| Email marketing is one of the most effective ways | | | | create something original. Add a funny video, quote |
| for a business to promote themselves and increase | | | | or even a brief story. |
| sales but it must be done right in order to be | | | | Relevant news .keep your readers informed on new |
| effective. | | | | products and developments and how improvements |
| In this article I will touch on the art of email | | | | to your offerings will help them. |
| marketing- (What works and what does not) and | | | | Competitions (with a nice prize). |
| how you can get more bang for your marketing | | | | You can gain a lot of interest from readers simply by |
| buck when selecting an email marketing service. | | | | creating a competition. |
| A word about spam. | | | | An opportunity to share an opinion. |
| Unsolicited email or "Junk email" also called "Spam" is | | | | People will often happily share their thoughts if you |
| living proof that email is a powerful way to reach an | | | | ask them to because it gives a sense of belonging |
| online audience. Spammers know that for all the | | | | and community. It is also a very cost effective way |
| emails trashed in every bulk mail out, they will still get | | | | of finding out what your customers want. Make it |
| a few unsuspecting readers who will click on their | | | | fairly short and offer a prize draw or other incentive |
| links and make a purchase. While their shotgun | | | | as a token of appreciation. |
| approach is annoying to the majority of us they still | | | | What Does not. |
| persist because of that reason. On the other hand, | | | | Hard sell - "buy now!!!" will soon become "Bye now." |
| email marketing should not involve spamming a | | | | from your readers. |
| harvested collection of email addresses, but rather | | | | An email every day. |
| contacting a list of individuals who have actually said | | | | This is the death knell for emails via annoyance and |
| yes to receiving your material. | | | | plain overkill - try and control your enthusiasm to |
| How to get people to subscribe to your mailing list. | | | | market by limiting your email frequency. This will give |
| Here are some of the ways to get people on your | | | | you time to produce quality content too. Quality |
| mailing list. | | | | beats quantity. |
| The first and most obvious option is that they fill out | | | | Bad layout (such as none). |
| a form on your website specifically designed for the | | | | Lots and lots and lots of text with poor spacing all |
| job. You can add a special offer such as a free | | | | crammed up with no places for the eyes to rest. |
| report, a tutorial, discounts or even a prize draw in | | | | (and besides who has time to read a newsletter that |
| exchange for their contact email. | | | | is 149 pages long during their morning break)? |
| The second way (if you are a local business) is to | | | | Lots and lots and lots of banners. |
| have some printed material such as a flyer with a | | | | "Ohhhh my eyes my eyes!" Save the flashing logos |
| special offer, competition or similar that people can fill | | | | and bright colors for Las Vegas. |
| out and return to you. | | | | Poor writing skills and grammar. |
| Hint: In all these cases, it is worth adding a note to | | | | Forgetting to check for spelling mistakes is more than |
| your forms telling people that you will not share their | | | | just another annoyance (believe it or not, but people |
| email with other companies and that you will not | | | | are influenced by this). Poor spelling and grammar |
| swamp them with emails either. | | | | presents an unprofessional / lazy picture for your |
| The third way to get more subscribers is to actually | | | | readers. |
| purchase a list of verified email addresses from a | | | | What to look for when choosing an email marketing |
| reputable provider. They must be interested in your | | | | service. |
| subject material and have opted in to receiving emails | | | | A good email marketing service should have a |
| from you. | | | | number of features that will allow you to tweak |
| There are a number of companies that specialize in | | | | things so you can get the most bang for your |
| providing leads, but it is worth doing some homework | | | | marketing buck. Here are a few features to look for... |
| to find out what value this method will give to you. | | | | Firstly there needs to be flexibility and creativity to |
| What works well in emails. | | | | get your message across. |
| These items are very effective in encouraging | | | | This includes the ability to combine text with pictures |
| readers to continue to look at the emails they | | | | and video as well as some html so you can make |
| receive from businesses. | | | | your message stand out. A good email is more than |
| How to's and tutorials. | | | | just a page of text - it needs to be memorable and |
| People love do-it-yourself articles that show them | | | | the way to do that is by being visually creative. |
| how to solve a problem. The added advantage of | | | | Secondly there should be a way to find out if your |
| posting material like this is that you are not only | | | | email marketing is being received and read. |
| helping existing customers and encouraging loyalty | | | | This feature is called tracking and basically means you |
| (and repeat sales) but you can use opportunities such | | | | should have a display somewhere that will show you |
| as this to address potential issues before they | | | | exactly where your emails are going, what addresses |
| happen and so reduce calls for customer support. | | | | are incorrect (your emails are undeliverable and |
| Video and Audio content. | | | | bounce back) and what emails are actually being |
| This is the best format for the above, as well as | | | | delivered, clicked on and read. |
| tours, testimonials...the list goes on. Video gets | | | | Thirdly you must be able to automate and adjust |
| noticed and is highly memorable in comparison to | | | | everything so once you create an email you can set |
| text. Audio sessions are great for podcasts too | | | | it to deliver to your recipients at a set time. |
| which means your listener can take your article with | | | | This can also include auto responders (An email that |
| them. | | | | goes to a visitor as soon as they fill out a contact |
| A pleasant layout with some color. | | | | form or make a purchase from your website) which |
| This will help make your email stand out from your | | | | help you communicate with your potential customer |
| competitors and add to the reader's enjoyment. You | | | | when you are not online. You should be able to do |
| can incorporate a template and produce something | | | | split testing too (in other words create two different |
| really effective. | | | | emails and send them to selected groups so you can |
| Nice pictures that are both relevant and of good | | | | find out which one works best). |
| quality. | | | | Fourthly you should be able to see how your email |
| A picture paints a thousand words - so make sure | | | | list is growing over time. |
| you include at least one to illustrate your point. | | | | Data like this is not just for statisticians and geeks |
| Include photos (they need not be professional) but in | | | | who like to crunch numbers - it will help give you an |
| focus and a reasonable size. Hint: not too large | | | | insight into what is working overall so you can refine |
| though so they do not take several minutes to | | | | your marketing. |
| download. | | | | Marketing is an art, but with the right tools and |
| Humor (in good taste). | | | | know-how it can work for you. |
| A laughing reader is likely to be a repeat one. You | | | | Here's to your success. |
| might want to enlist the help of a cartoonist to | | | | |