subject: Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns [print this page] If you are already earning income through your website, adding an email marketing solution into your arsenal should give a good boost to your earning potential. For a short period of time, you likely have their undivided attention as they are reading whatever it is you have to say. This personal level of communication is not possible with your more 'traditional' forms of advertising.
Email marketing is all about relationships - not just blasting your list with advertisements. If every time a friend called you they were trying to sell you something, you'd eventually stop answering the phone when they called. This is the same mentality you should have when using email marketing. The goal is to slowly brand yourself as an expert in your field and build a two-way relationship with each of your subscribers in order to convert them into loyal customers.
A good business marketing strategy, especially for an email management program, would likely include the following:
1. It's good to be personal, but not too personal. Most good email marketing programs have settings where you can have your emails automatically insert the name of each recipient that gets the email. This means a recipient's name will appear in the greeting when they receive it. This is done using a first.name, but using it more than once per email may be a little over the top. Once is fine. People prefer personal emails.
2. Talk to your recipients as if they're your friends. People tend to respond far more positively when being spoken to in a personal manner. Think about how much nicer it feels when staff are friendly to you in a retail store, you get a good feeling about the place, right? The same goes for the tone of your writing. Although friendly is good, remain professional, but don't be pushy.
3. Be selective about sending emails. Sending emails every day is a temptation that is hard to resist, but you absolutely should resist. Brand recognition is something you probably want to obtain, but too many emails could label you as a spammer rather than a recognized expert. If you do get branded as a spammer, it's hard to shake that label off. Try sticking to sending a couple of emails per week, as it's much more acceptable.
Many marketers go for the sale too soon. It's NOT about getting people to buy immediately. Be informative in your writing, and provide consistent value for a long term pay-off. You'll be branded an expert in your field, and people will be more receptive and it'll be you who they reach out to when they're in need. Isn't that the point in your business? To provide something that is in need? Email marketing just happens to be a fantastic way to add a simple and personal touch, allowing you to reach a lot of people on a professional but also personal level.
