While social media is all the rage, and everyone wants to follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, and link up on LinkedIn, I still believe there is a place for email in your marketing mix.
Email is an important part of your overall internet marketing campaign. As a small business owner, it is a simple and affordable way to stay in touch.
Over the last few years I have written quite a lot about email marketing. Here is a summary of some of my favorite tips:
- Respect the Can-Spam rules – Be sure to include an unsubscribe link in your email to be CAN-SPAM complaint. Even if a client opted in at some point, they always have the right to opt-out at a later date. Be sure to give your readers that option.
- Earn the right to keep them coming back with Customer Focused Communication – Focus on information that is interesting or relevant to them! Sometimes the most valuable information you can provide potential customers is general information which demonstrates your overall knowledge or position as a business resource.
- Special Offers – Include special offers or coupons in your newsletters. Make this a regular sections, so interested consumers know where to look for your latest offer. Short-term offers or coupons with an expiration date are more likely to make the phone ring, today.
- Keep it Short – People are busy, so limit your total content to no more than 350 words. Remember this is not a one shot program.
- Track relevant measures such as the open and click through rates. As you experiment over time, you will notice certain headlines and offers perform better.
- Offer more specialized content – Instead of a one-size fits all approach, consider sub dividing your list into small groups, and sending different information to each group. The result is typically an increase in overall open rates and click through.
At Roundpeg we use two email tools, Constant Contact and AddressTwo, depending on the type of campaign we are sending. If you need help getting started, we would be happy to talk to you!