Emails are very popular in today’s high technology environment where people sent messages across the Internet to one another every day. From here, email marketing took flight for businesses to gain mileage on cost effective advertising. This marketing approach is especially effective for small businesses that are limited in funds for advertising and expansion. Email marketing functions as an essential online marketing tool in all modern businesses today. It is THE way to move the business forward with massive leads and additional sales.
Effective approach
It is quite easy to integrate email marketing into the existing marketing campaign for a small business. Existing customers as well as potential leads captured online or offline can be included into the email marketing plan of the business. The company has to nurture their existing customers and potential leads to keep them interested in the products and services offered; otherwise, as the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” These potential sales generators would look elsewhere or be lured by competitors.
Email marketing can be direct or indirect; a direct approach on email marketing is to mail out promotional offers on products and services for an instant response. Direct email marketing is very effective as it offers a direct response from customers. The promotional offer can be of a limited time only which would compel consumers to make a quick response upon reading the offer on their email. Instant messages sent out with success stories and testimonials would create a desire in the consumers to want the same for themselves.
Direct email marketing can also include videos and newsletters containing updates of the company’s offerings with coupons that ensure great savings for consumers who make purchases.
It is crucial to identify an attractive or compelling opt-in offer that would capture the consumers’ attention and stir their hearts toward the offer. Such strategies work very well in gaining the consumers’ buy-in to activate their purchasing power more easily. It is an indirect means of marketing to them where personal information is collated for further follow up by the company while establishing the consumer as a customer.
An opt-in offer used in an email marketing strategy must be alluring but the format for data collection should be simple for consumers to participate. Hence, there should only be a few boxes for keying in of data.
Besides a direct approach, email marketing can be activated on an automated approach. This automated approach refers to pre-written or prepared emails of advertising content that are scheduled for mailing out to subscribers or customers on the company’s mailing list. Such automated email marketing campaign is effective in keeping customers updated with the promotions of the business to entice a further look on the web business site or at the store.
Another approach on email marketing is through online newsletters for the company which is cheaper than printed materials mailed to the consumers’ homes. Eco-friendly consumers would appreciate such an approach where the carbon footprint is zero as an advertisement flyer is expensive to print and to deliver.
Good tips on email marketing
The effectiveness of any marketing campaign depends on the approach. There are good marketing campaign tips that would bring in more leads and sales while bad approaches would turn consumers away.
1. Businesses must remember not to spam consumers’ inbox with too many emails pushing them to consider their products or services. Sending out these buying lists is spamming while wasting money. Consumers can get agitated and annoyed with constant marketing mail that takes up their disk space and precious time.
2. Emails should be short and sweet with contents to the point to avoid taking up consumers’ time. Sentences in a marketing email should be kept between 7 and 10 words that facilitate easy reading and understanding. Point form facts are easier to read than full sentences across the screen.
Email paragraphs should be short with not more than 3 sentences so that the reader would be able to keep their concentration and understand the contents clearly. Too many sentences in an email paragraph reflect poor authorship with a boring writing style that is long winded on its actual content.
3. An email subject line should be appealing and relevant to its content. It will either captivate the attention of the recipient for a further read by opening the email or it would be trashed immediately without opening. Busy consumers offer only one second or two for an appeal to their mental decision on opening or trashing their email if they receive hundreds a day. Some may use the automatic spam email deletion facility where the system automatically deletes what it deems as spam mail before the recipient even have a view of it. Hence, the business’s efforts in sending these mails would be wasted with no fruition.
4. Another good tip to utilize email marketing effectively is not to have hard selling approaches. Modern readers do not like to feel coerced into embracing the product or service offered in their emails. These mails would be quickly trashed and subsequent mails would be automatically deleted by the auto spam system detector. Share valuable content that exudes marketing professionalism and product expertise to interest and engage recipients into reading the whole email before taking a positive action.
5. An effective marketing email would have a response avenue where interested consumers can make a direct contact with the company immediately to satisfy their curiosity or purchase orders. The right link must be attached to move the consumer to the web business site immediately for a detailed browse on products and services. A valid hotline number must be available at a strategic part of the email to invite consumers to call. These hotlines must always be manned by friendly and knowledgeable customer service professionals without passing the call around.
Great presentations
Marketing emails may have a strong impact on the readers; hence, they must be well written to serve their purpose. Great presentations on the subject line of content would win the consumer over to the small business instead of its competitors.
