In recent years E-mail marketing has received some bad press
with many considering all efforts to be little more than
"spam". To stop the delivery of marketing emails firewalls
have been erected and filters set in place.
However, it must be said that E-mail marketing is one of the
cheapest methods of marketing any business on line.
Not only is e-mail marketing incredibly cost-effective, the
market is absolutely huge since there are nearly a billion
people connected to the Net and millions more users are
being added every month. For anyone who has a valid product
or service to offer but with limited funds to set aside for
advertising, e-mail marketing is probably the best option
for a growing business. Now, here are a few tips which will
help you reach that vast audience using e-mail marketing.
Personalize your greeting. People do not appreciate
being thought of as just some number or e-mail address out
there in cyberspace. They are savvy enough to
recognize that an e-mail without a personalized greeting has
simply been generated by software and are far more likely to
dump it in the trash bin than a message that actually uses
their name. While it does take more time, you will
likely see a far better response rate if you personalize the
subject lines. Also, avoid using gimmicks like $$$ in
the subject heading or an excessive amount of exclamation
marks.
To be successful, the email must contain a very clear call to action. There is
little point in stimulating reader interest and then not telling them how to
proceed in using your product or service. Most successful e-mail marketers will
use links to direct the reader to a web site where they may sign-up for further
information or to actually receive the product or service being advertised.
Ultimately, there must be a clear route for people to take once they have
decided to purchase. It doesn't matter if this is a web link or a telephone
number, the principle is the same.
It would be fair to say that the most important e-mail
marketing tip is to test, test and test again. Don't just create one email and
consider it your very best effort. Write 2 or even 3 different versions of the
very same offer. Then, try sending them to a section of your subscribers, maybe
around a 100 emails each. You may wish to test 3 variables. These could be, the
subject line, the link placement and the ad copy itself. Go ahead and make
one change at a time. First try the link placement
variables\and see which is most effective. Then try 3 different subject line
versions, and so on. Now this does take time and effort but it will be
worth it since your end result will be a finely tuned email that has been proved
to generate the results that need.
Although e-mail marketing has a bad reputation, it does not
mean that it is ineffective. After all, there is a reason why there are so many
commercial e-mails flying around the Net. If email marketing did not work, then
it would be decreasing instead of seeing continued growth. So, if you remember
to personalize, create a clear call to action and experiment until you find a
successful e-mail, then for sure you will see your profits grow!
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