Email marketing is one of those buzz phrases that strikes a mixture of glee and trepidation all at once in the heart of most business owners and marketing departments. Email marketing and ezines have become all the latest excitement, providing the ability to reach a large number of clients with little more than the rattle of the keyboard and the click of a mouse. The power of this marketing tool and a successful email campaign can hardly be argued, but there are many issues of etiquette and responsibility that must be considered to keep your presentation from simply being listed as spam and quickly blocked away or deleted.
As you design your email marketing campaign it is a good idea to keep the following points in mind as part of how to make your campaign successful while still operating within the law and the expectation of your customers, or potential customers.
- Signing up subscribers
- Allowing for an opt-out
- Legitimate contact information
- Interesting and useful information and Non aggressive advertising
- No cutting corners to bulk up your list
We’ll take a look at each of these points in detail, emphasizing the right ways to handle concerns and build your business.
Signing up subscribers
No matter what type of email marketing campaign you’re planning, be it an ezine or simply a single page information blurb about a new shop grand opening, a mailing list with no one signed up to it is a pretty poor list. You may face the temptation to purchase email lists in bulk, but this is a temptation that should be avoided, as it may give you a lot of names, but of those only a slight fraction will have the interest in your product to actually open the email and read it. Better is to sign up people that you have personally met, or that have visited your off line store, if you have one, or your website. At either of these locations create a method for customers to sign up for your ezine or email updates. You’ll be surprised at how many people will do so, and you can send your information to them with the confidence that they will open and read what you send. Studies on mailing lists find that about twenty percent of the people on your mailing list will provide you eighty percent of the business you can expect to generate from that list. This percentage drops with an unfocused mailing list and rises with greater focus.
Allowing for an opt-out
At the bottom of your ezine or advertising email always provide a link for those that wish to be removed from the mailing list. Most people won’t take advantage of this, but they will be comforted by having the option –to- opt out. This takes some of the pressure that advertising campaigns can cause off and makes a customer more likely to actually keep reading what you send out.
Legitimate contact information
When sending out an advertising email or ezine make sure that to provide valid contact information to the customer. This serves several purposes, legitimizing your business and giving customers direct a way to contact you if they are interested in what you are advertising.
Useful information and Non Aggressive Advertising
Generally customers receiving an email expect the information to be more than just a sales pitch or jingle. They are looking for useful information that they can refer back to at a future time, or information in answer to questions they have asked. If your ad or ezine is nothing more than sales babble it is very likely to be discarded before more than the first line or two is ever read. The more legitimate and interesting the information you provide, the more likely your customers will read to the end, whether a short email, ezine or full email marketing campaign. In conjunction with the usefulness of your information it is best to present email advertising in a fashion that is inviting without being overly aggressive. Customers are accustomed to being blasted with ads on television and radio and dealing with pushy salespeople face to face. These are all mediums that are harder to shut out. With email or an ezine if the advertising strikes the customer as abrasive or overly pushy they will simply erase the message. The goal is to invite a customer into the sale, not push them.
Don’t List Bulk
Many services exist that gather email addresses for sale using web bots, spiders and other such technologies. While it is tempting to purchase these products in order to increase your exposure it is generally best to resist this temptation and keep your email marketing focused to those that have interest in your product or have opted in on their own. This keeps you from annoying customers that don’t want to receive your emails, very important as complaints to your ISP can get your email server shut down for spamming. Being willing to be patient will pay off in the longer run.
With these points well in hand you’re on your way to creating a strong email marketing campaign. Make sure to give note to your design so it emphasizes encouraging advertising, bringing your product to your customers and assisting in the success of your business.
