The modern marketer has to wear two hats—the creative hat and the analytical hat. Especially in e-commerce, marketing is as much about generating fresh ideas as it is about campaign tracking and analysis. Metrics rule every step of the business process, from strategy to concrete decision-making.

But as a small business owner, it’s sometimes difficult to have enough time to deeply analyze the bulk of data that can be generated from running your business. To make things easier, we’ve compiled a list of a few key metrics to focus on:

• Revenue: As we all know, revenue is the ultimate measure of your success! But it’s also important to note that beyond sheer profit, knowing the how’s and where’s of generated revenue can lead to a lot of valuable insights.

• Traffic sources: Understanding store and site traffic sources is important for knowing your audience and how to draw them to your store. For example, your marketing campaigns would be different for Pinterest versus Google versus Twitter. Also, you can see which channels could use improvement.

• Return on Investment (ROI): Calculating your return on investment from specific marketing campaigns is extremely important for knowing what the most effective tactics are and how much of your budget you should invest in various channels. Also, don’t forget about tracking relative ROI from different sources of referral traffic so you know your exact returns from each traffic channel.

• Visitor Type & Engagement: Knowing your visitors’ behaviors is very important. For example, having the percentage of sales generated by return visitors versus first-time buyers can signal to a need for retargeting solutions to better convert visitors. Also, be aware of how visitors engage with your site. How long do they spend on each page? What categories are the most browsed?

• Website Quality: Many people underestimate the power of content quality on your website in driving (or deterring) traffic. When your data (including titles, descriptions and prices) is up to date and people are aware of your out of stock products, you will likely see much more success in your advertising effort and prevent a poor customer experience.

With these few qualitative and quantitative measurements, it’ll be easy to have a comprehensive view of your store and overall performance!

He writes, “In writing this, I have a single aim : To get you emailing effective HTML emails that will respect your readers and achieve your goal whether it’s marketing, connecting or marketing while connecting.”

You can download the e-book for free! Download the .pdf  or e-pub version. It’s also easily accessible in our blog sidebar.

Email Marketing Topics Covered in the E-book :

• Why email marketing matters – “More than 1 in 5 people worldwide use email.”
• Lists of free resources that will make your life easier as you compose, on a PC or on a Mac
• Tips for writing effective content your readers will love – “What, as it pertains to your business, will give your readers something interesting to read?”
• How to engage your readers and stay relevant – “Simply put, good writing matters.”
• How to create a readable layout in no time
• Standard design rules that look good in inboxes across all platforms – “Aim to keep everything uniform and easy to read…”
• Tips for creating the perfect banner for your newsletter – “It’s the first step to branding your email…”
• How to think like a designer to brand your emails
• Techniques to optimize your images for the inbox – “The smaller the file size, the quicker the image downloads.”
• How to write subject lines that will increase your view rates – “Be honest; be descriptive; funny helps.”
• Email analytics and understanding what they mean – “It’s easy to obsess. [But] email marketing is about connecting to your readers and customers. Statistics are a way to affirm that the connection is being made.”
• Healthy list management techniques – “With lists, bigger is not better.”
• How to enjoy email marketing – “Focus on the parts you love.”

If you’ve been doing email marketing for years, or if this is your first foray, this e-book is a fantastic resource. It’s a quick read, packed with invaluable information.

We recommend it to everyone.

OpenSky is a retail marketplace, but with a social angle reminiscent of Pinterest and Twitter. Basically, you follow curated e-commerce choices by celebrities or your friends.

To promote small business, OpenSky created The Small Business Breakthrough competition, which is running throughout the month of May. One of the awesome prizes they’re offering the winner, in an effort help this business ‘break through’ in 2013, is a free Mad Mimi account.

The winner of the competition will be announced in mid-June and then they’ll start using Mad Mimi, as part of their marketing plan. Fantastic!

Go check out The Small Business Breakthrough site and take a look around. There are so many cool ideas and products just waiting to be discovered.

You can also follow along on Twitter #sbbreakthru

We’re all part of this Mad Mimi community, no matter where you access the site…including Down Under.

Greg Spence is an accomplished, professional trumpeter. He has a successful website, Mystery to Mastery, which he uses to educate trumpet students around the world. He uses YouTube videos, one on one Skype lessons, e-books (over 4000 copies of his first e-book sold) and his community. Greg has played Lead Trumpet in all 12 seasons of Australia’s version of Dancing with the Stars (LOVE!) and has played with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Burt Bacharach, Jerry Lewis, Shirley Bassey, Michael Buble and so many more.

In honor of Greg’s second e-book release, Mystery to Mastery Book II, we wanted to share some of the Mad Mimi features and marketing techniques he’s found helpful. Greg wears several (impressive) hats, but ultimately finds himself in the role of musician, teacher, and author most often.

