Staying in touch with your customers is important if you want your business to succeed. There are many ways to do so, but one of the most effective is through email. You can use these messages to promote your business and let your customers know about new products or services you have available. Use the following tips to get started.
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.
Your email marketing campaign will be more effective if you make it easy for customers to unsubscribe. This may seem paradoxical, but people will tend to trust you more if you make them feel as if they are in control. Post the unsubscribe link in an obvious place so they can find it easily.
To use email marketing to build confidence in your company and products, avoid turning your emails into gimmicks. Don’t tarnish the professionalism of your image by using irritating tactics like writing all in caps or incorporating symbols like dollar signs. Most importantly, never talk down to your customers or make grossly exaggerated promises about your products.
In addition to using email marketing, incorporate SMS marketing into your campaign. Have customers sign up for an SMS option and send them text messages when on the go. When these two methods are used together, you have a better chance of getting more customers to sign up for your product.
Try to make it as easy as possible for customers to unsubscribe from your emails. By not making it simple, they will feel like you are being too pushy and may be turned off from your product or business. Give them the option to opt out from some of your emails or all of them.
Tell a story with your email marketing campaign. You must think about how to grab the readers’ attention. How better to grab their attention than to tell a story that involves success in your business niche. This gets them intrigued, and it gives you an opportunity to get new customers.
Use the right font for the right message. Your font should be indicative of your style and email message, and not convey a message that you don’t wish to send. Choose one that is simple and popular, rather than one that you think is really cool, but not everyone may have.
Ask for at least a customer’s first name at the time that they opt-in to your list. This allows you to address each customer individually in the email, personalizing your message. Also, the reader will be able to see your email amongst others.
Try using A/B testing for your email marketing campaign. This basically entails creating two very different versions of the same email (A and B) and sending “A” to half of a small test group and “B” to the other half. Whichever half receives the most positive response is the one that you should be using for your campaign.
One way to keep your email readers engaged is to ask them questions. These should not be rhetorical questions, either. Provide a feedback channel they can use to send you answers. You could ask for direct replies via email, or send your readers to your social networking pages. However you arrange it, asking for two-way communication is a great way to cultivate loyalty in your subscribers.
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.
Encourage your recipients to forward your e-mails to friends that might be interested. A recommendation from a friend is very effective due to the fact that people trust their friends. This is a great way to introduce your business to potential customers that are very likely to have an interest in your products or services.
You might want to send a follow-up email to your clients that includes a caution if your products or services supply is running low. You could include a link that tells them to click here and begin. The ending postscript could tell them to act now before your supply runs out.
Place important copy and call to action on the left-hand side of the images in your emails. Studies have shown that customers respond more strongly to copy that is written to the left of the images in an advertisement. Links to follow should be placed next to images, not below them, in order to grab best the customers’ attention.
Get permission from individuals before you send any e-mail to them. Never send out e-mails to people without their consent. Unsolicited e-mails in a person’s inbox can easily be considered spam. You don’t want marketing to annoy people. Make sure your get permission before you turn off any potential customers.
Successful email marketing campaign lists are built organically. Forgo renting or buying pre-made lists, and instead start one from scratch. Get business cards at industry events and have opt-in links on all your web pages. Offer incentives to your subscribers to forward your material to associates they know would be interested. Your niche already has an existing network of social ties within its community, follow those paths.
By now, you should be aware of how effective a marketing medium email can be. It makes it easy to stay in touch with your customers and keep them up to date on what is happening with your business. If you put the advice from this article into practice, your business will boom.
