Robert Burko asked:


Email marketing programs are expanding in popularity among both small and large businesses. After all, it is a cost effective way to achieve marketing goals. Some organization harness the power of email marketing to send out regular daily updates, while others send out a more traditional monthly newsletter. Regardless of the frequency of objective, the research clearly shows that email is a viable platform for spreading your message and communicating to your customers.

Whether you are a seasoned email marketing veteran or brand new to the email marketing software game, these three tips can assist you get off to a good start.

One important aspect to keep in mind about email marketing is that it is an on-going learning process. What works today for your target audience may not captivate them tomorrow. It is important that your email marketing program strategy remain adaptable, so you can quickly and easily change your approach to ensure you always get the best possible results.

Tip #1: Build a High Quality Mailing List

Your mailing list or contact list is the backbone of your email marketing initiative. A good mailing list can lead to incredible results and a bad mailing list can make you wonder if anyone is even reading your email at all. In a day and age where spam concerns are astronomically high, it is even more important that you have a high quality opt-in (preferably double opt-in) mailing list to ensure that people do not mark your message as spam. These days most ISPs assign the email marketer a reputation score. Even a few bad apples in your mailing list (people that call your message spam) can hurt your reputation.

A good mailing list is comprised of people who have requested to receive information from you and are eager to comply with the material you send. When you use your email marketing software to send out a campaign to a high quality list, you will see your open rates soar as people are drawn to your email. This will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates and make your email marketing program an even more effective tool for your organization.

Tip 2: Select a Good “Email Subject” and a Well Known “From Name”

When your email marketing campaign lands in someone’s inbox, they can often only see the name of the sender and the subject line. This makes those two pieces of the email marketing puzzle invaluable. These two items can be the ‘make it or break it’ factor for whether your campaign is a success or not. An appealing subject line can raise your subscriber’s interest so they are drawn to open your email and read your content. A lackluster subject line can make people skim over your message or delete it without even seeing your fist line of content.

It is also very important that you use a ‘from name’ that your recipients will recognize. If everyone knows your company name, but no one knows your personal name, then you should without a doubt use your company name. Research consistently shows that people are far more likely to open an email from a business or organization they recognize as opposed to one they don’t.

Tip #3: Content is King; Make Your Email Worth Reading

These days, people are more pressed for time than ever before. With only 24 hours in each day, asking people to take the time to read your email in its entirety may actually be asking a lot. But, if you are going to expect that from your subscribers then you better be prepared to deliver some compelling information. If your email is boring, dry, outdated or just plain useless, then your audience may not give you a second chance. Typically, emails with sub-par content see increased unsubscribe requests, while emails with compelling content experiences increased readership.

When you create your email withy our email marketing program, it is important that you think like the reader. What do they want to read? What topics are of interest to them? If you can answer those questions, then you can use your email marketing program to create quality content that will keep people coming back for more.

An added advantage of email marketing is that there is no long lead time. This means your content can be very fresh. If a big story breaks in your industry in the morning, there is no reason you can’t include that in your email marketing campaign that afternoon. Up to date content is often the most sought-after type of information, because it makes your email seem very cutting edge.

Overall, email marketing can be an incredible tool in your arsenal. When armed with the right email marketing program, a good plan, and some creativity, you can reach out and communicate with your customers in a meaningful and effective way. As an added result, email campaigns will strengthen the bond between you and your customers.



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Robert Burko asked:


Over the past few years, research has continued to prove the benefits of e-mail marketing for business: low costs, high conversion rates and detailed tracking are all notable features. But e-mail marketing is becoming much more than just a tool for spammers and e-businesses. Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy on the differences between spam and permission-based emails, and more and more of them are accepting permission-based e-mail marketing as a positive replacement for direct mail.

The best news is that the majority of people who receive permission-based e-mails open, on average, 78% of them.

Jupiter Research reports effective email marketing campaigns can produce nine times the revenues and 18 times the profits of broadcast mailings. But crafting an effective business email is both an art and a science. Here is a list of factors, potential problems and effective solutions to keep in mind:

1. Spam! Spam! Spam! I don’t need any Viagra!

The average consumer receives more than 300 emails a week, 62% of which are spam. No wonder there’s such hostility towards the industry. But spam filters, bulk folders and “report spam” features are helping consumers become more at ease about the perils of spam. While 89% of users cited spam as a major concern in 2003, that number dropped to 85% in 2004, proportionally to an increase in the use of spam-fighting tools.

So as a permission-based business email marketer, what can you do? One tip is to remind your subscribers to add you to their “safe senders” list. The second, and most important, tactic is to make sure your email marketing service provider has a good relationship with ISPs. This will ensure that your email marketing campaigns go into your subscribers’ inboxes, not their junk mail folders. When choosing an email marketing software, make sure the company has strict anti-spam policies and complies with the guidelines of Can-Spam.

2. Images and formatting: Why do my emails look broken?

Broken email campaigns are an increasing concern among email marketers, especially since several companies and web-based email providers now block graphics as a measure to combat spam. In fact, according to ClickZ, 40% of email marketing messages delivered to inboxes are “broken.”

This was actually something that came up during Eliteweb.cc’s beta-testing phases, as we had a client in the Canadian Government whose recipients were mostly using highly secure email programs. The solution we came up has now become one of our key competitive advantages.

What Eliteweb.cc does is it publishes every single email marketing campaign sent to a secure location on the web (a location only original recipients of the email can access, thanks to encrypted technology that automatically authenticates the user). The technology also ensures you can track your users’ behaviors, even if they are reading your email campaign at the secure web location.

3. Personalization and relevant content: In a business e-mail, one size does not fit all.

In a recent study by DoubleClick, email users were 72% more likely to respond to a business e-mail if its content was based on the interests they had specified. That number points out the absolute importance of allowing users to choose their own interest groups and have control over which business e-mails they receive. The most popular interest categories, according to the study, are coupons and household goods.

But your coupon is no good unless the user opens the email. Users in the study said the most compelling reason for them to open a business email is the name in the “from” field. So it’s a good idea to make sure your company name is clearly stated there. Another major factor is the “subject” line. Users cite discount offers and interesting news as the most compelling subject lines, followed by new product announcements and free shipping offers.

