Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
email marketing Ensure Email Success • eep your subject line K brief (50 characters max) and to the point. • void words likely to direct A your message to spam filters. Free, though often useful, may mean that your message will be caught—not delivered. • e specific. If you are B including details of a special offer, reference it at the beginning of your message. • nclude all of your contact info I and a link to your website. Content Management Joe Ackerman, CORE Structural Integration Practitioner from Burlington, Massachusetts, began his marketing strategy approximately six years ago with direct mail advertising for his massage business and myofascial and structural integration trainings. He dished out a significant chunk of money for a trifold brochure, official list of area massage therapists, and postage; he ended up with a depleted bank account and little to show for his efforts. Ackerman says, "When I advertised one workshop by email, the response tripled." Ackerman began sending email appointment reminders and his no-show rate dropped dramatically, so he broadened his marketing to include welcome emails to new clients, follow-up emails, and a bimonthly enewsletter. In addition to the usual demographic data, Ackerman's intake form requests primary and secondary complaints, treatment goals, other practitioners' names, hobbies, and areas of interest on the intake form; he then inputs it into ACT, a database program. At a cost between $200 and $300, ACT compares favorably to some other database programs that can run twice the price. Ackerman then draws from this database to send his various emails. As business expanded, Ackerman decided to launch a newsletter. Sometimes content reflects only his practice and at other times he collaborates with yoga studios, fitness centers, and other health-related businesses to create articles. "I got 12 to 15 new clients from a newsletter that carried a yoga article," he says. "The newsletter went out to my clients and to theirs. I'm expending time creating relationships with people who have similar interests." As his database grew, Ackerman explored various content management companies to help with his newsletter distribution, but found that not all interfaced with his extensive ACT database. He dreaded the prospect of having to reenter all his contact information. Thankfully, for him, he found SwiftPage, based in Englewood, Colorado, which works with ACT. Dan Ogdon, vice president of marketing, says integration is one of SwiftPage's key selling points. "Most third party email companies ask you to upload your contact list online," he says. "You keep your list in Excel, Outlook, or ACT, and we integrate your contacts into your emails." When customers flag their clients by hobby or some other designation in the database as Ackerman does, SwiftPage scans the Internet for articles pertinent to those interests and can send customized email, thus enhancing its value. Content management companies can also remove the mystique of the Internet for those who feel they are not tech-savvy enough to communicate electronically. SwiftPage offers a choice of 65 templates and users receive six emails over 30 days to introduce them to the company. An online demonstration and 45-minute phone conversation with the sales director presents "top-to-bottom information and opens the lines for questions and answers," Ogdon says. Gemma Mendham, marketing manager for Montreal-based Campaigner, emphasizes that anyone can achieve a professional looking newsletter with the help of the step-by-step tutorials and technical support a content management company provides. Campaigner features tabs that identify specific tasks. For instance, if you'd like to import a list from another database program or create a list, a wizard will guide you through each step of the process. "There is no need to know HTML," Mendham says. "You can change colors and fonts so the newsletters will look and feel like your brand." Tracking ranks as one of the most valuable features a content