Your customers and clients are overloaded with e-mail every day. We asked experts for their tips and tricks for more effective e-mail marketing.
Spreading the gospel of good e-mail marketing is what Justin Premick, e-mail marketing expert and self-proclaimed e-mail evangelist, has been doing since 2004. Premick believes that permission e-mail marketing works, and as director of education marketing at AWeber Communications Inc. in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, he works primarily with small businesses. "You don't have to tell the Proctor & Gamble account manager that e-mail works, but you might have to convince the independent retailer, or the local coffee shop, or art store," Premik says.
E-mail can be used by your business to market to customers, alert them to new product offerings, and offer loyalty discounts or promotions. At the same time, your customers can use e-mail to troubleshoot any problems they have with your products or services, provide you feedback, and ask questions.
Due to its multitude of uses, e-mail marketing is part art and part science. It takes a combination of know-how and creativity to get customers and clients just to open your e-mail. We've talked to experts and nailed down some of the technical knowledge of what methods produce positive click-thru rates and even purchases. And, want to know what not to do? We've got that, too.
Do: Keep it short and simple. Don't: Waste too much time crafting the e-mail.
"The message needs to be clear and consistent from the subject line to the e-mail headline and skimmable body copy," says Tim Watson, operations director at smartFocus Digital with offices in England and the Netherlands, as well as Newton, Massachusetts, and Denver, Colorado. If you put too much information or try to offer the reader multiple sales or promotions, you could overwhelm them and lose them.
"Don't cram too many messages into a single e-mail or send large attachments that may clog subscribers' inboxes," advises Monica Roldan, Internet manager at Citigroup.
"Readers are brutal with deleting e-mail," Watson says. "They are looking for reasons to delete and you have seconds to stop that from happening."
Dig Deeper: Stop E-mail Marketing from Resembling Spam
Do: Qualify the e-mail addresses and information about the people and the organizations they represent. Don't: Carpet e-mail blast every address in your database.
The experts could not emphasize enough the importance of a targeted database with accurate information. "I live on the 5th floor of an apartment block. If I get an e-mail offering me a $50 discount off lawnmowers, it's spam," says Nigel Rayner, a marketing and advertising professional at NJR Consulting in Stockport, United Kingdom. "It's all down to accurate targeting and segmentation."
Dig Deeper: Market Online Without Spamming
Do: Create value in your e-mailing. Don't: Attempt to sell with no utility for your subscribers.
It's easy to use your newsletters as a means of selling your products or services. It's harder to offer a value to your subscribers whether they make a purchase or not. "Give people a reason to subscribe and to remain subscribed," Premick says. "Understand it's not 'free' to people to be on your e-mail list; it costs their time and that is arguably the most valuable and irreplaceable resource people have."
Your goal should be to have a mix and balance of both and offer content that is useful and that the reader can't get anywhere else. You have to figure out ways to engage your subscribers. "E-mail one part of a three-part story and follow-up with the other parts in later e-mails," suggested Steve Cates, VP of multichannel marketing at Carrot-Top Industries in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. "Have polls or solicit open-ended questions and give them a place to respond."
Dig Deeper: How to Send E-mails Your Customers Will Love
Do: Allow users several ways to opt-out. Don't: Neglect preferences.
All the experts agreed that offering an opt-out option is essential to not annoy customers and clients, but also as a measure of protecting your brand. You don't want your company e-mails to be associated with being spammers. "Recognize and understand the importance of permission. It isn't taken, it's given," Premick says. "Subscribers will revoke permission, one way or another."
An e-mail preference center is a Web page you create for customers who sign up for your e-mail program. Here, you give them a chance to tell you what they want by letting them choose and manage the types of messages they receive from you. While preferences can create a little bit more work for you, they improve the experience for your customers by ensuring they only receive the kinds of e-mail from you that they want.
Dig Deeper: Building E-mail Relationships with Preferences
Do: Strategically promote your e-mail newsletters. Don't: Buy or rent e-mail lists.
It's not always about the size of your e-mail list, but the quality of your list that matters. You want customers or clients who are more likely to purchase your product or service. The way to get those people is to build your own list.
Encourage customers to sign up directly from your website, where they can quickly provide their information and choose exactly what kind of information they want to receive from you. Also, have sign-up sheets at your retail counter, conference, workshop, or presentation. "You can create a blog for your business, offer something of value such as a guide or e-book and provide it for free to anyone who opts in with his or her e-mail addresses," said Mike Matson, a freelance copywriter based near Tampa, Florida, who works on the blog Marketing InfoWrangler. "Get a list-management system such as aweber.com and provide regular e-mails to your list of prospects."
You want subscribers that want information about your company, product or service. "Don't buy or rent lists," says Dave Ewing, an e-mail expert at SpinnakerPro, which has offices in San Francisco and the United Kingdom. "I know they seem like an easy option, but they don't know you and don't want to hear from you." Ewing also explained how purchasing or renting e-mail lists can hurt your companies credibility. "If enough people on those lists hit the Junk/Spam button, they will damage your company's domain reputation. They're not worth it!"
