Email can be a highly effective way to market your business, but you need to know how to make your messages stand out from the millions of others that are sent every day. In the following article, you will learn how to cut through this barrage of spam and grab people’s attention.
Keep your marketing copy on a personal, friendly level. As with marketing in general, the more personal you are, the more likely a customer will trust you and work or purchase with you. For instance, if you have an idea of why they wanted your emails, put that in your message to them.
Insert a link to your subscription form into your marketing newsletters. That way, if your customers forward marketing emails to their friends, their friends can easily subscribe to your list too. Using this strategy makes it easy for you to build a large list of potential customers who have agreed to receive your marketing emails.
Follow up with contacts you meet at trade shows. Collect people’s phone numbers when they stop by your table and call them within a couple of weeks of meeting them. Use the follow-up call to check in with your contact and ask him if he would like to receive your marketing newsletter by email.
If you buy a list of emails to send to, check and make sure it is up to date. Sometimes lists for sail might match your target demographics but be woefully out of date. The number of addresses now defunct can be as high as 25% of the overall list.
Be sure you proofread your emails before you send them. You have to make sure all your newsletters and emails are letter perfect. You should also test the email’s layout to make sure everything shows up correctly. Test any links within the context of your email, so that you know they work.
Even though it should be obvious, it is important enough to state over and over: Never send unsolicited emails. You should have explicit permission from everyone you send marketing emails to. This is about more than trying not to upset them; a recipient who considers your email spam can cause trouble for you with your service provider.
Make your emails content rich. Put some helpful information in emails and don’t just put in information related to sales. Provide your readers with special content that they cannot get on your regular website. Include offers for your products or services. Send greetings for holidays or a personalized message for birthdays for instance.
Make sure you have a clear, unsubscribe button. Do not forget to provide a link to unsubscribe and make sure it is obvious. Your goal is for customers to choose to keep receiving your newsletter because they enjoy reading it.
Make it easy for people to unsubscribe from your list. This might seem counter-productive since you don’t want your customers to lose interest and leave. However, if your customers aren’t interested in your newsletters anymore, they might get annoyed if they can’t easily unsubscribe. Provide a large button or link so that customers who have lost interest can find it without an extensive search.
Offer special deals for customers who subscribe to your mailing list. They are more likely to conduct business with you when they have a reason to do so. Consider options such as, free shipping for larger orders of fifty dollars or more.
To avoid complications resulting from being identified as a spammer, notify your ISP of your email marketing intentions in advance. If any unhappy reader ever reports you, this will give your ISP the head’s up that your marketing efforts are legitimate. Your ISP may also be able to suggest an upgraded account that eases your email marketing operations.
The only way to create and build an opt-in email list is to give your readers a chance to sign up! You could provide this option to people who visit your website by creating a place where they could sign up if they want to get updates, and everyone will be happy.
Check how your emails look on different computers and browsers. After you have created a design you feel is perfect, test it for compatibility with all email clients, browsers and operating systems if at all possible. This is important because messages might look very different in various browsers, meaning they can be easy to read in one but jumbled and confusing in another.
Find a method of personalizing your emails in order for your readers to feel that you’ve giving them more personal attention. If it feels more like a form letter to them, they are more likely to just delete it or block it from receiving any more. It is very easy to add their first name to the message, but take additional steps. Have a working knowledge of your customers and why they have signed up with your company. Utilize this vital information in your marketing messages.
Make your emails truly personal. Do not just use their names in your emails play to their wants and needs as well. You need to understand your customers and why they opted into your list. When you speak to them personally, they will feel more comfortable doing business with you.
Making effective use of email to promote your business can be tricky, but it is easier once you know what you are doing. Done properly, email marketing can dramatically boost your visibility. Make good use of the tips and techniques you have learned from this article to bring more customers to your business.
