E-MAIL MARKETING 101: GETTING STARTED

 If yours is an enterprise that can be considered "B to C” - Business to Consumer - then E-mail Marketing is something that you not only need to be aware of, but need to be participating in. This is especially true if "coupons,” or special offers/special events serves a vital role in your Marketing Program. With certain Retail Shops, E-Mail Marketing is pretty apt to be your ticket to "Marketing Paradise.” It can work well for churches as well!

      In order to explain the process in detail, let’s use a Sporting Goods Store and a church as our examples as to how the program works. To begin with, we need to realize that there are two major challenges in implementing an effective E-Mail Marketing Program: Building your contact list and coming up with viable offers to send to your list. The key to building your list is that you have to provide a reason for people to join. In the case of the Restaurant, you might offer a "2 for 1” coupon, or a "20% Off” your next order when they sign up. You provide patrons the opportunity to enroll while they are in your establishment, and at that time you explain that future coupons will be forthcoming when they "enroll” with you.  A Church might offer a free White Paper on Prayer or How to Enjoy Better Family Life for signing up.  

      Once you have a list to work with, you can start your E-Mail Marketing Program.        For the Sporting Goods store you might want to offer "how to” classes for those who are members of your contact list. You might also promote a "One Day Sale” or a "Week End Event.” While Restaurants might take advantage of Holidays, the Sporting Goods Store might benefit from the various seasons - Hunting, Fishing, Baseball, etc. An E-Mail inviting your contact list members to attend a class titled "A one day Guide to tying Flies” would serve a number of purposes: 1) It would help you determine yourclients area of interest and 2) it would set the stage for increased sales regarding Fly Fishing!  Inasmuch as E-Mails tend to have a short "shelf life,” this is not necessarily a good way to build your "branding” - that would better be accomplished throughDirectories.

Churches might want to offer an invitation to a special Holiday Service or even a “Movie Night” or special musical presentation.  Again, the idea is to get peopleinto the church so that you can determine what their needs are and how you can help meet those needs.
      Regardless of the type of business you own and/or are promoting, there are several important facts you need to keep in mind when building your E-Mail Program. Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that you will want to design your coupons in HTML. This not only allows you to develop and forward an "attractive” coupon that will render properly, it also provides you with the means to "track” your E-Mails, allowing you to know how many of them are being opened and even how many recipients are "clicking through.”

E WELCOME SERIES

Proper Etiquette is as much a part of the church world today as it ever was, and that is just as true in

regard to the Internet as any other ministry aspect! Fortunately, the email marketing experts at Pathmaker

Marketing LLC are the virtual Emily Posts of Internet Etiquette! And, we stand ready to help ensure that

anyone who visits your website is treated appropriately, wooing them back as not only interested parties but

as actual church members!

As you have undoubtedly already surmised, you want to be sure to properly respond when someone

visits your Website. For example, if they take the time to fill out a form or survey, it would behoove you to

send an e-mail thanking them, and also provide them with a special gift! Your "thank you" e-mail should be

something that is both eye-catching and memorable. With such an email you will indicate to the recipient

that, though you don't know them yet, they are already important to you!

The "special gift" can be a downloadable White Paper, perhaps titled “10 SCRIPTURES TO

JUMP START YOUR PRAYER LIFE.” With it you should include a brief paragraph or two that

elaborates on how your church and its programs can assist them. This should not only elaborate on the

services/programs you offer, but also convince the reader at the very least they should give your church a

closer look!

Contact with your "visitor," however, should not end there! Your first follow up to your initial

contact should probably come in the form of an Invitation announcing a special upcoming service. This

might offer a free gift ( a Latte, copy of Pastor’s Book, Coffee Mug) to those who attend and present the

Invitation.

How many contacts should you make? An email marketing specialist will advise you to always

keep in mind that the basic concept in using the "Welcome Series" is to get beyond the "Acquaintance

Stage" and get people “up to speed” in regard to what you do and who you are! Your goal is to get people

involved with your church as soon as possible and as much as possible!

Keeping in mind that this program is to help you develop a relationship with those who visit your

website, the "Welcome Series" does, in fact, get people up to speed in regard to what you do and who you

are!

Perhaps the best way to envision what the "Welcome Series" helps you accomplish is through the

use of the Development World's "Pyramid Model." In that particular Model, the "base" is where most

people who contact your company/organization are located. The more involved they become with you, the

further they "move up" the Pyramid. The goal, of course, is to get them to the very pinnacle of the Pyramid,

where you have become an integral part of their world!

You may have noted that many companies and/or organizations already have a "Welcome Series"

that they use via the U.S. Mail. With our experience and expertise, Pathmaker Marketing LLC can

coordinate the two rather easily. With the transition of our world to the electronic age, this might be an

excellent way to make the transition from "snail mail" to "email!"

To learn how, exactly, you and your Church can benefit from an E-Welcome Program you will

want to contact an email marketing firm sooner rather than later! After all, you want everyone to reach the

pinnacle of your Pyramid!

VIRTUAL TOURS IN 3D

If you like "the biggest and the best,” you need to contact Pathmaker Marketing LLC and let us help you design a 3D Virtual Tour. Comprised of such Elements/Features as Custom Design, Full Screen HD, Music, Branding, and Flash Effects we can ensure that your Tour will be as special as you can image. For an example of a Virtual Tour online, visit the Corrie ten Boom Museum at http://tenboom.com .

