Breaking The Inbox Code— Email Marketing Tips For Gaining Access To Customers
Technology has brought the world to our fingertips. Most of us are not looking for contact with the whole world, however, and actively avoid various unwelcome elements. The world is so much with us now in fact, we build great barriers and filters around ourselves— caller i.d., do-not-call, firewalls, message blockers— surrounding ourselves with personal force fields.
For business, this has meant mastering new methods of accessing customers. Contemporary marketing has become personal, relying on customer interest for success. Email marketing is smart advertising that uses customer interest to gain secure, focused contact regularly.
Effective and cost-efficient, email marketing offers the opportunity to be yourself with customers in a format they find comfortable. Following a simple code of conduct, business can win long term, quality access to customers and their contacts.
To start, respect the system and the person. Only send emails to individuals who request contact. Online newsletters, announcements and special offers, email marketing is sent to mailing list members who subscribed. Provide a double opt-in method of subscription, and confirm with HTML or by email reply. Make it easy to unsubscribe also, and update your mailing list frequently to remove and re-categorize members.
Be available. Access to subscription should be easy and inviting. Place a mailing list subscription link on each page of your website, and offer incentives for being a member. Have auto responders in place to send Welcome Messages in a timely fashion, and follow-up them up with special offers. Allow people to choose the frequency of your contact and customize their communications— offer monthly and quarterly editions of newsletters as well as interest-specific mailings.
Be up front. Put your business name as the sender, include your signature in the email, and allow for reply. State your business immediately, keeping your subject line to six very relevant words (50 characters max), and placing all essential information in easily readable headings with only relevant images included.
Be accommodating. Many people use image blockers, so limit the number of images in your emails. Use HTML, and include identifying text outside any image in the email so missing the image doesn’t mean missing the point.
Respect the intimacy of the inbox. Remain the business they recognize by always including your logo and maintaining consistent design and language throughout all communications. Show you know your customer personally by only providing information the individual will find interesting and useful.
Mind your language. Employ time sensitive information that encourages prompt customer attention, and avoid Spam words like SAVE and FREE. Make the text of your emails brief and well-worded so the point is clear and compelling.
Timing is everything. Send newsletters out promptly and consistently and send follow-up emails within 24 hours of customer activity. Send mass communications on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as customers are then more likely to have a moment to open your email and respond.
Encourage interaction. Email has the benefit of becoming two-way communication. Invite people to participate in your relationship. Include a call-to-action in your emails and offer incentives to customers for responding. Provide the option to forward your communication to a friend or print it for the world.
Check yourself. Proofread everything and test all your communications. Send test emails through all popular routes (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera), and view your emails on all popular devices (PC, Mac, Blackberry, IPhone, etc.) to insure proper reception prior to public distribution.
Today, business must gain the interest of the individual. With the world as our market, people have personal access to immense, dynamic opportunity while filters keep most of our encounters to opportunities of individual interest.
Email marketing takes advantage with the customer personally requesting contact, instantly breaking down the barriers of formality and establishing friendly terms for long term communication.
These days, smart businesses consult with their marketing agents and study the code of good email campaign practice. Inexpensive and remarkably effective, email marketing allows a business insider access that gets you in good with all the right people by recognizing a simple code of conduct. Be yourself and respect the code— your true market will open for you instantly.
