I am sick and tired of people claiming that email marketing is âdead’. For years the Internet community has been claiming that email has become obsolete and they have gone as far as to anoint social media as its successor. Claiming that email is an outdated marketing tactic couldn’t be further from the truth, as email is still one of the most viable options when launching an online marketing campaign. A perfect example of email marketing’s vitality is the success of Groupon.
Groupon (www.groupon.com) was launched in 2008 and has become one of the best examples of email marketing to date. It’s easy to see why Groupon became so successful; their business model is based on offering its email recipient 50%-90% off of high quality products and services in their particular city. The emails are friendly and personal and there is no fine print, only great deals. In order to get these deals you must subscribe to Groupon’s daily emails.
Once you subscribe to Groupon you will receive an email every morning informing you of the daily deal. Each deal has a minimum number of Groupons that must be purchased in order for there to be a successful deal. Groupon has given their customer the incentive to forward the deal of the day to their friends and family to ensure the deal’s success. Simply put, if the recipient does not take an active role in promoting the deal of the day there is a chance that NO ONE will get the deal (and that is a bummer).
This is genius marketing, Groupon sends an email to an opt-in list each morning, and the recipients will then pass on the information to people they think also want the product. Groupon is not only able to reach their direct list of subscribers, but is also able to reach customers who haven’t yet signed up for Groupon through their existing customer base. Groupon has created an interactive email marketing campaign that showcases that email marketing is not only alive and well, but is thriving.
I was just about to post this blog when my colleagues brought it to my attention that Groupon also utilizes social media to ensure a successful deal. This does happen to be the case, but I contend that Groupon could still be successful without social media. I believe this because social media is merely a supplement to Groupon’s success, where email marketing is at the very core of their success. What do you think about this claim?

Posted in: Partnerships, TemplateZone by admin
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| Hi, readers — it’s me, TemplateZone’s woefully prodigal blogger, inching back into things.
No doubt you can relate to day where it feels as if half vanishes between one blink and the next — well, the past week’s been that way, & it’s beginning to make my head spin! For tomorrow, I’ve vowed to stay super-aware during those disappearing hours (for me, it’s 2-5pm that goes POOF! — how about you?). |
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But it’s always easy to focus on good news, so this post has Serif to thank! WebPlus X4, web design software that’s ridiculously easy & brimming with neat features, is now available in our Partner Store for $99.99. |
| We’re psyched to be partnered with Serif (who, as an aside, might possibly be the most pleasant, easy-going software company on the planet) because we & they share a mission: to provide economical, uncomplicated design programs with which novice users can create incredibly professional content from templates. | |
| With TemplateZone & Serif products, there’s no need for users to learn HTML — so that means the busy small business professional can devote more time to generating revenue & spreading awareness, & less time screwing around with complicated software that has the same essential function as our much easier, cheaper programs. | |
| Simply put, WebPlus X4 is an awesome small business productivity tool — & trust me, TemplateZone’s VERY well-versed in this area! It’s in our Partner Store for only $99.99 (MSRP). | |
Posted in: Building a Small Business, New Products, Partnerships by TemplateZone
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| Amy Ellis, MailChimp Marketing Ninja, so wonderfully agreed to answer a few questions about her company since MailChimp’s rapidly developing a reputation as one of the most innovative, user-friendly email service providers around.
Thanks for Amy, y’all can get a better feel for what it is MailChimp is all about. If it sounds good, you’re in luck! High Impact eMail for MailChimp is available for FREE download on MailChimp’s Email Marketing Resources page. With High Impact eMail for MailChimp, create great-looking HTML emails and upload them into MailChimp with just one click. Then use MailChimp’s advanced features to monitor your campaigns and deliver the best possible message to your lists. Visit MailChimp’s blog, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter for funny, friendly email marketing tips, tricks & techniques. |
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TemplateZone: SARAH BECHERER, Business Development Manager MailChimp: AMY ELLIS, Marketing Ninja |
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SARAH: MailChimp 5.0 has some really neat functionality, including the Delivery Doctor spam block detector and Automagic Email Translation of content that detects subscriber languages preferences. Which new feature do you think is most exciting, and why?