4. Click-through and conversion: Show me the money!

So the user has opened your email and read the content. Great. But where’s the sale? There’s good news here. For one, consumers are increasingly likely to make purchases as a direct result of a business email campaign. One-third of users in the DoubleClick study had purchased something by clicking a link on an email. Another 42% clicked on an email link for more information, then purchased the product at a later time. Second, online couponing is booming: 73% of consumers have redeemed an online coupon for an online purchase, and 59% have redeemed an online coupon offline.

In terms of industries, the top performers are travel, hardware/software, electronics, apparel, food, home furnishings, gifts/flowers and sporting goods. All companies sending business emails in those categories said between 71% and 80% of recipients have purchased their products because of an email campaign.

There’s no need to fret if your company doesn’t fit in to one of those industries. The overall landscape for email marketing conversions is looking brighter every day. The average click-to-purchase rate has increased nearly 30% since 2004 and the average orders-per-email-delivered rate has increased more than 18% since last year.

5. Stats tracking: Who are my real consumers?

E-mail marketing is an increasingly popular tool in effective CRM, and it’s about time more businesses recognize that. First off, if your provider’s email services for business do not include detailed, real-time tracking, you’re getting a raw deal. Real-time tracking is now an industry standard, and it’s highly valuable, as it allows you to see the exact moment a user opens your campaign, clicks on your link and makes that purchase. Studying your users can help you improve your communications efforts, so each campaign performs better than the last (several email service providers also let you compare the performance of your campaigns).

But many marketers are still in the dark. According to a recent WebTrends research, only 5% of marketers are very confident in the measurement of their online marketing efforts, while 26% admit they’re “flying blind.” WebTrends says the low confidence comes from a lack of knowledge when it comes to measurement, which means there’s still a lot of work to be done.

In email marketing, a blind shot won’t take you very far. But if you aim properly by following these essential rules of play, you should soon be reaping the same major results as so many online and offline businesses.



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Mr JH Saw asked:


Topic 1 ~ Your Email Subject Lines ~

How To Write A Good E-mail Subject Lines That Works?

Here are the 5 tips:

1. Ask a question. One of the best ways to get a reader’s attention is to ask a question. But like a trial lawyer questioning a witness on the stand, make sure it’ll get you the response you’re looking for. “What’s the best way to grow your business?” is a great subject line for business owners. After all, what business owner wouldn’t want to grow his or her business? Or let’s say you run a health club. An e-mail with the subject line, “How can you lose 5 pounds in one month?” would certainly be compelling. It’s important your question be relevant to your audience.

2. Be a tease. A clever subject line can be enticing. When it’s done right, reader curiosity is piqued. They want to know more–and they’ll open your e-mail. Writing a teaser-style subject line requires some creativity, and your content needs to deliver. A company that sells high-definition TVs could use the subject line, “You’re not going to believe your eyes” as a teaser to introduce a new addition to their product line.

3. Tell it like it is. Often, what works best is to say exactly what you want your reader to know. Examples of this straightforward approach are, “Sale on all sweaters this weekend,” “Master jazz pianist plays live this Friday” and “The seven secrets of a profitable business.” This just-the-facts approach works especially well when you can appeal directly to your audience’s interests. It’s also the best approach to use when you send a newsletter.

4. Remember “WIIFM”. When a person gets your e-mail, the first thing they consider is “what’s in it for me?” They have a decision to make. Do they open your e-mail, leave it for later or delete it? If there isn’t something about the subject line that lets them know why it’s worth their precious time to see what’s inside, then the choice will be clear. Keep WIIFM in mind when creating every aspect of your e-mails, including the offer, content, images–and most definitely the subject line. It’s all about them. They know that; just make sure you know it, too.

5. Get personal. The more you can make each contact feel you’re speaking directly to them, the more effective your communication will be. Whatever style of subject line you use, you can make it personal by using the word “you.” Professional copywriters know the secret of using this powerful little word. Just look at the advertisements, mail and e-mail you receive. A few examples are, “Find the right swimsuit for you,” “You can save 50 percent on travel,” and “You’d look phenomenal in a custom-tailored suit.” “You” is ideal, but “your” works too.

6. Not sure which approach is right for you? Try them all, and then show a friend or colleague to get their feedback. Pick the one you believe will be most effective for your audience. Whichever approach you choose, it’s always worth spending the time and effort to write a great subject line. Because if your readers don’t open your e-mail, they’ll never have the chance to read the important message you’ve created for them inside.

Topic 2 ~ Increase Click-Through Rate (CTR) ~

How to Increased Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

Here are some guidelines:

1. Include a feature, a benefit, and an advantage in the opening. This needs to be used in a subtle way, but in the opening you’re really doing a small marketing job for this issue of your email newsletter. Highlight an article or two that are important, explain what you’re providing the readers that they won’t get elsewhere, and tell them what the benefit will be. A great example is something like “Nokia and Sprint announced second quarter earnings today. Learn what our Wireless Week experts say about the results, and what effect you can expect them to have on the industry at large.”

2. Put the email newsletter in the context of your readers’ day. This goes hand in hand with the last point. Your readers are busy, and if you can make a compelling case for why they should stop what they are doing and take a few minutes now to read your email newsletter, you’ll get them in. We recommend editors reference important events, upcoming trade shows, or other things that say to the reader “You will find it worthwhile to stop and read this email newsletter now, because the information in it will help you stay on top of your business.”

3. Keep it fresh. Don’t craft a “perfect paragraph” and use it issue after issue after issue. One of the keys to success is to keep the copy fresh and highlight items in that issue of the email newsletter. If you use the same generic language repeatedly, people will stop reading it and it’ll be a waste of your time.

4. Keep it short. This is critical. We recommend no more than two to three sentences — just enough to get them interested and pull them in to read the rest of your email newsletter.

Try it out and see the results! This is just one of the simple things you can do to engage your reader and optimize your CTR.

Topic 3 ~ Killer Email Sales Letter ~

How to Write Killer Email Sales Letter That Get Results?

Here are what we’ve found works best. Use these tips properly and your results will skyrocket.

1. Your email “from” sender line should be your brand name or company name and stay consistent. Use your own personal name only if that is your brand image.

2. Send emails only when you have something to say that will benefit the reader. No fluff. No filler. You must be relevant. If you can’t be, don’t send an email until you have something beneficial to say.

