Online Usage
Last month the city of Philadelphia announced a committee to study a plan in which they would implement free or low-cost Internet access across 135 square miles, a system that will change the dynamic of Internet access in low-income neighborhoods.
In February of this year, Nielsen/NetRatings reported that home Internet access in the United States had reached nearly 75 percent of households. More encouraging, is that the demographic diversity of online users continues to expand with growing minority access. Forty million adults over the age of 55 now use the Internet and women users have surpassed men by 2 million.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project has been collecting demographic poll data for online usage and trends over the last four years and is a good resource for reports.
The true test to understand what portion of your constituents are online is to start collecting E-mail addresses. Forrester Research identified that the top concern for most online marketing efforts in the corporate world is to 'grow the list'.
Now for the fun part - Creating a Low-Cost Campaign.
Now that you have been collecting and cultivating your E-mail list, here a few tricks to get started.
Subscribers and Lists
Providers have simple wizards where you can create multiple list categories and upload large lists with custom information to personalize your materials such as First Name, Last Name, Title, Organization, etc., Systems will also check your work for errors such as fields where the information does not seem to correspond. You will have access to manage and edit your lists and add individual names as you collect them. Modern online systems will automatically search out duplicate or bad records and produce a report for you indicating which names were not accepted to the list.
Creating your Initial Campaign
Commercial services provide a menu of templates that a user can customize. Over time you may wish to create your own campaign from scratch by writing HTML, but when starting out, modifying an existing template is recommended.
After choosing a template, you will be walked through a step by step process in which you answer questions and select a logo and/or photos to upload for your campaign. Remember the medium you are working with and limit the size of your images to a resolution that will load quickly for your customers. A simple trick to save time during this process - it may be worth looking at a few providers who have templates that resemble the style you wish to use.
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Some Low-Cost E-mail Marketing Providers
AWeber
Constant Contact
Exact Target
Groundspring.org
Got Marketing
Topica
Vertical Response
Editors' Note: Tech News does not endorse any particular resource listed in this article.
Campaign
A defined communication effort. For instance, the 'Fall Fundraising Campaign', or the 'Spring Clean-up Day'
tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
HTML/Text
Many systems can automatically generate an HTML or Text version of your communication depending on the preference of the subscriber. When using HTML, limit the size of the graphic files so your customer does not have to wait for these to load.
List Management
Most low-cost vendors include the ability to import a bulk E-mail list. System templates often include the ability to auto subscribe and un-subscribe end users.
Grow the List
Use every opportunity to collect E-mails from your constituency. If time permits, sort your contacts into sub-preferences.
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