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Many types of Internet advertising don't work as well as they
once did. People have gotten used to banners and don't click on
them. Some ezines have failed to keep their readers' interest
and ads sometimes get less response. Search engines are
overflowing with submissions. Getting your site listed high is
almost impossible.
More and more businesses and organizations are now turning to
email marketing to keep profits rolling in. While an increasing
number of people say they rarely surf the Net, the vast majority
of North Americans check their email every day.
Email marketing is the most effective and efficient way to
influence purchases and keep customers informed and happy. It is
also extremely inexpensive. Where you might have mailed out one
printed customer update every month, you can now email one every
week for a fraction of the cost.
Increasingly, companies need to embrace email marketing in a big
way in order to stay competitive. Those who formerly used a
service to send out their newsletters, sales info, and consumer
updates are now doing all the emailing themselves.
New technology that is powerful yet easy to use allows anyone to
handle email jobs that previously required expensive
professional help. Many companies are bringing their email
campaigns in house in order to have more control, grow their
email efforts, and decrease costs.
Here are four features you will want to use in your email
marketing efforts:
1. Include HTML in your email messages. Most email programs are
now equipped to read HTML. Your logo, banner, bullets, and color
elements can make your message jump off the screen. You can even
include forms that allow customers to order instantly from your
message. You take advantage of impulse purchases that can lead
to big increases in sales. One note on HTML, it is best to
create message that is in both HTML and text format, allow the
clients software to display the appropriate version. Also if
possible, pre-qualify your customers desire for HTML.
2. Use a campaign manager feature to schedule when your email
messages will be sent out. You can prepare an entire months'
worth of messages and tell the manager which weeks, days, or
hours to release them to your list.
3. Take advantage of a POP import feature. It automatically
takes the email addresses from messages you receive and puts
them on your mailing list. This insures no one who requests
information from you is left out of your next update. This also
helps you grow your list as fast as possible. You can even use a
feature that automatically unsubscribes those who ask to be
removed from your list. Many companies say this saves them hours
of work each week.
4. Make sure the software you use to send your messages includes
a walk-through wizard. You get step-by-step instructions on how
to do any task you wish to achieve. Instead of waiting for the
tech guy to show up, you can speed through the job on your own.
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