• About
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Content Marketing
      • Social Media
      • Blogging
      • Email
    • Copywriting
    • Inspiration
    • Freelancing
      • Home Business
  • Content Marketing
    • Free Resources
      • Content Library Membership
      • Branding Self Assessment
      • Quick and Easy Copywriting Course
      • 54 Weeks of Content Triggers
    • Content Marketing Strategy
    • Buyer Persona Discovery
    • Blog Writing
    • Video Scripts and Webinar Outlines
    • Landing Pages & Sales Pages
    • Social Media Posts
  • Your Home Business
    • Health and Lifestyle
  • Writing Portfolio
    • Jen McGahan’s Writing Portfolio
    • Hiring a Copywriter
    • Need Content?
  • Member Login

My Team Connects

Engaging Customers and Building Community with Copywriting and Content Marketing

Gmail Tabs Disrupt The Email Marketing Universe –And Why It’s A Good Trend

August 17, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

What’s all this hoopla over Gmail tabs? Do you love ’em or hate ’em? Maybe you don’t even use Gmail and don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. It’s been over a month now since Google changed up Gmail with tabs separating the inbox into four sections: primary, promotional, forums and updates.

It’s no longer one big happy inbox. Google is going to try to divide and conquer your inbox for you, while slipping in some ads, of course!

My email list's Gmail p/cIf your list includes a large percentage of Gmail clients, you may be wondering if the change will have an effect on your responses. Check out this pie chart of how my email list breaks down… 

That’s a lot of green. So am I worried? Not so much… Email’s user experience is always in flux.

Gmail tabs are actually pretty slick for the consumer, even though some users hate the change. 

  • You can select which tabs you want to use (although tabs aren’t even supported in some email clients where folks open gmail, like the iPhone).
  • You can proactively move emails to the correct tab, so that all future emails go to the correct place.
  • You can refuse to play along and accept Google’s designation of all your emails.
  • Or you can even opt out and go back to your old Gmail. Your choice.

From an marketing stance, Gmail tabs have email marketers in a serious tizzy lately. Call the waah-mbulance! (Tweet this.)

The big fuss is that your emails might fall under the promotions tab with all those other nasty emails, boring newsletters, spam and general crap your subscriber gets but doesn’t want to read. If your list has a large percentage of Gmail clients, then this change could disrupt business as usual. 

Gmail tabs are a disturbance in the email marketing "Force"So there’s a disturbance in the force.

But (don’t taze me, bro’) what’s wrong with that? I know for myself, when I’m in “all business” mode, I clearcut everything in my path, even email I’d otherwise probably read. Say you get a courtesy email from your bank that your balance dropped below your preset limit. You’re likely to delete that shoe sale email just below it.  The firehose of emails forces you to react, sometimes reading no further than the subject line, and often with one fell swoop. But when emails are neatly grouped your readers may put more thought into absorbing your message. If your reader saves the promotions tab to read when they have a little time or when they want to read it, your email will get the attention it deserves. 

Unless, of course, your emails kind of stink. In that case, no tab feature or lack thereof will get people to read your email after the first time or two.

Marketers lose all perspective when they think people are going to fall all over themselves to open their email before first taking care of the more pressing things…that one from the boss, or their son’s soccer coach or even those emails that are a complete waste of time but impossible to resist, like the one from the neighbor who’s always sending jokes lampooning ridiculous politicians. The very best emails are the ones from people so real, they make it to this insider’s short list. That’s what you should shoot for.

However, if you already sort your own inbox or use different email addresses for different function, then you know how convenient it is to group emails “of a type” together within specific and separate categories. For example, you might have a place for shopping, informational newsletters, social media alerts, work, and friends&family.

Wouldn’t you rather your reader have the option of sorting their emails by order of importance, relevance, or time needed? I would. I’m all for automated inbox sorting. From both marketer and consumer standpoints.

What’s getting email marketers all up in arms is the idea that Google is making those choices for their customers, https://www.helpscout.net/blog/new-gmail-tabs/ instead of the other way around. (Newsflash: Google already does that with personalized search results.)