3. Start your emails with the specific benefit the reader can get from your message. You have no more than 3 seconds to pass the crucial “what’s in it for me?” test.

4. The copywriting tone and language should be personal and conversational, instead of stuffy and “corporate”.

5. Make a specific offer to the reader and, if possible, include a short deadline by which he must respond to get it.

6. Use as much copy as is needed to fully pile on all the benefits the reader will get by ordering, answer objections, create urgency, and close the sale.

7. Test your subject lines and offers on small segments of your list before you send the email to your entire list.

8. Include “Email this to a friend” service in all your communications for pass along and viral marketing.

Topic 4 ~ Good Call-to-Action ~

Get More Clicks With a Good Call-to-Action!

The call-to-action is a determining factor of your click-through rate. It is an important component of your email copy because it answers three important questions for the recipient. They are:

1. What you want them to do

2. Why they should do it, and

3. How to take that next step.

Whatever action you want your recipients to take, you can make it happen more often with a good call-to-action. First, decide what you want them to do:

1. Buy something

2. Sign up for a service

3. Fill out a form

4. Read an article or get more information

5. Visit your website or store

6. Make an appointment

Etc…

Then, make sure you incorporate these 6 characteristics to get the results you’re looking for. Make your call-to action:

1. Visible - People read, react, make decisions and take action differently. Some make decisions right away (”You had me at hello.”) and some need more details (”I’m from Missouri.”). Place call-to-action links in the beginning, middle and end of the email so that recipients can click whenever they are ready.

2. Clear - Stick to simple words, short phrases, bulleted benefits and paragraphs of 1-3 short sentences. Include appropriate graphics and cut the clutter by making effective use of white space.

3. Compelling - Use action-oriented verbs and phrases: “buy now,” “call today,” “save” and so on.

4. Rewarding - Offer an incentive or reward for action. For example, “Act now and also receives…,” or “the First 100 respondents will be entered into a raffle to win…” The giveaway, or prize, you choose should be closely related to your product or service. That way, you will be targeting customers who are interested in what you have to offer, not just the latest gadget.

5. Urgent - The longer an email sits in an inbox, the less likely it is to be acted on. Create a sense of urgency to get a more immediate response. Try limiting the offer to a specific time period, to the “first 50 customers,” “while supplies last,” etc.

6. Direct - Your call-to-action links should go to the appropriate page on your website with more details on the specific product or service you’re promoting. If you don’t have a website, the call-to-action might be store locations to visit or a number to call for an appointment.

Keep in mind that, in addition to repeating your call-to-action, you can vary your call-to-action to appeal to different types of buyers (and to fit your sales cycle). For example: “Click here to buy now” will naturally work better with loyal customers. The softer, “Click here to learn more” may be better for newer prospects.

Topic 5 ~ Avoid Common Pitfalls ~

Read Your Email Message Backwards to Avoid Common Pitfalls

Here are some common problems to look out for:

1. Misspelled words - It’s a good idea to spell-check a document, but it’s not enough. A spell checker won’t catch every error.

2. Wrong word used - This is why a spell checker isn’t enough. A spell checker will only flag words it doesn’t recognize. It can’t tell if a legitimate word is used incorrectly. Some words commonly confused: accept, except; your, you’re; then, than; there, their, they’re; cite, site, sight; lay, lie; loose, loosen, lose. Also, look out for a missing “r” in the word “your.” It’s easy to overlook a sentence such as “Visit our Web site now to receive you free copy.”

3. Grammar error - Again, if you know you’re not a good writer, have someone else check your writing for grammatical errors. Mistakes make you look bad.

4. Punctuation error - This is another area where you’ll benefit from a review by someone who knows their stuff. If you’re determined to do it yourself, purchase a good grammar or style book. One of the most common punctuation problems: Too many stupid commas!

5. Vague or confusing statement - Make sure every sentence is crystal-clear. You don’t want your promotional message to raise more questions than it answers.

6. Illogical statement - Read over what you have written slowly. At the end of each paragraph, ask yourself: “Did that make sense?” Rewrite so that it does.

Topic 6 ~ Frequency of Sending Emails ~

How Often (Frequency) Should You Send Email?

There’s no quick answer to the frequency question. It depends on the goals for your email and the type of content you send. Some rough guidelines:

1. Mail at least once a month. Mail less often than this, and you risk being forgotten by recipients. Monthly is the bare minimum if you want to keep your brand or company name top of mind (a common email goal).

2. Let content be your guide. Look at what you provide readers and you’ll get a feel for proper frequency. Analyze how often the information changes and how quickly readers must receive it to act on it.

3. Work within your resources. A daily email requires many more resources than a monthly. Better a well-done monthly email than shoddy weekly or daily. It’s recommended to start with a monthly. Once that’s going smoothly, they can think about moving to weekly. You need to walk before you can run!

4. Watch for trends. Declining response, open, and click-through rates can be signs of list fatigue. Though some decrease is normal, watch carefully and cut back frequency if you see a problem. Don’t assume if the unsubscribe rate is stable you’re OK. Many people prefer to forward email directly to their delete folder rather than unsubscribe.

Topic 7 ~ Understanding Spam Filters ~

Understanding Spam Filters to Avoid Your Emails Get Junked!

If you send email campaigns long enough, you will inevitably run into spam filter issues. On average, you can expect 10-20% of your emails to just get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous spam filters. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. If you want to avoid getting your emails junked by spam filters, you have to understand how they work.

Generally speaking, spam filters look at a long list of criteria to judge whether or not your email is junk. For example, they might look for spammy phrases like “CLICK HERE!” or “FREE! BUY NOW!”. They’ll assign points each time they see one of those phrases. Certain criteria get more points than others. Here’s a sample of criteria from Spam Assassin, one of the most popular spam filters out there:

• Talks about lots of money (.193 points)

• Describes some sort of breakthrough (.232 points)

• Looks like mortgage pitch (.297 points)

• Contains urgent matter (.288 points)

• Money back guarantee (2.051 points)

• Why Pay More? (1.249 points)

It’s easy to use “spammy” keywords in your email without even knowing it. Here are some common ways marketers unwittingly trigger spam filters with their campaigns:

1. Using spammy phrases, like “Click here!” or “Once in a lifetime opportunity!” too many times in your email. Sometimes, you can’t avoid phrases like “FREE SHIPPING!” but use them sparingly, and don’t do anything else risky.

