These days, most people's first response to the thought of email marketing is negative. That's because legions of spammers have given email advertising and marketing a bad name through filling our inboxes with unwanted, and sometimes offensive, junk email. In reality, though, legitimate email marketing is an effective tool to promote your business, regardless of whether it's online or brick-and-mortar.
What differentiates legitimate email advertising from that of spammers? Legitimate email marketing is only sent to potential customers or clients who have actually asked to receive it. In other words, the recipients are people who have expressed an interest in receiving information on the type of product or service you provide.
Setting up an effective email marketing campaign is both an art and a science. First, you need to obtain a list of people to whom you will send your advertising emails. It's crucial that the email addresses on this list are from those who are specifically interested in your product or service. These are called either opt-in email lists or permission-based email lists. By using opt-in or permission-based lists, you will not be accused of spamming, and your Internet service provider won't receive complaints about your emails.
If, for example, you have a home-based business opportunity you would like to market through email advertising, you need to find an Internet marketing company that has a list of people who have expressed an interest in receiving information about home-based businesses. You will write your sales email, and the company will distribute it to their permission-based list.
The tried-and-true marketing rule - in any medium - is that a person needs to be exposed to a message three times in order for it to "stick." Therefore, it's optimal to plan your email advertising campaign so that you can send out three emails to the same list over a 7-10 day period.
Once you've selected the Internet marketing and advertising company that will distribute your email marketing campaign, it's time to develop the content of your emails. Here are some tips to keep in mind in order to write an effective email sales message:
* Write clearly and concisely. Your potentials customers should be able to identify your message at a glance. Communicate that you respect their time by getting to the point quickly.
* Include a call to action. You can eloquently explain your product, service, or opportunity, but you can't close the deal unless you have a call to action, such as "Take advantage of this opportunity TODAY!"
* Dangle a carrot. Everyone likes something for free, so if you're able to offer free information (a downloadable booklet, for example) or a discounted product, you'll obtain better results.
* Run your spell-checker. When your email has spelling errors or is grammatically incorrect, it communicates that you don't care enough to get it right. Make sure to spell- and grammar-check your message before you send it.
Once you've launched your email marketing campaign, it's crucial to follow up with great service. That means responding promptly to emails and treating those who respond as though they've just walked into your place of business. If you fail to give them prompt attention, they're likely to walk right back out!