But when you follow that line of reasoning down the path a ways, it starts to smell funny. Like maybe some email marketers would prefer to trick their reader into accidentally opening something they don’t want to read right now. Which is a sure-fire way to get your email instantly deleted anyway.

Either you get your reader’s attention in the inbox — whichever tab you fall into — or you don’t.

Here I go again, beating the drum about making good connections with your writing, giving people something they need and can use. Just being yourself and simply talking to your reader like a friend…again. Isn’t that what makes a reader want to open your email in the first place?

You are in business to make money or your organization needs funding to survive; so you need for people to see and open your emails. But you also want them to engage with you and your business. You get clicks and conversions by providing value and relevance on a consistent basis, and not wasting your customer’s time.

After getting many Gmail users and email marketers’ takes on Gmail’s new tabs feature, my advice — similar to this smart guy’s — is this: Chill out a little.

Email is still a great way to engage with your best prospects and leads, if you stick to the fundamentals.

Let’s wait and see how Gmail tabs pan out before we give up completely. Those little suckers may even make us better at email. (Tweet this.)

Stay flexible, and good luck!

Want some copywriting tips to get people seeking out your emails you send? You won’t be worrying about Gmail tabs if you know how to make connections with your writing. Click this link for access to a free online course.

Filed Under: Email Tagged With: Email is dead?, email mrketing, Gmail tab benefits, Gmail tabs, Gmail tabs controversy, google Gmail, inbox, marketers' laments, marketing tips, small business email, sorting email, Tabs

Mary Kay Twin Email Fail

May 20, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

twin email failI love my girlfriends. So don’t tell anyone I’m outing their email marketing faux pas. Neither of them subscribe to my blog nor my email list (though it’s obvious they should!) so I’m sure I won’t offend anyone here.

 

For everyone else in direct sales or any type of MLM business where corporate churns out email on your behalf…this is for you!

Check out my inbox (above) the other morning. Two identical emails from two different girlfriends/Mary Kay Consultants. I protected their identities with the pink boxes. 

How I wish they would think twice about accepting this marketing “favor” from their company. I have no idea about its marketing guidelines, but Mary Kay would do better to ask their reps to email their customers on their own and merely link to the monthly catalog…Because this email mistake is embarrassing.

It happens every month, too!

I get two emails literally right on top of each other. I can tell they are sent from the same bulk sender in queue because they are always received within a minute or two in my inbox. As you can see, these came one after the other! They have ZERO personality. They are simply dumped on me from the pink corporate Dallas offices, I can only guess. I imagine consultants are notified (after the fact) their their entire list has just received their monthly specials on lash care, etc. “What a relief,” consultants everywhere might think. “Now I don’t have to reach out to my customers this week.” But they’d be wrong.

identical email failThen, on top of the recent email fail, within a day or two I get THIS in my actual mailbox: two identical catalogs from each of my gal friends.

What would you do? Should I let them know that I usually order from the one who has most recently said hello to me in person or gone out of her way to ask if I needed anything?

Should I tell them that if they sent me an email with some sort of personal touch I wouldn’t hesitate to elevate their status to “Go-To Mary Kay Consultant” every single time? Would you tell them that?

So here’s how it works instead. If I happen to see either girlfriend (at the store or the baseball field) at the crucial time (within a week) of actually needing to replace something, then I stop her and ask her to place an order for me. Otherwise, I take Katie with me to Ulta and we shop for beauty supplies together — which is just as much fun as a Mary Kay party, actually, plus I get to bond with my kid over nail polish and hair products. It’s all good. We get our beauty fix.

Now here’s the kicker — I really LIKE Mary Kay for some things. They have these lovely little compacts which are super sturdy. Since they never break, I like to keep them topped off. And some of the skin care is awesome.

But the double corporate emails irritate me to the point where I don’t even look at them some months.