2. Going crazy with exclamation points!!!!!!

3. USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE YELLING IN EMAIL

4. Coloring their fonts bright red, or green

5. Coding sloppy HTML (such as by converting a Microsoft Word file to HTML)

6. Creating an HTML email that’s nothing but one big image, with no text (since spam filters can’t read images, they assume you’re a spammer that’s trying to trick ‘em)

7. Using the word “Test” in the subject line (agencies run into this all the time, when sending drafts to clients for approval)

Topic 8 ~ Why Email Marketing Does not Work? ~

If Your Email Marketing Does not Work, Think Again Why?

Before you arrive at the faulty conclusion that email marketing doesn’t work, let’s look at this from a different perspective for a moment that would make your emails ineffective.

First there’s what you are writing in the body of the email. If this is your first attempt to get in touch with a prospect, what are you putting in the email? A dissertation? If it’s longer than one or two paragraphs, it’s too long. Look at your emails like an initial cold call. You need to laser in and deliver a compelling opening statement that’s going to grab their interest and stimulate a conversation. Because there’s no one to cut you off in an email or stop you from persistent pontification, people have tendency to ramble on and on in an email, giving the prospect the life story of the product or service they want them to consider. Keep it short and focus on the one or two benefits, opening up the opportunity to have a dialogue. That’s it.

Second, are you sending attachments in the first email? No attachments! It’s hard enough sending an unsolicited email to a prospect. Now you’re adding more barriers and increasing the chances of your email winding up in their spam box or junk email folder. Some people have filters on their email that if an attachment is sent it automatically gets deleted. No attachment until that information in the attachment is solicited by the person.

Third, html or text? Once again, with all the email filters people use today, you will increase your odds by sending a text message only rather than trying to get fancy with formatting, graphics and pictures. The prospect really doesn’t care about how beautiful your email looks; they care about the core message. Besides, they will never even get a chance to see your beautiful masterpiece in an html email if it’s winding up in the trash.

Finally, you are using way too many spam words. As mentioned, the biggest enemy to email marketing or selling via email is the additional security that companies and individuals have on their network or computer. As such, the specific words you are using in the body of the email can be the culprit who is sending your email directly into the trash or spam box. In other words, you are using words that are often identified is spam and in turn, you email is getting flagged and deleted. Not even eye contact! The prospect is not getting a chance to, at the very least, see your email let alone read it and have a chance to respond accordingly.

Ending ~ Please Forward ~

Feel Free To Forward This E-Book To Your Friends!

Thank you for reading this e-book on “How to Make Email Marketing Works for Your Business”. This e-book provides useful guides on email marketing, and helps e-marketers to avoid several pitfalls in email marketing.

We hope you may regard this e-book as a book of guidance and that we can help you in your e-marketing effort.

If you think the outlined tips can help you, please take a few seconds to help us distribute or forward this e-book to as many people as possible.

I appreciate your time taken to read this e-book and I always appreciate reading your thoughtful and well considered comments, please drop an email to me at sales@blastsg.com if you have something to say about this e-book.

Thank you!

Regards,

Mr. JH Saw

Visit us @ www.BlastSG.com



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Jeremy Long Chia Teik asked:


Email marketing is now a popular marketing medium by which online marketers reach visitors and customers alike very easily. It capitalizes on the cheapness and easy accessibility of the simple email, which is in fact similar to the emails that we send and receive everyday, although drafted with a slight difference in approach.

When you have the opportunity to market your product without incurring huge costs as for off-line marketing, it is heaven-sent that the email opens the door to various business opportunities and marketing capabilities. Email marketing gives the best chances to achieve success in your online business.

Tips for effective email marketing include the following list which is by no means exhaustive:

(1) A potential money-making machine

Email marketing simply makes use of the email system. What is needed of you is to dispatch mail-outs to your list of subscribers at appropriate time schedule. It is indeed a potential money-making machine as it reaches to subscribers instantly with your intelligently constructed messages. Subscribers who have come to know more about you will make more purchases from you. They will value your service through time once you have gained their trust and confidence.

(2) Build that precious relationship

Emails help marketers build the ever precious relationships with visitors and customers alike. A long lasting relationship is an asset to your online business. Once customers place their trust and confidence in you and your product, future product launches and promotions will be much more easier to handle. In fact, you will get more new customers from the recommendations of current ones via the viral marketing effect.

(3) Understand more about behavioral patterns of customers

The emails will enable you to understand more about the buying patterns and preferences of your customers. Every product strategy has to be modified once changes in buying trends are being observed. This is one of the more important tips for effective email marketing. You will have to catch the changing behavioral patterns as soon as they surface, and quickly make the necessary changes to your marketing strategies.

(4) Impact visitors with compelling headlines

Using the email, the attention of visitors must be alerted by means of compelling headlines. These headlines must create a powerful impact and must excite the visitors to continue reading the email. Their interest must be kept throughout the whole email message. What you have to offer must be all disclosed in your headline - giving visitors the valid reason to read on.

(5) Spice up with attractive freebies

Email marketing often works better when you offer freebies in your email messages. No visitors would reject such free offers. This process works well even when you are launching new products or just keeping customers informed prior to launches, with your links leading to your sales copy where they will read more.

(6) Appreciate and use the marvelous speed of the email

No other marketing medium beats the speed and cheapness of the email. There is no doubt about that. Emails help to inform customers about your latest products almost instantly. Transmission of communication is fast and effective. Even feedback and complaints can be received and rectified immediately. Surely, you will appreciate the power of the simple email.

(7) Restate your offer continually

Visitors may find reading your emails long and tedious. More often than not, most visitors would just scroll straight down to the bottom before clicking off. To avoid losing a precious potential buyer, always place your offer links in various locations of the email messages. This process will serve to remind visitors of your appealing offer on hand. Restating your offer in such a way is another tip for effective email marketing. It has been proven so in the market.

(8) Conduct diligent follow-up maintenance to your email system

In any business, follow-up is essential for the sake of good customer relationship. Email marketing is no different. Maintaining an efficient follow-up system for your email marketing campaign will ensure that all emails whether previous or current will be well taken care of. Your customers deserve the best attention in terms of prompt replies to their complaints, questions and comments.

