In looking through the Microsoft Small Business site, I came across a really great article on Email Marketing, and I thought I would share it with you. It is by Jeff Wuorio.
E-mail is a groundbreaking invention—except for when it comes to marketing, which can bury a small business rather than boost it.
There can be paltry rates of return with e-mail marketing. Of course, there are annoyed would-be customers who, at lightning speed, delete the e–mails at first glance. Then there’s the potential legal problems of spam.
Still, e-mail marketing can be powerful for your business if you craft an effective campaign. Here are seven ideas to help you succeed:
1. Never buy or rent an e-mail list.
This is a lesson that many businesses learn the hard way. Even though the price may be modest—tens of thousands of names for only a few bucks!—the demographics of these lists may not work for your business. And there’s the risk of being accused of spamming. (For the unaware: sending unsolicited bulk e-mails may carry legal penalties.)
“If you sell golf clubs and you buy or rent a list, how do you really know the people on that list are interested in golf clubs?” asks Jim Sterne, president of Target Marketing in Santa Barbara, Ca. “You never know what you’re really getting. Never, ever, buy or rent a list.”
2. Solicit—but with a focus.
Instead of dropping good money on buying a list that takes you nowhere, there are far better ways to build an e-mail marketing list. If you have a Web site, ask visitors to opt in. If yours is also a face-to-face operation, ask customers whether they’d like to receive e-mail from you when they’re paying at the cash register. (The bookstore where I shop asks that every single time.) But don’t make it a simple request—instead, hone your solicitation by making it clear what’s in it for the customer, be it a bonus for signing up, discounts in the email itself or some other attractive feature.
“When they’re signing up, they want to know what they’re getting,” says Damian Bazadona, president of Situation Marketing in New York. “They’ll want something of substance, something that’s going to be of use to them, so let them know upfront.”
3. Follow through with an offer.
Make sure your e-mail marketing campaign is substantive, exciting. Make your message informative and useful to the person reading it. Offer tips on how to use products more effectively, efficient ways to obtain customer support and other helpful tidbits. “Give people something that’s of use to them, not all this stuff about how fantastic your business is,” says Bazadona. Use the e-mail’s subject line to announce what the offer is. (For example, retailer L.L. Bean waged an e-mail marketing campaign, “Order Now, Earn Double Coupon Dollars.” It made the customer want to learn more about the offer.)
4. Be consistent.
One way to look at e-mail marketing is to view it as an ongoing dialogue between you and the buying public, not a hit and run.
With that in mind, be consistent. Schedule your e-mails weekly or monthly. Just how often depends on what you do—for instance, a product line that’s constantly changing may warrant more frequent contact than service that stays fairly constant—but having customers anticipate your latest communiqué can boost results. “Consistency should also extend to when people can expect it,” says Bazadona. “Treat it like an editorial calendar.”
5. Watch for spam triggers.
These days, an e-mail address without filters of some sort is akin to leaving your keys in a locked car—annoyance is inevitable and disaster possible. While people should protect themselves from unwanted e-mails, those kinds of shields can make your e-mail campaign all the more challenging. Fight back by knowing what sorts of words and terms are likely to kick in spam filters. There are Web sites (such as www.spamAssassin.com) that let you analyze your e-mail campaigns and identify words that may set off filter alarms—and, as a result, keep you from reaching customers and prospects. “There are a number of words your should probably avoid, like ‘free’ and ‘special offer’. It’s important to know what they are,” says Sterne.
6. Manage it effectively.
Still another challenge to e-mail marketing is the mechanics—obtaining and using customer contact information in the most efficient manner possible. Here, software such as Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager can help solve this headache by providing an easy- to- use platform that helps you know which customers to target. Also, check out Microsoft List Builder to create, deliver and track e-mail marketing campaigns.
7. Make it easy to join and share.
Two final tips that can help your e-mail marketing results improve:
• Easy sign up. If you’re signing people up by hand, make the process quick and simple. If you have a Web site, a one-click opt in is better than having to type in an e-mail address.
• Urge readers to share. If you have great content, there’s no reason not to pass along your e-mail. Urge readers to share with friends and family. As Bazadona notes: “E-mail is by nature viral, so encourage people to pass it along.”
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Jeff Wuorio is a veteran freelance writer and author based in southern Maine. He writes about small-business management, marketing and technology issues.
