E-Mail Marketing is Smart Marketing
E-mail marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools available
for today's small, medium and large organizations and businesses.
Communication Breeds Contentment
A critical part of any relationship is communication, whether it be
personal, business-to-consumer, business-to-business, or in today's
politically charged arena, politician-to-constituent. Such
communication nurtures the relationship through personal interaction.
With e-mail marketing you can solidify existing relationships, initiate
new ones and convert one-time visitors, buyers and members into repeat
business and long-term customers or contributors. Keeping in regular
touch with your clients and constituents helps them stay informed and
ensures that your business or organization is understood, well
remembered and appreciated.
Cost-Effective Marketing
E-mail marketing is easy, affordable, direct, actionable and highly
effective. When you add e-mail to your marketing mix, you spend less
time, money and resources than with traditional means, such as direct
mail or print advertising. In fact, with a response rate five times
greater than direct mail and 25 times the response rate of banner ads,
e-mail marketing is the most effective way to increase sales, drive
traffic and develop loyalty. And, unlike direct mail, there is
virtually no production, materials or postage expense. So, with e-mail
marketing, you can easily and affordably create more communications
that are valued by your customer.
According to DoubleClick, a leader in online advertising:
- Well-executed permission e-mail marketing campaigns can have a positive impact on consumers' attitudes towards companies.
- 67% of US consumers said they liked companies that, in their opinion, did a good job with permission e-mail marketing.
- 58% of consumers said they opened those companies' e-mails,
while 53% said that such e-mails affected their personal buying
decisions.
You can communicate more quickly which means your time-sensitive
information is disseminated in minutes, not days or weeks and you can
see the results of your efforts instantly. E-mail marketing is an
affordable way to stretch a tight marketing budget. It can cost as
little as fractions of a penny per e-mail. Studies show that both
senders, and recipients increasingly prefer e-mail marketing. Again,
according to DoubleClick, permission based e-mail is the preferred
method of communication for consumers.
- 75% rated it as their preference
- 25% preferred postal mail
- 0% chose telemarketing.
Coping With Spam: Opt-In Lists
Today's increased focus on combatting e-mail spam means focusing on the
concept of permission-based e-mails. "Confirmed opt-in" or "double
opt-in" e-mailing is to date the most rigorous method of obtaining
permission to send e-mail campaigns, compared with the traditional
"Single opt-in" method. Here's what they are all about:
Single Opt-In is the most widely accepted and routinely used method of
obtaining e-mail addresses and permission. A single opt-in list is
created by inviting visitors and customers to subscribe to your e-mail
list. When you use a signup call on your site, a message goes out to
the subscriber acknowledging the subscription. This message should
reiterate what the subscriber has signed up for, and provide an
immediate way for the subscriber to edit her interests or opt-out.
Confirmed Opt-In (double opt-in), a more stringent method of
obtaining permission to send e-mail campaigns, adds an additional step
to the opt-in process. It requires the subscriber to respond to a
confirmation e-mail, either by clicking on a confirmation link, or by
replying to the e-mail to confirm their subscription. Only those
subscribers who take this additional step are added to your list.
ISPs and corporations are now doing everything they can to stem the
tide of spam flowing into their users' e-mail inboxes. Without a
foolproof solution to turn to, some ISPs now require confirmed opt-in
for e-mail delivery. They do this because the subscription tracking
capabilities associated with confirmed opt-in can help them
differentiate legitimate commercial e-mail from spam and protect their
customers from receiving spam.
Advantages of Confirmed Opt-in
Confirmed opt-in ensures that
those who are receiving your e-mail want to receive it; it can protect
you against spam accusations; and it allows for e-mail delivery to ISPs
who require confirmed opt-in for e-mail delivery. The confirmed opt-in
method prevents:
- E-mail address collection without permission
- Accidental subscription due to e-mail address mistakes
- Subscriptions made by an unauthorized third party
Easily Measure Results
The benefits derived from most types of
marketing and advertising are very difficult to measure. With e-mail
marketing, however, you can easily measure the number of e-mails sent,
e-mails opened, bounce backs, unsubscribes and click-through rates. You
can also tell who opened your e-mail, which links in your e-mail
motivated the most clicks and, even more specifically, who clicked on
each link. All of this useful information can help you send highly
targeted campaigns to the individuals most likely to respond to your
message.
Hints on Choosing a Company for Your E-Mail Marketing
1. I would suggest choosing a company that has been in business many
years. The reason: If they are suggesting they have millions of e-mail
addresses, they would have had to have been around for a good many
years in order to have acquired all those addresses. You can check to
see how long an Internet E-Mail Marketing company has been around by
visiting http://www.networksolutions.com. Once there, click on the
"WhoIs" button; put in the company's domain name and you will see a
column of information on the company, including the date it was
created.
2. Have third-party verification of their e-mail list.
3. Have the company recommended by a reliable and trusted source.
I only recommend CyberSoup Marketing for your Internet needs.
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