Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

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It’s Time to Test Your Send Time

03.10.2021 by Elizabeth // 1 Comment

I accidentally sent my client’s newsletter out Friday at 6 PM instead of at 6 AM. I immediately apologized and they were very gracious which is nice (and perks of having a long established relationship). However, on Monday I went to check it out and re-send the newsletter (which is something I highly recommend) to those who hadn’t opened it and…

It was the best open rate they’ve had in months…

I was SHOCKED – 6pm on a Friday night? I’m in sweats with takeout and red wine in hand binging something. Evidently not everyone is on my routine and schedule. And THAT is the point. Don’t send your newsletter when YOU want to read it – send it when THEY want to read it. Which you can only figure out by TESTING.

If your open rate is lower than you’d like (remember, I say anything over 20% is a good open rate!) then I suggest 4-5 days later re-sending it to those who didn’t open the initial newsletter. You don’t have to change anything about it except the send date AND time. Test it out – if 6am didn’t work well, try lunch time (I love 11:45 FYI…) If you think a weekend might be good –  test it out!

Think about your audience and your target market. If you’re B2B then weekdays make a lot of sense (except for in my example when evidently Friday night is a WILD time to get email.) If you’re B2C then let’s look at the weekend – I have a client who has amazing 6am Saturday open rates.

If the pandemic has taught us anything this year, it’s that everything has changed. What worked a year ago might not work now. If most of your audience is WFH with kids at home? think that through – maybe lunch time isn’t great, maybe end of the day is better, maybe early morning before things get going is the right fit. What works for your competition might not work right for you. Your list is YOUR list, each and every one of them. Make sure you are paying attention to what works for them.

Categories // Lessons Learned, Newsletter

Do I Need a Free Download or “Opt In”?

02.10.2021 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

Short answer: YES

Longer answer: Yes, and you’re probably over thinking it

Having a welcome email when someone subscribes to your list is a great idea. You want to make sure they know what they’re in for! I always recommend to clients that we have a free download or opt in for their website.

But WHAT is your free thing?

Here’s 5 popular ideas that I see work well for clients:

  • A PDF download with a top 10 (or so) list
  • A worksheet or handout you use when you speak or start working with a client
  • A resource guide
  • Best Practices for how to work with you/your industry (I like this one)
  • A video you have saved privately on Vimeo just for people who subscribe

This doesn’t have to be something crazy and over the top, I promise. However, you should give people something for giving you their email address. As we know, email is the best currency in growing your business, so let’s reward them!

How many emails should I send?

For some clients, a simple welcome email thanking them for subscribing and giving them the download is all you need. One and done, not a lot to worry about! Let them know they’re going to hear from you on a regular basis (right?!) and that they can unsubscribe if it’s not their jam.

For other clients, we want to wine and dine and explain a few things along the way. This may be a weekly check in over the course of a month, or a few drip reminders to “watch the video” or “fill out the worksheet” kind of a thing.

Either way, automation is a great way to get people to connect with you from the beginning. I loved this newsletter with some excellent ideas I received recently.

If you have questions about setting up a download on your site, let’s setup time to chat and get this off your to do list!

Categories // Newsletter

Can You Unsend an Email Campaign?

10.14.2020 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

Can You Unsend an Email Campaign?A few weeks ago I had a tweet from someone I know asking if there’s a way to unsend a Mailchimp campaign. Evidently there had been an incorrect name used in their campaign, making the event about someone else. Whoops. Typos are the worst. So, I emailed to check in and see if I could help. I had 3 recommendations…

  1. Depending on the response from people I’d say you can send out another email apologizing/correcting the issue. BUT if you didn’t get much response to it then I’d say leave it – you’re only drawing attention to it. 
  2. You can always do a social media face palm correction. That way people see you caught the error, BUT it doesn’t go out to everyone in a second email.
  3. Get a second set of eyes – this is why I always make sure my clients approve their newsletter before I schedule it. That way multiple people are looking at it. 

The good news is that only a couple of folks responded to the email noting the error, and they were all very kind and gracious about it. People: This is almost always the case! Your employee or client or good friend may say “dude, that’s not the right person.” But RARELY does someone get up in arms. Even when they’re hiding behind a computer. I promise. 

Then two weeks ago I had a client issue where I screwed up the merge tag so instead of “Hi Norm,” it said “Hi <insert name here>” GOLD STAR ME. And that’s an error that you wouldn’t necessarily catch in a test email. AND the link I had used wasn’t working correctly. So in that case we sent out a resend noting the incorrect link.

Once you hit the send button your email is out in the universe and in everyones inbox. You can’t take it back. Sometimes you should send out a correction email. Sometimes you have to remember you’re human (as my client said “we’re still badass women”) and the occasional typo isn’t why that client is going to hire or fire you. I promise.

Categories // Lessons Learned, Newsletter

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Yellow Dog Consulting is a sales and marketing firm located in Hillsboro, Oregon with clients around the world. We work with small business owners who love what they do, but the sales and marketing part of their job sucks their will to live.

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