Recently, some of our clients have been asking us questions about their in house newsletter campaigns. While email newsletters and campaigns can be an effective way reach your customers and target audience, deploying them can be a daunting task. Obstacles like Spam Filters, ISP Blocks and faulty software can inhibit your campaign’s performance.

Here are a few tips for optimizing your email campaigns:

1. Avoid sales jargon in your subject lines.  Using words like”free”, “act now”, “cash”, “collect” etc. will raise flags by many spam filters. Save your offer for the body of the email.
2. Make sure you have an opt out link. It is required by the Can Spam Act and will ensure that you do not upset your contacts.
3. Notify your ISP. The connection to your ISP is one of the most important. So make sure they know that you’re sending legitimate bulk email and don’t label you as a spammer.
4. Don’t email market during the holidays. Holidays are often holidays from work, too. Save your campaign launch for a time when your user is likely to read it.
5. Make sure your emails reflect your brand. When someone opens your email, you want them to know right away that it is you. If you have an established rapport with a contact, they will be more likely to read the email if they recognize your brand.
6. Emphasize with words, not exclamations. Overuse of bold words and exclamation points in your copy can make your email come across as pushy and just plane rude.
7. Track everything. What good is a campaign if you can’t see your results? If you send your email blasts out via a local client like Thunderbird or Outlook Express, you are missing out on detailed analytics and metrics that can help you optimize campaign performance. Make sure you are using the right software.

This is a very broad topic and cannot be covered with a single email. However, once your email newsletter process is in place, it is more manageable than you may think.

If you are thinking of leveraging email marketing, feel free to drop us a line at customerservice@rtpdesigns.com. We will be happy to answer any questions and let you know about our capabilities.

You may also visit www.rtpdesigns.com for more information on internet marketing.

Posted by Paul under Internet Marketing | No Comments »

The close of last month introduced the highly anticipated Google Android G1 phone. Motorola is running the software on it’s devices and T-Mobile is selling the phones.

After some thought, I realized there wasn’t anything overly revolutionary about the functions of this phone. Sure it has the ability to create custom applications on it’s platform, but so does the iPhone, which is already 2 releases into the market.

So why release it? To me it looks like another attempt by Google to saturate the market. Sure they have given advertisers the ability to place ads on mobile website before, but they never had their own operating system on the phone displaying the ads/website. That will only expand their capabilities for targeted advertising.

David Aviv, VP of advanced services at Radware agrees:

“What Google is establishing is a way in which to inject targeted advertisements into the phone,”

Aside from displaying ads in the mobile browser, the phone will also display ads within standalone apps themselves.

For example, if you are playing a card game application on the phone, a banner ad can run within that poker application, without having to click back to a Web site. These ads can be sold on a cost per thousand basis and can be updated and targeted based on how a consumer clicks through.

Although the buzz about this phone is relatively low at the moment, I would anticipate it becoming a viable medium for advertising in the near future, especially given Google’s excellent track record for digital advertising releases.

Posted by Paul under Internet Marketing & Mobile Marketing | No Comments »

RTP Designs is currently developing its new support system located at http://support.rtpdesigns.com Here you will find up to date information on all information, upport related.

It contains a Knowledge Base, Frequently Asked Questions, and Articles section. It allows you, our valued clients, to register and sign up for our supprot newsletter, as well as mark your favorite support topics, and articles for quick reference to such items as configuring your email for outlook. It also allows you to email a friend, so you can spread the word on certain support issues through out your company. For example information on configuiring your outlook client to work with our email system.

Our FAQ’s section will provide answers to the most common questions. As a technology company, on a day to day basis, we give you quick answers to questions related to websites, email, and having a presence on the internet.

The most exciting new addition is our articles section. This will contain articles, and whitepapers that we write as we discover new and exciting technologies that will benifit our clients. We will help explain, in more detail, some of the technology buzzwords heard in our meetings. Please submit any suggestions you have, articles you would like to see written, or support we may have left out that would be help ful to you. Send these requests to helpdesk@rtpdesigns.com and we will get them added.

This support system is ultimatly built for our clients, and to answer their questions. So please drop us a line anytime and we will add your content. Many Thanks, from the RTP Designs Support Staff.

Posted by Paul under Company News | No Comments »