email newsletters

Better Email Newsletter Sharing on Facebook and Twitter

May 24, 2010 By Nick Moore

Social media is a big part of the marketing world these days. Most net-savvy businesses (including us here at AWeber) have a presence on Facebook and Twitter. That being the case, we’ve found that people are always looking for ways to make their social media and email marketing campaigns work together.

Those of you familiar with our service will know that we’ve helped customers automatically tweet their email newsletters for some time now.

Recently, we’ve updated our social media options to make combining your social media efforts with your AWeber account even easier.

Automatically Post Broadcasts On Facebook!

With our new Social Media / Sharing options you can automatically post your broadcasts to your Facebook wall.

In the spirit of consistency, you can create new connections with Twitter and Facebook through your account’s List Settings page. This is also where you can pick a default Twitter and Facebook account specific to each list.

If you want to get started with this new feature right away, you can refer to our knowledge base for a more detailed walkthrough.

Multiple Twitter / Facebook Accounts? No Problem.

As we were revisiting our options for social media integration, we decided to make it easier for our users to work with multiple Twitter accounts. If you’re unfamiliar with how Twitter works with AWeber, we have an easy-to-follow knowledge base article.

When creating a broadcast you will find the options to tweet / post your broadcast towards the bottom of the page under the “Social Media / Sharing” section. The accounts you have selected as your defaults will automatically be selected for your convenience.

Don’t Forget To Check The Preview!

So now that you’ve added your Twitter and Facebook accounts and selected a default for each, we’ve provided you with a preview of what your new tweet / post will look like. As a good measure and reassurance you can see exactly what you are about to post / tweet before you send your message.

How Does Integrating Email Marketing and Social Media Help Your Business?

Have you been sharing your email newsletters on Twitter, Facebook and/or other sites? (If not, are you planning to now?)

What have the effects been (or what do you expect they will be) on your business and marketing?

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Filed Under: autoresponders, email newsletters, New Features, social media Tagged With: aweber, Broadcast, Broadcasts, Consistency, Convenience, Email Campaigns, Email Marketing Campaigns, email newsletters, facebook, Good Measure, Knowledge Base Article, mailing list, Media Efforts, Media Integration, Media Options, New Feature, newsletter, Presence, Reassurance, Savvy Businesses, Spirit, twitter

3 Ways to Build Your List with the Broadcast Archive

April 15, 2010 By Rebecca Swayze

In an earlier post, we covered the cool new features of the recently redesigned broadcast archive.

The new archive saves a web version of each broadcast in a central location, making it simple for you to share message content with subscribers new and old.

With it, you are able to resurrect your dusty emails for new purposes and strengthen your existing relationships with your subscribers.

But did you know that the broadcast archive can also help you build your list? Here’s how.

Link to an Online Version

Placing a link on your web form to an example of your newsletter shows that your intentions as an email marketer are crystal clear.

Given the chance to preview a real message, subscribers know exactly what they are getting into when providing their email address. There are no questions as to whether or not your campaign will apply to them, since they can sample your content beforehand.

This can also lead to a higher retention rate, because subscribers are better informed prior to signing up to your list.

Make the Most of Forwarding To A Friend

When a subscriber forwards your email, your audience expands for a moment – a blip in eternity. And then it shrinks back, unless the recipient takes initiative and hunts down your sign-up form.

Now, the web version of your newsletter automatically displays a sign-up form. If your subscribers forward your emails to their friends, they will be able to sign up effortlessly.

Even better, you’ve just suggested subscribing to those who might never have thought of it at all.

Leverage Social Media

Twitter and Facebook are fantastic complements to any email campaign, and now integrating them is even more beneficial.

You’ve had the ability to link to your archive in your Facebook status or tweet your newest newsletter to create some buzz and generate traffic for some time. You can even publish each broadcast to Twitter with one click.

Now, as with forwarding, that web form on the archive page means interested readers don’t have to hunt to sign up for more of you – the option is automatically available when they are directed to your archive from your Facebook or Twitter status.

How Do You Use Your Archive?

Using the new and improved archive, the full value of your campaign is available to all of your readers: past, present and future. It’s also a great way to get new subscribers when using these methods.

Do you have any interesting uses for your archived newsletters? We would love to hear about them!

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Filed Under: autoresponders, Email Marketing, email newsletters, list building Tagged With: 3 Ways, Archive Page, aweber, Blip, Broadcast Archive, Buzz, Central Location, Complements, Email Address, Email Campaign, Eternity, facebook, Initiative, Leverage, mailing list, Marketer, New Features, newsletter, Recipient, Retention Rate, Subscribers, twitter, Web Version

How To Give Visitors a Sneak Peek at Your Newsletter

March 30, 2010 By Amanda Gagnon

You want a community of engaged readers. Your subscribers want interesting content in a layout they like. You’re both looking for love at first click.

As in any relationship, the best way for you to both get what you want from your email marketing is to set clear expectations from the very beginning.

An example of your newsletter goes a long way toward setting correct expectations. But how can you share one before the signup?

It’s easy, actually. Just combine two of the tools in your AWeber account – the broadcast archive and the web form generator. This combo lets you offer a sneak peek of your campaign to make sure it’s a good fit for each new subscriber.

Here’s how:

Link to a Past Email Newsletter at Signup

The broadcast archive stores web versions of your past broadcast messages. The web form generator lets you create custom signup forms where people can subscribe to your emails.

To show your newsletter to potential subscribers before they sign up, you would simply need to display a link on your web form to the archived version of one of your newsletters, like this:

Choose a newsletter to be your example

Scroll through your past newsletters Broadcast page. Choose the one you think best represents your emails. Remember, you’re trying to give the most accurate depiction of what you’ll be sending your subscribers.

