Happy New Everyone.  Lets kick things off with a new year email marketing tip for you.

Adding Alternative Text To Images

Images on HTML email designs do not always display automatically in most email clients, so adding a short sentence or description (alternative text or alt text) for each image gives the recipient a quick overview of what to expect, either before their email client loads the images or before the reader has to right click and download the images.

Another benefit of including alt text on your images is that it helps improve your text to image ratio on your email. Having an even text to image ratio is something that increases your emails’ chances of getting through spam filters and landing in your customers’ inbox.

To add alternative text to your images in Suite26:

-Click on Edit Primary Content
-Select Insert/Edit Image
-In the Image Properties box, type in your alt text description in the Alternative Text field as shown below.

How to add alt text to your images

By following Suite26 on Twitter, you will be able to keep up to date with the latest news, offers and discover how to stay ahead of your competitors.

Follow Suite26 and be the first to receive:
1. Helpful tips and advice on how to improve your email campaigns – Engage more customers - increase sales – grow your business.

2. News and updates on Suite26 – New features and developments giving you more for your money!

3. Insights into the busy world of Email Marketing - Keep up to date with and compare your stats against the latest market trends.

4. Exclusive offers and competition news – awarding customers and helping you save more!

5. Networking opportunities to build your contacts – More contacts - more referrals? More sales opportunities?

No matter what level of email marketing experience you have, failing to follow these simple email marketing best practices can affect your email campaigns’ success.

By sticking to this checklist, you can help guarantee more opens, clicks, responses and ultimately sales, (if that’s your goal?)

Branding:

• Does your email feature your logo, corporate branding and colours?
• Does the branding on your email match the same style and feel as your website?

Content:

• Does your message contain the benefits to the reader? How will they benefit from your offer, latest news or new product or service etc?
• Does your email include well-placed, clear and compelling call-to-actions? Is it obvious what you want them to do next?
• Is your email well structured and have an even balance between text, images and links?
• Have you avoided using spammy words in your subject line and body text?
• Is your subject line intriguing and persuasive enough to make the recipient want to read on?

Personalisation:

• Have you tried personalising your email with the customer’s name, yet without over-personalising the email?
• Is your ‘From Name’ a named person or just a generic one such as info, sales or support? Using a name can help make it feel friendlier.

Data Management:

• Have you recently checked to see how up to date your email address data and contact groups are?
• Is your sign-up process as easy as it can possibly be? Have you personally tested it recently?

Legal Bits:

• Does your email contain any of your corporate details? Full company name, head office address, a contact number?
• Is your unsubscribe link clearly visible, simple and straightforward?

Technical Design & Testing:

• Have you tested the your email to see how it renders in different mail clients and web browsers? Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo etc?
• Have you included a link for the email to be viewed in a new web browser page?
• Do your images have alt text so that content will still appear even if the images cannot due to certain mail client settings?
• Have you kept the resolution size of your images and logos small and checked that they load properly and quickly?

If you can tick all these boxes, you’re ready to go!

Take a look at this interesting article on the differences between Email and Email Marketing when it comes to permission based emails.

Email Insider has raised some very useful points when commenting on the hot topic in a LinkedIn group on ‘whether collecting business cards at a networking events, meetings, social functions, etc, gives people/companies the right to add someone’s details to their database and start sending them their e-newsletter?’

The article first clarifies what Email and Email Marketing are, and then defines the differences between them and whether the above form of data capture is permission based or not for the sending of future emails/email campaigns.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=130082

Following our successful outing at Internet World in April, we are spreading our wings further by deciding to strut our stuff at The Online Marketing Show in 2 weeks.

If you didn’t get to see us before at Internet World (or you want to see us again), you can now come and meet us for a chat and receive:

- One-to-one demonstrations
- Free email marketing advice and support
- Free email credits for visiting.

Plus there’s the chance to put a face to a name and voice.

So if you’re looking for guidance to help you connect and engage with your customers cost effectively, and can’t get to our Harlow offices, The Online Marketing Show at Olympia might be the best place to meet.

If you want to arrange a specific time to meet us just call us on 0845 313 0912 or email sales@26.co.uk with your preferred date and time.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Event details:

Where: Grand Hall, Olympia

Dates: 29th and 30th June 2010

Cost: Free! Register today

Check out the photos of Suite26 at Internet World, Earls Court, 27- 29th April.

Our powerful, entry-level email service application pitted itself against some big players in what is a highly competitive industry, but we managed to hold our own against the main email marketing heavyweights and delivered the goods for companies seeking a new low-cost alternative that is truly easy-to-use.

Thanks to all the visitors to our stand at Internet World. It was great to meet and chat with you all. We hope you enjoyed the demonstrations, support and advice we provided as well as the free email credits, so you can now seriously test drive the power of this application!

For more information on Suite26 or our stand at Internet World, just call 0845 313 0912 or email enquiries@26.co.uk.

When it comes to email marketing, no business can be too small.  No matter how many customers or members you have, businesses of all sizes can benefit from using email marketing.

Size doesn’t matter.  Whether you’re an SME, a small-growing business or just one man and his dog, we understand that the thought of using any online marketing activities, let alone email marketing might be a daunting one.  You may have concerns about a lack of email addresses or on how to create a professional looking email.  That’s where Suite26 can help.