AMY: It’s so hard to pick just one feature. I am really excited about the Geolocation Tools we released in v5. They give our users the power to target their subscribers by location without collecting any city or zip code information. I also really love the Delivery Doctor because not only does it help you create a campaign that will reach the inbox, but it also helps you learn why your campaign might get caught as spam. So, next time you go to create a campaign, you have that much more information guiding you. |
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SARAH: Last summer, MailChimp incorporated High Impact eMail as a template solution for designing HTML emails. How do you feel High Impact eMail fits into MailChimpâs philosophy of providing users with tools that are âactually usefulâ and âso easy, a human could use [them]â?
AMY: Sometimes, designing an email campaign that looks good can be one of the hardest parts of email marketing. So, we try to give people all the tools and info they need to create effective email campaigns. That’s where HIE5 templates come in. We want our users to feel like their template options are endless and endlessly useful. Our integration with HIE5 gives them access to over 101 HTML email templates that can be pulled into their MailChimp account easily and seamlessly. |
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SARAH: MailChimp does a great job of utilizing social media to spread their message. Any tips or tricks for other companies who want to make better use of blogging and sites like Twitter and Facebook?
AMY: When it comes to social media we try to do two things: 1) provide useful information and 2) be authentic. An Ad slogan sent via Twitter is not authentic. Getting a real response when you’re having a problem is authentic and useful. Sharing something cool that we’ve stumbled across is authentic and fun (useful)! |
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SARAH: To what do you attribute MailChimpâs widespread appeal?
AMY: I hope that our appeal comes from a combination of working really hard to create a powerful and easy-to-use email application, and being an authentic and down-to-earth group of people who love design, technology and email. |
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SARAH: TemplateZoneâs aim is to help small- and medium-sized businesses market themselves as professionally as their large-company competitors. Does MailChimp share this mission and, if so, what features and services were created with small businesses in mind?
AMY: We are always trying to put powerful email marketing tools in the hands of users while making them easy to use. So many of our features really fit well with small businesses. Our pricing model makes it easy to get started and our videos, online training and step-by-step guides make it easy to learn the ins-and-outs of email marketing as they build their list of subscribers. Once they’ve got the hang of it, they’ve got access to powerful testing and sending tools like A/B Testing, RSS-to-email, Segmentation, API integration and now Geo-location, Email Translation and more. |
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SARAH: What makes MailChimp unique among email service providers?
AMY: Well, we’ve got a monkey as a mascot… Okay just kidding. We differentiate ourselves among other email service providers by taking powerful email marketing tools and processes and automating them, making them easy and accessible for the average user. We want them to be the expert email marketers, not us. |
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Posted in: Email Marketing, Partnerships by TemplateZone
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| We’re very pleased to officially announce TemplateZone’s partnership with InfusionSoft! |
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| TemplateZone’s High Impact eMail 5 HTML template software is now fully integrated with Email Marketing 2.0: a powerful, comprehensive email marketing & CRM system by Infusionsoft. Infusionsoft users can create great-looking professional email marketing designs and then upload them with one click into Email Marketing 2.0. | |
| Infusionsoft’s a really awesome company (for proof, please refer their incredible cereal collection and sweet company ride) and we’re so excited to be working with them in this capacity. | |
| Infusionsoft is breaking new grounds in that their Email Marketing 2.0 solution is proven to double the sales of small businesses. By combining dynamic email marketing features with an advanced customer database (CRM), e-commerce services and automated marketing that automatically responds and adapts to customer behavior, Infusionsoft is ideal for getting your small business on the right track to making money and acquiring happy customers. | |
| So check it out, because Infusionsoft’s Email Marketing 2.0 with High Impact eMail might be exactly what your company needs to win business and look professional. | |
| Oh, and I suggest that you follow Infusionsoft on Twitter, because they do it well! | |
| To view this news on PR Web, click here. | |
Posted in: Email Marketing, Partnerships by admin
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![]() | Great news! zipLogix now has undivided reseller rights in the real estate forms industry of TemplateZoneâs print marketing software for real estate professionals: Real Estate Marketing Assistant 2. |
| zipLogix is the industry leader in electronic real estate forms and transaction management systems. Their products, including the zipForm 6 real estate forms manager, are currently used by more than 500,000 real estate professionals. | |
| We’re amped for this partnership because there’s no doubt that our Real Estate Marketing Assistant 2 will integrate beautifully with zipLogix’s top-notch real estate forms program: get buyers interested in your properties with super-professional print marketing materials that you can quickly craft yourself in Real Estate Marketing Assistant 2, and then streamline mandatory paperwork confidently with zipForm 6. | |
Posted in: Partnerships, TemplateZone by TemplateZone
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