subject: 4 Simple Rules to Succeed Email Marketing [print this page] Online mail went from a favored advertising tool to a pariah. As unscrupulous companies bombarded people's e-mail boxes with countless SPAM messages consumers began to fight back with SPAM guards, filters and the delete button. I have excellent news. I will describe four simple rules to put in practice and you can succeed with an email marketing campaign.
Though in any given day, regardless of your gender, you can receive at least ten online messages on male enhancements, three on baldness and two on ladies looking to meet you tonight, the reality is most consumers still look at who the sender is and what the subject is before deciding whether or not to read a message.
If you become a trusted sender, you can continue to email market with great effectiveness.
Here are 4 simple rules to reach maximum success with Email Marketing:
Rule #1 - Do Not Overuse a Mailing List:
It may be tempting to send daily or weekly messages to your database. In very rare instances this can be acceptable. For the most part, however, this would be considered overuse. Catch someone on the wrong day and they will remove their contact information from your database and you will lose any chance to stay in reach with them further.
Typically, a good rule of thumb is to consider weekly (in some cases); bi-weekly; or monthly online communications campaigns. This is a good way to stay in touch regularly without becoming a nuisance.
Rule #2 - Send them What they Want:
Before you start blasting away communications to your database, take a step back and remember how or why they joined your database. Did you promise them something? Did you deliver on that promise? If you have not yet delivered on the promise you should do that before trying to sell them anything.
Try to provide information along with any specials or promotions you are running. Consider having some of your messages contain information only. This can help increase consumer confidence and loyalty.
People read messages on their computers; smart phones; cell phones and even on their televisions. Keep this in mind when crafting your communication. You want messages that will be clean and easy to read wherever they happen to be reading it.
HTML emails look great but many people do not read them in a format that will retain the formatting. Though you can still use this format you will want to make sure the message will still be easy to read and easy to follow if they do not receive it in HTML format.
Keep the emails short and remember that most people skim. Have clear catchy titles and subtitles. Highlight the most important things in the email and remember less is more.
Rule #4 - Give them an Opt-Out Option:
Give your database the option to opt-out of your list at any time. This may sound counter-intuitive but people will appreciate that you do not hold their email address hostage. If you do, they will lose any consumer confidence and loyalty they had with your company.
Someone who opts-out of your list may come back. Someone who tries to opt-out, but are unable to will likely never visit your website again.