In conclusion, email marketing is a powerful marketing tool commonly used by marketers. To succeed in it, you have to ensure it is given due attention, and that effective strategies are carefully planned and used to drive it.



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Dan Farrell asked:


The golden question: is email marketing still effective? Are droves of prospective customers (both opt-in and solicited) reading your emails at a high rate and at high speeds? Well, this depends on what type of email you send. First, take a look at where email marketing is headed. It is a billion dollar a year industry, with about 65% companies of all types using 5-10% of their budget on email campaigns. Marketing with email is expected to yield more than 7 billion dollars this year. Companies are looking into buying ad space on widely circulated newsletters with tons of subscribers and email list vendors are earning big business. Lets look at the response rate of Marketing with email - the ultimate way to judge effectiveness!

Sadly enough, tons of unsolicited spam emails go unread. Through statistics, we’ve discovered that 5 to 15 percent of all e-mails are answered. Like the click through rates of banner advertisements at popular websites, spam emails are discarded like yesterday’s trash. A quick browse at the subject line ¨Free Viagra¨ and people are quick to press the delete button. Advertising is a very tricky medium - if your email campaign is not specifically targeted or if it does not employ creative and original strategies that lure customers, there will be a dead-end.

That said, unsolicited email (generic and commercial in nature) is usually not received by anyone. The likelihood of a person clicking on unsolicited mail is extremely low. In addition to the fact customers might not be interested in your offers in the first place, the margin for success is small!

If you have a relationship with the customer beforehand, email marketing can exceed boundaries. In order for email campaigns to work effectively, it must be solicited in the form of opt-in lists and permission. Adding a checkbox to your online store that says something along the lines of ¨send me periodic updates about your incoming shipments¨ for a customer to tick off fares better off in the marketing with email game. If you have customer permission to send them updates and newsletters with additional information, it will be well received!

Marketing with email is most effective with two-way communication. Unsolicited spam mail is considered a one-way message because it is chock full of advertisements that ask customers to visit websites and purchase products. It takes up their time without receiving any sort of compensation. Email marketing campaigns through opt-in lists are different - they are tailored towards the customer’s interest and garner higher response rates. Your email list is paramount as well. Back up your campaign by purchasing a list from a list vendor who offers email addresses that are willing to receive your advertisement. Each email address usually costs between 20 and 40 cents.

Newsletters and promotions combined together make for explosive campaigns. A well written, HTML formatted newsletter can boost traffic and generate sales. Promotions can initiate customers to buy a product that they are interested in. You see, the secret to an effective promotionb is the interaction between the customer and the business.

Notice the trend: unsolicited email appearing out of no where flooding your Inbox will not generate the same response as a newsletter an opt-in list member subscribed to. By exercising business/customer relations and gauging your customer’s needs, your email marketing will become more fruitful and lead to the dollars.

How do we determine whether an email marketing campaign is effective?

The bread & butter of a campaign is its’ ability to be opened and read. Unlike print material, email provides tracking tools to gauge visitor statistics and click through rates. A true email campaign will strive to seek as much customer data as possible. Add a response form to your emails or invite newsletter subscribers to join an online message board. Droves of customers registering to your online community can highlight your emails ability to attract. Add links to your newsletter and observe its click through rate with tracking software.

The savvy email marketer will investigate trends and tricks for time tested email campaigns. For instance, HTML format emails are more visually pleasing than plain text emails - run a campaign using both formats and see which gets the most click rates! Will offering discount couples for opt-in list subscribers do the trick? If you own an online store, run a promotion where subscribers can receive a code via email to use for discount purchases on your site! For example, a site selling pheromones, is currently offering 20% off anything on their product list for newsletter readers only. Not only does this encourage customers to purchase off your site, but also you’ll know who your loyal customers are.

Another way to determine whether your email campaign is off the charts or not is to compare what you’ve received from a special campaign with the amount of money you’ve spent. Is your discount sunglasses newsletter generating $100 a month off click throughs and on-the-spot purchases versus spending $12 on paying a freelance writer for article writing and $3 on target email addresses? If so, your email campaign is paying off! Are members of your opt-in list clicking more on Discount Coupons for All Purchases¨ than the title ¨The History of Sunglasses?¨ Discount coupons lead to big purchases, so try to launch promotional opportunities more often! A successful email campaign is measured by its personal interaction with customers. If customers are not responding well to your emails, try other strategies. Read and respond to consumer needs using trial & error and use tracking tools after every mailing to see how well you do.



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Obinna Heche asked:


Email marketing is a method of advertising, promoting, or simply distributing information to a large number of recipients via email. It is a very powerful and valuable method of getting your products, services and ideas out there and if well done, it can even earn you some very good money. It allows you form a relationship with thousands of people you will never meet. The email has now established itself as a powerful marketing tool that is already an essential component of effective marketing. It is also likely to be better targeted than most other forms of marketing since lists are frequently refreshed with new recipients signing on and others using the self cleaning deregistration facility.

Email design of course, however strong the message, it must be well presented if it is to gain the attention it deserves. Its an increasingly powerful and ever so affordable way to turn prospects into clients. It can be used to improve the relationship between a business and its customers or to gain new customers. There are many reasons to use email marketing but often we end up focusing on the money making aspect of it and lose sight of the other areas that are also vital in the world of email marketing. Most email systems allow you to test and track your experiments, so you can see which offers and subject lines work best.

However, unlike direct mail, email marketing campaigns are not constrained by weight limits or postal restrictions. Resources email marketing and direct mail has long been considered an effective marketing tool. And without print costs to contend with, envelopes to buy and address and postage to pay for, email marketing is an economic solution that is available to companies of all sizes. Thats why creative email design is so important to any email marketing campaign, email design that makes the most of the flexibility of this media. Email has now established itself as a powerful marketing tool that is already an essential component of effective marketing.

The word spam is both a tinned meat and email that is sent out to a huge number of people with little discretion. Spam is the email marketing version of carpet bombing. Spam and the spam filters it has given rise to make it harder than ever to get your email delivered. Have you tried email marketing and been disappointed with the number of emails caught in spam filters. You will either purchase a list of unsolicited names and end up spamming your email list which can get you banned by your ISP, or you could rent a reputable opt-in list but you will find that the costs for doing this are even more expensive than hiring a snail mail list.

