Never underestimate the power of email marketing. While email marketing was first on scene after the popularity of the Internet took off, it has not outgrown its uses. A variety of different strategies have been created to help email marketing keep up with the changing landscape of the Internet. Check out the strategies below and make email marketing work for you!
Insert a link to your subscription form into your marketing newsletters. That way, if your customers forward marketing emails to their friends, their friends can easily subscribe to your list too. Using this strategy makes it easy for you to build a large list of potential customers who have agreed to receive your marketing emails.
Before getting involved in an email marketing effort, you must obtain permission to email each person on your list. If you don’t get permission first, you may get lots of spam complaints and even lose otherwise loyal customers.
If you buy a list of emails to send to, check and make sure it is up to date. Sometimes lists for sail might match your target demographics but be woefully out of date. The number of addresses now defunct can be as high as 25% of the overall list.
Be sure that your landing page lives up to the customer’s expectations. The subscriber is obviously interested in your product if they have clicked on the link in your email. You do not want them to be disappointed by clicking on the link, and finding the page to be other than what they thought it would be.
Post a version of your newsletter with graphics and animation on your website. Then send your email list a plain text version of the newsletter with a link to the web version. This keeps your emails simple enough to stop them from being diverted to the spam folder as well as encouraging your customers to visit your website.
To use email marketing to build confidence in your company and products, avoid turning your emails into gimmicks. Don’t tarnish the professionalism of your image by using irritating tactics like writing all in caps or incorporating symbols like dollar signs. Most importantly, never talk down to your customers or make grossly exaggerated promises about your products.
Email is a great marketing tool, but it is not an arena where the hard sell is appreciated. Never pressure your subscribers into buying. Put sales pitches at the tail end of your emails, especially if your readers signed up with expectations of informative content. Consider email as a tool to cultivate interest, not instant sales.
Passive and active feedback from your customers is an essential tool for enhancing your email marketing projects. Readers should be asked to provide suggestions and opinions when offering active feedback. Passive feedback is less obvious, or sometimes non-existent, to readers. You can use whatever tools and software you have available to determine what links are getting clicked on the most.
Do not restrict yourself just to email marketing. As you identify your core clientele that trusts you, see if you can get phone numbers and physical addresses. Build on your relationships by expanding your communications with your loyal core base by contacting them through these mediums as well as email.
Make sure your subscribers know what they are getting into when they sign up for your email marketing campaign. Setting expectations is highly important to the success of your campaign. You can have many people sign up, but with the wrong expectations, you end up just disappointing many people and losing customers.
Encourage your recipients to forward your e-mails to friends that might be interested. A recommendation from a friend is very effective due to the fact that people trust their friends. This is a great way to introduce your business to potential customers that are very likely to have an interest in your products or services.
The emails you send out as part of your marketing campaign should start out with a welcoming, personalized tone. Include the name of the recipient in the subject line and the opening of the message. This will make your customers feel more receptive to your message and be more likely to patronize your business.
Don’t make it hard for people to unsubscribe from your email list. The link to unsubscribe should be noticeably visible in all of your correspondence. I f you hide the link, not only some customers think that you are doing something untoward, but you may also receive complaints about spam.
Have a professional-looking design to your email. Choose a color scheme that is appealing without being overwhelming or difficult to read. Keep your design professional, even if you are seeking an informal relationship with your customer base. People are less likely to trust you with their business (and money) if you do not appear to take your business seriously.
To have a subscriber list you can trust, make sure that pre checked boxes are not enabled on your opt-in page. Readers do not want to start getting your emails accidentally. You do not want that either, because you only want to market to those that are actually interested in what you offer.
Be sure it’s easy for your subscribers to update their email address on your list. If a customer changes their address but still wants to receive your mailings, you don’t want to lose them. Provide an easy link within your marketing emails where they can update their email address, and you will retain more customers.
The value of email marketing is alive and well, as you have seen. Using what you’ve read here when you draft your campaign strategy will lead to sound decisions and increasing profits, so gather your thoughts and put them to work!
