Always under your thumb: email marketing (Flying Solo)

What came first? The fax machine or the telephone? It isn’t a trick question or anything. I’ll let you stew on it a little. What was your answer?

If you answered telephone, you won’t be hearing a little (Alexander Graham) Bell. The fax machine, or the “Electric Printing Telegraph” was invented in 1846 by Scottish inventor Alexander Bain, with the first commercial fax service commencing in 1865. This was all 11 years before the debut of the telephone.

Funnily enough, we are living in an age closer to the telephone than the fax machine. Though fax machines were the must-have business machine of the 80s and 90s, it took over 150 years for it to be adopted as a de facto standard. It was rendered obsolete in record time by another invention that also took decades to catch on: email.

Email was invented in about 1971, with the first electronic mail message sent over the precursor to the public internet, ARPAnet. It wasn’t until the end of the century that everyone had at least one email address, perhaps something angsty, edgy, and laden with pop culture references at Hotmail dot com.

Though the pace of innovations seems to be accelerating, nothing yet has swept email into the dustbin of history. This isn’t through lack of trying, of course. Microsoft Teams, Slack, Hubspot, CRMs, etc. – they all seem to compliment email rather than getting rid of it entirely.

To be fair, why would you?

Read the rest at Flying Solo.

What Is The State of Marketing in 2025?

Marketing is digital and digital changes a lot over 12 months. This time last year marketers were bracing for a collapse in ad spend. Analysis from AdWeek predicts that ad spends will increase around 3.8% to 6.5% which is a good sign for people in marketing and communication - though growth in the industry will languish around the 2-3% mark.

So what is the state of marketing in 2025? What should we be focusing on for this year instead of succumbing to shiny-object syndrome? Here’s my analysis:

FTA Television is Boomer Wasteland

Back in ‘68 when Julie was Johnny’s date and strolling down Desolation Boulevard, both of them were likely eighteen. Julie and Johnny, now retired empty nesters with three investment properties are watching old school, free-to-air television. The kids are alright with over-the-top streaming and the internet, and we’ve known this since 2017. In the U.S., 49% of the 54-65 and over demographic still have a cable subscription and most watch over 10 hours per week, constrasted with only 34% of the 18 to 29 demo. The highest rated programs are still live sports, seconded by news and … repeats of Antiques Roadshow.

This has contributed to a global decline in TV advertising by 8%. If you’re trying to get hip and down with the kids, avoid FTA TV and leave it to the oldies.

Social Media Fragmentation

Ahh, the halcyon days of the mid 2010s - where you could set your watch to a healthy return on ad spend coming from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Now, that’s all been turned on its ear. Since the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk and its rebrand to X, many left-leaning netizens have flocked to alternatives such as Mastodon and Blue Sky citing safety and misinformation concerns.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has drawn ire from the political left for doing away with fact checking units and opting for community based notes, much like on X. TikTok’s status in the United States is also under a cloud of uncertainty with a ban likely coming after the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its ruling on the 19th of January.

Couple that with a decrease in ads capturing attention - 31% of people globally claim they pay attention to ads, a 12% slump over last year - and social media seems a less of a “sure thing” for marketers than any time in its short history.

Video and User Generated Content Pushes Buying Decisions

Hands up those of you who have watched a YouTube video of a product unboxing or review to reaffirm your decision to buy? You aren’t alone. According to Hubspot research, approximately 62% of consumers watch videos to learn more about brands, discover how their products or services work, and glean insights into hidden benefits in real-world use cases. (Like how I was sold on buying the Sony Xperia 1 VI due to its superb macro function. Oh, and the headphone jack.) During 2024, 89% of consumers said they want to see more videos from brands - especially if it justifies their purchase decisions.

Newsletters: CERTAINTY IN AN UNCERTAIN TIME

When you put out a newsletter, you not only enjoy a 42:1 average ROI, but you also own the channel and the all the benefits. There aren’t any algorithms to deal with or external advertiser guidelines to adhere to. With politicisation and cybersecurity threats still rampant on social media (e.g., a brand could lose its entire social media platform access overnight) cultivating a contact list and sending newsletters on one’s own terms lends brands and companies greater control over their marketing and communication efforts. It’s also wholly opt-in - first or zero party data collection when third-party data harvesting is starting to get on the nose (see below.)