Most companies use email marketing to communicate with existing customers but many other companies send unsolicited bulk email, also known as spam. They make it very difficult for observers to distinguish between legitimate and spam email marketing. Some marketers report that legitimate commercial email messages frequently get caught and hidden by filters. Nevertheless, it is somewhat less common for email users to complain that spam filters block legitimate mail.

Email Marketing is by far the most cost effective way to market going into the future. It is instant and allows multiple links to be imbedded in the message, driving traffic to company websites. Email marketing is especially popular because it can be much cheaper than traditional mail marketing. It is way cheaper than media investments such as direct mail or printed newsletters and also information can be distributed to a wider range of specific, potential customers.

Moreover,without print costs to contend with, envelopes to buy and address and postage to pay for, email marketing is an economic solution that is available to companies of all sizes. Email has now established itself as a powerful marketing tool that is already an essential component of effective online marketing.



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Dejan Bizinger asked:


Email is the most used service on the Internet and, doubtless, most useful. Many people use the Internet only for checking their emails. Email marketing can be useful only if done right. Otherwise, it can get you more harm that benefits. However, there are things you can do in order to ensure that your email marketing campaign is going to be successful. In this article we provide you with 7 email marketing best practices.

Deliverability

Deliverability is probably the most important issue in today’s email marketing business. There are many spam emails and many legitimate emails are flagged as spam so they are not delivered. They are not getting thru ISP spam filters. Good deliverability ratio is the first step in successful email campaign because if your emails aren’t delivered then you don’t even have an email campaign!

In order to ensure that your emails will have good deliverability you have to choose your email marketing vendors wisely. You have to check if they are on “Blacklist” or “Whitelist”. There are different organizations like Spamhaus project and SpamAssasin that have their own lists which are used by ISP. If your email service provider is blacklisted your emails won’t be delivered! Also, you have to ensure that your domain name isn’t blacklisted. In order to maximize your deliverability it is recommended that your email service provider offers Habeas Sender Warranty Email Header.

Using our award-winning Group Mail product, whether it is Personal Edition or Business Edition you can be sure that your emails will be delivered because we have a constant cooperation with ISP.

CAN-SPAM Compliance

Your email newsletter should be CAN-SPAM Compliant. It is recommended that you require double opt-in subscription so that your subscribers have to confirm their request to be part of your email newsletter. Don’t add your subscribers without their permission and you should avoid adding them manually even if you have their permission. It is good that they do it using double opt-in method. Also, avoid using pre-checked subscription boxes. One of the products in the Group Metrics software called Opt-In manager will help you to do this easily.

It is essential that you provide your subscribers with an easy way to unsubscribe from your email newsletter at any time, when they want. It is good that you offer one-click unsubscription process with an unique address. This way there will be much less requests from your subscribers that you remove them.

CAN-SPAM Law also requires from email publishers that they include their physical postal address so you should include it, too. Your have to show your subscribers that you are legitimate company which have a presence in “offline” world, too.

HTML and plain-text versions

It is essential to offer your visitors to choose if they want to receive your email newsletter in HTML or plain-text format. It means that you should regularly send both types. Sending HTML newsletters have more benefits than plain-text email newsletters. You can use email tracking only in HTML newsletter with image embedding, HTML newsletters have better click-thru ratio because they look like the real web sites. You can hide long URLs so that they will look professional.

However, some people prefer plain-text versions and reasons are different. They use email clients that don’t support HTML emails. Another thing is that HTML newsletter types are larger than plain-text newsletters. Also, one of the reasons why some people don’t receive HTML emails is security. In HTML newsletters some people can embed malicious scripts or use them for phishing (when they pretend that they are representatives of one company and when people click on a certain link they are taken to their web site that is designed almost identically like original). It is mostly used in financial fraud attempts.

From and Subject fields

Your From and Subject fields are very important for getting better open ratio and therefore to have successful email campaign. You have to remember several simple rules.

It is important that your From field be consistent. You have to choose one name, whether it will be a company name or personal name and use it constantly. Once you change your From field it is most likely that your open rates will decline.

Speaking about Subject field, it has to be short and catchy, to grab attention of your subscribers. Your email has to stand out in usually overloaded inboxes. It is important that you don’t shout so instead of

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH…

use

Exclusive Interview with…

It is very good that you make your subject field standardized and that the title be something related from the content of that current issue.

For example, if you have a newsletter called Email Articles your subject line can be something like this:

[Email Articles] How to Improve Your Open Rates, Issue#10, August 29th, 2005

If your email newsletter has a longer title, for example, Email Marketing Articles you can use this:

[EMA] How to Improve Your Open Rates, Issue #10, August 29th, 2005

Personalization & Segmentation

Personalization is connected with Subject fields, too. Some people like to include first names of their subscribers in subject lines in order to have better open ratio. Personalization is also very effective when it is used in editor’s welcome message or in articles.

For example,

Dear !*First_Name*!, welcome to the 10th issue of Email Marketing Articles.

Powerful email marketing software like Group Mail, beside standard personalization also has “if-then” personalization for more advanced users.

Segmentation is the most important part in marketing. “What am I selling and to whom?” It is not the same to sell your software to novice users (newbies) or to seasoned users (knowbies). Also, it is not the same to market your software to small business companies and corporation. It is good that you make a good segmentation of your email newsletter. Best way to do that is to include several additional fields at sign-up process. Of course this doesn’t mean that you have to ask 15 questions from your new subscriber because many people leave when they see that there are many fields to fill. After that, you will make several email newsletters for each membership type.

With Group Mail 5 (Personal and Business Edition) you can make unlimited number of lists with unlimited recipients in each.

