When used correctly, email is a great way to promote your business. You may see a significant increase in the number of your customers, and you may even get replies from your subjects.
However, when used incorrectly, your email may go directly into spam folders, and you end up wasting your time, money and effort. Not only that - you will forever be labelled as a nuisance or nightmare of your very own valued past customers.
There are a number of ways to prevent this. It may be good to keep them in mind so as you can effectively use email marketing you're your advantage.
Know what is too much. How often do you send emails? Sending multiple emails a day is a definite no-no. Not only does it give the impression that you are desperate for business, you also sort of imply that your recipients are so irresponsible that you need to remind them several times a day about what you're saying! Try to be the "friend" who is always welcome in every BFF's house - the one who knows her boundaries, and one who does not peer into all the host's drawers and cupboards. Try to avoid sending emails every day, because a daily email is too hard-sell. Give your recipient time to think!
Generic emails - no! Let's keep it real - sending one single generic message to 500 people may be the easier thing to do (don't you just abhor those "Dear Ma'am / Sir" messages? They don't even know what the gender of their recipient is) because formulating a personalized message for each one is tedious, labour-intensive and time-consuming. Reality check : if you are marketing from the comfort of your air conditioned office or home, without labouring the normal way - like weaving in and out through heavy traffic, or braving the intense summer heat, then you might as well sacrifice in some other way. Make your potential customers feel important, and avoid making them feel like you got their address from a website-purchased database.
Never send out clone emails which each girlfriend in an entire local women's network can talk about.(translated: "Hey, did you also get that tacky generic email from that ABC Party Ltd?"). Do that and you might as well send your business down the drain. Not only is this lazy, it's also impersonal. It gives the impression that you, as business owner will not tackle their purchase concerns personally too.
Get recipients involved. Make your customers feel important by giving them timely freebies. This way, they are "encouraged" to make a purchase. A good example would be to give a weekly prize for whoever makes the best comment on your Facebook page.
Of course, you need to get the customer involved in your Facebook page by providing the proper link on your original email. Having extras such as prizes encourages your recipients to look forward to all your emails.
Email marketing is a good online alternative to offline publicity. Not only does it cost less, it can also be done by only one or two people. It may also be done in the comfort of your office, plus, results are much faster than traditional offline advertising
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Michael Griffiths is the CEO and Founder of My Small Business Marketing Guru. Helping small business owners generate more leads, clients and increase profits with relationship based marketing strategies. We invite you to get your free black mask marketing resources to help you business grow today, when you visit http://www.mysmallbusinessmarketingguru.com.au
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