement needs.

… and here’s why:  Marketing is not the kind of investment that should be huge.  You don’t need to spend millions with an agency that will only guarantee regular results (the kind of results that come from framing a campaign within the bounds of traditional media).

You know what you really need?  Stop spending your money without rhyme or reason and find daring ways to promote your products.

“But… but… I paid millions for these exclusive sporks!”

There are two things you have to keep in mind:

• You need to invest on marketing and promotion
• You need to invest on marketing and promotion on regular basis.

You’re going to invest on marketing constantly and, trust us, it’s going to pay a toll on your budget.  But that’s the kind of investment (especially if your company is new) you cannot evade.  You’re going to have to give a lot before you recover your investment and make profit.

A few ideas to promote and place your products today.

1.  Be WRONG

This doesn’t mean to be crass or oblivious to evidence.  Create a campaign where you’re saying exactly the opposite of what your company stands for while conveying  its principles and commercial premises.  Take different turns to say the same thing, use conventions that aren’t inherent to your products or services.  More than being deliberately wrong, think outside the box and don’t fear mistakes.

2. Be LOUD

Think of a block party:  it’s nothing fancy, everyone gets involved, share drinks and have fun.  No need for state-of-the-art stereo systems: just crank it up and they’ll come.  When there’s a block party, it’s impossible not to get dragged by the euphoria (and what’s Brazil’s Carnaval but the most astounding block party ever?) and get in a vibrant, positive mood.  Be loud.  Just know how and when.  Create campaigns that cannot be ignored (and we don’t mean annoying pop-ups… just find ways to be too fun to be neglected…)

3.  Be CHEAP

So think about it:  why would you want to drain your company’s cash for meat-and-tatters results?  If you’re gonna invest so much and so many times on an internet marketing agency, you better know how to make smart choices.

So you have your nice and tidy website, right?  Everything’s running smoothly and you’re sitting back, relaxing (maybe enjoying a Pina Colada and wearing a hawaiian shirt… whatever you understand as “leisure” is fine here…) All of a sudden, you get a call.  It’s one of the IT guys.

…the harbingers of bad news.

He, choking and gasping, tells you that you’re not getting any traffic to your site.  You ask yourself why, if you’ve invested lots of money not only to have a website you can be proud of but, to make sure you’re going to get noticed, you’ve spent a pretty penny on SEO and online marketing.  What gives?

It’s always those little mistakes.

1-    PDF files as part of online reading

Imagine you’re visiting the most interesting and appealing web site ever.  You’re surfing your way through pages of information and, all of a sudden… Boom! The flow gets broken with a PDF file. Even if you try, you will never be able to blend it into the rest of the web site.  It will always feel foreign to… well… everything you’ve done.

The worst part? Content on PDF is simply a nightmare to navigate.  All the dullness of a word processor, none of its benefits.

2-    Links that don’t change colors
Visitors need to know where they are at all times and that includes where they have been.  Links are the key on the navigation process. It is very important that people can see the pages they have already visited, or go back to one of the links they have already clicked on.

On achieving this, links changing colors is a must. Users have to be able to tell the difference between the links they have visited and the ones they have not.  As websites are becoming progressively complex, we cannot be bothered to memorize everything, can we?

3-    Text that can’t be scanned

It’s a fact:  online users don’t read, but scan instead.  Make evident what your content is all about. This requires online-writing expertise.  Here are some suggestions:

•    subheads
•    bullet points
•    highlighted keywords
•    short paragraphs
•    a simple writing style

4-    Crummy advertisement.

Sure all contents on a web site are  finally intended to sell something, but users will pull away from a site as soon as they feel like they’re being forced to buy something. Giving your readers a great content  will generally lead to a purchase, without them even knowing it!

If you want them to buy, give them something for free.  Contents are key in this transaction.

Always bear in mind that a web agency can do this for you, but you have to know how it’s done so you can demand nothing but quality.