Are You Maximizing E-mail's Lead Gen Potential?

With e-mail marketing generally rated as the most effective online tool for lead generation, a well-crafted e-mail strategy is a digital marketing priority. According to the latest business survey by Ascend2, 48% of respondents ranked e-mail as the most effective lead generator, outdistancing paid search or online advertising (23%), social media (26%) or search engine optimization (37%). So what can marketers do to optimize e-mail's great lead potential? Here are some ideas from a recent post for the HuffPost Business blog by business consultant Larry Alton. He cites the following five top tactics in the e-mail lead-gen arsenal: Collecting e-mail addresses via a high-value e-newsletter; triggered e-mails to automate lead nurturing and follow-up; segmentation by subscriber behavior to better tailor e-mail messaging for new signups, failed conversions or nonresponders; "gated" content to gather contact data in exchange for free but valued material; and sharability, including requests to forward, social sharing buttons and embedded pre-formatted tweets. For more details and examples, read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-alton/email-marketing-best-prac_b_8054350.html

PetSmart's 'Dog Day' Leverages Social Marketing

PetSmart took National Dog Day, not one of the nation's most well-known occasions, and made it the center of an imaginative social media marketing plan catering to dog lovers' passion for their pets, reported a recent Direct Marketing News magazine article. PetSmart engaged in social media conversations (more than 780,000 tweets) on the fun Aug. 28 dog recognition day and rewarded user-generated content, such as personal pet photos, with fun giveaways when users tagged @PetSmart with #NationalDogDay. As a result, PetSmart earned a whopping 56% of the #nationaldogday conversation in the Twitter pet space and positioned itself as a trusted partner of pet lovers. It's not the first time PetSmart has used a quirky national day to generate social media buzz; another effort included a dog-oriented promotion for National Lazy Day during the "dog days" of summer. As the DM News article points out, other industries can emulate the PetSmart social media tactics--and have--with promotions centering on National Underwear Day or National Doughnut Day, for example. For the full article, read http://www.dmnews.com/social-media/petsmart-barks-up-the-right-marketing-tree/article/437885/