subject: The Difference Between Email Marketing and Spam Emails [print this page] The Difference Between Email Marketing and Spam Emails
Ask yourself the following questions: When last did you receive an invitation to a birthday party via post? When last did you sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, and wrote a 5 page letter to a friend overseas? We are living in digital times where everything is moving in the direction of computers and cell phones.
Therefore it goes without saying that the way we market our business, should also keep up with the times! We cannot simply rely on newspaper advertisements or handing out flyers at busy intersections. First of all that is a very costly exercise, and secondly, it is not really possible to track the effectiveness of the advertisement. Who says your newspaper advert was not used to wrap someone's coffee cups when they moved? Or what guarantee do you have that the man who took your flyer at the robot did not immediately throw it in the dustbin? How do you know that these people were even interested in your product or service in the first place?
Email marketing, if used correctly, can be a very effective tool for marketing your business.
How many times have you booked a family holiday because the very inviting email landed in your inbox? How else would you have known that your favourite grocery store has extended their shopping hours so that you can finally do your shopping after work? And how many of us can say that we have never smiled because of a silly joke that also happened to find its way to our inbox?
When using email marketing, it is important to supply information that would benefit your readers.
It is important to plan your internet marketing campaign properly. It's unfortunately not just a matter of typing an email, selecting a couple of random email addresses of people you happen to have on your computer, and then pressing the "send and receive button" and expecting record sales within the next 5 minutes! Your email clients must have an interest in your products or service, otherwise you would really have no effect on your clients and they might just be upset with the fact that you are sending them junk mail!
How to you build up your email marketing database?
Do you pay for an illegal mailing list with 100 000 subscribers and hope that no one sues you in the process? Please don't follow this route, as it might have serious repercussions for your business. People are getting tired of receiving unwanted emails and are starting to take action against unsolicited emails. The easiest way is by means of a newsletter signup box on your website. If a visitor on your site is interested in what you offer, they would sign up to the newsletter to receive interesting articles, product information, special offers etc. If you're in the retail industry for example, why not ask your clients to complete a short client information form when paying for their merchandise? You can then also keep them up to date with interesting information - just make sure it is relevant to what they signed up for!
Email marketing is not only easy to use, it is also very affordable.
With a striking design and interesting content, you can achieve fantastic results. Don't ever allow a client to forget about you.
