A good email list can be the lifeblood of your business. However, keeping it up to date can be a challenge. This is especially true if people change jobs or their email address.
This article will cover some tips to help you keep your AOL mail account running smoothly. This includes setting up your incoming and outgoing mail settings, personalizing your inbox, creating filters, and more.
1. Build a Strong Email List
In order to execute a successful email marketing strategy, brands need to have a robust list of quality subscribers. A strong email list can be built in a number of ways, including in-person events, purchases, signups on your website, or through gated content like newsletters or white papers. It is also possible to grow an email list through social media promotions or via word of mouth from existing customers.
To ensure the effectiveness of your email campaigns, it is important to segment your lists. This allows you to send targeted, relevant messages that are more likely to be opened and clicked. Segmentation can be done based on a number of criteria, from demographics (gender, age, location) to behavioral (what products they have looked at or added to cart, how often they visit the site, etc.).
Avoid reusing old email addresses or using fake or disposable addresses. This can trigger spam filters and lead to lower deliverability rates. It’s also a good idea to use email address verification software on your signup forms to ensure that the email addresses you are collecting are valid and not in the process of being used by a spammer.
Inactive subscribers should be removed from your email list periodically. This may seem counterintuitive, as you want to keep your list size growing, but inactive subscribers are more prone to unsubscribe and can skew your metrics by giving a false positive reading of your engagement levels.
2. Create a Strong Call-To-Action
AOL marketing campaigns rely on consumer insight and market trends. They also use best-in-class data that spans legacy demographics and psychographics through multi-touch attribution that reveals the true drivers of brand ROI.
In order to succeed in today’s crowded Internet environment, marketers need to understand consumers’ motivations and how they are changing. The best way to do this is through a strong call-to-action. This can be achieved by offering a free trial, special offer or other incentive that will encourage subscribers to take action.
Whether you are using an email newsletter, sponsored content, or pay-per-click (PPC) ads, make sure that your calls-to-action are clear and easy to understand. This will ensure that your message reaches its intended audience and doesn’t get lost in the sea of promotional material.
When constructing your AOL marketing campaigns, be sure to include a link to your subscriber service center so that subscribers can update their preferences or manage their contact information. Also, be sure to communicate early and often with your subscribers about any major changes to your send behavior. Lastly, monitor spam complaints for each of your messages. If the rate exceeds AOL’s acceptable threshold, it may be time to reevaluate your permission methods or sender reputation. AOL’s Enhanced White List is an excellent option for marketers who meet strict delivery standards.
3. Optimize Your Campaigns
In the early days of Internet access, AOL marketed itself aggressively as an email service provider. Its “carpet-bombing” approach paid off, as the company rapidly became the largest service provider. AOL now offers a variety of advertising options that marketers can use to reach consumers online.
To maximize your email marketing efforts, it is essential to optimize your campaigns for the AOL platform. This includes ensuring that your messages are delivered to the right recipients, and that they are sent at the most effective times. For example, if your audience is made up of stay-at-home parents and kids, it might be best to send your emails in the mornings or evenings when they’re likely to open them.
Additionally, marketers should make sure their messages are formatted to meet AOL’s specifications. This includes using a valid email address for the sender and avoiding spammy language, including a link to purchase or download. It is also important to monitor the spam complaint rate and ensure that your permission-method list is free of hard bounces. A high complaint rate or excessive hard-bounce rates can lead to your messages being blocked.
For those seeking to run PPC ads on the AOL network, the process can be a little tricky. Until recently, you could only do so through Google AdWords, but this week AOL launched the AOL Search Marketplace, which accepts PPC ads exclusive to its platform.
4. Measure Your Campaigns
A marketing campaign must be measured throughout the process to determine whether it is succeeding or not. Setting benchmarks along the way allows you to identify and act upon problems early on rather than waiting until the end of a campaign to discover that it was ineffective.
Developing and measuring marketing campaigns can be complicated, especially if you are using multiple channels. AOL is trying to simplify the measurement process by creating a new software platform that will allow advertisers to track the results of their advertising across both digital and traditional media. This will help marketers better understand the performance of their content programs and how they contribute to brand ROI. You can also buy AOL accounts in bulk for email marketing from Bulk Accounts Buy.
In addition to launching AOL One, the company is also working on a software package that will tie together display, video and TV ad buying. The goal is to help brands more effectively reach consumers by providing them with the best-in-class data, from legacy demographics and psychographics all the way to multi-touch attribution that reveals what drives consumer behavior.
For email marketers, AOL’s service and software client create specific issues that require attention. For example, the software client includes a feedback loop that enables users to report spam complaints for your messages. It is important for bulk mailers to monitor these reports and to take action immediately when you receive a high number of complaints.