|  Your
website is a destination location. Like
a retail store that's located in a hard-to-find
area of town, people must have a reason
to visit your site. People will visit your
site from an online search, from your URL
that's printed on an advertisement or a
business card. But the best way to get people
to come back is to send them an email.
It
costs seven times as much money and effort
to get a new client than it does to sell
an existing customer additional services.
Email is not a great acquisition method;
it works best as a retention marketing tool
to get past customers to re-engage with
you.
Why
Email?
Email
is an elastic medium. Done right, it snaps
people back to your site and organization.
In the business world, email is the first
and last thing they check each day when
they get into the office. Email still remains
one of the top applications people use to
communicate.
Done
incorrectly, however, people will tune out
your messages, unsubscribe, or complain
to your ISP. (So make sure people aren't
surprised when you send them messages.)
 Best
Ways to Use Email Messaging:
- Keep
in touch with your clients. Don't
feel like you have to publish a newsletter
with information about new products and
press releases. Use it instead to automate
staying in touch by using personalization
properly.
- Let
past customers know about upcoming events.
If
you're going to be going to a trade show,
email can be a great, cost-effective way
to reach out and let people know you'll
be in their area.
- New
Products or Services. Email is
an ideal way to let people know what else
you can do for them.
- Give
relevant links to your site.
Make sure that your emails allow people
to visit relevant areas of your website,
so that they can drill-down for more information.
(For example, visit
here to read our past eLearning Series
articles >>.)
Email
Marketing Mistakes To Avoid:
I've
written about this extensively in another
eLearning series (visit
here for the full contents of the series),
but here are some key mistakes to avoid
when it comes to email marketing:
- Non-permissioned
list. One
of the fastest ways to kill your reputation
and/or get your mail server shut down
is to send messages to people that you
don't have an existing business relationship
with. Make sure people expect messages
from you, and that if people sign up on
your site, that you have a time, date
and IP address record of their request.
- Messages
that are too long. Know
your audience. Make sure that your messages
are tailored to the people who read them.
A message that is too long won't be read.
Often a shorter message can outperform
a longer one. Use your website for more
detailed drilldown information.
- From
Line. Make sure that your full
name and company name is in the From display
line. I get a lot of messages that I'm
likely to discard from people that just
have their first name in the email FROM
line.
- Subject
Line. Make sure that you have
a subject line that gets people to open
the message and pay attention. Make sure
it's relevant. This is one area to personalize
for best results.
- Make
sure your contact information is in the
email. Often
people forget to put their phone number
or other contact information into an email
message... this makes it unlikely that
someone will be able to respond other
than via email.
Summary:
Done correctly, Email Messaging
can drive past customers and prospects back
to your website. It's a reason
we're in business today. Without our email
newsletters and eLearning series, it would
be difficult to stay in touch with the thousands
of individuals we've worked with in the
past. |
