Brains or brawns? We think a bit of each creates the perfect balance in life. We’ re also aware of the fact that one never gets a second chance for making a first impression, so we sent our home page for a complete makeover. Looks still count!  No matter how good we are on the inside, you will still judge us by our appearance, so we decided to snap our body back into shape.

A few instant beauty tweaks and many, many think-tanks and tests later we present you with a significant redesign of the GraphicMail home page - one of the most well-traveled destinations in email marketing.  Our first new home page concentrates on email marketing – surprise, surprise!

We promote targeted marketing; so it was about time we put into practice what we preach, by making targeted communication transparent on our home pages (and not just through our targeted newsletter and mobile marketing tools that we offer you).
So, within the next two weeks, you'll see two more home versions, one geared at couch potato email marketing – “Get Started Quick” and one targeting our successful Reseller business model.

What are the major changes?

Isn’t it annoying to try and find logins to various sites that you use? One has it top left, the other top right, some inside the side columns, some in your face or in the instance of Yahoo, it’s like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Well, we’ve made our  Member Login super visible. So – I don’t have to tell you where it is.

And hasn’t it been frustrating to try and find something specific on GraphicMail before, like client studies or a specific feature? It’s easy like instant coffee now! Add your keyword to our new search, click and enjoy.
Our previous navigational structure almost required a driver’s license. I don’t know how many mice I’ve seen swerving and reversing through our navigational tabs and dropdowns, but now it’s all smooth cruising. Our new horizontal navigation has two levels only, so even if email marketing fatigue kicks in, you’ll still get to your destination safely and promptly.

We’ve been tweeting our news from the roofs, we’ve been showing our face in The Book, but now it’s official that we are 100% committted to social network integrations – we’re shouting it out from our new footer! There will be quite a few email marketing and social media integrations coming your way this year, so keep an eye on our blog and Twitter and Facebook announcements.

Our experience in our test indicates that people are excited about this new home page. They feel this meets their needs and is a fresh new look for GraphicMail.

We are designing the page around you... Tell us what you think.

NB:
Why the dominant blue and red in our home page design? Well, fashionistas have let us know that the key societal consumer trends in 2010 are “reinventing happiness”, “embracing Gaia” and “Age Shock”. The happiness colour for 2010 is Satisfaction – A creamy raspberry red, a sweet and inviting color that tempts us. Gaia is portrayed through Reflection – A transparent, liquid blue suggestive of water and how it reflects the sun’s rays as well as Jungle Passion – Deep, dark red, exotic and mysterious like a rare orchid or a precious ruby. And Age Shock’s blue? GRUPs (today’s grownups) are said to defy the aging process, measuring age solely by attitude towards life. So a fresh, young blue linked with the jeans culture represents “Jeanology”.
(This might all be a bit off the email marketing track, but we thought we had to throw this one in since we’re talking beauty, style and trends for 2010)



This was our old school look:

We’ve been keeping an eye on you and we think you’re kinda cute…so we’re sending you a Valentine! 

If you’re reading this we’ll assume you’re serious about your email marketing and chances are you’ll be spoiling your avid admirers with Valentine’s goodies.  But if your mailing list is longer than Don Juan’s, you may need a lending hand – and who needs Cupid when you have GraphicMail?  

Our Valentine’s promotion gives all new GraphicMail users non-expiring double credits for your first month!  Not only will you get twice as lucky at half the price, but we’ll help you romance those fortunate enough to be on your mailing list with some romantic attire:  Our designers have come up with a range of sexy Valentine’s templates – we suggest you wrap your goodies in one of these little numbers…

For those Casanovas who frequent social sites, we’ll be slipping you a Valentine too… Your treats await you on our Facebook and Twitter pages on 12 February 2010!

It really is in the little things, isn’t it?  Happy Valentine’s Day!

You’ve set up a GraphicMail account, your campaign is mapped out and your newsletter design, if you do say so yourself, exceptional…but is there any point in sending out those crafty newsletters if no one reads them?

The intent of email marketing is to reach as many potential clients or customers as possible and to maintain existing client relationships; the key to fulfilling this purpose is a vast mailing list of interested contacts who have opted in to your newsletter. Now is as good a time as any to ensure you have a top-notch database of readers – and, if not, to give yours a revamp.

Here’s how you get them hooked:

Why does anyone want to know which shower gel I use?  Long, tedious subscription forms requiring seemingly irrelevant personal information can scare off prospective subscribers.  Keep your sign-up process short, to the point and relevant. If you don’t have a subscription form, or you’ve just realized yours needs a face-lift, check out GraphicMail’s customizable subscription form.

Become a collector – of contact info.  Don’t sit and wait for them to click on the subscribe button on your website (you do have one of those, right?), add links to subscription options to all your potential contact points:  from your newsletters to your sms/text messages, your email signatures to your guest books, your cash registers and events.  Most importantly, don’t forget the friend of a friend of a friend route, ask your friends to share your details.  Social media remains the most effective networking tool - place sign-up links on your Twitter and Facebook pages to optimize your popularity. 