Hubspot believes there will be a race for subscribers, with larger independents perhaps being acquired by media companies much like tech startups. However, it’s incumbent on us marketers to earn ongoing loyalty by providing value in each newsletter - value that entices non-subscribers to subscribe, too.

AI Driven Campaigns - Perhaps Not Content

AI slop is everywhere and people absolutely hate it. Though the U.S.S. Enterprise-D is run using a computer several magnitudes more intelligent than what we have today, it still has a full crew complement driving them into the Final Frontier. AI will be crucial in programmatic, on-the-fly advertising placement, even when regulation phases out third-party data and new innovative privacy-preserving ad platforms such as Anonym ensure security, transparency, and privacy for end-users.

Personalisation can generate $20 for each $1 spent. Overdo it, and you’re venturing into the creepy, “is this thing stalking me” territory for many - and people are growing even more uncomfortable with the phenomenon. This was highlighted after Apple was forced to pay US$95 million in a class action after their digital assistant Siri was caught eavesdropping on users.

With all that said, I can’t say Generative AI is completely useless - I generated the image at the top of the page using Midjourney - but after a re-evaluation by the marketplace, Generative AI may settle into a place of productivity co-pilot rather than taking over operations wholesale. This may lead to marketers deploying and scaling more simultaneous, continuous campaigns and not just gaining but implementing changes based on real-time data, as Large Language Models replace the need for coding or query language skills.

Digital PR: Continuous vs Discrete Reputation Management

Having a brand mentioned in a magazine simply doesn’t cut through anymore and thus a true innovation was required to supplant it. Instead of assuming influence like before, we can now quantify it and improve upon it. Digital PR isn’t just a simple add-on of the same old SEO mixed with traditional PR methods. It's all about rethinking how we tell stories for brands or people, tapping into the natural flow of information inherent in digital channels.

Sure, it’s awesome to see your brand in a newspaper, but let’s be real—it doesn’t really do much for your attention and reach in the long run. A link on your web page can boost your trust and authority for the long haul. Back in the day, PR was all about adding one bit of good news on top of another bit and hoping for the best. In the Digital PR era, it’s non-stop and endlessly measurable – and that’s what makes this new approach so appealing to marketers and brands.

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How To Use Email Marketing To Increase Black Friday Sales

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, retail sales in November 2022 increased 7.7% year on year, with a total retail trade turnover of $35.9 billion. Whether a sale was at a till or on a checkout page, email marketing is still a strong force to pushing people to buying gifts for themselves - and perhaps for others!

If you have a healthy email marketing list, how can you leverage it to increase your Black Friday or Christmas sales?

Create a Content Calendar

The first step toward a successful holiday sales campaign is creating a content calendar. This doesn’t just have to encompass your potential email marketing offers or newsletters, but tie into your social media and content marketing as a whole.

If you’re focusing on a certain product for a week, your strategy should be to push it through all your channels. Make sure you leave some flexibility for flash sales, opportunities that come your way (discounted lines, for example), and of course, crisis communications if things go wrong.

It’s never too early to push holiday sales - commercial media platform Criteo says that first time buyers will check out an online store 41 days before making a potential purchase on Black Friday.

Segment, Personalise, Repeat

Segmentation and personalisation is the “secret ingredient” to encourage open rate and sales. CampaignMonitor says that personalising subject lines can lead to an 8x improvement in click-throughs and 6x improvement in transaction rates.

Segmenting your email list into active users, lapsed users, etc. can also mean targeting campaigns at these demographics. You can lure lapsed users who have signed up and never purchased with a special discount offer; your most enthusiastic shoppers could be incentivised with buy one, get one free offers.

As I’ve mentioned previously, email marketing should feel as if that email is written just for them and no one else.

Add Value With Every Email

You don’t have to offer a discount with every email you send out. There are plenty of ways to add value to someone’s inbox without sacrificing your bottom line. One great way to add value is offering a “holiday gift guide” - based on the segmentation and personalisation discussed earlier - and hit points that you know will resonate with that audience.

Earn $50 For Every Referral!

