Email should now be an important part of any business’s marketing strategies. With so many people being connected to the Internet, if you are not emailing potential customers then you are missing a serious trick. However, you can’t just send out emails and expect immediate positive results. You need to know how to use emails effectively, and you need to know which people to contact. Take the time to learn some tricks and tips for Internet marketing, to ensure you aren’t wasting your money.
Personalize the Message
This is something that can be easily overlooked. You may be sending out a mass email to thousands of customers, but the customers should feel like the email was sent specifically to them. Your potential customers should feel like they are important to you, rather than feeling like nameless faces in the crowd. The best and easiest way to do this is to personalize your messages. Make sure that the emails you send always address the customer by name (where known).
Timing is Important
Most people have access to the Internet all the time via mobile phones or laptop computers. This means that an email you send will probably be seen relatively quickly. You should use this to your advantage by sending adverts at key times. For example, if you want to advertise your coffee shop, send out emails early in the morning so all the commuters will see the advert and stop in for coffee on the way to work. If you are advertising an online store, you might be better off sending your emails in the evening when people have the time to surf the web at their leisure rather than trying to sneak a look in the office when the boss isn’t around.
Consider Your Formatting
Emails are not just read on computers any more. They can also be read on tablets, phones, and laptops. This means that your email may be appearing on a variety of different screens and in a variety of resolutions. Consider this when you are designing your advert. Ensure that no matter what size screen is used, the advert remains clear and readable. One of the most important things is making sure the text is nice and big so it isn’t a struggle to read on a mobile phone.
Use Opt-In
One of the most important things about email marketing is making sure your company is not considered as a “spammer.” If you buy a list of data and start firing out emails to people who haven’t asked for them, you are going to cause annoyance and damage the reputation of your company. Furthermore, if you haven’t checked the data you are using, you could be wasting money sending emails to people who are deceased, or to email addresses that are no longer used. You should always use an opt-in system, whereby people must specifically select to receive emails from you. This way you know that you are always sending to valid email addresses, and you will not get an unflattering reputation.
Monitor Your Success
Sending out thousand of emails may sound like a great way to improve your business, but you need to consider how you are monitoring your success. If you don’t monitor the responses, you will have no idea if you are doing a good job. You could actually be wasting lots of money on campaigns that simply don’t work. Consider monitoring in the short-term and the long-term. For example, monitor the hits on your website immediately after sending out your emails, but also monitor if those hits result in people subscribing or becoming repeat customers. Your aim is to build a loyal following of people who will come back to you… repeatedly.
Running a business in the modern world involves taking full advantage of every technology available. While print advertising in magazines and newspapers still has its place, you also need to consider how to get your advertisements onto people’s computers and mobile phones. One of the easiest ways is to send out emails to potential customers. However, there is a risk that you could cause annoyance by doing this, so take the time to learn some good email marketing strategies.