Musicians, Think of a Crowd :

“If you are a band, a production company, a solo recording artist or a kazoo busker, Mad Mimi is a fast and easy way to let the world know about your gigs, shows, albums, etc. People want to know where you are performing, and it is SO EASY to put all of your information into one email and send it to your fans in one click. I have used Mad Mimi since 2011 to promote new information at my trumpet education website, to promote gigs and share interesting stuff in general.

When I do new videos for my site, I put a link on the email that people can click. This has been a really successful way to expose users to the latest updates. I also share the email on Facebook so friends are kept in the loop as well.

Being able to keep in touch with MTM users, feeding them up to date trumpet info and gossip, creates an excitement and vibe that helps generate excitement about playing music. In just on 2 years, we have picked almost 1500 YouTube subscribers and and over 250,000 views. It’s no Gangnam Style but it pretty good for a new trumpet website.”

We recommend a special method for embedding audio or video in your newsletters for optimal delivery.

Teachers, Think Organization :

“Teachers will love Mad Mimi. I really like how I can have different lists in my Mad Mimi account. I put people who have purchased my e-books in one list, students in another list, general contacts in another list and I can chose to email one or more of the lists at one time. It is simple and really handy.”

You can also group promotions together. Folder-lovers, rejoice!

Authors, Think of your Audience :

“Writers/Authors, when writing material or even looking for inspiration, you can shoot an email out asking questions of all of your contacts, or send a survey. I have been amazed at how people like to be up to date with what you are doing and how keen they are to contribute to your projects. I have been using Mad Mimi to inform existing Mystery to Mastery users that book 2 is coming and to get practising. I had one person send me a picture with a mallet aiming at a trumpet with the quote, “Release book 2 or the trumpet gets it!” I laughed!

It just so happens that she’s a Mad Mimi customer (and fan!), so not only did she mention us in her post, she highlighted some of Mad Mimi’s awesomeness among several providers.  Have a look at her post!

Features that Won Deborah Over When She was Looking for the Best Email Newsletters for Writers:

• RSS to Email
• Drag and Drop composer (the Undo button)
• Easy to Create Webforms
• Customer Service and Webinars

We often get asked, “Why should I choose Mad Mimi over another service provider?” Ultimately, we know why we love Mad Mimi – ease of use, impeccable delivery, out-of-this-world customer service, and an incredible community of users who recognize Mimi’s fab-factor.

For people checking out services, the choice really comes down to personal preference and we’re okay with that. Deboarah’s post has tons of valuable information and explains why Mad Mimi was the best choice for her!

The RSS to Email function that Deborah highlighted is one we’ve been talking about a bunch lately. There are so many benefits to bloggers for using this feature, particularly that posts in a subscriber’s inbox have a better conversion rate than simple RSS subscriptions. We recently came across an article that reiterated the important future of this feature (in light of Google Reader’s and Feedburner’s demise.)

Excerpted from The Death of RSS in a Single Graph, by Andrew Chen :

“Email subscribers are 2x more active than RSS readers

The other thing I’ve noticed is that email subscribers are just stickier and more active. From my own personal data from my blog, I know that although I theoretically have 5x more RSS subscribers than email, from a traffic standpoint, the mass of RSS subscribers don’t make up for their numbers. On a per-email subscriber basis, I get about 2x the activity rate from people clicking links from RSS as compared to email.

 

So when it comes to the very practical question: When a blog is designed to prompt users to subscribe for future content, what should you push for? RSS or email? The answer is easy, go with email. In other words, in order for the numbers to work out, I’d need an RSS prompt to convert at 2x as email to get the same activity level. Given that the market size and interest in RSS is decreasing over time, and a small vocal minority uses an RSS reader, I think it’s pretty obvious where you want to go there.”

That’s right – things around here are always moving and shaking (and growing!)

Look for it under the ‘Add Things‘ tab in your account.

Zoho is a pretty comprehensive suite of apps for businesses – cleverly eliminating the need to force individual office software packages to work together. Zoho offers a full range of apps that play nicely together, and now they integrate with Mad Mimi.

You can use your Zoho email login to transfer all your contacts and leads, including custom fields, from their CRM app to Mad Mimi, with the click of an ‘Import’ button. (All you need is your log in and a password.)

Find step by step set up directions here.

The CRM acts as the master system of record for those who integrate, so there’s even a ‘Refresh’ button that will appear on your Mad Mimi Audience page. If you update a contact’s details in Zoho, ‘Refresh’ will make the edits appear in your Mad Mimi contact details asap! The integration also respects the opt-out checkbox associated with a contact in Zoho. Mad Mimi won’t import any contacts who are marked as ‘opt-out’ in the CRM.

