Here are 5 pieces of advice which will enable the success of your email marketing campaigns.

1. Email early in the week

Research has shown that people are the most responsive on Tuesday and Wednesday. You can understand that on Monday most people are catching up after the weekend, send your email just after lunch on a Tuesday for the best results.

2. Select your subject with care

So your email has arrived in the  inbox at the perfect time, but you need to ensure that your subject line is enticing to guarantee your email will be read.

The first few words need to be relevant and tell the reader what the email is about.

They want to see a summary of what is on offer, for example:

“Travel Insurance? We’ve got it covered” 

and not a string of nonsense such as:

“CEW limited Edition Box | Watch YOU Book Day LIVE! | Discount at AX Paris‏”

3. Ensure your subject is fit for purpose

For this we refer you to the advice of email marketing addict Tim Watson

“I would say that the best lesson to be learnt for the subject line is not to always make it less than 50 characters. Fine, if you want to drive awareness and open rate, use a short subject line. But when the subject line is longer, readers can better self-qualify their interest in that particular email”

4. Be consistent

Keep the look and feel of your email consistent from one week to the next. This should help build brand identity and awareness. It is also beneficial to send your newsletter at the same time each week. This is done automatically for you if you use Nouri.sh

5. Make sure your email contains links

You need to ensure the email is fit for purpose and helps you to achieve your goals. If you are a blogger looking to drive visitors to your site, double check you have links in your newsletter. If you are an eCommerce business, you may wish to include a section with a couple of new products or best sellers this week; again make sure there are links back to your site.

With over 1 billion users Facebook is an essential resource for businesses. However, with the introduction of Facebook ads, all users were instantly converted in to potential advertisers. In order to reach all your friends and family, or all of your business page followers you now have to pay.

Each time you post something on Facebook this is only ever shared with a small percentage of your friends/likers, if no one engages with the post then that is that, no more people will view it. However, if some people engage with a post, it means the post will be shared with more of your followers. Facebook is designed so that the interaction of your followers decreases over time, thus increasing the demand for Facebook ads.

Here are 5 reasons why you should avoid using them:

1. The banner ads have an awful conversion rate

The average CTR is just 0.05%, simply because people don’t head to Facebook to shop. It is a platform for interacting with family and friends, not a shopping platform. Compare this to the average CTR of a Google ad of 2% and it is clear where you should be making the investment.

2. You don’t need them

Facebook has cleverly engineered this false demand. The number of likes you have is certainly important, but as with most things in life quality is better than quantity. Organically grow your number of likes with exciting, shareable content teamed with exclusive offers for your Facebook fans. This will produce a higher ROI.

3. They won’t benefit your business

Promoting a post will guarantee that the number of likes you have will increase. Having said that, the new likes that you acquire are likely to be of low quality and the users are not likely to engage with you/your posts after the initial click. These low quality likes mean that even fewer people who actually care about your business will now see your post. As previously mentioned, if the people who like your page don’t engage with a post, that is the end of the trail; no more people will be able to see your post. Having a large number of low quality likes will definitely reduce your reach.

4. Are the new likes real?

Facebook bans acquiring paid likes from such places as click farms (low-paid workers hired to click on paid advertising links).These farms are typically based in developing countries such as Egypt, Bangladesh, India, The Philippines etc. You would also find these likes to be of low quality and there will be little/no engagement with your posts – typically less than 1%. When you create a Facebook ad you can choose which countries you wish to target. However, you may only need to look at the profile of one of your new likers to see something isn’t quite right. They already like 3,000 other pages.

5. Charging you to share content with your friends and family is not acceptable

Enough said.

Do you have any experience with Facebook ads? Let us know how ad campaigns worked for you by commenting or clicking here.

Is it important to recognise that delegation is the sign of a good leader, not the sign of someone who cannot deal with their work load. 

Passing on tasks to others in fact highlights many positive skills. It shows that you trust your team members and highlights your ambition to achieve. There is only a finite amount you can achieve alone; whereas enabling those around you will increase your value.

Team members will enjoy the responsibility, and will work hard to show you that you have made the right choice by putting the task in their hands. It is also a massive pat on the back, as it confirms they have the necessary skills to carry out the task. If some training is required, it shows that you believe they can do the task and that belief will make your staff want to please you.

3 Steps to delegation

1, Identify tasks

The best things to delegate are common tasks that take up your time.

After initial training the repetition of the task will keep it fresh in the mind, and will free up a large amount of your time.

2, Choose the right person/people

You should know who has the right skills to take care of a task. If not, simply ask other members of the team who is good at spreadsheets, or who has a keen eye for analytics.

3, Build up gradually

Don’t just offload all your work in one fair swoop, pass things over one at a time. Ensure your colleague is comfortable with the task and requires minimal assistance, and move on to your new tasks gradually.

Here at Nouri.sh we appreciate the skills involved in negotiation. If you don’t ask, you certainly don’t get.

There are some instances where negotiation is almost a prerequisite, for example a car boot sale or market. Equally there are situations when it is probably not going to happen, like in a restaurant or high-street store. This is not to say it is impossible, just less appropriate and more complicated as the person you are dealing with is not likely to be the decision maker.

Here are 5 tips to prepare you for your next negotiation.

• Be prepared

You need to understand who you are negotiating with. What drives them and what are their priorities? If you can figure out how they do business you should be able to deduce how to push their buttons.

