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Email Marketing Is Part of Your Marketing Plan
While the main use of email marketing is to drive traffic to your web site,
there are other important reasons that emails can be used in promoting your home
business. You should use them, and use them often, as part of your overall
marketing strategy (you do have one, right? A written plan on how you’re going
to let other people know about your online business?)
Why market with email? Because it really does work. It has been estimated
that commercial e-mail spending will grow from $164 million in 1999 to $7.3
billion in 2005. More people are buying products and services online than ever
before-and your home business could profit from this fact.
Source: Jupiter Research
Strategy One: Brand identification. Brand identification is one of the
fundamental concepts of marketing, and you can use emails to contribute to
yours. Brand identification is letting people know who you are, and what you
stand for, by creating an image in their minds. This is literally gold in the
marketing arena. We pay more for Nikes, not because they’re always better than
competitors, but because of the image that advertisers have created for us.
So how can you use email to do this? If your business offers games for toddlers,
then you will want emails that have a light-hearted touch, with fonts and
graphics that appeal to young mothers.
Does your firm appeal to young consumers who like things that are unusual? Or
who like funky humor? Then let your fonts and graphics play into this. Are you
sending out information about your consulting service? Then conservative colors
and fonts should be used.
The tone of the writing you use, and even the topics you include in each
email communication are building up an image of your business in the minds of
those who read them. Try to be consistent, and reach your target audience
(people who are most likely to buy from you) with content that appeals to
them, and you’ll see response rates grow. People Must Like Those
Pretty Fonts. Almost 60 percent of e-mail users have the ability to receive
HTML e-mail, which gets twice the response rate of text e-mail. In 2001,
68% of all email marketing was in HTML format.
Sources: Jupiter Research and Opt-in News (1/02)
Use your emails to tell customers about special updates and products: in the old
days, businesses put up flyers or sent direct mail ads; now modern businesses
talk to their customers by email. This is a highly effective marketing strategy,
because Sally may be glad to hear that there’s a special on her favorite skin
care product, or your customers might like learning about this month’s best buy.
This will work best if you also spice your emails up with good, helpful
information. Are you a Mom who is also gardening enthusiast selling specialized
seeds online? Create an email that offers some gardening tips, and people will
welcome your updates that come with it.
Use Your Emails To Build good customer relations. This is one of the most
effective uses of emails, since if they are used to positively build up your
reputation for service and attentiveness, you will see sales and customer
retention go up. Customer service is a big buzzword in marketing circles for a
good reason: people will simply go elsewhere if they believe that they are
receiving better service (or value) elsewhere.
From the autoresponders that you send when clients fill out an order form,
confirming that their order was received and is being processed, to the product
updates you send your email list, the quality of your communications can go a
long way towards creating positive customer relations. Grammatically correct,
polite emails that let those who inquire know that you will contact them
shortly, and provide them with contact information in case they need to reach
you immediately, can be a powerful marketing tool.
Use your emails to answer customer questions, and overcome objections to
buying from you. If your emails are polite, answer client questions in a
clear, easy-to-understand manner, and give them the information they are asking
for, you’ve probably just won a customer! You can also send out articles that
help address common customer concerns to bring down barriers to buying from you
(for instance, an article in a monthly newsletter that discusses how to
fertilize your plants correctly would be a natural for the Mom marketing her
exotic seeds online).
This is one of the untapped arenas of email marketing. So many web sites have
‘frequently asked questions” sections, or information on how to find what the
client is looking for. Why not use your emails to offer this information in a
lively, informative manner? It may be just the push that gets a potential client
to click on your site, and decide to buy, if they discover in that same email
that you send that you are offering a special holiday discount, or are adding
extra products at a great price on your web site.
Use Your Email Signature EVERYWHERE. Whether you are sending an email to
your Aunt Mary, or are participating in an online email discussion list, always,
always include your web site URL and email address in your signature (unless the
online list rules forbid this). This is automatic advertising for your business,
and is an effective method of letting people know that you’re online, and ready
to receive requests from them.
Send Greeting Cards. If you have a regular email client list, they will
most likely welcome a friendly greeting card from you during holiday time. This
is a great method of helping them remember you, to wish them a happy season, and
to let them know about seasonal promotions.
They key to success with this method, of course, is that these are from your
opt-in list; they know you, and have agreed to receive regular
communications from your firm. Don’t try this with strangers, or they will be
offended, and accuse you of SPAMMING them.
Hold a Contest. You can use email to hold a contest, and to offer prizes
to winners. This is one method of increasing interactivity, and to increase
interest in your newsletter or ezine. Encourage contest participants to get
others to sign up as well-and watch the interest grow.
Create your own newsletter, online course, or ezine. Want people to
perceive you as an expert in your field? And to market your online business
effectively? Then you will want to consider creating your own ezine or
newsletter. This is a highly effective email marketing tool for several reasons:
-It helps you build your email list (see lesson two)
-You can place your own ads in it, and promote your services or affiliate
programs
-People will see your web site address, your logo, and a link to your
programs in each email that you send them. They will open the emails, because
you are providing them with articles and information that they want (unlike
SPAM, which gets deleted immediately).
By using email as part of an overall marketing plan, you can help people form a
positive image of your business, improve customer relations, and help get the
word out about your business. It’s a valuable marketing tool that can bring in
more visitors-and help your sales.
This was lesson two in our series, “Email
Marketing Techniques.”
Be sure to look for lesson three, in which we discuss “Email
Marketing Strategies That Work”.
Email Marketing Tutorial Contents: 1
Basic Rules of Email Marketing
2
Building Your Email Mailing List
3
Email Marketing Strategies That Work
4
How To Write Irresistible Emails
5
Avoiding SPAM Traps: Trigger Words That Filter Emails
6
The Real Truth About Direct Email and Email Lists
7
Creating Compelling Subject Lines (That Will Ensure Your Emails Get Opened) |
