27 March 2013

Effectively Generating And Manageing Leads With Email Marketing

By Wilfredo Staffen


The email is one of the greatest inventions of the internet age. By using a simple message, anyone can communicate with anyone else in a matter of seconds. This near instant communication makes it a great marketing tool. Here is a bit of advice that will show you how to harness the power of emails for marketing purposes.

Emphasize the benefits of your product or service whenever possible. Subscribers will want to know what's in it for them, so tell them--in the subject line, in your links, and in your content. Your subscribers will be much more interested in your message if they feel that it can help them in some way.

Go for professional over slick with your emails. Don't send emails that look like flashy webpages. This comes across as impersonal to the recipient. Also, keep in mind that many email programs will not display HTML images. So, do not focus on images in your emails. Go for concise, professional, and inviting so that everyone can read it.

Take timing into consideration as to when your messages are sent. Try and time your messages for when readers are likely to be reading. For consumers, this is probably evenings and weekends. For business clientele, weekday mornings are more ideal. Emails sent in off hours can get buried further down in inboxes than will likely get attention if someone is deleting a bunch of messages at once. Do not forget about time zone differences either.

One good tip to developing your emails is to use humor. From the opening line all the way through your content, a little comedy can really attract readers. Everybody loves a good laugh and a funny or amusing email when used appropriately can catch the reader's attention and make them want to read more.

Always seek permission before sending marketing emails to potential customers. Sending unsolicited emails will quickly have you labeled a spammer. Getting permission to send your messages doesn't have to be hard; offer something valuable to your customers in exchange for the ability to email them, such as a discount, coupon, or other sign-up incentive.

Your marketing email does not need to be just black and white only. Your logo should appear, and a color scheme of some sort should also be part of your campaign. However, it is very important that the color scheme be specific and consistent in order for it to be effective for your campaign.

Offer a bonus, such as a coupon, discount code, or other freebie, in exchange for signing up for your email mailing list. People love receiving free things. An email address is low in value to the customer but high in value to you as a business. People will gladly trade their contact information in exchange for a 10% discount off their next purchase.

Show your subscribers respect by not sending them tons of unwanted emails. Two or three email messages a month should be all that they receive from you. If you are flooding their email boxes, not only it will not be appreciated, but it will be highly unlikely they will buy anything that you are selling.

After about nine months, ask your subscribers to re-confirm their wishes to receive emails from you. Retention can be tricky, but those on your email list will appreciate you asking, and will be less likely to unsubscribe. The re-confirmation process will also let you know which readers are loyal to you.

Do not restrict yourself just to email marketing. As you identify your core clientele that trusts you, see if you can get phone numbers and physical addresses. Build on your relationships by expanding your communications with your loyal core base by contacting them through these mediums as well as email.

Keep all of your branding in your email consistent with your business. Don't make your email appear as though it belongs to another business. Try to stick with your usual colors, voice, and fonts so that the readers can recognize that the email is from you and so they will read it.

If you use images in your email newsletters, put text to the right of the images. Research shows that customers are far more likely to click on a link or button that is placed to the left of an image than one that is placed anywhere else on the page.

Keep your messages simple and to the point when using email marketing. People are very busy and do not have time to read through more than a couple paragraphs to figure out what you are trying to say. Condense your message to a few short paragraphs, and stay focused on your main message.

When following up with clients, you could send a follow-up email to them with a message that confirms their interest in one of your products or services. You could include a link that says to watch it. The ending of the message could include another link that allows them to add your product or service to their cart.

Ask your customers for feedback on your emails. Since your customers are the most important part of your campaign, it is important to know if they are pleased with the emails they receive from you. You could ask them to fill out a short survey with a few questions on what they like and what they dislike.

If you buy a list of emails to send to, check and make sure it is up to date. Sometimes lists for sail might match your target demographics but be woefully out of date. The number of addresses now defunct can be as high as 25% of the overall list.

Due to its speed and simplicity, the email is a great invention that allows people to communicate with little time or effort. Thanks to these attributes, emails have unlimited marketing potential. Hopefully, you will keep the advice from this article in mind so that you can use email marketing in the most effective manner.




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