Email marketing for small business

Section 1: Email Marketing - Introduction Lecture 1 03:36

Welcome to the course! In this lecture you'll get a brief overview of what to expect.

Lecture 2 04:03

Why bother with email marketing for your small business? I've found email marketing to be one of the most cost-effective ways to market to both my existing clients and prospects. Once you know how, it's so simple to do, and with a few minutes effort you could be emailing hundreds of your clients.

In this video we look at some of the reasons why email marketing is worthwhile.

Lecture 3 02:51

Learn the jargon! There are some particular concepts and terminology relevant to email marketing and in this video we explain the common concepts and words that are used in this course.

Lecture 4 02:14

Email is just a marketing tool that fits with some of the other tools in your small business marketing. In this video we explain how video fits with your other marketing, and introduce you to the idea of your web site being the hub of all marketing that you do.

Section 2: Choosing an email marketing provider Lecture 5 06:34

You could use Outlook to send your emails, but it's difficult to do effectively, hard to track results and you need to make sure you don't break the spam marketing rules. A good alternative is to use an email marketing software provider to provide the infrastructure for you to send emails. I recommend this option.

In this video we provide an overview of the pros and cons of each option.

Lecture 6 01:45

When it comes to choosing an email marketing software provider, there are a few things to be aware of. Like anything, it's getting the best value for money. This involves looking at the cost and the associated features you'll receive. And no business is the same - we may all value different features, so what's right for one business may not be right for another.

Lecture 7 04:45

Should your list be Single Opt-In or Double Opt-In? In this video we explain the differences between the two and show you how Aweber and MailChimp treat single or double opt-in lists. It's important to know the differences if you're importing an existing email list to a new provider.

Section 3: The sign up process - getting new subscribers Lecture 8 01:48

So why should I subscribe to your email list? In the next two lectures we help you create a Lead Magnet - something of value that you give away in exchange for your (future) customer's email address.

In this lecture we look at the various characteristics of your target market - who are they and what are they struggling with.

The work you do in this stage is important, because the answers you come up with here will influence the content you email to your list in the future.

Lecture 9 05:31

Give people a reason to sign up to your email list. In most cases this means providing something of value to them. In this module we give you examples of what you can provide to people to encourage them to sign up to your list. And we'll show you how easy it is to produce something to give away to new subscribers.

Lecture 10 07:32

There are a lot of different forms you can use on your website to collect email addresses. In this lecture you'll learn what the different forms look like and where they work best on your page. I demonstrate these forms on the ContarMedia website (and no, I don't usually have that many set up!)

Lecture 11 04:51

Whilst it is possible to use the built in templates that Aweber and other email marketing software providers offer, sometimes you want something more.

In this video I'll show you four different options that make building signup forms and subscribe pages easy.

Check out the resources section at the end of the course for links to the software.

Lecture 12 02:05

What information do you want from a new subscriber? In this lesson you'll learn how to decide what information you need to obtain from a new subscriber to your email marketing list.

Lecture 13 02:47

Every website should have a dedicated Subscribe page. This page has one purpose - to encourage people to subscribe to your email list. If you do any advertising or post articles on other websites, it pays to link back to this page on your site.

In this video you'll learn about the different elements you can place on your subscribe page.

Lecture 14 01:35

When you use a double opt-in list, your subscribers need to confirm their email address before they're able to access the lead magnet.

When they fill out the web form and click the submit button, they'd usually be taken to your 'Almost There' page. This page tells them to look out for an email from you that contains a link they need to click on to confirm their subscription.

When they click on that link, they're taken to your Success page - this is where they download the lead magnet.

Your almost there page doesn't have to have much content on it - it's just somewhere for them to land after they've subscribed to your list and before they've confirmed their email address.

Lecture 15 03:31

Your Success Page is the page that people land on when they've confirmed their subscription to your email list. This is where they can access your lead magnet.

In this video you'll learn how to set up your success page.

Lecture 16 08:44

First things first. Before you can create sign up forms you need to create your list.

In this video you'll learn how to create a list in Aweber. I'll show you how easy it is and you'll also learn the extra steps to make sure Aweber uses your Success and Almost There pages instead of their default pages.

Remember, if anything is unclear or you have questions, start a discussion in the discussion area.

Lecture 17 12:12

In this lecture you'll learn how to create a sign up box using Aweber.

We take you step-by-step through the process and show you how to create a basic web form, customise it and then load it onto your website.

Lecture 18 03:26

Using the sign up box and list that we created in the previous steps, we now show you how the email sign up process works. We'll sign up to a list, show you the confirmation email you'll receive and the pages on our website that the emails will link to.