Make sure you segment your list to ensure your emails reach appropriate clients or customers - your great uncle probably does not want to hear about the opening of the latest trendy club, but might prefer the scoop on pensioners’ specials at a highly regarded restaurant.  To learn how to use the GraphicMail system to efficiently target the right people on your list, take a look at our targeted list management.  Once they’re reading, spoil them rotten!  Entice them with everything from inside info to discounts, competitions and more.  They’ll always open-up and read when they know there’ll be something in it for them…

Then there’s the clincher:  Maintaining your list to ensure all your good efforts weren’t in vain.  Keep an eye out for those subscribers who gave you the flick by unsubscribing,  your enticing newsletter to bounce, the ones who just don’t bother opening your emails and those who gave you incorrect information that caused your enticing newsletter to bounce.  Delete them. 
Then make sure your loyal subscribers update their details on a regularly - you don’t want a change of email address going unnoticed.

Done?  Now get ready for higher delivery rates, new and more dedicated followers, improved client relationships and a greater return on investment.
Time to put your new and improved list to the test!

We have made the GraphicMail mobile marketing tool more powerful by allowing you to receive direct responses from your SMS subscribers to your mobile phone.

Up until now, your mobile campaigns were sent from a default number. You can now send your campaigns from a number that YOU specify, enabling direct and personal responses from each subscriber.

This new function is called SMS Sender ID and it can be found within the application under Setup & Options >> SMS Setup & Options. All you need to do is supply us with the mobile number you wish to send from and input the verfication code that we will sms to you.

If you do encounter any problems, it may be because your network does not support Sender ID. We have a list of these networks in the help centre which can be used for cross referencing. 

Sender ID is a fantastic new feature that will give flexibility to your mobile marketing campaigns!

On 31^st Dec every year, without fail, millions of people make New Year's resolutions. Admittedly, some of the resolutions are just simply unattainable goals – but at least the good intentions are there. For some reason we all have this undying need to improve upon the previous year, be it emotionally, financially or health wise. In January there seems to be a mad rush of people doing things such as fleeing to gyms, going on diet and trying desperately to set out the coming year’s business plans. So, in sticking with this theme, we have made a few email marketing resolutions especially for you!

We don't believe the below resolutions to be unrealistic. In short, they are really just a recap of important email marketing advice you may have ignored during that bad bad year of 2009. You may have read some of this before, but a little gentle coaxing never hurt anybody!  So, listen up folks, here are your email marketing resolutions for 2010.

1. Save money, clean out your mailing list

Out with the old, in with the new. Don’t waste your send credits on subscribers who have not read your newsletter in months. Some subscribers are simply just too lazy to unsubscribe; and others forgot about their subscription and now mark you as spam. Check your statistics and mailing lists to gather information and make a tactical decision about which subscribers to delete! If you delete a subscriber who is interested but hasn't opened a newsletter in 6 months, they’ll track you down and subscribe again!

If you have attachment issues and simply can't let these subscribers go; then send them a kind email asking them if they would still like to receive your newsletter. Ask them to give reasons as to why they don't want your newsletters - you'll pick up some great tips and hints!

2. Save time, make use of the advanced features

Is there a reason as to why you don’t take full advantage of the powerful advanced features on the GraphicMail system? Start using them, they’ll save you time and make life a whole lot easier.

A few advanced features:

Subscriber Segmentation: A powerful tool that allows you to profile customers according to criteria you have set. We have the tools that allow you to send a newsletter about animals to just subscribers who are interested in animals. You’ll have to test it to find out more!

Connecting to an external datasource: This allows you to link to your database and pull out information needed for your email campaign. This eliminates the need for you to upload your datasets and maintain your data in more than one place.

3. Save your "coolness", integrate email newsletters with social media

If you do not have a social media strategy in place yet – get one! Start off with the two most basic and popular websites; Facebook and Twitter. With GraphicMail you are actually able to integrate your subscription form onto your Facebook page.

Include social media links in your email marketing message and gain subscribers through your own social media pages.  These are two free reach extenders that will yield fantastic results. It is rumoured that 2010 will be the year of the application and social media, even more so than 2009. Now is a good time to start and tweak your current campaigns.

4. Save face, monitor your stats, hard bounces and make improvements

If you get marked as spam, you get a bad reputation. To avoid this nasty occurance spend some time deleting old subscribers from your mailing lists as they could be marking you as spam. Analyze all of your stats carefully and figure out ways to improve your open rates. Try to personalize your subject lines a bit more and ensure you avoid using use key spam terms which include words such as "free", "bonus" and "order now" . The only way you could get away with using these words is if you combine them with strong keywords. A big no-no is putting your subject line in capital letters. I also advise making sure your recipient/s know who they are receiving the email from. Do this by changing the “from” line.

To improve click through rates analyze if the design of your email. Are your links noticeable? Do they look clear and do they look like links? Also, give your subscribers a reason to click – use words that entice them.

