With surging fuel prices, the airline industry is in dire condition. Even before the rising fuel costs, the industry as a whole was in pretty bad shape. Through it all, there has been one shining (and profitable) star. You can probably guess that I am writing about Southwest Airlines. They have been profitable, and remain profitable because of shrewd business decisions and good customer service.

Well, they have made another good decision, and this one touches in our world. Like everyone else, they want to drive as much traffic as they can to their website. Of course, their way of building traffic is not traditional, and excellent out of the box thinking. They are sponsoring the upcoming Midnight Gaming Championship. The ages for these participants are 16-25 years… not exactly your frequent business travelers.

The marketing message is about their desktop widget and their weekly email. Of course, the participants have to register for this event, and I can guess you know where that is done… their company website. This appears to be another great business decision by Southwest Airlines… exposing future travelers to their company and their services. Based on their track record, you would have to predict this will be successful.

We are having great success with email marketing and list management at Leadpile. This can be used to build traffic and/or be more transactional and create sales. Please let us help you and your company become the Southwest Airlines of your industry.

You are in the right place at the right time! For old time Rock and Roll fans…Dr. John was in the right place, wrong time.

If you are reading this post, you are part of a large movement, and an expanding market. 

With all the negative talk about the economy, and housing, and jobs etc… you are likely engaged in an INCREASING and IMPROVING economy.  It is an exciting and rather historic time for the internet and advertising on the internet.  This year advertising expenditures on the internet are going to pass the expenditures on a little medium that has been around for a while.  The medium I speak about is radio… I find it amazing that something still fairly new, can pass a juggernaut that has been a major part of people’s lives for so long.   This is an exciting and improving time for lead generation, and we are having great success with email marketing and list management.  By the way, magazines are next… Bloomberg projects that internet ad spending will pass magazine ad spending in 2010…  Indeed these are exciting times, and Leadpile can help you and your company reach your goals.

Many companies understand the value of adding subscribers through their websites. Unfortunately, many companies drop the ball after they gain these subscribers. Recent studies indicate that up to 60% of companies do not send a “Welcome” email to new subscribers, and and as many as 85% of companies do not personalize the messages sent to subscribers. Many people sign-up for email, but they will quickly forget, if they are not welcomed and reminded of their earlier request. If companies wait too long to effectively reach out to their subscribers, they run the risk of complaints, because people may not remember they opted in for the message.

For those of you embarking on any type of email marketing campaign, one of the first questions that usually arises is “What is the best day to send the campaign?”.  Unfortunately, after many studies and surveys there is no clear answer.  You really need to analyze your product or service and who is your audience.  Where and when are they opening your message?  Are they at the office or at home?  Maybe both?  When does your client purchase or take action?  Open rates can be great on weekends, but sometimes there are few actual transactions happening.  Travel and leisure may be great for weekends, while other types of businesses are more effective during the week.  Mondays may be a great day for emailing, but do you want to mail on the same day that everyone else is mailing?  Keep testing the day you mail, and perhaps you will find the best day for YOU to mail.

Hi Everyone!!

My first blogging effort… after reading many blogs, I look forward to writing/participating in this blog. My daily concentration is on marketing, so my comments here will certainly focus on that. Please let me know if there is anything regarding email marketing or other marketing areas you would like covered in this space. I look forward to getting my writing “legs” underneath me, and also look forward to reading other posts. Welcome to all, and please have a great week and a great month!!