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Earn $50 For Every Referral! 〰️

• Gifts for him/her (directed at the opposite)

• Gifts on a budget - using language like “Gifts under $50”

• Gifts for people with certain hobbies or interests

• Gifts for kids or gifts for mum and dad

• Gifts for those looking to splurge

You can also build your email list by offering instant discounts, access to early sales coupons or free shipping just for signing up.

Don’t simply bombard your audience with calls to buy something - planting seeds can prove just as valuable!

Get In The Festive Spirit

As I was writing this blog post, I got an email from MOO, an online business stationery and card shop, that was advertising “Fresh Festive Ideas.” I don’t even own a Christmas tree (much to the chagrin of any woman I know) but I do know many people love Christmas and the holiday season. Using Christmas emojis (in fact, using emojis can dramatically increase open rates) Incorporating that into your messaging can increase engagement and rapport with your brand. You may cringe at a Christmas pun as a subject line, but some people find it charming! (I don’t know who. Don’t ask.)

Use Automation and SMS

If you have a robust email marketing system, you should set up emails for different user scenarios such as abandoned carts, missed emails, and flash sales. Many people (myself included) will sign up for an email list, purposely abandon a cart and see if the store sends me a discount to entice me back! You should have email and copy ready to go for every eventuality, including flash sales, buy one, get one free offers, limited time offers, and so on. Since most of us will be reading these offers on our smartphones, using SMS marketing can also help drive engagement and traffic to your site.

Make Sales Seamless

If you have a special sale targeting a segment of your email list, the sales page should be as seamless as possible. That means links should open to the gifts below $50; or have their subscriber discount already applied in a cart; whatever it takes to make the sale as easy as possible for the buyer.

There’s nothing worse than coming across a vague landing page that’s trying to appeal to everyone yet functions for almost no one.

By following some simple steps, you too can rake in a sales bonanza this Black Friday and Christmas!

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Want help with crafting great copy that’ll cut through all the robotic cookie cutter nonsense? Get your Black Friday sales pumping with I Sell Words!

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How To Write Effective Marketing Emails

Aren’t you glad that EOFY (End of Financial Year) is over?

If emails were water during the last two weeks of June, we’d all have drowned. Your inbox was likely crammed with emails from brands you forgot even existed (or bought from.) It’s quite likely you sent about 80% of them to the trash folder - but what about those 20% that made you click on them?

According to Campaign Monitor, the average open rate for an email in 2021 was 21.5% with a click-through rate of about 2.3%. That means for every 1,000 people you send your email to, 215 will open it and 23 people will click the link you intend them to after opening. Ouch.

Of course, these metrics are skewed by modern email clients such as Outlook, Mail for Mac, and Thunderbird (the OG) blocking certain trackers. But the results are reliable enough for 81% of small to medium businesses in the US to rely upon electronic direct mail (EDM) as their primary customer acquisition channel.

So what is email marketing, and how do you write emails that are more effective?

What is Email Marketing?

Though it may seem too obvious to even mention, email marketing is marketing your business via email. (Shocker, I know.) However, some marketing strategies around email may vary. Just because a prospective customer has signed up to an email list does not mean they are a guaranteed future customer.

Email marketing may directly sell a product or service; provide information about a product or service to convince the reader to buy in the future; or use other systems to dynamically target emails pulled from other metrics - say, a customer your website analytics has identified as browsing for Size 11 sneakers could fire off an automated email when Size 11 sneakers are on sale.

It could also be purely informational, like a newsletter. Newsletters often presents audiences with new blog posts or video updates on a topic of interest (with some cheeky product placements in the bottom half of the newsletter.)

Email marketing isn’t just one way: it also asks for feedback and opinions from customers to improve their services further. This is called “direct response” marketing and is geared toward eliciting a reply from the reader.

Email marketing is also part of your overall communications strategy. Brand stuff up from time to time and using your email list as part of crisis communications is a tried and tested strategy to allay fears, concerns, and righteous customer anger.

With all that said, is there a secret sauce to getting high open rates and click rates? There is, and you’ll read about it in the next paragraph.

