These days, most people's first response to the thought of email marketing
is negative. That's because legions of spammers have given email advertising
and marketing a bad name through filling our inboxes with unwanted, and sometimes
offensive, junk email. In reality, though, legitimate email marketing is
an effective tool to promote your business, regardless of whether it's online
or brick-and-mortar.
What differentiates legitimate email advertising from that of spammers?
Legitimate email marketing is only sent to potential customers or clients
who have actually asked to receive it. In other words, the recipients are
people who have expressed an interest in receiving information on the type
of product or service you provide.
Setting up an effective email marketing campaign is both an art and a science.
First, you need to obtain a list of people to whom you will send your advertising
emails. It's crucial that the email addresses on this list are from those
who are specifically interested in your product or service. These are called
either opt-in email lists or permission-based email lists. By using opt-in
or permission-based lists, you will not be accused of spamming, and your
Internet service provider won't receive complaints about your emails.
If, for example, you have a home-based business opportunity you would like
to market through email advertising, you need to find an Internet marketing
company that has a list of people who have expressed an interest in receiving
information about home-based businesses. You will write your sales email,
and the company will distribute it to their permission-based list.
The tried-and-true marketing rule - in any medium - is that a person needs
to be exposed to a message three times in order for it to "stick." Therefore,
it's optimal to plan your email advertising campaign so that you can send
out three emails to the same list over a 7-10 day period.
Once you've selected the Internet marketing and advertising company that
will distribute your email marketing campaign, it's time to develop the content
of your emails. Here are some tips to keep in mind in order to write an effective
email sales message:
* Write clearly and concisely. Your potentials customers should be able to
identify your message at a glance. Communicate that you respect their time
by getting to the point quickly.
* Include a call to action. You can eloquently explain your product, service,
or opportunity, but you can't close the deal unless you have a call to action,
such as "Take advantage of this opportunity TODAY!"
* Dangle a carrot. Everyone likes something for free, so if you're able to
offer free information (a downloadable booklet, for example) or a discounted
product, you'll obtain better results.
* Run your spell-checker. When your email has spelling errors or is grammatically
incorrect, it communicates that you don't care enough to get it right. Make
sure to spell- and grammar-check your message before you send it.
Once you've launched your email marketing campaign, it's crucial to follow
up with great service. That means responding promptly to emails and treating
those who respond as though they've just walked into your place of business.
If you fail to give them prompt attention, they're likely to walk right back
out!
