Melon Corporate Blog

The perils of using BCC for email broadcasts

James Peter (Chief Web Systems Architect) - Jan 25, 2008

A question we hear frequently is: “Why should I use an email marketing tool such as melonMail when I can just copy and paste the addresses into my email programs BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field or just use Mail Merge?”

One of the easiest mistakes many marketing staff make is misunderstanding how broadcast emails are in fact very different to the normal emails you send around the office.

There is unfortunately a misperception frequently from managers that email marketing is an amazing breakthrough not because of its convenience and effectiveness compared to other mediums - but because its FREE compared to traditional “snail-mail” campaigns.

It is true that the overall cost of an email campaign can be significantly lower than a paper campaign however, if you want any level of success from your broadcast its important to understand that its not as easy as copying and pasting then clicking send.

The very existence of the multitudes of specialist email broadcasting providers speaks testament to this - how could they stay in business if it were that simple?

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How do I Increase my Open Rates?

Kevin Garber (General Manager) - Nov 15, 2007

An open rate is a measurement that describes how many people have opened your email. Usually this is a percentage measured against how many emails you sent out. It is difficult to pinpoint what is an acceptable open rate because every database and industry is different. But a round figure for an email marketing campaign to aim for would be 25%-35% open rate.

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What’s in it for me?... Creating a Newsletter that Informs as well as Sells

Kevin Garber (General Manager) - Oct 25, 2007

This issue I would like to talk about email newsletters, the strategy behind them and why they should be both beneficial to the sender as well as the receiver.

Whether you are a business who sells products or services, we can all benefit from communicating regularly to our customers. But this doesn’t always have to be with direct selling and I would actually advise against sending too much EDM (Electronic Direct Mail) as you can upset your database and ultimately cause them to unsubscribe.

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Getting the Most Out of Your Landing Page

Kevin Garber (General Manager) - Oct 11, 2007

How many times have you filled out your details on a website only to be directed to a dead end with no further direction?

A landing page (or a thank you page as some call it) is a web page that users are directed to after they complete an online webform, subscription form, RSVP form or survey.

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Full Outsourced vs Self Serviced Email Marketing Solutions

Kevin Garber (General Manager) - Sep 13, 2007

When a lot of businesses (both corporate and SME) consider using an email marketing service, there are two key options they are faced with: Full Outsourced Solutions and Self Serviced Solutions.

A self serviced solution is when a business is given access to a system and a person or team is tasked with developing newsletters and EDMs (Electronic Direct Mail) internally. This is achieved from using the system WYSIWYG editor or other HTML editing software.

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