Best Practices Email Marketing


You've probably never heard the term "marketing with email" before, but more than likely you have seen it. It's everywhere! Your favorite companies have more than likely sent you a message telling you about a product. This is email promoting in its purest form. Does this sound like something you would want to use? Granting that it is, then continue reading.

Don't send spam emails promoting your products. Anyone who receives an email they didn't ask for will get angry and is likely to report you for spamming them. This hurts your reputation, but even worse, your IP may be blocked by some ISPs.

Consider using a template that allows for each recipient to receive a personalized message in the greeting. People respond more favorably to emails that address them personally, and are less likely to reject the message. This personalization is simple to accomplish, and will grow a greater relationship with your customers.

Be predictable in your emails. Send them on a specific schedule. Make sure you send something at least monthly, this will help keep your customers interested. If you can send emails on or two times a week, that is even better. Test out which days give your site the best responses, and then use these days as your normal days to send emails.

It is advisable to get permission from customers before contacting them by email. Very often individuals consider unsolicited emails as junk mail and do not open them. Your ISP may take action against you as well because sending out lot of emails can be seen as spamming, which may be against their policies.

You should send your emails as a plain text every once in a while instead of always sending them in HTML format. This gives things a more personal touch and helps the subscriber feel that you are trying to connect. Do not use it too much though because then you may be seen as being too unprofessional.

To improve your email reading rates, offer subscribers the option of seeing your newsletters in either plain text or HTML. Too many companies send their emails out in only one format, discouraging their less tech-savvy readers or alternately disappointing readers that expect a more dynamic presentation. Offering every newsletter in both formats makes it more accessible.

Try customizing your messages for your email recipients. Try including their name in the email so that it feels more warm and personal. This can help build better relationships with your customers, and they may be more inclined to read what you have to say in these personalized email messages.

Take every opportunity that comes up to be festive when you send out your emails. When there is a holiday try to tailor your emails to fit the occasion. Subscribers will be very appreciative of this, and they will feel as if you are human and not a robot. Offering holiday discounts is another great idea that ties into the festive theme.

In order to better target your e-mail marketing campaign, you can allow people to select particular categories of e-mails that they wish to receive. This will ensure that the e-mails that you send contain information that they are interested in. It also reduces the chance of people unsubscribing due to receiving too many e-mails that they are not interested in.

You may find that it is a good idea to devote a small portion of every marketing email you send out to briefly reviewing what your subscribers can expect from you. By demonstrating that you have a plan for your emails and you are sticking to it, you can encourage your readers' trust and make them less likely to grow tired of your messages.

Getting permission to send emails is not difficult to get. You can use discounts, coupons, special offers and even flyers given out in trade shows to get customers interested enough to receive your emails. They can sign up on your website among other methods. By being friendly and offering a good incentive to sign up, customers may even give you access to personal information and their personal preferences.

Be persistent. Studies show that it takes a minimum of 7 to 8 impressions before your advertisements will take effect on a potential customer, and it could take many more. You need to touch base with your customers at least once every few weeks, and assume they will not buy your product or even click your links for several iterations of messages.

Every email that you send out to your customers as part of your marketing campaign should offer them something of value. If you give them a discount on your products, exclusive access to new offerings, or free shipping, they will be more likely to respond positively to your message and come back to you again.

When following up with clients, you might want to consider sending a follow-up email to them that provides a rebate offer. Try attaching a comment onto your email that tells them to call right now. The end of this email can claim to take a position on this offer immediately.

E-mail is one of the simplest and easily accessible forms of marketing. Since it is so readily available, it can be tempting to "accidentally" build a few people into your client list without really asking them. Make sure that you get permission before you hit "Send." Losing the good opinion of customers, or worse, is not worth it.

Be certain that your messages include more content than just hard sales and calls to action. Create a real newsletter with tips related to your products and other useful information relevant to your target audience. If your messages are only hard sales, your clientele will grow dissatisfied and unsubscribe from your list in droves. While your messages might be beneficial to you as a selling medium, your subscribers need benefits of their own in order to keep giving you their attention.

After countless times of encountering marketing with email, you finally know what it is. Put simply, it's using the medium of emails to send messages either current customers or future customers for the sole purpose of marketing to them. Now that you know what it is, make use of it in your own emails! Go to best practices email marketing and learn more today.