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Welcome to this edition of Email Marketing Monthly. This month we introduce iContact for Android and answer your Marketing question on the pros and cons of using a website over Facebook to promote your business.
If you ever have any questions or suggestions about the Email Marketing Monthly, you can email the editor. Please direct all support questions to www.iContact.com/support. Thanks for your continued business. Our team at iContact considers it a privilege to provide you with the best service possible!
 | Introducing iContact for Android!
In May, we launched iContact for iPhone/iPod touch to help iContact customers manage their email marketing while on the go. Since that launch date, not a week has gone by without our Android users asking us for an Android version. Well, the wait is over and we hope you like it!
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 | The iContact Product Corner highlights features and improvements to the iContact application, tips and best practices for email marketing, as well as insights into some of the "behind the scenes" work we put into our software. If you have a topic or idea you would like us to write about, please email emmeditor@iContact.com. We might even feature you in the article!
In this month's Product Corner, we provide an update on the all new MessageBuilder™ and give you a little more insight into our mobile strategy.
| MessageBuilder™ Update
The all new MessageBuilder, our new template-based email creation tool, is now in use by more than half of all iContact customers. Our plan is to turn on the tool in all customer accounts by the end of September. So far, the feedback has been extremely positive and we are excited to know that you, our customers, like what we have built! Here is what a few of you have to say:
| "OMG! I think I've died and went to heaven. The new MessageBuilder is fabulous. It was easy to learn without even consulting any manuals. Had a few problems but figured out what I needed to do to be successful. KUDOS to iContact developers and designers. I can't wait to share the news with peers and to use it to create more campaigns and emails. Thanks."
- Leta Roberts, ASMS Products – www.logoitemsnow.com | "I absolutely love the new message editor. Thank you for this upgrade. It allows me to create much more professional emails."
- Michael Sestak, Angelus Press – www.angeluspress.org |
Although we have not rolled out MessageBuilder to everyone yet, we heard your comments and are working on additional functionality to be rolled out in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more details.
If you are interested in receiving MessageBuilder earlier, please fill out our customer support form.
If you would like to learn more about the all new MessageBuilder, please visit the MessageBuilder page. | 
iContact, Email and Mobile
This week, we announced iContact for Android™ (see article above), the first mobile email application for Android users. This follows on the heels of iContact for iPhone, for which we have seen an amazing adoption rate and usage since its introduction in May of this year. Both are part of a strategy we have been following to make sure our customers have the tools to be successful email marketers, even when they are away from their computers.
Over the last few years there has been a meteoric rise in the presence of smartphones such as Apple's iPhone and Google Android phones like Sprint's HTC EVO 4G, as well as other mobile devices such as the Apple iPad. The quick adoption of these devices, which are really more like mini-computers, speaks to a change in the way people work in today's world. In a recent blog post, we wrote about the central role email takes in the mobile experience – Email Continues to Dominate Mobile Internet. As a mobile society, people now expect to be able to do many of the functions normally done on their laptop or home PC on their mobile device. Having tools to send, manage contacts and track your email marketing while on the go is now seen less as an added benefit, but more as a key need to be a successful email marketer.
This is the core of our mobile strategy. We want to make sure the right functions and tools are available to you as a mobile email marketer. The goal is not to recreate iContact.com, but create a complementary experience to enhance the website application and integrate functionality only available on a mobile device, such as being able to subscribe a contact directly from your phone's address book. You can learn more about how we approach mobile application development through this blog post by Peter Ghali, our Product Manager responsible for our mobile applications: Developing Mobile Applications.
We are not done developing additional mobile applications to help you to reach your customers. In the next few months we plan to roll out iContact for iPhone v2.0, which will have additional functionality you have been asking for, as well as a few other surprises. Stay tuned! |
| This month, in celebration of Labor Day weekend, we are giving away two $50 gift certificates to Omaha Steaks – so you can enjoy grilling with your friends and family! The winners will be chosen at random from all entrants who fill out the survey here:
Congratulations to our prize winners, Chris Newman and Rob Schiferl, who each won a $100 gift certificate from fredflare.com. |
| iContact's marketing team includes designers, writers, media buyers, product marketers, search marketers, communications experts, brand strategists, research analysts, developers, engineers, and seasoned executives. All of us are now at your service. Ask us anything related to email marketing and our team member with the most relevant expertise will answer your question.
Each edition of our EMM will showcase a new question and answer, so be sure to send your questions to us at askmarketing@iContact.com.
| This month's question:
Website or Facebook – Which is better for your business?
Our customer writes:
| I am preparing to start my own business, and I'm unsure of what to use to promote myself. What would you say are the advantages of having a website instead of Facebook? |
Randall Rozzell, iContact Creative Designer/Developer responds:
That question has become very popular as of late. Since the 1990's, it seems virtually everyone, business or not, built a website because it was the thing to do. And now 20 or so years later, social media is the new way to stay in touch with friends and family, connect with your favorite bands and movies stars, and even promote your business. But is social media so popular and ground breaking, that it can replace a business website?
Let's compare based on six important factors...
|
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Diztinct works closely with small to mid-size businesses, learns about each seller's specific needs and designs online stores that fit those needs. Many of Diztinct's clients have seen increases of sales of up to 150% year-over-year attributed to the work that they have performed.
Picking the right design and marketing firm is a crucial decision for your eCommerce business. Make the right decision – succeed with Diztinct. Check them out at: www.diztinct.com.
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LOOKING FOR MORE?
Check Out iContactPlus for Managed Services, Custom Solutions & Superior Results.
iContactPlus, available at iContactPlus.com, leverages iContact's proven email marketing platform while affordably delivering customized account management solutions. It's premium email marketing without the premium price tag.
Certified Experts at iContactPlus will work with you, hand-in-hand, to make certain your email-marketing campaigns succeed. If you're interested in Enterprise Solutions, High Volume Sending, Agency Programs, Premium Services, or our iContact for Salesforce application, visit iContactPlus.com to learn more.
Ready to start maximizing your email marketing ROI immediately? Just call an iContactPlus Certified Expert at 1.866.775.4254 today! |
We have two options for our Affiliate Program: our Upfront Bounty Program and our commission-based program. For more information, visit our Affiliate Programs page.
For Partners, you can choose between the Co-Branded Reseller program, or the Certified Partner Program. For more information, visit iContactPlus.com/partnerships.
Thank you for reading this month's issue of iContact's Email Marketing Monthly.
We'll see you again next month.
Editor: Chuck Hester,
Communications Director – iContact
Questions, Comments: emmeditor@iContact.com
| | Published monthly by:
iContact Corporation
2635 Meridian Parkway, Suite 200
Durham, NC 27713
Subscribe to the newsletter:
www.iContact.com/email-newsletter
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