Timing is everything

Another very important thing in creating successful email campaign is timing. In almost every email marketing statistics you will find information about when to email your subscribers. So studies show that the best time for sending email campaigns are days from Tuesday to Thursday. However, it doesn’t mean that someone can’t have successful email campaign sent on Sunday. If you send your emails in days that are not “prime time” you can have a chance to avoid competition that will mail their campaign in prime time. Tuesday-Thursday are generally best days for mailing because, as you probably know yourself, too, not many people like Monday (remember that song?). After a good weekend, Monday is usually reserved for some consultation with the management about weekly plans and task. Friday is, on the contrary, favourite day for many people, because they are planning their weekend. People often come home earlier on Friday so your email can be buried in their inbox until Monday. And in Monday, to be deleted with many others (we have already wrote about Monday). On the weekend people usually don’t work but many will still check their emails.

Also, you have to decide how often you want to send your email newsletters. It will depend on your content. If your email newsletter about latest industry news you can send your newsletter once a month, because then it won’t be latest news anymore. If you send a corporate email newsletter with news about company and useful articles from your area of expertise, monthly frequency is usually the best one.

You have to make several email campaigns and see which ones get you best results.

And when we talk about best results the next logical step is tracking.

Tracking

How do you know if your email marketing campaign was successful? You have to know how many people opened your emails, what was your click-thru ratio, your subscribers’ behaviour on your web site after they had clicked and finally - how many subscribers purchased your product.

With user-friendly Group Metrics you will be able to do that and also to make polls to get even better view of your email campaign



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Lalita N asked:


What kind of onlne company might be earning huge amount of money? Could you just guess it out? Yes, it is none other than email marketing company. This company has reached such a position that hardly can be achieved by any other online company. These days you will find that email marketing companies are dominating the whole world wide web. There seemed to be no competitor against the email marketing companies. Finding leads or sales by means of email marketing companies are the most effective ways. If you own an online business, then do get in touch with various email marketing companies which will guide you on how to send promotional emails to the targeted customers.

There are many email marketing service providers but there are a few which can really work for your work. Choosing an email marketing service provider is not easy. You will have to do some sort of market study, if you would like to have the reputed email marketing company. This would give you a proper overview of various email marketing companies in the online market. In the end, you decide what kind of email marketing service provider you need to have with you. Handover the email marketing plans to the hired email marketing company and wait for the magic to happen.

An email marketing company possesses all the resources which are essential in making good email marketing campaigns. Such a company often own a team of people who are involved in writing good emails. These attractive emails force the readers to turn into good customers. It’s been already said that it is always good to let the work done by the experts because these people know how to carry this work further. Invest your money in a good email marketing company and there is no exception that you will be having a huge number of sales or leads. You should also focus to get access to opt-in email marketing services.

There are a few people who often ask how to find various email marketing companies. It is the most easiest work. Get to the research in various popular search engines by typing the keyword Email Marketing Company and infinite email marketing companies will rain on you. Hence, it’s the way how you should try to shine your online businesses through email marketing company.



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Jo Han Mok asked:


Email marketing is the revolutionary way of selling ideas or products to clients through the use of emails. It took then place of snail mailing or sending product information through the post office.

Email marketing is now widely used by internet marketers, not only for product information but to acquire as well as maintain their clients. Others use email marketing to keep important information about their clients and use these to profile them as to their wants and interests.

To say the least, email marketing has become a very useful tool as it is not only efficient but also cost effective. Imagine the time it would take and the cost involved in sending thousands of letters just to announce your product to prospective clients. With email marketing, you can send any information, at any time and with the least cost.

However, despite the advantages offered by email marketing, majority of those who are using the strategy to market their products are faced with some difficulties identified with email marketing.

If you come across a website asking you to sign up for a free newsletter or free recipes, would you sign up and reveal your email? A recent survey revealed that 83 people out of 100 would not reveal their email, for fear of safety issues.

This is one among the many constraints faced by email marketers. How can they encourage prospective clients to sign up and reveal their email addresses when the clients are hesitant to reveal their emails for fear that it will be used for the wrong reasons?

Other prospective clients do not wish to reveal their emails for fear of receiving spam or unsolicited emails. This is a valid fear because most often spam messages crowd out emails more than the important messages. Most email accounts are cancelled by the site administrators because they have reached their maximum amount of messages, no thanks to spam.

Make sure you avoid these pitfalls in email marketing by committing to keeping your prospective clients’ email addresses safe.

So how will you encourage prospective clients to sign up for your newsletters despite their fear of being bombarded with useless and irritating emails? For one, dangle something that would make them drool. If your target clients are female members of the spending public, then look for topics that are close to their hearts and which would make them sign up and reveal their addresses despite their fear.

One strategy is by offering them topics that will be very useful to them like free recipes, household tips, lifestyle articles, beauty and fashion-there are lots of topics that would interest this lot. For the male clients, why not dangle topics on racing, motoring, all about cars, or how about beautiful women?

By featuring interesting an d useful topics on your newsletters, your clients will look forward in receiving emails from you rather than dread the though of being bombarded with useful emails. Ask your prospective clients what their interests are so you would know what topics will be useful for them. Remember, knowing your market is already an edge in the competitive world of email marketing.

But offering prospective clients with informative and interesting topics is not enough. You should emphasize that your site commits to the protection of their privacy. How can you conduct effective email marketing when your prospective clients would not even sign up and reveal their email accounts for far of being hounded by spam?

Be affront with your future subscribers. You have to understand their fear of not getting the privacy they deserve and assuage this fear by confirming that your company adheres to email best practices and that you do not sell email addresses and that their accounts would only be used for the very purpose they intended in signing up.

Despite the efforts of legitimate organizations to protect their clients from spam, unwanted email messages continue to flood email accounts and this is becoming the number one problem of email marketing. How can your clients read through your emails when they have to wade through numerous spam emails? Others just delete all the messages at one time, including the informative newsletters you send them.

The other constraints faced by email marketers are mostly related to their individual methods and styles of sending newsletters. These involve informative versus uninformative articles, problems with auto responders, best time to send emails, and other constraints that are best addressed by the email marketer. Whatever, these constraints are, they can definitely be solved with a proper review of one’s email marketing strategies.



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Bonita L Richter asked:


nt to market your business for fractions of a penny per message?

Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to your small business. You can achieve outstanding results with email marketing, while investing only a small amount of time and money. Combine that with the potential to target more precisely than direct mailings, that’s a real win for the small business owner.

In tough economic times, it is crucial to continue marketing your business, and maximize the marketing dollars you’re spending. Email marketing is a perfect way to keep your business in front of your customers’ and prospects eyes!

