Establishing an ongoing relationship with current customers and reaching out to new customers is a crucial part of a successful business. Email marketing is one of the newer and most effective ways to accomplish this. The tips and techniques in the article below were designed to help you launch an email marketing strategy that accomplishes that.
While online promotion is essential, don't overlook the opportunity to promote your mailing list offline. To build both new subscribers and potential clients, look for any opportunity possible to get the word out. Some great opportunities to build your business can be found at networking events, trade shows, conferences and local gatherings.
Be especially careful when crafting your first three emails to new customers. A new customer should get an introductory email inviting them to join your marketing list. Once they accept your invitation, the next email should tell them about discounts or special offers they can expect to get now that they've signed up. The third email should contain their first newsletter and their special offer.
Data mine your email list and bucket your audience into various segments based off of any profiling data you have. This will allow you to be more strategic with your messaging and effectively increase your chances of higher open and click through rates. Even if you don't have profiling, look to geo-targeting. Various regions respond differently to different types of messaging.
Choose to install a double opt-in feature to make sure that the person signing up for your emails is truly interested. Although this might seem unnecessary, this guarantees that this person wants to view your emails. As a result, it eliminates the chance that you get into trouble.
If you want your email marketing messages to flow out across the Internet to people's inboxes, consider where you are sending them from. Sent frequently from known and stable IP addresses is best. Sudden surges from new IP locations can raise suspicions and even result in blocks and blacklists from ISP's.
The greater number of options that you provide to your customers, the greater effectiveness that you'll experience with your email marketing attempts. Customers should be able to select the frequency with which they receive messages and what personal information they want to disclose to the business. Giving control to the subscriber will make them feel more comfortable. They will be more likely to sign up.
For your email marketing campaigns to be truly effective, every message needs a clear call to action. For example, if you are promoting a new product then you should encourage customers to go directly to that product's page. On the other hand, if you are promoting a new sale then you should clearly explain how customers can take advantage of that sale.
Give customers the choice of getting a plain text version of your email marketing materials or a rich text version. Customers can choose the option they prefer when they sign up for your newsletter. Plain text versions don't include graphics, so customers with slower connections or overactive spam filters might appreciate this option.
You should not use images to convey your most important information. Not everyone uses the same email client. These pictures may not even show up in many cases. If your emails focus too much on images, they may appear to be unreadable. You should always use text for your important information and use alt tags to describe your images.
Passive and active feedback from your customers is an essential tool for enhancing your email marketing projects. Active feedback is rather obvious: ask for opinions and suggestions from your readers. Passive feedback is a different thing, altogether. There are dozens of resources available to see which of your links are getting clicks.
Don't send out your email messages during major sales holidays. While this may seem counter-intuitive, unless you are selling consumer products, your customers just aren't interested in your product that time of year. In addition, it is likely to get buried in all of the other marketing messages they are receiving.
While online promotion is essential, don't overlook the opportunity to promote your mailing list offline. To build both new subscribers and potential clients, look for any opportunity possible to get the word out. Some great opportunities to build your business can be found at networking events, trade shows, conferences and local gatherings.
Be especially careful when crafting your first three emails to new customers. A new customer should get an introductory email inviting them to join your marketing list. Once they accept your invitation, the next email should tell them about discounts or special offers they can expect to get now that they've signed up. The third email should contain their first newsletter and their special offer.
Data mine your email list and bucket your audience into various segments based off of any profiling data you have. This will allow you to be more strategic with your messaging and effectively increase your chances of higher open and click through rates. Even if you don't have profiling, look to geo-targeting. Various regions respond differently to different types of messaging.
Choose to install a double opt-in feature to make sure that the person signing up for your emails is truly interested. Although this might seem unnecessary, this guarantees that this person wants to view your emails. As a result, it eliminates the chance that you get into trouble.
If you want your email marketing messages to flow out across the Internet to people's inboxes, consider where you are sending them from. Sent frequently from known and stable IP addresses is best. Sudden surges from new IP locations can raise suspicions and even result in blocks and blacklists from ISP's.
The greater number of options that you provide to your customers, the greater effectiveness that you'll experience with your email marketing attempts. Customers should be able to select the frequency with which they receive messages and what personal information they want to disclose to the business. Giving control to the subscriber will make them feel more comfortable. They will be more likely to sign up.
For your email marketing campaigns to be truly effective, every message needs a clear call to action. For example, if you are promoting a new product then you should encourage customers to go directly to that product's page. On the other hand, if you are promoting a new sale then you should clearly explain how customers can take advantage of that sale.
Give customers the choice of getting a plain text version of your email marketing materials or a rich text version. Customers can choose the option they prefer when they sign up for your newsletter. Plain text versions don't include graphics, so customers with slower connections or overactive spam filters might appreciate this option.
You should not use images to convey your most important information. Not everyone uses the same email client. These pictures may not even show up in many cases. If your emails focus too much on images, they may appear to be unreadable. You should always use text for your important information and use alt tags to describe your images.
Passive and active feedback from your customers is an essential tool for enhancing your email marketing projects. Active feedback is rather obvious: ask for opinions and suggestions from your readers. Passive feedback is a different thing, altogether. There are dozens of resources available to see which of your links are getting clicks.
Don't send out your email messages during major sales holidays. While this may seem counter-intuitive, unless you are selling consumer products, your customers just aren't interested in your product that time of year. In addition, it is likely to get buried in all of the other marketing messages they are receiving.
About the Author:
Perhaps you've considered email marketing before. In reality, smart email promotion is one of the one most effective methods to create relationships with customers.
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