Here are 5 simple steps to you help build your email list, engage with your customers and follow up on your campaign results.

1. List building by collecting email addresses

The quickest and most effective way of collecting valid email addresses from customers who are interested in your products or services is to provide an email opt-in subscribe form on your website so that customers can sign-up to receive your newsletters or promotional offers.  The other way is to get your employees to actively ask customers for their email addresses at every point of contact, whether it’s by phone, face-to-face or online.

2. Understand your customers and carefully plan your email messages

First you need to understand your customer base and consider how they can benefit from X, Y or Z news or offers. What do they see as value?  If you plan to send a regular email newsletter, make sure it’s newsworthy and of interest to the reader.  Separate your customers into specific groups depending on their interests, location, purchasing amounts and more.  Then send targeted emails that specifically relate to their needs and interests.  Also consider the best day(s) and time(s) to send your emails, giving them the best chance of being read.

3. Creating your email template

Create an email campaign that will grab the readers' attention, engage them and get them to respond e.g. sign-up, contribute, trial or buy.  Use a professional looking, properly designed HTML email template as it can be the difference between inbox or junk folder delivery.  Having a custom-built email template designed for you can give your messages a professional look and feel each time you send, helping your customers to instantly recognise your brand and help increase traffic straight to your website.

4. Write content that will engage customers

When it comes to writing your content remember these key points:

• Keep it simple – both your subject line and your message

• Decide what the objective is for the email - what do you want the customer to do next?

• Use clear, well placed call-to-action buttons or words that will direct recipients through to a specific webpage

• Carefully consider your opening paragraph as this is what will initially be seen by customers in their email program’s preview panel.  You must be able to grab their attention in a few seconds and make them want to open it and read on.  Personalising the email with the recipient’s name can help achieve this.

• Always use fresh and interesting new content on each and every send

• Make sure there’s good ratio between text and images.  Too many images and not enough text can make the email look like spam to Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo email filters

5. Understand your results and what to do next

Unlike other marketing activities, email marketing provides results and a return on your investment.  After sending your campaign you’ll immediately receive stats showing who’s opened your email, who’s clicked through to your website and much more.  You’ll then be able to determine which customers are interested by how many times they’ve read your email and exactly how interested they are by the number of times they’ve clicked, and what links they’ve clicked on.  With this information you can plan to follow up with another email specifically targeting these interested customers.

Have You Started Email Marketing Yet?

So if you’re a small business still unsure whether to start using email marketing, simply follow the steps above and you'll have no problems at all.  With a little effort at the beginning, you’ll soon see that email marketing works, not to mention it has one of the best Return-On-Investments of all marketing activities.  So don’t be put off, give us call on 0845 313 0912 and we’re happily have a chat about your requirements.  We’re here to help you get your email marketing underway.

According to Econsultancy’s 2010 Annual Email Census, most companies still believe they receive a good return on investment from their email marketing.

The census revealed that the most valuable marketing tactic invested by companies online is search engine optimization, although closely followed by email marketing at 75%.

The report discovered that 11% of companies allocated at least £100,000 to their yearly email marketing budget. There was also a 5% increase in the amount of companies that found that investments in email marketing returned at a rate greater than 500%.

And yet only 4% of companies claimed that their returns on investment for email marketing were insignificant.

You can now have Suite26 training at your office. Call 0845 313 0911 to book your session.

From the comfort and convenience of your own office you can now become an expert in the art of email marketing with Suite26.

Master how to:

• Import your contacts with ease

• Create and send targeted and personalised email campaigns in minutes

• Import your own customised template, logos, links and more to personalise your messages

• Track, follow-up and improve on your campaign performance

• Collect email addresses and build your database from your website

• And much more...

We guarantee you'll be able to create and send HTML emails, track responses and measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns to your customers. See firsthand how easy it is to use Suite26 to expand your business.

Call Ricky or Mark on 0845 313 0911 or email enquiries@26.co.uk to book or find out more about your One-2-One training session.

Not surprisingly, time and spaces are running out rapidly, so please phone and book your Free Suite26 training seminar today to ensure you don't miss out on the email marketing seminar that is going to change how you market and build your business forever.

All spaces for February 3rd, February 10th and February 17th have already gone and February 24th are filling up fast, so don't delay anymore, get your diary out and call us so you don't miss your free Suite26 training seminar.

In case you've forgotten, you get 250 free email credits just for coming along but if you recommend a friend to attend, you get an extra 250 free email credits for your account. That is a total of 500 free credits towards a serious email campaign. Not to mention lunch, meeting us and excellent networking opportunities.

Suite26 is truly the only Online Pay-As-You-Go Email Marketing Application worth its salt, especially for the small business. You'll immediately see how Suite26 lives up to the hype and you won't end up kicking yourself for missing out on this excellent money saving opportunity.

We really believe this jam-packed, interactive seminar will equip you with all you need to use email marketing to grow your business.

These seminars are designed to fit in around your busy schedule so we're providing lunch as well. Call 0845 313 0911 now to book your place, recommend a friend to attend, or to find out more about our seminar programme. Don't wait.