CRM’s (customer relationship management) are programs that help you keep track of, monitor, and set goals to reach out to your contacts, especially when they number in the hundreds and thousands. They’re not something everyone uses, but if you’re a CRM user, Mad Mimi also integrates with Salesforce, Batchbook, Highrise, and ShootQ.

Done right, each newsletter can build rapport and communication.

Think about it. Before the internet and ubiquitous cell phones, we were letter writers and dinner-together-havers. We spent that time communicating and adding building blocks to our relationship – telling our stories. These were valued relationships.

It bears repeating – often! – because if you look at your email newsletters as a chance to add value to your customers’ experience, like a dinner party, you’ll likely not have to look far for newsletter inspiration.

In fact, this post is inspired by Mad Mimi customers, Restoration Services, who wrote to say, “Every item we restore here really is a great story, so we decided to feature a repair of the month, offer tips on how to care for various materials, and answer questions that we hear from customers. The purpose is to inform and entertain, not to advertise, so we do not offer any discounts or specials through the newsletter. We just wanted a way to stay at the top of our existing customers’ minds since they may only need our services very infrequently.”

We think Restoration Services is really on to something!

Because they approach their email newsletter as telling stories, even repairing a lamp is endearing (check out the finished product at the end of this post!):

What story can you use your newsletter to tell? Do you want to share your excitement about a new product? A project you’ve been working on? Creative story telling might give you some freedom when it comes time to sit down and compose.

Think of your email newsletter (or promotion, if that’s your thing) as a chance to tell a story. Include all the important bits and a dash of encouragement (a call to action) and you’ll be adding value to your subscribers’ inboxes.

Restoration Services managed to turn those lamp bits into this :

Pretty impressive!

Mad Mimi integrates with Batchbook now. This means if you use the Batchbook CRM (customer relationship manager) to manage your contacts, you can easily import your lists to Mad Mimi and send them lovely emails.

If you’re a Batchbook customer, and not already an email marketer, you’re in for a treat! Sending emails via Mad Mimi will help you drive traffic to your website, increase your reach and grow your lists.

It’s a cool integration for both companies because we’re both so focused on relationships and customers. It’s awesome for Batchbook to add another way for their customers to connect with their contact lists and we’re psyched to have more emails to send, track and share.

The integration requires an account with both apps. You can read step by step instructions to set up the integration or watch a video.

We’re really excited to welcome all the Batchbook users out there!

To honor and act in favor of the planet we all call home, Mad Mimi is mentioning a few of our users for whom loving Mother Earth is a full time gig.

You might want to connect with them.

About the Earth

Mare Cromwell has spent almost two decades studying alongside Native American teachers. She has a background in environmental work.

Her newly published book is called Messages from Mother….Earth Mother.

For the Earth

Greenpop is a Cape Town, South Africa-based social business that aims to inspire and create change toward greening and sustainable living. They do this, in part, through tree planting projects (at underprivileged schools, gifting trees, company partnerships,) events, education, social media and other innovative activities and partnerships.

You can keep an eye on their Facebook page and get involved.

[Hearts] Around the Earth

Page Hodel, of Monday Hearts for Madalene, ”Each week I make a heart for my beloved Madalene Rodriguez in memory of our beautiful love and her brave, graceful battle waged against her ovarian cancer which sadly she lost 6 years ago.”

The hearts look different each week, but here’s one :

“Each week I make Madalene a heart, photograph it, and send out over the internet, inviting people to forward to their loved ones, hoping to somehow make a tiny contribution to make the world a better place. Putting this love out into the world as a weekly reminder of the power of love, we are circling the globe with love.”

Wherever you are today, we celebrate with you as fellow citizens. Lots of Mad Mimi Earth Day love. Keep those email newsletters flyin’.

Why do we do it? Word of mouth is one of the best ways to grow your email marketing list. The forward to a friend link empowers your current readers to quickly share an email with potential readers. If subscribers like your content, they’re only a few clicks away from spreading the word to another inbox–up to five, if they’re really inspired!

How Can I Make The Most Of Forward To A Friend?

The forward to a friend link exists so contacts can share all of the great stuff you already send with people they know. So make it easy for your readers to share :)

Next to that forward link is also a subscribe link. Encourage new folks to subscribe! Add a short call to action for any readers that received the promotion via forward to also sign up for more great content.

As you can see, the call to action does not have to be fancy. Just include something. This way, when people receive a promotion their friend forwarded, they can sign up simply without searching for the form.

Building a List via Forward to a Friend Helps Your Stats

With the forward to a friend and subscribe links, your list will grow naturally. Word of mouth list growth equals solid, even improved, view and click rates on future mailings. There are other ways to share, too! Check out our social share options and Facebook Sign Up Form.

Related Topics:

Social Forwarding Options
Can I Change the Location of my Forward, or Subscribe Link?
Can I Edit My Footer?
How Do I Change the Subscribe Link in my Footer?