What I’d love to see would be a personally branded email from one of my Mary Kay girlfriends saying something like this:

“Hey, I wanted to let you know I spent spring break at a dude ranch where I got to try out the new Mary Kay Intensive eyeshadow primer first hand. In spite of a day of sweat, dust and horsehair, would you believe my eye makeup still looked fabulous? I even sat around the campfire until 10 at night and my cowboy said I still looked amazing! Anyway, it’s on page 17, if you want to check it out — and it’s on sale this month, too! Call me…I haven’t seen you in awhile. Let’s get together and I’ll show you a whole bunch of other stuff that new. Margaritas on me.”

That kind of thing. OK, Margaritas optional. I’m not saying I can be seduced that easily with margaritas. Unless she makes really good ones. Then of course I’ll order some more skin care products from her.  😀

Do I have to say it again? Email is about relationships. (I even said it in pink!)

Please, Mary Kay consultants everywhere, say “NO MORE” to those dorky corporate email sends, unless you’re supplementing them with your own personal ones. They’re not doing your business any favors.

Love, your girlfriend and (sometimes) customer,

Jen

P.S. What do you think? Am I being to hard on these gals? Or can you relate to this story? I’d love to get your comments below!

Filed Under: Email Tagged With: avoid email failure, corporate emails, duplicate emails, email blast, email fail, email marketing, email mistakes to avoid, Mary Kay

Transform Your Email Marketing With Video In Email

March 15, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan

video in emailDo you ever want to watch a video instead of read? For me, not so much…

I’m a writer, therefore a reader. I read computer screens, blogs, my Kindle, magazines, books….text is NOT my enemy. I love to read anything I can get my hands on.

But not tonight. Tonight I wanted a video.

Can you say “Lazy?”

Here’s the thing. I’m having a glass of wine; yes I admit it. On a  vacation and I want to veg.

I don’t want to think too much. Just listen, passively take things in. Give my eyes a rest and switch off my textual brain. Lo and behold an email from someone I adore (who doesn’t email too much) appears in my inbox. Lisa Nichols is always an inspiration. The rich tones of her voice have already enchanted me through a tele seminar I’ve saved on my iPod. I have listened to it more than once, which means her message and voice are impressive.  She moves me. I pay attention when she emails me. I was hoping for a video in her email to me. She uses video a lot, so I was kind of counting on it…

When I saw her name in the sender line, I was hoping I could relax into her voice. Whatever she had to say, I was there. I admit I was hoping for a video. Something I could start, check out her outfit and her cool hair, then skip around the internet catching up on email, etc. But I was hoping to listen to Lisa all the while.

Well, no go. No video in email. Just a text email which I normally would be all in for…

Just … not now. I wanted to be lazy. Reading her written words seemed like, well, work.

I wanted a video.

This is where it’s going folks. The internet for a LOT of people is becoming a video landing spot. Listen, watch.

Tonight my own father, turned 71 last year, told me I had to watch a video of someone he’d heard. He would send it to me, he told me, in an email; I was NOT to miss this. My dad’s a guy who doesn’t use Facebook. And he’s sending urgent video via email.

If that’s not a message to  start making videos, then I don’t know what is.

Google loves YouTube because YouTube is its child prodigy. You can take advantage of this free video hosting service and satisfy your lazy email subscribers at the same time. OK, humor me. Reading IS a wee bit harder more mentally taxing than watching a video; admit it.

Here’s how you satisfy your video-craving email subscribers. It’s so easy!

Just make your video and up load it your YouTube channel. Make sure you optimize your video with appropriate keywords and even a transcript of the audio. Include that right there in the description.

Take a screen shot of your YouTube video  — I’ve found that if you snap a frame in a somewhat “odd” moment, your video will seem more fetching. It’s the human curiosity factor. Don’t go for the prettiest, most comfortable screenshot. Grab something slightly uncomfortable: your mouth in a weird postion, hands in an exaggerated gesture. Something a little visually strange…there are plenty of those to go around! People click on those.

Save that image as a jpg and include it in your email newsletter with a short summary of the video. Link to the YouTube video from your newsletter and blog.

