Email marketing is one of the most effective ways of advertising to come along in a long time. Emails can be the best way to keep in touch with customers, to offer customers special deals and to reach out to new customers. This article was developed to help you launch an internet campaign that will accomplish all of these goals.
Before using email marketing, create a test email and send it to a friend or family member. Your loved one can see how the email looks and give you feedback. This way, if any changes need to be made, you can do it before sending the emails out to customers.
To get the most of your email marketing, invest in a program that personalizes your emails with every customer’s given name instead of a generic greeting. Ensuring that every email starts with the recipient’s name is key to encouraging your customers to see your newsletters as valuable information and not just more sales spam.
Maximize the results of your email marketing by encouraging your readers to respond to every email. Always read and reply to these emails immediately. Building a personal relationship with each of your readers is the best way to convert them into loyal customers. This is also a good way to get more specific feedback on the success of your efforts.
Get permission if you are going to contact customers by email. Unwanted emails qualify as spams and most people will simply ignore these emails. Sending emails to people who have not given you permission to do so may also violate the policies of your ISP.
Make sure your emails contain interesting content. As well as offering sale items, don’t forget to include useful information. Offer your subscribers deals that they can’t find anywhere else, including your main website. Also try including special offers on products and services. Send out greetings on holidays, not just when you want sales from them!
It is very smart to have people double opt-in in order to receive email messages from you. This may seem like a lot, but it guarantees that the person is interested in receiving emails, so it eliminates the chances that you or your email service provider gets into any trouble.
Consider using text emails instead of graphically intense HTML emails for your campaign. You may be thinking that the graphics will engage your reader more, but it’s usually not the case. Many people today have trained themselves to delete emails with lots of imagery, assuming they are spam. As well, those images often trigger spam filters, meaning your message is never received by some people on your email list!
Make sure your emails are consistent with any branding you have done. You should be including your company colors, logos and anything else unique to your business in your emails. Customers should be able to recognize your emails when they arrive in their in-boxes so that they are not automatically deleted.
Find out who your competitors are and sign up to their emails. You will be able to see what content, they are sending to their subscribers and figure out what aspects to use and which to stay away from. Just be sure not to steal their content, as this could constitute plagiarism.
Email is a great marketing tool, but it is not an arena where the hard sell is appreciated. Never pressure your subscribers into buying. Put sales pitches at the tail end of your emails, especially if your readers signed up with expectations of informative content. Consider email as a tool to cultivate interest, not instant sales.
The link to unsubscribe from your list should be clearly visible. Avoid not having an unsubscribe link or burying it within your email to the point where it is hard to find. Make your customers feel that you value their participation and not as though they have been roped in unwillingly and unable to escape.
Beware of including attachments to your email marketing! Mass emails with attachments are instantly suspected as spam by most spam filters. As well, these days many types of computer malware and viruses are carried in email attachments, and people are aware of this. Your email is in jeopardy of being immediately deleted when they see an attachment without even being read.
Use words that are appropriate to the industry you are focusing on in your marketing materials. For example, if you are writing marketing materials for new technological items, use words such as “new,” “advanced” or “state-of-the-art” that are commonly used in that industry. Using the right words will help increase your products’ appeal to your customers.
Try to educate yourself on how not to be considered spam. Get an email account that’s free and post your email address around the Internet. You will see spam coming from every direction. Make note of why these messages aren’t effective and use that knowledge to make sure you’re not spamming people in the same manner. Ensuring your emails look nothing like spam will boost their effectiveness.
In addition to using email marketing, incorporate SMS marketing into your campaign. Have customers sign up for an SMS option and send them text messages when on the go. When these two methods are used together, you have a better chance of getting more customers to sign up for your product.
It has been shown that the internet has revolutionized the way that businesses are run, and email marketing is a part of that. Now, businesses can reach out to more customers easier than ever, and at a fraction of the price. Use the techniques from the above article to present the most effective email campaign to your customers.
