In this article I outline some tips (aka secrets!) for ensuring your email marketing is highly effective in 2010…
Email Marketing remains as a highly effective marketing strategy in 2010. In saying that, if you’ve been doing it for awhile you may need to rethink your strategy to ensure you are addressing the demands that are relevant to email marketing right now. And if you are new to email marketing now is the perfect time to get started.
The most effective emails are the ones that your clients and prospects open, read, share and respond to. It is not as simple as writing some words, adding an image and hitting send. It’s a longer term strategy that requires planning and consistent management.
One email done wrong can cause immeasurable damage. In fact, one email done wrong can mean the rest of what you do, even if done really well, can all be wasted. People WILL judge you by your emails. If you send them emails that are not relevant, that they did not consent to and that are not quality you need to be ready for damage control
Here I will share with you 4 factors to address to ensure maximum results.
Remember, if you can get it right you will see an increase in conversions, return customers and referrals. It’s well worth the effort.
Tip 1) Keep It Simple!
Keep your layout simple and keep the message simple. These days many of your recipients are probably multi-tasking as they view your message.
If you bombard them with too much information or too much choice or a difficult layout to scan, then the chances are high you will not get their attention. Instead you will be ignored or even worse, you may just overwhelm them to the point that they unsubscribe.
Tip 2) Quality
Your prospects and clients deserve consideration. They don’t want to be bombarded with irrelevant and unattractive email messages. Before you hit send on any campaign have a think about it from the point of view of your recipient.
- Is the information relevant?
- Will it be of interest to your recipient?
- Does your message look professional?
- Are you proud to have your name on this message?
Quality also encompasses how you manage your campaign process. Consider sending your newsletters using a reputable email service provider to avoid formatting and deliverability issues that are common with using outlook or other non specialist services.
3) Relationships Rule
Now is your opportunity to really do email marketing well with long term payback. Try not to think of email marketing as just another selling opportunity. Consider the sending of an email message as an opportunity to build a quality relationship with your prospects and clients.
Treat your email recipients with respect and value the opportunity to keep in touch. A relationship with your prospects and clients can last a lifetime and can develop into many referrals over time.
Of course, it’s still important to go after the direct and immediate results but put the time and effort into making email marketing a long term strategy and really reap the benefits.
4) Share the Social Love
Social Media like Twitter and Facebook are growing at a rapid pace and can no longer be ignored. If you are not already utilizing these mediums to build relationships and market your business then now is the time to get started.
Just like a piece of web content can become viral as people share it across social networks, your email promotions can get a big boost by making it easy to share them. One way to make your emails interactive is to include share-to-social functionality in your emails. This is basically links that allow your recipients to click and upload a link to your email to their social networking accounts.
The second way to share the social love in 2010 is to consider including social media links in your newsletters. Include images and links to promote your Twitter profile and Facebook profile or page. This provides opportunity for your readers to connect further with you in other ways.
Remember that implementing the above will only work if content is good and worth sharing!
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So that’s it, a few tips to help you roll out email marketing for maximum results. Remember that the end result of your email marketing should be to build relationships with your recipients over time that will ultimately result in more business and more referrals for you.
My own email newsletter makes my marketing so much easier. Almost without fail, each time I publish a newsletter, I will hear back from subscribers ready to work with me. I haven’t had to convince them or ’sell’ to them. They’ve come to know, like and trust me over time through the medium of my newsletter. If you are not already subscribed to the Web Chameleon email newsletter please sign up using the form on the right of this page.
And so, if you don’t currently have a newsletter in place that permits you to reach out and “touch” potential clients regularly, I encourage you to start one.
Web Chameleon’s Email Marketing Resources:
Chameleon Mail – our web based email marketing service to make your life easier when creating, sending and tracking email newsletters and campaigns.
Email Newsletter Marketing – our 2 part audio CD set to uncover the secrets to getting maximum results from an email newsletter for your business.
