Montreal Marketing Consultant - Montreal Business Marketing - Silver Maple

I recently worked with a 3^rd party email marketing service provider on a white paper that describes how companies can increase the effectiveness of their email campaigns. Now email marketing has been around since the beginning of the Internet. In those halcyon days of the mid 90’s when Hotmail was giving out free email addresses, the power of this new mass communications tool was still unknown. And just as quick as you can hit the delete button, email marketing took off as a low cost direct marketing tool for small businesses. According to the DMA, 94% of marketers use email marketing which is more than direct marketing (86%). With everyone jumping on board, what techniques could be used to maximize their effectiveness?

You have to ask your customers out on a date before they can trust you.  Seth Godin, the brilliant marketer who wrote “Permission Marketing” said it best”…that means you have to offer something that makes it interesting enough to go out on the first date” A whitepaper, a discount, free products etc… even if the prospect doesn’t accept your initial offer. It’s not just a smart sales technique but a sound business practice. By giving potential customers something of value, you position yourself as a resource and you initiate trial.

And then she told two friends and so on. By getting your customers and fans to refer you to their friends, you can grow your mailing list organically. Just include a “forward to a friend” link in your email and watch your list grow! Also, make your site content, newsletters, and social media both “sticky” and “sharable” by adding links on your page to “bookmark this site”, “send this article to a friend”, and “connect” on Facebook”.

Companies have to do a better job at targeting their email campaigns and testing the results. How many email marketers bother to verify their lists regularly? It’s very difficult to hit the target (2% open rate, 20% signup rate etc…) if the person has changed positions or doesn’t work there anymore. Email marketing is an iterative process which is a fancy way of saying you learn from your mistakes before try again.

Which leads to the next point, you have to have a follow up engagement strategy. It feels good to give away something for free but you have to plan the next steps to take. It could be a string of emails with special offers based on recipients browsing habits on your website. (Yes, there is a way to find out what visitors do after they come on your website). You could also direct them to your Facebook page and encourage them to become a fan for even more discounts. An email campaign is how they get to know you; the rest is up to you.

Goodbye doesn’t mean I don’t like you. For those people who unsubscribe because they prefer less communication; you could suggest that they follow you on Facebook or Twitter. You can keep the relationship alive with people who unsubscribe without offending them it just takes tact and diplomacy.

For more tips on email marketing visit me on Facebook!