E-MAIL FUNDRAISING CONCEPTS

It is obvious that the 21st Century is making each and every one of us re-evaluate the way we do things. This is as true for Churches and Non-Profits as it is for Businesses. One of the most prominent undertakings of a 501 (c) (3) is Fundraising, and there are many e-mail marketing companies who are offering their services to assist with this challenge. In fact, Randall Mains, CEO of Pathmaker Marketing, LLC, a true email marketing specialist, has had immense success with his clients in doing just that, having raised well over a million dollars for them in the past four-plus years!

When conferring with Pathmaker Marketing, or any professional email marketing service, they will advise you that there are several important email fundraising concepts, which deals predominantly with “testing” to ensuring that your e-mail fundraising endeavor is, in fact, a successful one. Following is a brief description of each of these, to help you better understand the email marketing expert’s approach to

e-mail fundraising.

DEVELOP YOUR E-MAIL STRATEGIES - Basically there are five strategies that you can employ, which include:

• E-Mail Tied to Current Events

• Monthly “Themed” E-Mail Campaigns

• Direct Mail/E-Mail Combo

• Media/E-Mail Combo

• “Stand Alone” E-Mail Fundraising Campaign

“CLICK THROUGH RATE” TESTING - Typically, in each e-mail the recipient will have several ways to “click through” to support your cause. This can either take place via a “Banner, “ “Learn More,” or an “Action Button.” What you will eventually do, of course, is concentrate on “Click Through Optimization.”

“SPLIT” TESTING - In this instance you try different “creative angles” to see which works best. This might include varying the copy that you use, or the photos. Obviously, you will send out several simultaneously to determine what the results are.

“SUBJECT LINE” TESTING - This process finds you mailing the exact same email, but changing what you write in the subject line. As you experiment with these, you will find that one subject line may get more attention, and a better reaction than another one that you use.

LANDING PAGE OPTIMIZATION - This may be, perhaps, the greatest “bug-a-boo” for email fundraisers. Often, people have an excellent “click through” rate, but no one bothers to donate! As a result, the conclusion drawn, albeit an erroneous one!, is that e-mail fundraising doesn’t work. The reality is, it is the landing page that is “broken” and needs repairing, and that is where landing page optimization comes in!

It is, of course, possible that all of this may seem a little overwhelming, especially the landing page optimization concept. That is why that you may find it more beneficial to contact an email marketing professional like Randall Mains and his email marketing firm, Pathmaker Marketing. They can assist you by explaining the process in greater detail, and implementing the programs as well!

RSS Feed

Another important part of Internet Business Marketing Promotion is to offer an "RSS Feed" (Really Simple Syndication). We'll help you get your Blog content to Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter and any other Social Networks. We'll set up an Automatic Content Transfer to save you both time and energy. To know more about this, call us @ (623) 322-3334 today!

We Can help You with Email Fundraising

Content: The procedure employed is all encompassing, as we help our clients build their email lists and improve their Website, in some instances with the advent of an eNewsletterand the inclusion of multi-week series of Welcome Emails. Our efforts run the full scope when developing these entities, from Writing, Designing, Coding, Installing and even the implementation of eAppeal Blasts. To learn more about this service, visit us at here .

Creating a Premier Blog

You may want to use a Premier Blogging Service to help you make your Blog a powerful tool in your online marketing mix.Pathmaker Marketing LLC offers the talents and skills that make us one of the best Premier Blogging Services in the world. We can help put you in the fast lane on the Internet Highway. Your journey can be both fun and successful!

We can help you make your Blog an Effective Internet Marketing Tool. Our services include Keyword Research, Search Engine Optimization and more.

As you prepare to use Blogging as a key Internet Marketing Idea, you will want to benefit from the best Blog System available.Pathmaker Marketing LLC features the Compendium System. Compendium helps companies, churches, and institutions use their Blogging time in a productive way. The system can help you get page-one rankings. That makes your Blogging a valuableMarketing Tool. One of the great advantages of Compendium is that it targets Winnable Keywords.

Email Fundraising

Dear Pastor or Church Leader,

As a PK, I grew up understanding the importance of fundraising. I'll bet that if you're like my Dad, the Rev. David Mains, asking for money isn't your favorite pastoral activity. But you do it because that's how you fund everything from keeping the lights on in the sanctuary to paying salaries to supporting ministries that present the life-changing message of the Gospel to hungry souls.

Over the past 25+ years, God has blessed me to help numerous churches and ministries with their fundraising needs through some specific skills that I have learned in life. My experience spans a variety of areas... radio, direct mail, various fundraisers, publishing, product sales, but (most recently), raising hundreds of thousands of dollars through online efforts such as email fundraising.

Here's what we were able to accomplish for one growing church in Chicago:

The church retained us to help them open up new channels for funding their growing outreach ministry, which includes a church, radio ministry, television ministry, international humanitarian efforts, and the sale of the pastor's books and teachings.

Our first step was to help them build their email list. They were sending people to their website, but they weren't capturing as many email addresses as they could. In addition to offering general technical support for their store, we installed 3 important things.

1. We upgraded their website with an eNewsletter sign-up form and dedicated, benefits-oriented landing page to secure new email addresses (shown right). Together, these have gotten them thousands of new emails addresses - both to add to their mailing list and to replace those that inevitably fall off of mailings lists when people change email addresses or simply move on.

2. We installed an eight-week series of welcome emails. Not only do these emails run on autopilot for ease of use, but they introduce new acquaintances to the various aspects of their ministry.

3. We went to work raising funds from the people on their email list. We still write, design, code, install, and blast a regular eAppeal for them that raises over $10,000 each month.