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Email Marketing Magic
By bpjames | July 13, 2009
If you approach email marketing correctly and get it working for you it can truly produce magical results for your business. I would like to set out some of the key elements to either help you get started or to refine your current email marketing methods.Who should you email?
Email is great for keeping in contact with people. It’s quick and easy and low cost. ‘Permission based’ marketing always works best so email those who have opted-in to receive information and avoid communicating with those who would not expect to hear from you.
People you meet in a business environment and provide a card or contact details have effectively opted-in to receive information from you. The same applies to your customers, suppliers, colleagues, associates and those who have responded to an offer for more information.
One of the best ways to grow your opt-in list organically is by establishing affiliates. These are individuals who are prepared to endorse and recommend your products and services by making them available to their list of contacts. This can be achieved by pointing their recipients to your website link where they can register their interest.
Have a clear purpose
You want to be clear about the reason for the communication. Is it to inform the recipients or to promote a product or service?
For example, you might want to provide regular updates and new developments for existing customers. This could be to help them get the most out of their purchase by using examples and case studies of your product or service in use. This is best suited to a ‘newsletter’ style of communication and can include colourful graphic templates and your branding.
The content wants to be rich in information with perhaps links to more detail. The beauty of this kind of communication is it clearly adds value to those who would benefit most. It allows you to demonstrate your expertise, specialist knowledge and skills.
Alternatively, you might want to promote a product or service to a group of prospects. This requires a different approach. You might want to differentiate your solution from others in the marketplace and persuade recipients to take specific action. This could be to buy from you or to request further information.
You want a compelling message, clear benefits and action oriented language. This type of email can be short and concise including bullet points. Guide them towards taking the required action by providing links to a specific landing page or appropriate website page.
I recommend you personalise your emails by mail-merging the recipients name and signing off as you would a personal letter. Adding a P.S. usually works well. This can include a final piece of information, repeat key benefits or be a reminder for the action required. You must provide your company details and an opt-out option for all bulk mailings.
The Subject line is very important as this acts as a headline statement. It’s good to keep the subject line short and benefit oriented or intriguing to create appeal and increase open rates. Words such as ‘free’ should be avoided as these are trapped by spam filters.
Track results
The power of email marketing comes from the track-ability. Using email marketing tools you can track open-rates, click through rates, bounce backs and opt-outs - all very useful indicators.
There are many of these tools available and two of the best ones I have used for all round usability and value for money are:
The real magic takes place when you combine your emails as part of an integrated campaign. This could be a series of progressive and more specific emails over time as you track recipient activity and receive responses from them. Some of this could be automated using auto-responders. These are triggers that send out a series of emails.
I have found that email marketing works its magic best in conjunction with follow up telephone calls to those recipients who have clicked through to a web link or responded directly. This approach can dramatically increase your conversion rates of leads to sales.
Brian.
Topics: Email marketing |