• Be attentive

Listen very carefully to what the other person is saying and don’t get carried away talking. You will talk yourself in to a hole. Listen, and try to understand what you are up against. Ask them what they want to get out of the deal to give you a starting point for the negotiations.  This can be a tricky one as you will both want the other to make the first move, but find the right tone and you have nailed it.

• Add value

If you are selling something, your aim is to add value without lowering the cost of the item. Perhaps you know of extras you could offer which are of very low cost to you but could help you seal the deal. If you are prepared, you will already know what adds value to their business.

• Justify your offer

If you are making a lower offer you need to present your justification. Does the item/service come with additional features you don’t require, or can you source it cheaper elsewhere? Explaining the logic behind your offer ensures your credibility and it highlights that you have doubt. If you simply say, what is your best price, that shows that you are already interested and will not always yield results.

• Everyone is a winner

A deal must be win-win otherwise both parties would not agree. If the seller agrees a really low price they must have some motivation for this, desperation could be one of them! Both parties should understand what they want to achieve from the deal, then you can discuss how to best meet most of these requirements.

If you need to negotiate an email marketing solution for your business, click here to contact the Nouri.sh team.

As our reliance on the internet grows each day, it is important to remember that business relationships still need to be built and maintained.

People buy people, and business relationships are extremely valuable.

Here are 3 top tips to ensure you forge relationships that last.

1. Listen more than you talk

It sounds strange, but listening to others do the talking is actually more productive than talking yourself. It means the other people get to talk about themselves (which many people enjoy), and it also shows that you are a good communicator. By listening you are learning about that person and their business, it is useful to remember some of these points and use them next time you speak. You will instantly earn respect by remembering the name of their wife, children, dog etc. and you can also use this to make a conversation more personal.

2. Be helpful

Offer something first before asking for something. If you call someone and immediately ask for something I guarantee you they will think what’s in it for me. So why not offer something first. Perhaps you know how your businesses can work together, maybe you have a funny joke or email that you could send on to them, or a book they would love to read. Show that you are interested in building a relationship, something that mutually benefits both parties and you are not just out to take, take, take.

3. Be proactive

Use the contacts you have to make better business decisions. You should know where their strengths are and be able to call on them for advice. You should also know what may be of interest to your contacts. Share relevant content with relevant people to strengthen your relationship. Show that you are on the ball, and that you remembered they had booked a holiday to Florida by forwarding news articles that will interest them.

Relationships are based on trust so it is imperative that you do what you say you will. There is nothing wrong with making notes, or setting an alarm reminder on your phone, just ensure you deliver your promise if you want to be liked and respected. In return, people are likely to refer and recommend you.

If you need help sending the right content to the right people click here to discuss.

The key to a great eNewsletter is engaging your audience, this however is easier said than done. People on average receive 40 emails a day, so it is hard to make your email stand out from the crowd without looking spammy.

Here are 3 great tips for nailing your email marketing campaign.

1, DO split testing

You are trying to please your audience, so work out what they like. Split testing is a great way to learn what is received well, and learn from what isn’t. Instead of guesswork, you can actually measure the difference and make informed, data-backed decisions.

2, Think carefully about the subject line

The ‘preheader’ is the first 35(ish) characters that will be displayed in most email browsers. Use this valuable space wisely. Although a lot of research has been done about the length of the subject line, there really isn’t a right answer but here is how the land generally lies. Use a subject line that is under 50 characters and this will drive awareness of your brand, and is likely to get a good open rate. Using a longer subject line will probably get a lower open rate, but a higher click through rate as those who have read the whole title only click if the content genuinely interests them.

3, Distribute creative content

A well presented, attractive email works wonders but without the content to back up its good looks a reader will soon stray. Think of ways of engaging your reader, being controversial, edgy and taking a different view on an otherwise generic topic are all good ways to do this. Encouraging commenting and social media sharing are also a must.

For more great advice see our interview with email marketing expert Tim Watson

It is a scary fact that if you are not a well-known brand a customer will only remember you for around 12 months, even if they have previously bought something from you.

Therefore it is imperative to keep reminding your audience that you exist, reiterating who you are and what you do.

By setting up a newsletter campaign with Nouri.sh you are encouraged to keep active on your blog and social media pages, as these posts automatically drive your eNewsletters. Let Nouri.sh do the work for you! Not only this, but these activities also drive traffic to your site and contribute to better Google rankings.

Being consistent is also a very important aspect of communicating. If your newsletter has a different design each week, your audience will assume that the email came from a different company. Upload a template with your company branding and imagery and remind your readers that you exist with each email that they receive.

Pop back next week for another great tip, or if you have any questions/comments we would love to hear from you via email.

The key to a good newsletter is engaging the reader; you want the reader to click through to your site, explore it, and interact with you. We find that the best way to engage a reader is to send them content that is super relevant. It seems obvious, but unfortunately it is easier said than done.

We have found that by segmenting your audience, highly relevant content IS possible.

This segmentation could take many forms, it totally depends why you use Nouri.sh and what action you want your readers to take. A great example is differentiating between B2C and B2B users, as their wants and needs are very different. There are huge differences such as price, VAT and credit.

The smaller the segments are the more focused the content will be. And the more reaction and interaction you will get from your audience.

For help segmenting your readers, or advice on who to target with what content just drop us an email.