EMAIL MARKETING

What you should know:

Since there are many laws regarding the sending of commercial emails, make sure you use a reputable email delivery service that will comply with all Federal Trade Commission regulations.

Many businesses fell in love with email marketing because of it's low perceived costs as compared to direct mail but it became increasingly difficult to reach their recipients as their emails competed with overcrowded inboxes, mostly with spam messages.

Truly effective email campaigns require more thought and careful planning to provide desired results. There are many of the same issues as with direct mail, like the quality of the list, the effectiveness of the message, the creative design but now you must pay attention to deliverability since many unsolicited emails get flagged as spam and never even get read.

Make sure you give recipients the opportunity to opt out if they choose that they no longer want to receive emails from you.

Have a process to develop your own email list. A common method to acquire emails is to request them right on your home page. However, most people will not provide their email without some incentive. If you must rent a list, research the list supplier to ensure a quality list.

Email marketing allows for testing, segmentation, detailed tracking, and many opportunities to track effectiveness.

As far as the message:

Be relevant
Be interesting, peak their interest with an unusual subject line
Be personal
Be considerate

Focus on the message and make sure that there is real value for the recipient. DON'T BE SPAMMY!

Research has shown that it is more effective to use landing pages (also referred to as squeeze pages) instead of taking respondents to your home page. For example, if your email campaign is to promote your new line of widgets, your email could include a link to a simple landing page that provides specific details about this product and the ability to take orders. This is better than taking them directly from the email message to the home page of your website where the desired call to action is not as obvious and they would have to navigate through several pages in order to find the info on these widgets and place their order. Make things easy and convenient because it's too easy for people to find your competitors if they can't easily get what they seek from your website.

Finally, as with anything (and yes you've heard this before from me and you will keep hearing it over and over again) you need to make your message stand apart from the others. Be unique! Be extraordinary! Especially when the email you are sending is sitting in that inbox with dozens of others.

There are way too many things related to email marketing so these were just a few of the most important points. For more information, or if you have any questions regarding email marketing, please contact us.

By John Carranza

New Monthly Publication designed by iHOG

I want to keep up with iHOG news, videos, blogs, etc.
Please add me to your email list:

Name
Email

We promise we won't spam you, and if you think the stuff we email you really sucks, let us know and we'll remove you from our email list (as well as our Christmas card list).