Sometimes, people unfamiliar with email marketing get nervous about it because the first thing they think about is spam, or they’ve heard that most people don’t open their email, right?

Wrong.

Targeted mailings that pique interest result in high email open rates, and an opportunity to build relationships with your customers and make some sales. As for the spam issue, mailing only to people who have given you permission to do so minimizes the risk of being labeled a “spammer”. Using myself as an example, I have mailed thousands of emails to my clients, and prospective clients, and have not had one spam complaint.

Following is a list of five reasons you must start email marketing now!

1. Email marketing is inexpensive.

Email marketing is an affordable way to stretch a tight marketing budget. Unlike direct mail, there is virtually no production, materials or postage expense. Email marketing can cost as little as fractions of a penny per email.

The expenses involved in email marketing involve having a hosted website with email capacity. You may also want to consider subscribing to a list management service, such as Constant Contact or aWeber, to help manage your email campaigns. The fees for this service range from about $15 to $20 per month, which includes unlimited emails.

2. Email marketing is highly targeted.

You can easily segment your email database into different groups, so that your promotions go to individuals most likely to respond to your offer. For example, you may send one offer to existing clients, and send a different one to prospects who’ve expressed interest in your products or services.

3. Email marketing is proactive.

Email marketing enables you to proactively communicate with your existing customers and prospects, instead of passively waiting for them to return to your website or storefront.

It is a highly effective way to communicate promotional offers, news, seminars, which may result in an increase in sales, drive traffic to your website or store, and develop customer trust and loyalty through relationship building.

Sending out a monthly email campaign will keep your business in front of your customers’ and prospects eyes.

4. Email marketing generates an immediate response.

Promotional emails include a call to action that can result in immediate responses. Initial campaign responses generally occur within 48 hours of the time the email campaign is sent; testing and refining your campaigns is immediate. If you use a list management service, you can gauge the open rates of your email campaigns, which provides useful and immediate information you can use to tweak your campaign messages.

5. Email marketing is easy.

The Web-based email marketing products available to small businesses are easy to use. The services available through Constant Contact and aWeber, as well as others, include professional HTML templates, list segmentation and targeting capabilities, as well as automatic tracking and reporting of your email campaign effectiveness, such as for open rates, bounces, and spam reports.

If you’re not a “techie”, have no fear. You don’t need a Webmaster or technical person on staff to handle the development and distribution of your email campaigns.

Email marketing works because it allows precise targeting of your marketing message, it builds loyalty and trust with your customers, it is inexpensive, and best of all, it drives sales. Include email marketing in your arsenal of marketing tools!

Copyright 2008, Bonita L. Richter



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Don R. Crawley asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 Don R. Crawley

Legitimate email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. It’s inexpensive, fast, efficient, and environmentally friendly. Email marketing allows you to target your customers and prospects by their particular interests, it allows you quickly announce special promotions (either planned promotions or impromptu promotions based on changing conditions). Email is the perfect way to send a monthly newsletter. Email marketing’s efficiency was underscored in a study by the Direct Marketing Association which found that in 2005 email marketing returned an amazing $57.25 in revenue per dollar spent on it!

How can you get started with email marketing? Start by collecting your customers’ email addresses. Even if you don’t currently do email marketing, gather your customers’ email addresses now so that, when you decide to start communicating with your customers via email, you’ll already have a good list. Have a sign-up sheet at each of your checkout counters or at your reception desk. Be sure to include a sign-up form on your website. Offer an incentive such as a monthly drawing from the collected email addresses. Be sure to include a privacy statement on your forms and sign-up sheets such as, “Privacy notice: We don’t share your information with anyone.” (Of course, that means you can’t share that information ever.) Remember, email addresses are free (or very inexpensive) to gather.

Now, the three secrets to making email marketing a winner for your business.

Secret number one: Do only “permission-based” email marketing. In other words, only send email to people who have requested your email messages and make it easy to opt-out of future emails. There is a slimy side to email marketing thanks to spammers. Obviously, you want to be associated with the reputable side of email marketing. If a customer, a prospect, or a site visitor willingly provides their email address, you’re not spamming. If you get it any other way, you’re spamming. A commonly used technique for dealing with subscription requests from your website is called a “double-opt-in”. A double-opt-in requires the individual to first request your email marketing, then a confirmation request is sent to their email address. They must click a link in the confirmation email or otherwise confirm their desire to receive your email before they’re added to your list. The rule is simple: If in doubt, don’t send it out.

Secret number two: Make your email marketing messages compelling for the reader. Keep them short and to-the-point and ensure that the recipient will see the value in whatever you’re saying. Increasingly, people are becoming distrustful of “hypie” messages that sound like they were written by an advertising copy writer. Make your message real, make it personal, and make it deliver a benefit from the readers’ perspective. If there’s nothing in it for them, they’ll just delete your message or possibly even report it as spam.

Secret number three: Be consistent. Whether you choose to send an email campaign every week, every month, or every quarter, be consistent. One very successful email marketer even includes these words at the top of every email he sends: “Sent the third Tuesday of every month…” Your consistency in your marketing efforts reflects your dependability as a company.

What about the mechanics of email marketing? Many very small businesses just use their regular email accounts. Such a solution can work, but it doesn’t scale well as your email list and business grow. It also requires you to manage your new subscribers and unsubscribe requests. A better solution is to use a commercial email marketing service. Such companies provide templates to make your messages look professional. They also provide tracking information on how many messages were actually opened and read, automatic opt-out links on your marketing messages, tutorials, assistance in complying with the CAN-SPAM act, and more. Costs start at about $10 per month and go up from there based on various criteria such as the size of your list and the frequency with which you send messages. Most such companies provide a free trial period so you can get familiar with their service. There are many email marketing companies, but here are three for you to consider: iContact (www.icontact.com), GetResponse (www.getresponse.com), and Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com).

Make sure you’re compliant with the CAN-SPAM act. Of course, this is not legal advice (I’m no lawyer!), but compliance means being honest in your subject lines about the content of the message, including an easy opt-out method in every message, and including your complete contact information in every message.

Regardless of how you decide to do your email marketing, now is the time to start gathering email addresses. Email marketing, done properly, is flexible, affordable, efficient, and potentially very profitable for your business.



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