Section 4: Writing Emails Lecture 19 03:41

Theres no point building an email list if you dont actually send any emails.

And theres no point sending emails if no-one opens them.

This section will cover Writing Emails. Well explain the different types of emails you can send, different headlines you can use, what content to include and how to set up an autoresponder so you do the hard work once, and then the autoresponder works forever in the background.

Lecture 20 06:21

You probably use templates already in your business. If you're writing a letter, you'd use a template. Invoices? You've got a template.

When it comes to email, it's no different. Setting up a template (or templates) makes your life easier.

In this video you'll learn about the various elements you can include in your email template.

Lecture 21 06:06

In this video you'll learn how to create your own email template in Aweber. Templates are useful because you can set them up once, and then use them for all your emails so they have a consistent look and branding.

These email templates can be used for both one-off emails and emails in your autoresponder sequence.

Lecture 22 02:30

Im a big believer in using an email timetable so you can make sure your emails are as effective as possible.

In this video you'll learn some strategies to help you create an email timetable for your small business.

Lecture 23 04:36

In this lesson well talk all about email headlines and youll learn how to get your emails opened, and read.

Lecture 24 02:53

In this lesson Im talking about Calls To Action.

Now, an email message isnt much good by itself. Ideally, you want the email to encourage the reader to do something as a result of reading the email.

And your readers want to know what you want them to do. Theyve opened your email, theyre reading it..whats the next step?

That's where an effective call to action comes in.

Lecture 25 04:18

One-off messages can be a very effective way to stay in touch with your readers.

In this lesson you'll learn some different ideas for creating one-off messages.

Lecture 26 05:28

In this lecture you'll learn how to create an email broadcast message in Aweber. This lecture is a screencast - you'll see the exact steps I take in my Aweber account to create a broadcast message.

Once you've watched this lecture you'll be able to login to your Aweber account and create your own broadcast message.

Lecture 27 08:22

It's very simple to create an email broadcast (a one-off email) using Mailchimp. In this video you'll learn how to select the list the email will be sent to, add content to your template, test and schedule your message.

Lecture 28 06:38

In this video well talk about autoresponder best practice - how to set up an autoresponder series that will make you more money.

Well assume that you have an email template set up, so this lesson will deal more with the type of content to include and the timing of the emails.

Once you've watched this video you'll have a better idea about how to structure your autoresponder series, and have some ideas for autoresponder topics and content.

Lecture 29 06:04

In this video you'll learn how to create an autoresponder sequence using Aweber. It's a very simple process (especially if you already have your email template set up) and you're able to schedule the timing of the messages and the intervals and days that they're sent.

Lecture 30 02:38

Before you click 'send' and send off that email, wait! Here's a few things to do before you send that email to your customers.

Lecture 31 02:53

When it comes to sending emails, there are some common elements that will help you become more successful. In this video we re-cap this section and talk about what we think are the important factors for sending effective emails.

Section 5: Analysing results Lecture 32 04:41

One of the good things about email marketing is that you can track your results. How many people opened your email? How many clickeon the links? How many weren't delivered?

In this section we show you some of the areas you can track.

Lecture 33 03:48

Sometimes you'll send an email and it'll bounce from some email addresses. Why does this happen? You'll find out in this video.

Lecture 34 06:31

There's no point sending out emails if no-one opens them. In this lecture you'll learn more about how to increase your open rates and get your emails read.

Lecture 35 03:37

Once your emails are getting opened, the next most important thing to look at is the click through rate - how many people are taking action on your emails. Email marketing software will show you your click through rate and you're able to look at which links in your email are getting clicked the most. In this video we look at strategies to increase your email click-through rate.

Section 6: Advanced techniques Lecture 36 03:02

In this section of the course well look at advanced email marketing techniques - things you dont need to do straight away, but are good to know about.

In this lecture we look at resending and re-targeting your emails. Did you know that you're able to re-send your email to people who didn't open the original email? Or you can send a different email to those who did open your first email, or clicked on a link in it.

Once you watch this lecture, you'll have a better idea of how re-targeting works and how it may apply to your email marketing.

Lecture 37 02:41

Another advanced strategy to consider is having multiple email lists.

In this lecture we'll explain why multiple email lists may be right for your business and we'll show you an example of when you may choose to use multiple lists.

Lecture 38 02:43

One of the cool things you can do with email marketing software is split testing - sending out two versions of the same email and testing results.

In this lecture we show you some different examples of how you can use split testing to improve your email marketing.

Section 7: Resources Lecture 39 Text Full curriculum




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