Make e-mail marketing (and your customers) your new best friend
If you’re busy running your business, chances are you tolerate email as a necessary mode of communication. In reality, getting up close and personal with email marketing could transform your business.
Forrester Research reports that marketers see a return on investment on email marketing that’s two to three times than any other form of direct marketing. And 66 percent of marketers agree email is the most cost-effective marketing tool at their company.
On the flip side, 72 percent of consumers prefer companies send them permission-based promotional messages via e-mail, according to the 2008 Channel Preference Survey from ExactTarget. And almost 70 percent have made purchases as a result of receiving an online promotional offer via e-mail.
So, why aren’t businesses doing more of it? Perceived investment of time and money. But effective e-mail marketing – perhaps starting with a consistent newsletter or e-mail campaign – doesn’t require massive doses of either if properly executed.
Build a receptive audience. Before doing anything else, collect your customers’ email addresses, something you should do at every opportunity. This is essential; without the right list, having a great message or a great offer is a moot point. Stop and consider what would prompt a customer to share his/her email address with you. Depending on your audience, it could be valuable content, rewards such as free gifts, or access to exclusive offers or incentives. Next, spark your customers’ interest by making it easy for them to share their emails with you. This may take the form of a sign-up form on your Web site, which you can then promote on your home page and in the signature area at the bottom of every email. If you have a shopping cart mechanism on your Web site, consider making the option to share an email address at the point of purchase an easy one. Tap all traditional marketing venues as well, from your sales collateral, to the back of product packaging, print ads, billing inserts and even the bottom of your customers’ receipts. Don’t neglect to nudge customers at the cash register or on the phone to share an email to access special deals or informative content.
Determine content. The content of your messages should hinge on your audience. Manufacturer? Send leadership articles that differentiate your products and service from the competition. Salon/spa? Promote exclusive incentives or specials. Professional service company? Deliver a series of tips on how to improve businesses. Look at what your competition is doing. Consider what differentiates your business and make that a point of focus in your emails/newsletters. Ask your customers what they’d like to read/receive and cater to their requests in formulating the content of your e-mails. Then don’t hesitate to ask a staff member or outside resource to assist in writing clear, concise and proofread content that’s relevant. Without relevance, you’ll chalk up a lot of unsubscribes.
Formulate and automate how you circulate. Sending an email marketing campaign can be as simple as setting a schedule and purchasing one of the many e-mail newsletter programs available that make it easy to send e-mail, manage subscribers, format messages attractively and measure response, all in one. (Think Constant Contact, myemma and others.) You can also opt for autoresponders, software that automatically answers e-mail sent to it and/or automatically delivers information by e-mail on a predetermined schedule. The advantages to automation is that it makes it easy to send email, manage subscribers, format messages and, perhaps most importantly, measure response.
Let’s say you’re a salon/spa and set up a subscriber link on your Web site home page. Upon receiving an email, the system can be prompted to send a welcome message to thank the subscriber for signing up and to reiterate what he/she will receive. Then, on a set time frame later, the system can send an email promoting a discount on a variety of products. With an autoresponder, you can set a schedule for messages – perhaps the “slow” day every week in the salon – and promote a freebie, such as a complimentary manicure, with purchase. To effectively accomplish this, you will need to create a “pool” of messages to send, but once you accomplish this up-front chore with the help of the autoresponder’s templates, you can leave the auto responder to do the work while you focus on running your business.
Bottom line – Customers will read emails that are interesting and relevant. Make relationship building the intent of your email marketing. In the process, your readers will keep your business top of mind when they’re ready to buy.
Dana VanDen Heuvel is president of MarketingSavant, a marketing consulting and training firm. Reach him by telephone at 888.989.7771 or by e-mail at dana@marketingsavant.com.