Verbs Power Writing, Ergo, Emails Too

One aspect of writing that’s drilled out of writers who decide to (shudder) enter academia, is the use of verbs to power writing. Verbs or action words are the engine that makes a beefy muscle car blur past, belch smoke, and screech to a halt. That’s just one example among many.

Journalist and author Constance Hale in her brilliant Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch which all about the humble yet mighty verb, says that using active verbs make all the difference, no matter which medium or audience you choose. If you want someone to do something, you have to outright ask them.

That’s where the rather mythopoetic “Call To Action” comes from - 99% of the time, it’s some kind of active verb willing you to click here, download now, contact me. This works equally well as subject lines and inside the body copy of your eDM.

AI can also write these for you - if you’re careful. I’ve come to realise AI is not a replacement for a skill, just an augmentation of skills you already have.

If you’re creative, you can write CTAs without verbs. This might appear as a “pattern interrupt” - something that is so out-of-left field it stops you in your tracks. (Like seeing a baby when you’re upset and calming down - more on that in a future blog post.)

This may come in the form as “Have you seen this yet?” or “You won’t want to miss out on this.” In fact, I do it all the time. By doing it, I often beat the open rates for my industry (20.9%).

Hear that? It’s me, tooting my own horn.

Those funny little strings at the end of the email bring us to our next point - email marketing is meant to be personal.

As Personal As a Letter and Television, [FIRST NAME HERE]

The essence of good email marketing is to make it seem personal, as if you’re only writing to that one recipient. Just like a good story, it requires a bit of suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader; but all good writing should do that anyway (in my opinion.)

Being personal means using a more conversational style and friendlier tone than usual.

Segmentation is one way of targeting people on a more personal level, separating people by common interest, demographic similarity, geolocation, past open rate, retargeting, and other metrics. Capturing their first name and using it to address them directly (again, guilty as charged) can also be a game-changer when it comes to gaining higher open rates.

This is also backed up by research from Hubspot, who found that the most effective strategies for email marketing campaigns are subscriber segmentation (78%), message personalisation (72%), and email automation campaigns (71%).

Automation can also be personal, even if it is just an AI spitting out strings according to an algorithm. Many successful brands might use automation in dealing with customer queries, elevating it to a human if the user can’t find a ready solution the first time around. You’ve probably dealt with it before without even knowing.

Much like good pop songs, good email copy always addresses the reader in the second-personal pronoun - you. “You’re going to love this” or “You could be basking in the Ibizan sun this Winter, [NAME]!” That’s because emails are about pleasing one reader - or at least, they want to appear as such.

Great Artists Steal

If I was going to sit here and say I come up with absolutely everything myself, I would be lying. So I won’t.

If you are stuck for inspiration, there’s no shortage of it on the web. I subscribe to a newsletter all about great examples of email marketing called Really Good Emails. It not only covers copy, but design, video, and other aspects to tweak your email marketing.

Of course, when you are stealing, make it your own. Don’t just crib someone else’s homework and put your name on it. Authenticity is king no matter what industry you’re in - so make sure you’re putting your own unique spin on things. It could very well enhance your email marketing game.

With all that said, you can sign up for my newsletter below!

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What is Digital Marketing In 2022?

Digital marketing - we’ve all likely heard the term being bandied about in boardrooms and offices - but what is it really? Marketing is the process and art of identifying and satisfying customer needs through mass communication. Marketing has been aided by digital means since the 1960s, with mainframes crunching demographic numbers for advertising agencies. However digital marketing refers to marketing purely using media driven by digital means - the World Wide Web, hand-held computing, electronic billboards, and so on. Now that our culture is digital, our marketing is also digital. This gives marketing greater speed, accuracy, and channels to promote products and services than ever before.

Digital Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing

The biggest difference between “traditional” marketing and digital marketing is that digital marketing is often bi-directional - audiences can “talk back” to brands and companies. This can be a blessing and a curse for digital marketers, who can use the data to refine their product or service; but also means managing negative feedback and how that can effect community and sales. So what is digital marketing in 2022?

Digital Marketing Channels

Digital marketing companies will often tout they are “channel agnostic” or “omni-channel” - meaning they employ as many media (that is, carriers of messages) as possible. Digital marketing channels need not be discrete: they often overlap and complement one another. For example, let’s take a look at the web and Search Engine Optimisation first.

