You may have heard the word announcement list used in context with email blasts, bulk email, broadcast or mass mail. They all mean the same thing, the intention of sending out a one way message that requires fast communication, perhaps specifically timed and maybe aimed at a targeted audience. These messages can be sent to a small or large number of recipients for a lower cost than that of traditional postal mail, AND all with measurable results!
Announcement lists allow all sized companies to distribute information using email, about virtually anything they have an audience for; press releases, product discounts, reminders, offers, tips, invitations, software releases, and so on. Using an integrated database, such as offered with Dundee Internet Services Lyris List manager, announcements can be customized to the recipient’s individual preferences and sent in a sequence series at predetermined time intervals to each member who meet certain criteria. – All tracked with graphical results.
A company (and organization) regardless of size, is missing a great low cost marketing tool if they are not using announcement list technology. With their current database of customers, they need only to ask for their customer’s email address (and permission) to be added to their announcement list. Gas stations can send announcements to remind customers to tune up their car for spring, winterize their vehicle in early fall and offer other specials during the year. The local restaurant might email coupons for Father’s day, Easter and other Holidays with a special birthday discount to their customers two weeks before the event. Microsoft emails reminders’ to their software subscribers to update their software when a new release is ready, and the local book club announces their meeting dates and times. The possibilities for announcement list use are endless.
Announcement lists generally offer the following advantages:
• Fast and cost effective – mail quickly and effectively without the associated cost of traditional snail mail.
• Easy to Administer – Administrative tasks are automated. The software should handle the subscription management, bounces and other technicalities.
• Send one Message – No need to BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) or expose your entire database of names.
• Build Loyalty and Recognition – Frequent announcements is another way to boost your image while building customer loyalty and recognition.
Dundee Internet Services, Inc Lyris ListManager also offers:
• Automatic error processing – List addresses are automatically processed – bad addresses are flagged in the database.
• Highly configurable – Identify exactly who the “From:”, “Reply-To:” and SMTP “From ” are for every message.
• No membership limit – Specifically designed to send to a handful of subscribers to a large numbers of subscribers.
• Customized Announcements – Easily customized the message according to each recipient’s individual preferences allowing the list owner to take advantage of their customer database.
• Measured Results – Track your message opens and click-through to see whether your announcement is being read and which section of your announcement is the most popular among your subscribers (i.e. your discount coupon or your web site link.) This allows you to adjust your announcements according to what your recipients are seeking.
• Interactivity – Add a poll or interactive survey to your email announcements, building a two-way relationship with your recipients.
• Personalized Messages – Personalize your message with mail-merge. Use conditional content to create entirely different messages in the same mailing run.
• Segmenting – Create subsets of your list to send smaller portions of it all based on criteria you choose.
• Tracking – Track all the responses to your mailings with tracking clickthroughs, opens, and clickstreams.
• Referrals – Allow your members to invite others to join your list.
• Auditing – Obtain positive confirmation of mail delivery (or failure) as every mail transaction is fully logged, including the time delivered, number of retries, or error message obtained for a given email address.
• Database links – Use the easy import or export feature to manage your list members.
• Subscriptions – Set expirations dates for membership after a specified period of time.
Generate continual interest in your business or organization by using announcement list technology today.
