Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Email Marketing: Your Ultimate Guide

What Is It?

On the whole, email marketing refers to process wherein email is the method of communication employed by companies and internet marketers in keeping in touch with prospects and clients. Email is used to notify customers and clients about the latest product releases, new promotion offers, and important business news. It is also used for the online newsletter issues. Like the TV infomercials, marketing emails are intended to quickly catch the consumers’ attention and keep them interested.

Why Should I Use It?

1.) You will save a lot on the advertising cost

The traditional methods for advertising such as putting up ads in magazines, newspapers, and TV infomercials are generally expensive. Advertising is a crucial part of your success as an internet marketer so you must not put it aside just because of its cost. However, thanks to email marketing, you no longer have to shell out a huge amount of capital for the advertising. Email services are free! Creating your own newsletter is simple and easy, while sending a promotional broadcast through email is extremely fast!

2.) You can connect with a large audience

Any company or internet marketer will benefit from all forms of promotion. May it be a marketing email ad, infomercial, newspaper ad, magazine ad, classified ad, or billboard ad, an advertising avenue is sure to be advantageous to your business as it greatly increases your reach to the consumer population.

3.) You can have more earnings

The basic concept here is that the more customers you reach, the more money you will make. This is exactly why most businesses employ internet marketing in their overall marketing plan. Not only is it inexpensive, it is also exceptionally effective.

Keystones in Selling Your Email Program’s Value

1.) Your homepage

By having a label that says “Register now to receive email updates” and a link to the registration page beneath it will not exactly tell the potential subscriber why he should provide his email address. They would not even have a clue on what these “updates” are going to be about.

Instead, you should have something like “Sign up now to join our site and get to receive email-only bargain offers, advance sale notifications and discounts.” This way, they will know what to expect in their mails and look forward to it. You must also have these invitation ads not just in your homepage but in every page of your website.

2.) Your signup page

This is the best location to let the potential subscribers know why they should register to receive emails, what kinds of email you will be sending, how often you will be sending these emails, and what will the emails be about. Many businesses do not give this much importance; they would just slap up a checkbox and next to it, a single sentence asking the potential subscriber to sign up. Such a setup is blatantly focused on the subscription purpose itself.

Here are the things which should be included in your registration page to effectively communicate the value of your email proposa

- privacy policy (assure them that you will keep their email addresses confidential)
- an impressive explanation of benefits (tell them what’s in it for them)
- images, links, and transactions (such as links for signing up, confirming the registration, and even unsubscribing)

- graphics (it should model the email template to assist the potential subscribers to identify it quickly)
- a thank-you page (it must appear instantly after a successful registration. If must include the acknowledgement of the subscription, restate the benefits of signing up, and provide detailed instructions on how to verify the subscription)

You must, however, do the aforementioned carefully because asking for too many details up front might make you seem like coming on too strong. Just get the necessary information to begin the relationship, and then slowly move on.

3.) Your welcome program

Do not just let them be reminded that they are subscribed by using a “You are subscribed” message. Whenever they log in, such a message will not remind the why they signed up in the first place and the value of your email will not be conveyed. Your welcome program must be one that would bring subscribers into the fold and assist them in getting up to speed immediately.

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