e-Mail Marketing/Blasts

As with every marketing project we undertake, we begin with a planning process.  We always consider the overall corporate messaging, goals and branding strategies.  We take an integrated approach to every communication, regardless of the medium. 

In addition, our clients benefit from the combined analysis and creative expertise.  We're marketers with executive experience and MBA level education.  Plus, we're creative minds accomplished in using the best design techniques for the medium and audience.  We're all in one, so there's no conflict among the diverse marketing disciplines.

For example, during the planning stage, we consider these marketing questions:

• Who is your target audience?

• Is e-mail the best medium to communicate your message?

• What is the business purpose of the e-mail communication?

• How does the communication support the value you offer to your target audience?

• What is the campaign frequency?  How often will you communicate via e-mail to your audiences?

• What results do we expect and how will we measure them?  What are your goals for open rates, click-through rates, or unsubscribe rates?  What seems to drive the desired results?

When we begin the design phase, we answer questions both from a creative and technical perspective.  Some of these questions include:

• What screen resolution should we design for, and should it be for the lowest common denominator (based on what we know about our target audience)?

• What technical scenarios will we encounter, including hardware, ISP, browser and e-mail client issues?  In other words, will the e-mail design appear different to various users based on their set-up?

• How do we differentiate our design and message from our competitors and other e-mail noise?

• Will we personalize the message to each recipient?  Do we also have a text version available?

• Since your "From" and "Subject" lines will be the biggest determinant of whether your e-mail gets dinged as spam, we give careful consideration to these areas that we believe can make or break your campaign.

• What will your recipient see if they use preview panes?

• What impact will various e-mail clients have on images incorporated into your design?

• What is it that you want your recipient to do, or get, after reading your e-mail?  In other words, what's the value they receive?  If you want to convert your recipients to your Web site or download an article, white paper, etc., it’s critical to create a consistently-branded experience for your subscribers through the e-mail and landing page.

• Did you allow enough time in your project schedule for us to test repeatedly using different situations and configurations before sending live to your subscriber list? 

We develop your entire e-mail blast...planning, content, design, configuration, evaluation, etc.  If you have an available list, we work with that; or we can help you develop an effective opt-in distribution list. 

After your project is completed, we work with many e-mail distribution services and are familiar with different configuration and usage requirements. 

Finally, we realize good e-mail design is a constantly evolving process.  What works today won’t necessarily work tomorrow.  It's our business to educate ourselves continuously on content trends and technical issues.

On-Line Advertising

With on-line advertising projects, it's important to keep the unique advantages of this medium in mind.  For example, on-line advertising can be micro-targeted.  It's possible to reach very specific audiences.  So, your marketing efforts can be more streamlined and efficient.  In addition, your ads can incorporate real interaction between you and your targets.  Instead of static ads, you can create interesting, multimedia ways to convey your message.

As with all projects, HighPoint Marketing fully exploits each medium's characteristics for maximum results.  With on-line advertising, we work with clients to develop strategies to increase ROI instead of simply "number of clicks."  We also tailor the ad's design to strategic goals. 

Successful on-line advertising must address the following issues:

• Where on the screen should the ad be placed to gain maximum brand awareness?

• What target, or context, should the ad be served?  This is equally important to the ad design and content.  Just like traditional direct marketing, the "list" determines the successfulness of the campaign.

• What is the most appropriate frequency of the on-line ad? If the ad is seen too much, it gets boring; too little and you risk not being seen at all.

• What media should be incorporated into the ad to convey the intended message?  Video?  Animation?

• What metrics should be used to measure the ad's effectiveness?  As stated earlier, simply measuring click-throughs does not account for the benefits of exposure.  Your ad can build awareness and impact behavior without viewers actually clicking through.

HighPoint Marketing can work with you on banner ads, e-newsletter ads, Google AdWords, Blog ads, and all other types of on-line advertising media.

Webinars are being used extensively to generate qualified sales leads for businesses.  When done well, webinars can be an effective marketing tactic. However, to construct your webinar for the best chance of success, you must nail the following three things:

• As with all marketing projects, you need an appropriately targeted audience.

• You need the right communication vehicles to solicit and maintain attendance.  For example, you may want to build a webinar list by incorporating some intermediary marketing activities first.  If you're soliciting new prospects, you should develop a low commitment offer first before you invite them to a webinar.

• You need to make sure you develop your webinar so it provides real value for attendees.  Giving up an hour of time during the day is a big commitment for any attendee.  Your attendees won't be happy and will bail if you make your webinar a sales presentation.

With our solid background and broad-based expertise, HighPoint Marketing can manage your webinar from start-to-finish.  We can develop a sound strategy for promoting your webinar, execute all the promotional tactics, create your webinar content, including your presentation materials, handle the technical issues of hosting your webinar, and measure the effectiveness of the event.