One of the most effective methods of inspiring interaction with customers and obtaining more customers is to utilize email marketing. The sheer volume of approaches available to conduct marketing via email can be slightly intimidating. Read this article to better understand marketing via email, and how to use it for your business.
Create a personal email for your readers. As in many businesses, people like a personal touch. They will do business with a person they feel friendly toward. As an example, if you happen to know the reason they signed up for your emails, then be sure to include something about that in your email.
Don’t email people that you do not know. Emailing random people is considered spam and could get you in trouble with your ISP or web host. Recipients will be left scratching their heads, wondering if they actually know you, and they’ll possibly feel suspicious about what you have to offer. Most of the time, sending unsolicited mail is just deleted, or worse, reported. Neither of these outcomes are good for your business.
Before you send out emails, make sure to proofread them. Be certain that anything you send out is grammatically correct. 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.
Include special offers and promotions available only to recipients of your emails. This will tell your customers that they are special, you care about their business and that you want to reward them for staying loyal by signing up for your opt-in list. This will even nudge them towards letting their friends see the emails through forwarding. Referral programs are excellent methods of growing not only your email base, but also your customer base.
Use consistency in your message. Make sure to be consistent with your colors and branding in your emails. Use easy-to-read fonts for text-based information. Eventually, people will begin to recognize your emails, and they’ll pay closer attention to them. Branding is an important method to increase your business reputation.
Ensure that every email address on your list has given explicit permission to receive emails from your business. If you begin sending out spam emails then the likelihood is that you will not be taken seriously. You could lose customers and get reported for sending unwanted emails.
Avoid using too many graphics in your marketing newsletters. Quite a few email reading programs available block graphics, making it possible that many of your intended readers can’t read the email properly. Additionally, several email programs tend to send graphic-laden emails to a recipient’s junk folder.
Be certain that anyone you send messages to through email channels has given you permission to do so. Disregarding this can not only cost you your current customers, but also any future customers who correspond with this one. Many ISPs will put you on a blacklist for following inappropriate email etiquette. This could seriously undermine your efforts and strategy.
The link to unsubscribe from your list should be clearly visible. Don’t fail to provide an unsubscribe link and don’t bury it so deep in the text that it cannot be found. All of your users should feel as if they have a choice, without feeling pressure from you.
In your emails, give customers an incentive. People will buy something from you if you provide them with a reason to do so. A good example is letting customers click a link and when they purchase from your site, provide them with free shipping with orders that total over a certain amount.
It is vital that you always get permission before adding someone to your e-mail marketing list. If you avoid doing this, most people will not even read your emails. If your email provider receives enough complaints, they could even drop you for violating their spam policies.
Take advantage of email previewers by creating attention-grabbing preheader material. Preheaders are the first text line in an email body, normally highlighted. A variety of email clients, including Gmail, place this preheader immediately after the subject, making this a great method for grabbing the attention of your readers.
Be sure the emails you send are short and to the point. Use direct language when possible. This will show the reader that you respect how much their time is worth. Readers are more likely to finish your message, if you follow this guideline. This is pretty important; remember that you will likely have some critical content and links at the end of your email!
A good way to grab an email recipient’s attention is by making the email personalized. If your customers feel like you have mass sent the email, they may just delete and block you. Addressing the customer using his or her first name is a very easy personalization step. In your data from their opt-in or subscription, you should be able to discern their geographic location, the time they registered and even why. Make use of such data in your emails.
Birthday Wishes
Send your subscribers happy birthday wishes. Your opt-in can include a field for birth date input, thus allowing you to send automatic birthday wishes. This can help to create a relationship with your customer. Consider including a special birthday offer in the message.
As you can see, email marketing is a great approach to keeping your customers informed and to add to your customer base. Remember the tips in this article so you can use marketing via email to your advantage.
