As you are developing your Internet marketing plan, you will certainly want to include an email marketing campaign in it. As you are developing your strategy, email marketing can be a very effective method of rounding out you marketing efforts.
The first thing that you are going to have to do to get an email marketing campaign started is develop a list of interested recipients. You can start your list with your existing customers, and if you do not have their email addresses, this would be a good time to gather it. You can add an online coupon to their next invoice or simply ask for it. Your customers already know you and probably want to hear from you when you have a promotion going on. You also want to implement some way for your email list to be constantly updated and growing. You must also be very prompt when someone asks to be removed from your list. If you make opting in and out of your list easy, then your customers and prospects will feel comfortable signing up to be on your email list, because they will not feel trapped.
You can also use your website to grow your email contact list. By adding an incentive there, you can encourage people to sign up for your email offers. You can use anything including discounts, coupons and free reports to entice people to sign up for your communications. Then after they sign up, make sure that you deliver what they were expecting promptly.
Build a Schedule for your Email Marketing Campaign
When you first begin your email efforts, set up a schedule and stick to it. People are creatures of habit, and if you send an email every Wednesday afternoon, they will soon come to expect it and maybe even look forward to it. Remember, though, that there is a fine line that you are walking here. You do not want to inundate your customers and prospects with emails from you, or your will simply encourage them to opt out of your email list. However, on the flip side, you do want your emails to cross their desk frequently enough so that they will know exactly who you are.
When you offer people an opportunity to sign up for your email messages and they take it, you have a willing audience. Make sure that you respect that by providing only useful and informative content in your email. Remember that you will probably send many emails to most of the people on your distribution list before they ever act. So think of your email marketing campaign as a gentle way to stay in the front of peoples minds, and then when they need what you are selling, you will hear from them.
By following these simple suggestions and exercising a little restraint as you are sending out your communications, you can develop an email marketing campaign that will greatly enhance your marketing efforts.
