Email marketing and monetization tips for the 2013 #savvyblogging summit

1. Email Marketing and Monetization
SavvyBlogging Summit 2013
Phil Hollows, CEO, FeedBlitz
@phollows @FeedBlitz

2. About Phil Hollows
• Founder and CEO of FeedBlitz
• Author of “List Building for Bloggers”
– ListBuildingForBloggers.com
• Clients include: Seth Godin, The
#SavvyBlogging Founders, Fred Wilson, Jay
Baer, Brian Clark, Danny Brown, The Krazy
Coupon Lady

3. Why Care About Email Marketing?
“I get ten times more
response to my blog
from my email
subscribers
than I do from anyone
else.”
Seth Godin

4. The Scale of Email
(source: LiveIntent)
THE SCALE OF
EMAIL
Facebook Twitter EMAIL WebsitesTotal Accounts
Daily Activity
900 million
300 million
2.9 billion
463 million
60 million
updates 140 million
tweets
188 billion
messages
47 billion
pageviews
3.3 billion
searches
Google+
90 million
1 billion
items shared

5. To Make Money With Email Marketing,
You Will Need…
• An email list that’s vibrant and growing.
• Ways to make money that are compatible
with email.
• To be mobile-friendly.
• You can use email to:
a) Make money with each mailing.
b) Support and promote your other revenue
generation programs.
c) Both of the above!

6. Four Keys to MASSIVE List Growth
1. Above the fold.
2. Social Proof.
3. Meaningful incentives.
4. Respectful popups.

10. Four FIVE Keys to MASSIVE List Growth
1. Above the fold.
2. Social Proof.
3. Meaningful incentives.
4. Respectful popups.
5. Don’t get complacent: Test, Test, Test!
– Call to action text.
– Form location.
– Graphic elements.

11. It’s OK to Make Money
You’re not “selling out”
You deserve to be paid

12. Make Each Mailing Work for You
• Drive traffic back to your site.
• Affiliate programs and links.
• Advertising and sponsorships.
• Digital product promotions.
• Coupons and deals.
• Event promotion
• Transactional mailings.
• Landing pages.

13. Traffic Generation
• The web is a richer, more engaging platform than
email.
• Driving traffic to your web site is a great way to
boost your earnings.
• Target an open rate of 20%
But BEWARE…
• Summary mailings and feeds tend to lose
formatting, links and images.
• Mobile, mobile, mobile!

14. Affiliate Programs and Links
• Use static affiliate
links.
• Make sure your
email service is
affiliate friendly.
• If you use summary
content, do your
links and images
disappear?

15. Ads and Sponsorships
• Web-based ad networks, like AdSense, won’t work in
email – You need a specialty service.
• Sell sponsorships and add to your template.
• Dedicated email blasts for sponsors
• Directly sold ads and sponsorships generate much
higher CPMs than an ad network.
• Ads work best at high volumes and high frequencies.
• Pay attention to mobile!

16. Ads and Sponsorships

17. Digital Product Promotions
• Obviously, promote
new products and
bundles via email.
• Give your email
readers a jump start
on offers.
• Use every mailing to
promote your products
or programs.

18. Coupons and Deals
• DUH 
• It’s much more effective – and affordable –
to sell to an existing customer than to
acquire a new one.
• Reward your loyal subscribers.
– e.g. birth month offers

19. Events and Promotions
• Mail to create initial interest / activity.
• Mail when milestones are passed.
• Send periodic reminders: People
procrastinate!
• Mail just before the registration deadline
closes or the event is about to start.

20. Transactional Mailings
• Transactional mailings are sent in response visitor
activity:
– Product / service purchased.
– New subscriber / registrant.
– New affiliate.
• Transaction emails have open rates 80%
• Use them to:
– Promote related products or services.
– Offer a deal on the next interaction.
– Get the reader back to the site.
– Start an autoresponder.
– IMPORTANT: The marketing aspect can’t overwhelm the
transactional content in the mail

21. Landing Pages
• Are the most valuable pieces of real estate
on your web site.
• Use them to monetize and mobilize the
visitor.
• Look up “Sneeze Pages” from ProBlogger

22. Email is the #1 App!
(source: LiveIntent)

23. Mobile, Mobile, Mobile!
• 30% of our opens are on mobile platforms:
– iPhones, iPads, Android devices.
• iPad engagement is significantly greater than
other platforms and browsers.
• Challenges on mobile:
– How does your email look?
– Can it be read clearly without pinch/zoom?
– Are your links readily clickable, ads visible etc?

24. Non-Responsive Email
“Desktop” email on the phone - Tables have forced the email to be wide
Text is too small, links are not navigable - Images and ads are too small.

25. Responsive Design Email
Same email, responsive layout - Large, legible fonts
Resized header image - Legible text, images and ads are great!

26. Questions?
?

27. Thank You!
• Would love to hear from you!
– phil@feedblitz.com
– @phollows
– www.feedblitz.com
• P.S. We have an offer code for new
accounts:
SAVVY2013 = 10% off lifetime discount!