Grab the link for it

Open the message you’ve chosen in the message editor. Scroll down to the “Syndicate” section. You’ll need to syndicate the message if you haven’t done so yet – this publishes it to the web.

The part you will use is the “Direct Link”. You can copy this link whenever you are ready to put it into your web form.

Add the link to your web form

Open the web form you’d like to use (or create a new one) in the web form generator. Decide where you’d like to put the link to your newsletter example.

Then decide what words to use and click on the Text icon to add them to the form. Remember, it’s an invitation, so be welcoming, not pushy.

Type the text you want in the editing box. Highlight it, click the link icon and paste in that link from Step 2. When you’re satisfied, save the changes.

If the text doesn’t appear where you want it to on the form, simply click and drag the field to the proper place.

Start Using Your New Web Form

Congratulations! You’ve just upgraded from asking subscribers to take a shot in the dark to letting them make an informed decision.

You are one step closer to a community of interested readers who look forward to your messages.

Your Thoughts

Do you share an example of your newsletter or product before asking people to sign up for it? Does this seem to make a difference?

Can you think of any cases when you might not want to share an example first? How can you set clear expectations about your emails in these cases?

We always enjoy the ideas you share. Let us know what you think about setting expectations with a newsletter example below.

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Filed Under: autoresponders, email newsletters, expectations, New Features, web forms Tagged With: Accurate Depiction, Archived Version, aweber, Broadcast Archive, Broadcast Messages, Email Broadcast, Email Marketing, Email Newsletter, Form Generator, Invitation, Looking For Love, mailing list, Message Editor, New Subscriber, newsletter, Relationship, Signup Forms, Sneak Peek, Subscribers, Syndicate, Text Icon, Web Broadcast, Web Versions

Email Spring Cleaning: 4 Easy Ways

March 25, 2010 By Rebecca Swayze

Just a few months ago, New Year’s resolutions were the highlight of many email marketing conversations.

With the best intentions, businesses set out to grow their lists by the thousands and send more targeted, relevant messages. They made lists and reviewed last year’s figures, invigorated by the new year and certain that they could increase click through rates and ROI by leaps and bounds.

Perhaps you even set lofty goals for your own campaign, only to be sidetracked by more pressing issues. If you’ve temporarily put your resolutions on the back burner, refocus your efforts with these spring cleaning techniques.

Dust Off Your Messages

You should treat old emails like attic treasures. Just like you stash your belongings away, only to rediscover them in a flurry of excitement later on, take a close look at your existing messages and examine the available reports for your account.

The Verified Subscribers report shows exactly how many people have confirmed their subscription in the past 30 days. If you aren’t satisfied with your current results, re-purpose your old confirmation email to make it sparkle.

The Follow Up Totals report displays the total number of clicks and opens for each message. If necessary, change up your content to make it more conversational and engaging and fine tune your follow up messages to reflect questions that you frequently receive from subscribers. Examine your subject lines and determine if they are compelling and consistent enough to click through.

Using templates? Make sure your messages look good in all email clients – test them.

Polish Your Web Forms

If you haven’t tried the new Web Form Generator yet, now is the time.

Make your forms shine without any HTML knowledge whatsoever. You can create visually appealing forms that give your website a more polished and professional look in only 5 minutes.

Because you don’t need to edit the HTML for your page each time you work on your form, you can make changes whenever you want without a hassle – you could even try seasonal templates if you’re feeling festive.

Campaign Overhaul: Renovating Emails and Forms

When you’re pouring over various reports and rewriting entire message sequences, how can you be sure that the changes you’re making are the best for your email marketing efforts? By split testing, of course.

Split testing lets you conduct a controlled experiment with your sign up forms and messages to help to see which factors make them perform better for your campaigns.

Web Forms

Split testing web forms lets you evaluate:

Which type of form works best for you (e.g.pop-over vs. inline)

How many fields you should use

Which field labels work best

Whether or not your headline copy is compelling enough

Email Messages

Split test your new messages against your old ones to learn…

Does sending in the morning work better than sending in the afternoon?

Does using a button instead of a text link get me more clicks?

Does subject line personalization get you more, or fewer, opens?

For accurate results, split test broadcasts can only be created for lists that have at least 100 active subscribers.

Revive Your List With Some Careful Pruning

Yard work goes hand in hand with spring cleaning, and it’s common landscaping knowledge that most plants benefit from regular maintenance. Take a cue from mother nature – with careful pruning, your list can flourish.

This is not to say that you should immediately unsubscribe anyone who hasn’t opened recent emails.

Consider the number of disengaged subscribers on your list. To start, search for subscribers that haven’t opened a message in 3-6 months. Are there a lot of them?

Resist the urge to channel your inner Edward Scissorhands; don’t delete them them – try to reengage them first!

Think about what you offer in your emails. If your product is seasonal, are those subscribers really inactive? Perhaps they are simply not opening your messages because they are familiar with your brand and assume that they will still receive emails when they are ready to purchase.

What are Your Housekeeping Plans?

Are you clearing out your unsubscribes anyway, despite our advice to think it over? Rewriting messages?

We’d love to hear what you’re doing next with your lists! Share your thoughts on the blog.

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Filed Under: content ideas, Email Marketing, email newsletters, split testing, web forms

Email Spring Cleaning: 4 Easy Ways

Dust Off Your Messages

Polish Your Web Forms

Campaign Overhaul: Renovating Emails and Forms

Web Forms

Email Messages

Revive Your List With Some Careful Pruning

What are Your Housekeeping Plans?

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