Traffic to YouTube is golden becuase Google appreciates it and rewards you for it. Kind of like one of Hiyao Miyazaki’s infinitely hungry fantastical characters. Just keep feeding it and see what happens to your online mojo.

Your audience will appreciate it, too. Just like I was secretly hoping for a Lisa Nichols video and only got text. The turning point’s  upon us.

As much as I love technology and new media, I admit I am not an early adopter of video. I’m in that third tier, the early majority. That’s how I know it’s arrived. If I’m craving it, I know it’s here for good. Just a hunch from someone who pays attention to trends.

Take note: video is mainstream now. Well, 15 minutes ago.

Get on it.

Filed Under: Email Tagged With: email marketing, Jen McGahan, Lisa Nichols, MyTeamConnects, sending video via email, video, video email, video marketing

Small Business Email Testing with Email On Acid

January 7, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

small business email on acid17.4 Million devices were activated on Christmas day, and just over half of them were tablets. What’s that mean for small business email marketing?

If 17.4 million devices were activated, so were the opinions about mobile for business, marketing, culture trends and how different people in the world will use all those devices and apps. 

As a copywriter for small business people, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and other business owners, I know this much is true. Small biz folks need to know how the mobile revolution will affect their marketing efforts. The benefit of customers being and using mobile will far outweigh the initial challenges. But you need a set of simplified standards to work with, and the sooner the better!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Email Tagged With: email design, email service providers, email services, email software, email testing, EmailOnAcid, internet marketing, mobile devices, mobile email, mobile marketing, online devices, small business email, small business email testing, small business marketing

Mobile + Email + Content + Talent = 2013 Small Business Edge

January 1, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan 2 Comments

mobile and email, the perfect small business mixIt’s the beginning of 2013 and the perfect storm is brewing for small business. Mobile + email + great content + available creative talent.

 

You don’t need a vast marketing department to make the most all of these variables and get your message out. It doesn’t have to be that hard. You can use simple tools and guidelines to make your email more readable on smartphones and tablets. You can learn tricks to get people to click through to your website easily on their mobile gadgets. You can send email without a lot of fuss and expense. In a matter of weeks you could be in your customer’s pocket. Literally!  

Now that you understand the power of mobile + email, how do you get people interested and keep them coming back? It takes content and people to write and design it.

The third factor in the perfect storm: Content, content, content. No one even reads traditional ad copy anymore. The whiff of “Look how great I am” advertising repels customers like weevils in white rice. Why should anyone blindly believe you? They need proof, and that means providing content: information, your rare brand of it, your particular take. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Email Tagged With: content creation, copy, copywriters, copywriting, creative jobs, creative talent, design, graphic designers, marketing for small business, mobile apps, mobile email, perfect storm, small business

« Previous Page
Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Show Posts by Category

Free ebooks and more…

Join our free content library and get business-building resources created BY and FOR freelancers and solo-preneurs!

Health and Wellness Come First!

Your success flows from within. Make sure you're building your business on a solid foundation... YOU.

Find Your Ideal
Clients eBook

eBook Find Your Ideal Clients: The Secret To Irresistible Free Opt In Offers

Book reviews of "Find Your Ideal Clients"

"The author hit a grand slam when she said our inbox is the #1 real estate on the net...She is definitely an expert in her field."

"Jen gives me everything I need to know in order to craft the perfect marketing piece."

"Jen McGahan's wisdom, experience, and gifted communication style will leave you with the impression that she wrote this book just for you. A definite must-read for anybody whose task is to make connections."

"This book made me realize how important an opt-in mail list is for the success of my online healthcare information site."

"Great aid to list-building!"

"Like sitting down with an expert over coffee…"
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • About
  • Need Content?
  • Take the Quiz
  • Affiliate
  • Contact

Copyright © 2016 MyTeamConnects.com | 12400 St. Highway 71 W. Suite 350-225, Austin, TX 78738 | Privacy | Terms of Use

My Team Connects, 12400 St. Highway 71 W., Suite 350-225, Austin, TX 78738