5.  Save your image, engage your subscribers

There are numerous ways of engaging your subscribers – you just have to think outside the box! Focus on your content. Is it well written and funny? Or is it long and dreary? Your audience does not have all the time in the world to read your newsletter. Use bold headings in articles and use bullet points. It’s easier on the eye and simple to read. Use strong emotive images. A stretched, pixelated image looks unprofessional but ensure you have a good balance of both text and images.

Conduct a few tests. Send out a newsletter one month with a quirky subject line and look at your stats. The next month you do a send, make a longer subject line and cross compare.

Think about the time of day you are sending your newsletter. Are people going to open your newsletter at 5 pm on a Fri? No. Your faithful subscriber is probably halfway out the door and come Monday morning they won’t have the time to read a newsletter. Any later than that and they have forgotten about it!

Spend time working on your subject line!

6. Save your business, use new metrics such as the ROI calculator

An example of this would be to make use of the GraphicMail ROI calculator. Use it to determine your return on investment from each campaign. Simply fill in the fields in the calculator - the more accurate your numbers, the more realistic a result you will get.

7. Save your popularity, Get more subscribers

Offer viral campaigns, competitions and promotions to draw in the crowds. Promote these competitions on your website and build brand awareness. You'll find your readership will increase!

Good luck with implementing the changes for 2010! Make it your year!

Are you currently looking for a job? Or are you managing job applications for your company? Job candidates feel that employers are not following up with them, and employers complain of not having enough time to respond to all the candidates who they decided to reject. It happened to me the other day, too – we posted a job for a marketing assistant and I received so many applications I thought I was not going to be able to deal with them all.

None of us likes getting rejected. Communicating with candidates is a vital step in the recruitment process, and the way you communicate with them affects your company’s reputation. So how can you manage job applications without taking a chunk of time out of your work day?

I think we can help you. GraphicMail offers an email marketing solution that allows you to automate your communication emails, to personalize your mailers and to keep a close eye on the communication flow with its free reports and analytics tool.
It worked for me. I posted our job advert online and added a subscription form on which I captured all the vital data in advance, such as email address, name, surname, educational degree and area of expertise. This information was automatically sent to my GraphicMail account where it was added to my mailing list, with all the additional data I had collected. The candidates instantly received a thank-you note which I had scheduled as a trigger mail beforehand.

Next, I screened the information according to educational degree and area of expertise. I set up an mail campaign for those who we considered, and one for those who we had to reject. In the email to the suitable candidates, I asked them to submit their CVs to us (much easier than receiving CVs from all the applicants and having to sieve through the attachments!). Then I sent an email of rejection to the rest of the candidates. In order to show respect and to keep the campaign personal in spite of the automated process, I added personalization to my mailers. I also made sure the email would come from my personal email address, as there are always subscribers who simply hit reply instead of filling in the reply or comment form in the HTML newsletter.

Why you should consider using email marketing

Reputation – Not only are today’s candidates selling themselves to you, you’re also selling yourself to them. Your company image is in the limelight. You never know if those who you reject today will become future employees, and even if they don’t, reputation is at stake. In today’s world where everything can be published at an instant and by anyone – just look at the ever growing social networks and blogger sites – and in a time where consumers heavily rely on other consumers’ testimonials and recommendations, you need to communicate timeously and in a professional manner.

Time constraints – The screening of applications itself can be very time consuming, let alone the actual interviewing process. Save time by managing your communication smartly. Why deal with tons of calls or emails from irate candidates who haven’t heard back from you? Why put yourself and them through the agony? For a little email marketing effort, you can get a big return.

For some of you, Father Christmas has put in an extra round - in order to deliver your presents from GraphicMail!
Congratulations to

Lee Chilvers, Simon Page, Kathy Knight, Linda Ellis, Luke Chisholm and The PixelZoo

who have all won fantastic prizes in the GraphicMail xmas competition 2009 which we ran both on Facebook and Twitter during the month of December.

The first prize is an iPod Touch which goes to Kathy Knight and The PixelZoo.

Additionally, we gave all our winners an email marketing boost this year with a free 6-months account and those who came second won a custom-made designer newsletter template, yay!

We'll give away more free stuff in the future, so watch this space and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

GraphicMail has a powerful eflyer creation suite that will make it easier for you to manage your brand image. Use GraphicMail's full suite of tools and eflyer templates to send out your promotions, product updates and announcements.

You’ll be able to create and customize eflyer campaigns using GraphicMail's extensive template library and easy-to-use online content editor. You can use GraphicMail to pull external content you’ve created offline, or use content stored on your website to be included in your email marketing campaigns.

GraphicMail makes it very simple for you to track your sends. GraphicMail's reports allow you to see in an instant who had opened your eflyer and who had clicked through to your website. Test us today and see how a GraphicMail eflyer campaign can result in sales and increased revenue for your business.

The team at GraphicMail would like to wish everyone a happy new year. Or rather, a happy new marketing year!

It's time to throw out the old methods and brainstorm a few new marketing strategies for 2010. Get the ball rolling with your email marketing campaigns, target the right market and increase your revenue. If you already have a successful email marketing campaign take the time to reflect on how you can improve your ROI from last year.

Make 2010 YOUR year!