Email is one of the fastest ways to get a message out to a prospect list, but can have a lot of quirks in development.  As an example, say you’re sending a postcard mailer to your direct mail list.  While you could theoretically personalize the content, the postcard itself is the same size and shape, is delivered the same way (via US Mail), and is read in the same way by all its recipients.

On the other hand, an email can be delivered via computer, tablet, or smartphone, viewed in a half a dozen or more different web browsers, and your prospects may limit how they receive graphics in their email. As a result, your message could end up being viewed in ways you never expected.

This is a great reason to use bulk email marketing services when you want to deliver an email message to your customers. A company that specializes in developing and sending email can do the following:

• Design an email message and layout that will be viewed by the maximum number of people.  This means that the content is compatible with a wide variety of browsers and mail programs, and will still provide the message effectively on smartphones and to customers who choose to receive text-only emails.
• Deliver your message using mechanisms that won’t label your message as spam.
• Help you to maintain your email list to minimize bad addresses and to make sure your messages are consistently read.
• Help you to collect statistics on how effective your email messages are and work with you to improve their effectiveness.

Bulk email marketing can be used in so many ways, from standard advertising to trigger emails and simple thank you messages.  Using bulk email marketing services can help ensure that your email is read and acted on.

Image – © fuzzbones – Fotolia.com

We have super exciting news to share today regarding what’s contained in this official press release.

The Ballantine Corporation has created an SEO and social media agency division called Ballantine Digital. In a nutshell, we provide full-service SEO & social media solutions to mid-sized companies looking for increased search engine rankings & social visibility.

Ballantine Digital will be run by Ryan Cote who has over 10 years of SEO and online marketing experience. Ryan has helped Ballantine.com (at the time of this writing) achieve over 400 top 20 rankings on Google for targeted keywords.

Adding social media marketing services to the mix was an obvious choice because of its ability to increase online visibility and brand awareness. Plus, it’s playing a growing role in effective search engine optimization.

If you want to chat about SEO and/or social media for your company, please call Ryan at (973) 305-1500 x206 or via email at ryan@ballantine.com.

Multi-channel marketing is the process of using multiple “channels”, or marketing media, to reach customers.  A channel can be anything from a brick and mortar store front to email marketing, direct mail, catalogs, TV commercials, trade shows, social media, and so on.

The benefit of a multi-channel marketing approach is that different channels attract different demographic groups, and by using multiple channels, a company can maximize its reach.  The best approach is to combine both traditional media with technology based media.

Derek McAllister of 123Print notes, “Despite the influx of digital marketing tools available to businesses, the use of both digital and classic direct marketing initiatives continue to produce the best results for their investments.”

One of the biggest challenges of multi-channel marketing, as reported by Econsultancy.com, is providing a consistent message across all channels.  This is why a successful multi-channel marketing campaign has to be backed by an integrated marketing solution.

What are the best methods to keep your message consistent?

Here’s a few tips:

1. Keep strong communication lines between all of your employees and vendors that are developing each marketing channel to ensure that all parties are on the same page.
2. Use a common design scheme (colors, graphics, font, tag lines) across all media to keep the message familiar through multiple touches
3. Meet regularly during the design and implementation periods to coordinate the content and distribution of your campaign elements.
4. Use an experienced agency that can help you design a multi-channel marketing campaign from the top down to ensure a consistent message across all media and expert execution of each stage.

What challenges are you facing when it comes to multi-channel or integrated marketing?