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Build Sales with Email MarketingFollow these 3 steps for an affordable campaign that yields a strong ROI. By Kim T. Gordon If you’re looking for a highly effective, yet low-cost way to up-sell or cross sell current customers, consider setting up an email marketing program. Since it can cost as much as five times more to win a new customer than to keep an old one, retention programs using email are a solid small-business marketing tactic. Email programs to in-house lists perform at least as well as direct mail – and often considerably better – without the postage or printing costs. And results are easy to track and measure. Here are 3 steps to a successful email marketing campaign: 1. Build Your List Today, having a terrific website is simply not enough. You need a marketing program that drives traffic there and keeps visitors coming back. And since email to rental lists is often kicked out as spam, it’s essential to build your own opt-in list of customers and prospects. These are individuals who have visited your site and given you permission to contact them. Prominently post a sign-in box or button on your main page accompanied by brief copy that induces visitors to join your list. This simple one-click button or single-entry form should click through to a more in-depth form where you can gather demographic and other information. To induce visitors to register, you can offer entry in a sweepstakes or contest, special notification of sales or new products, a free newsletter, access to members-only content, or even the ability to post product reviews or participate in message boards. Brick-and-mortar retailers can also capture email information from customers at checkout. And service businesses can contact clients and gain permission to add them to an email list. As you build your list, it’s easy to add the email addresses, names and demographic information to an in-house database using contact management software. Affordable off-the-shelf software products, such as GoldMine 6.5 by FrontRange, will help you track all sales and marketing activities as well as maintain vital demographic and sales information. 2. Send the Right Message For many email marketers, it’s beneficial to alternate promotional messages with softer-sell communications, such as newsletters. This helps avoid list burnout and may increase the frequency with which you can successfully communicate. The most crucial element is to make the content relevant to the needs of your recipients, because off-target emails and those that come too frequently are generally treated as spam. E-newsletters allow you to share information with your customers, position your company or yourself as an expert in your field, introduce new products and services and get vital feedback from customers. There are two types of editorial styles: short blurbs with links to longer articles, or one major article interspersed with ads or promotional links. The key to success is to make your newsletter content so compelling that customers and prospects will look forward to receiving it. Choose a name for your e-newsletter that communicates something important to the subscriber, and keep your design, tone and format consistent from one issue to the next. In addition to e-newsletters, email with sales promotions, coupons, customer reward information and invitations to events are generally well received. Nearly one-third of respondents to a DoubleClick consumer email study said they had made an immediate online purchase as a result of receiving an email, and close to one-third said they’d clicked on messages for information and later made an online purchase as a result. 3. Design and Track Like a Pro The two elements that most dramatically affect your email "open rate" are the "from" and "subject" lines. So it’s essential to make it clear that the email is coming from you, a valued source of information. And the subject line must contain a benefit, or at least convey what your email contains – otherwise your open rate will plummet. Comply with all CAN SPAM regulations by including your company’s name and physical address as well as an unsubscribe option at the bottom. When it comes to design and execution of your email campaign, it’s not necessary to go it alone. In fact, it’s difficult for an entrepreneur to send more than 50 emails at a time, since higher numbers are usually blocked as spam by ISPs. Fortunately, email marketing services that cater to small businesses, such as Constant Contact or those available through major Web hosting services, including Interland, will generally email up to 5000 subscribers for $50 a month or less. The service will maintain and clean your list by removing bounces and addresses of people who choose to unsubscribe. Choose an email marketing service that provides design templates for e-newsletters, promotional offers and coupons that are easy to customize. Since only about 56 percent of Internet users have broadband, it’s essential to design full-color, high impact HTML newsletters or promotions but still give recipients the option of receiving a text-only version. Best of all, email marketing services will provide all the campaign metrics, which are vital to evaluating the effectiveness of your mailings. You’ll be able to identify who opened your email and clicked on each link. Then you can fine-tune your key elements – from your offers to your subject lines – for maximum ROI, and compare your results from one mailing to the next. Get In-depth Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than 3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business. Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |
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