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9 Email Ideas for Your Political Campaign

08.11.2020 by Elizabeth // 1 Comment

9 email ideas for Your Political CampaignAs some of you know, I was in the 2019 class for Emerge Oregon, a candidate training program for women who want to run for office. Although I’m not running at this time (I will!) I have been talking with candidates across the region who are running in November and who have had questions about email marketing for their campaign.

Since canvassing (knocking doors) isn’t a safe option this election cycle, candidates have to change up how they’re communicating with voters, donors and volunteers. And you know what I think is a great way to do that? YES – a newsletter. So, here’s a few tips and tricks I’ve been recommending.

  1. Send an update at LEAST monthly – reach out to your network to let them know what you have been up to, how you’re engaging and how they can connect with you. Make sure to include ways they can volunteer, donate or host a virtual event.
  2. Make sure there’s a subscribe form on your website and that every donor, volunteer or person who contacts you via your website gets added to your email list.
  3. Create a welcome email – “thanks for subscribing, here’s how you can get involved…”
  4. Have a standard Thank You email for events – make sure that within one day you’re thanking everyone who came to that virtual house party or kickoff party. Remind them of the ways they can get involved, donate and spread the word about your campaign.
  5. Add social media sharing icons to the footer. This way people can share the email on their social media channels – this wouldn’t be necessary for thank you emails but for the regular updates it could be a nice way for raving fans and your advisory board to easily support and promote the campaign.
  6. If you’re using Mailchimp I encourage you to connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts (if you’re using these platforms) so you can automatically post your emails to your social media channels. With Facebook you can also add a sign up form to your page.
  7. In the design of your email make sure that all the logos and images are linked back to your website. Encourage them to follow you on the social media channels you’re active on and ALWAYS have a donate button even if that email isn’t about fundraising. It’s always about fundraising…
  8. Add a donate button to EVERY email that goes out. Subtle at the bottom just above the social media icons – you don’t have to ask for donations anywhere else in the email (you should sometimes though!) but having that donate button is a helpful subtle reminder, and it WORKS.
  9. Always include ways that people can get involved (lawn sign, donation, virtual house party, etc.) too.

Every campaign is different so you may want to adjust how you’re communicating. Make sure that you’re communicating regularly and giving your audience as many ways as possible to support you! Good luck and don’t forget to VOTE!

Categories // Newsletter

10 Content Ideas for Your Next Newsletter

04.21.2020 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

Now more than ever it’s important to be sending out your newsletter. Your customers and clients need to know what’s going on and how they can support your business, even if you’ve had to close the doors for the time being.

I spoke about this last week at the Hillsboro Chamber and you can watch the full video on their YouTube channel. I shared some ideas for newsletter content and since I know a lot of us are at a loss for words right now, I wanted to share 10 content ideas for your next newsletter.

  1. An update – How is your business doing? How is your staff doing? We honestly want to know how you and your business are doing. Just because the door says closed doesn’t mean you aren’t hustling online or have a great new offer!
  2. Be Personal – This is up to your comfort level,  I spoke with one business owner who had taken time off right before shelter in place to be with their new grandchild and asked if it was OK to include a picture of the new baby, YES! Another client just got two new puppies which will be featured PROMINENTLY in their next newsletter. Be yourself, that’s why we work with you!
  3. Changes – what’s the new schedule? Can we take classes from you or meet via Zoom instead of in person?
  4. How can I work with you? – do you deliver now? Can I order online? Do you offer zoom meetings, pickup, private/personal shopping?
  5. Resources – One of my clients sent a variety of resources for a specific software platform all their clients use to help with the transition from office to home.
  6. Local Support – One of my clients is an essential service so they are buying lunch for the team every day from local businesses and sharing those local restaurants that are still open so their audience also knows about these great local restaurants they can support.
  7. Gift Certificates – for some businesses buying a gift certificate, or taking payments now for services in the future might help with your cashflow – make sure people know this!
  8. “Be the First to Know” – I understand not all businesses want to offer gift certificates or pre-payment, so make an “exclusive” list to be the first to know when you are taking clients/appointments again. Give them a 24 hour heads up to schedule before you send out a newsletter letting everyone on your list know you’re set.
  9. Ask for Reviews & Testimonials –  This is a great time to ask people to write that review online for you. A lot of people want to support small businesses but don’t have a budget to financially support you right now. That’s okay – making sure your reviews are strong and consistent is a great thing someone can do for you!
  10. Social Media Sharing – similar to reviews, you can ask people to help promote your business and offerings on social media. Encourage them to tag you when they get their purchase in the mail – or repost your latest social share.

I know there are a lot of other ideas for what could go into your newsletter right now – let me know what else you’ve seen in the comments!

Categories // Newsletter

3 Recent Mailchimp Updates That May Affect Your Business

03.10.2020 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

3 Recent Mailchimp Updates That May Affect Your BusinessThere have been a few changes with Mailchimp lately that I recently shared with my clients and now that we’re all squared away I wanted to pass this along to you as well!

  1. Mailchimp has changed (again) what you get with your FREE account. ARG. Any NEW account from this point forward will not be able to schedule a newsletter – they just have to hit send when it’s ready to go. I chatted with Mailchimp about this and they said this will also happen if you are inactive for 12 months. SO – don’t go a whole year without talking to your audience on Mailchimp! Let me know if you have questions on this.
  2. Change to User Setup – With the last round of changes free accounts can no longer add users to their account. HOWEVER – as a Mailchimp Partner I am setup as an agency so I can be added and it won’t count against your user count. Here’s instructions for how to get this setup if we work together OR if you have another service provider who qualifies as an agency.
  3. Squarespace users – (This is unique ONLY if you have a Squarespace account, if you don’t I only had 2 points for you) If you have a subscribe form on your website and have received any emails saying that the account no longer can connect to Mailchimp – that’s correct. First do follow the instructions in the email and attempt to fix the issue. That’s worked for a couple of clients. However, my recommended work around for clients still having an issue is to setup a Zap in Zapier. You can talk with your web developer about this – let me know if you have any questions.

mailchimp partner

Like most software, change is the constant at Mailchimp. I still believe they are a great tool and resource for small business owners, AND they are a company who have mouths to feed and bills to pay. It’s a bummer that the free resources are increasingly limited, but hopefully you can work within the confines or upgrade to a paid account. Either way, I’m here to help if you need me!

Categories // 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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