Search Engine Optimisation

If you are a business and have a website, the aim is to have it shown to as many people as possible to gain as much traffic and sales as possible. This is achieved by Search Engine Optimisation, as I’ve discussed in detail here. This means organising or curating your content to match what people are searching for on Search Engines so it ranks higher in relevance and above your competitors in search engine results. This organic, or non-paid traffic, means a higher return on investment over time than paying for leads or sales over and over again.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising has been around a long time (in computer terms) with the first ever PPC ad bought by a Silicon Valley law firm on the now defunct Global Network Navigator site as far back as September 1993.

As I wrote on my blog Crushtor.net,

“Advertising alongside search engine results pages (SERPs) became the standard in October of 2000, when Google launched its AdWords service. Companies and brands would pay for sponsored links that appear at the top of search results, bidding for the top spot using automated algorithms. When a browser clicked on the ad, the company paid for the privilege – what’s known as a “Pay Per Click” advertisement.”

By most accounts, a business can expect to earn $2 in revenue for each $1 they spend on PPC. This is further refined by using data to pinpoint where ad spend (i.e. higher quality keywords, remarketing, demographic shifts, etc.) should go to receive the maximum return on investment.

Social Media

Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are “no brainer” digital marketing platforms. Billions of people combined use social media every day, and deploying advertising and marketing through these channels is the reason why these channels exist in the first place. However, it also gives brands and companies opportunities to talk directly to consumers and hear their concerns - as well as the added challenge of responding to negative feedback. Social media marketing comprises Pay Per Click advertising, organic community management, and content strategy or curation.

Content Strategy

Content strategy, as I’ve outlined here, is a part of digital marketing in terms of reaching customers or audiences using text, video, moving images, audio, and other multimedia. The more strategic content a brand or company can leverage, the more it flows into SEO, social media, and other aspects of digital marketing.

Email Marketing (eDM)

Email marketing or electronic Direct Mail (eDM) is a powerful tool in a digital marketer’s arsenal, allowing marketing communications to be sent to willing customers (as almost all jurisdictions forbid unsolicited eDMs - aka spam.) These customers opt-in to mailing lists to recieve special offers, tips or tricks, or affiliate offers. Sort of like my fantastic eDM, which you should definitely sign up for!

Native Advertising

Native advertising is a story or piece that’s published to a blog or online news site that’s supposed to look like normal, unbranded content - but in fact is an advertisement for a product or service. This may be disclosed as “in partnership with” or “promotional consideration by.”

Videos and Podcasting

Producing video or podcast content is fast becoming a new avenue for digital marketing, as it too is a space where digital marketers can either buy up time in various (and hopefully popular) video/podcasts for impressions or launch a video or podcast series that directly markets to consumers on their own. This has some overlap with influencer marketing.

Affiliate or Influencer Marketing

One of the more recent developments in digital marketing is using affiliates or influencers - people with a substantial following on social media - to promote products or services. This could appear as native advertising - e.g. sending your new prototype watch to a watch review channel on YouTube (my favourites being The Urban Gentry and Just One More Watch) or paid advertising such as sponsored posts. Affiliates get a commission for each sale they make, usually through partner programs as run by Amazon.

Using Data Driven Marketing

One of the major differences between digital and traditional marketing is the data this type of marketing generates. Clicks, page views, bounce rates, interaction rates, demographic information - is all harvested through various applications such as Google Analytics, Google Search Consoles, or Customer Relationship Management software (CRM.) This helps marketers identify incoming search terms, what people are looking for and tailoring content to fit, and market to specific niche segments, e.g. 18-24 year old men who enjoy watching football and eating chocolate ice-cream (yes, it can get that granular!)

Does my business need Digital Marketing?

In short: yes. If you want to reach customers, create a community, and sell to a wider audience, your business absolutely must employ some measure of digital marketing. “Building it and the audience will come” is relying on hope and prayer to ensure business success. Holistic and sustained digital marketing campaigns help your business not only survive in the online marketplace, but thrive and grow into the long term.

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Do you need help with your digital marketing and copywriting in Melbourne? Contact me today!