By Lori Gama-White
www.DaGamaWebStudio.com
"Email penetration is at an all-time high of 91 percent among Internet users between the ages of 18 and 64. Search has the second highest penetration among Internet users." -From EmailMarketer.com.
E-mail marketing is the act of e-mailing valuable information, in the form of an e-mail newsletter (HTML or text), to a list of people who asked you to send it to them.
They asked you. They gave you their permission to market to them.
But, in exchange for this opportunity, you must not abuse it. You can't sound like a commercial in any way. Always remain true to the reason people subscribed in the first place. If they opened your newsletter expecting to read the latest statistics, trends, news, tips or whatever they signed up to receive, you've got to deliver that or they'll unsubscribe. (Be sure to give them the option to unsubscribe, too). Include links to back issues so people can read them and decide if they're interesting enough to subscribe to.
Highly successful E-mail Marketing campaigns include some form of incentive. Discounts or money off is the top most effective way to get people to open up your newsletter, according to a study done by IPT, a UK marketing firm. Borders Bookstore almost always includes a coupon that saves you 20% on your next purchase. It's a way to draw you into the store and keep them top of mind. We're busy people and we need to be reminded sometimes.
How do you begin to build your list of subscribers? If they want your valuable information, they'll give you something valuable, too: their e-mail addresses and/or names, addresses, as well. As long as you don't sell, lease, rent or give away the captured information, most people will give it to you. Be sure to include your policy above the subscription box to reassure your Web site visitors. If you use an E-mail marketing program to provide a subscription box on your Web site, each time someone subscribes, their information is automatically stored into your mailist, saving you lots of time of data entry.
A contact form is another easy way to capture information. A contact form is much more effective in capturing leads than a simple e-mail address link. A form usually asks for essential pieces of valuable information: name, e-mail address, phone number, address, a specific choice or two and a comment box. Don't forget a "thank you" page so they know their information was successfully sent. Again, don't abuse that information. It should only be used for the reason you state on your Web site.
An e-mail link is not as simple as you might think. People are in too much of a hurry to stop and think of what they want to ask you, which is what you're making them do when they click on that link and their default e-mail program opens. (What if they don't use Outlook?) They'll probably abandon contacting you.
Make it easy for them by providing some choices in your form that they can checkmark. The form processes on your server and e-mails its information to you.
Increase your leads by adding a newsletter opt-in subscription form (the shorter, the better) and/or adding a contact form to your Web site. As long as you're giving away useful information to your opt-in subscribers, they'll keep reading your e-mailed newsletters.
Lori Gama-White owns DaGama Web Studio in Greeley, Colorado. Developing strategic, results-oriented Web sites since 1997, Lori Gama-White and her team of Web professionals are passionate about helping people get their businesses on to the Internet. For more information, questions or comments, call 970-378-7822 or e-mail .
© 2005 Lori Gama-White - All Rights Reserved -
http://www.dagamawebstudio.com
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