From the desk of
Theresa....
Each week, we receive questions from
our clients of how can they better benefit from email and if everyone
else is sending mass email, why can't they? Just like you, they
receive untold amounts of spam touting "millions of email addresses
for only $199.99".
Reality check: Even if there
are millions of email addresses available to you, what do you have to say to all
these people with diverse interests and needs? Could you possibly
offer something to everyone and still stay in business? Do you really
believe that all one million are working email addresses ready to
receive your special offer? Most assuredly not. Remember to let
common sense prevail and build trust amongst the people who've provided
their personal information. Set up a simple online for and use the
code provided by your email mail list provider to collect email
addresses and contact information to build your list with people who
actually want to know more about your business or organization.
Another important reality check:
Unsolicited, mass email is "spam" and spam is bad. It's bad for
your business, it's bad for your customers and your potential customers,
it's bad for Internet Service Providers and it's bad for the Internet.
Spam gives email a bad name. To be sure we've made our point:
spamming is not a good business practice and in many states
it's illegal.
If you've been smart enough to collect
the email addresses of your customers, Web visitors and potential
customers, then you can begin effectively staying in touch with your
target audience via email to build relationships with these people.
You can use tools like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. If you have
a small mail list and cannot afford monthly fees, here are some tips to create
initial success:
- Decide on your privacy policy and post it
to your Web site. Then abide by that privacy policy as if your
entire business success depends on it (because a major mistake can
cost you big).
- Create short, concise, interesting
content that serves your target audience. Remember, you're not
just sending an email to another computer, you are trying to reach a
person!
- Be sure to follow all the rules of The CAN-SPAM Act. Click
now for
Compliance Guide for Business.
- Send your email message in plain text
unless you know for certain most of the people on your email distribution
can receive either HTML and/or Rich Text Format (RTF).
- Be sure
to provide a complete URL for
people to cut and paste into their browsers. Here's an example
of a complete URL: http://www.yourcompany.com. Reason: if
their email software cannot support images or links, then you've
failed to deliver your well thought out message and wasted your time
as well as the email recipient's time.
- If you decide to send an attachment,
send it as a .pdf or pure text document (often referred to as ASCII or a
file saved as .txt). Reason: Not everyone has Microsoft
Word or Word Perfect. Not everyone has the same version of
Excel or Microsoft Publisher which means they cannot open and read
your attachment. If you must include a flyer, spreadsheet
or heavily formatted message, post it to your Web site and set a
link to that particular Web page.
- Manage your email distribution list. This bears
repeating: Manage your email distribution list. In your
privacy policy you should state how people can unsubscribe.
You must have in place either by programming or by human
intervention, a means of removing people who wish to be removed and
do so in a timely manner. Moreover, when you receive an error
message that says "could not deliver", then remove the
email address and contact the customer by phone to update their
customer profile.
- Be sure to hide your distribution list. No one wants to see
who else received your message, plus you need to protect the privacy
of the people who trusted you with their personal information.
Send your group list as a "bcc" (blind carbon copy).
- Be sure to follow all the rules of email
etiquette.
If you are getting the sense that email
marketing is not as simple and easy as you first thought, you are
correct to feel this way. Just like every other successful way to
keep in touch with your customer, email marketing takes planning,
resources and ongoing management.
Here are some more marketing tips from
other industry experts:
Source: Iconocast
As part of our effort to present best online marketing practices, we asked top
analysts and e-mail marketing services providers to share their do-or-die rules of e-mail marketing:
Establish goals in advance -- If you don't know what you're trying to accomplish, chances are you will fail.
Empower customers -- If you don't have permission, you're sending spam. Ask customers how and when they want to hear from you.
Dedicate adequate resources -- E-mail
marketing service providers such as Constant Contact or Mail Chimp can provide the infrastructure necessary to make e-mail work for you. Assign internal management to track your goals.
Target -- Get the right message to the right user at the right time. Don't send e-mail on Mondays to business people. Consumers might read e-mail in the evening hours, so sending messages then will set you apart from the rest. Also, it's surprising that some e-mail marketers don't dedupe lists. Just this week, we received multiple e-mails from Dell!
Segment -- E-mail is cheaper than postal mail, but good online prospects can be expensive and hard to find. Don't pummel opt-in lists with messages that don't appeal to the entire audience. Find out their interests and...
Personalize -- Despite an abundance of technology, few marketers actually personalize their e-mail. Offer a better experience!
Control frequency -- Our panel agreed that e-commerce players should not be sending more than 1-2 e-mails per month to customers.
Test everything -- Optimal creative, messaging and frequency that works for one customer set may not work with another. Also, subscribers' tastes can change rapidly. Testing is the only way to make sure your offers are welcomed.
Send
me your thoughts on this subject and feel free to ask questions.
Best,
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