How to make an email campaign work
How to make an email campaign work
You know in the old days, (about 3 years ago) one of the methods of contacting potential customers was direct mail – in other words sending out a letter to people or businesses who you thought might be interested in what you do. Well what are replacing direct mail quite rapidly are email campaigns – that is, emails that are sent out to potential customers with information about your products or services.
Emails have several advantages over direct mail. You can tell that someone has opened them; you can tell if that email is no longer valid; the communication is instant and it’s free!
WHAT’S THE LAW ABOUT THIS?
Generally speaking you need to be careful about spamming people – in other words sending them communication that they don’t want or haven’t asked for. That’s easy when they’re already your customers – of course you can communicate with them, but what about people who aren’t your customers? I would say contacting people who aren’t your customers once or twice is fine. Make sure that you have an unsubscribe option at the bottom of the email – you know, “If you no longer want to receive mail from us, click here to unsubscribe”.
HOW CAN YOU MAKE EMAIL CAMPAIGNS WORK FOR YOU?
Let’s face it, no one likes purely promotional emails – you’d much rather read something that was of interest to you. Last thing you want is someone deleting your email without even reading it. So, the email you send out should be designed to test out whether someone receiving it is ‘interested’ in your products or services. Ideally, this should be in a series of stages i.e. stage 1 could be requesting a free report (email sent to everyone); stage 2 could be asking them to participate in a free workshop (email sent only to people who have asked for free report); stage 3 could be an offer of a free meeting to discuss your products and services (sent only to people who have attended workshop).
Sending emails in stages as outlined above tests how interested people are at each stage meaning that at stage 3 or 4, you’re only communicating with people who are really interested in what you do.
WHO SHOULD I SEND MY EMAIL CAMPAIGN TO?
Ideally you should send your emails out to a list of your target customers. If you don’t have a list already, you could buy one – there are a number of list providers around. Or you could start to build a list by offering your target customers a free tips sheet if they give you their contact details. For instance, if you’re targeting mothers, you might want to give a free talk at a mothers and toddlers group and offer to send them your free tips if they give you their email address. Once you’ve got their contact details, you’ve started building your list.
Always go for quality over quantity though – far better to have 10 people who really are your target customer than 300 people who aren’t.
HOW DO I START?
Get your list together or start building it, write your email and press send. Don’t forget to check your email through for spelling and grammar before you let it go. And if at all possible, Blind Copy everyone so that all the other emails can’t be seen (press the TO box on your email and you’ll see the BCC option).
Remember to tick the Read Receipt box so that you know who’s read your email (or at least opened it anyway) and you can also tick the Delivery Receipt box so that you know your email has been delivered.
You should aim to test and measure your campaign so you know whether or not it’s worked. The key things you want to record are:
The number of emails on your list
1) The number of emails that were delivered
2) The number of emails that have bounced
3) The number of emails that were read
4) The number of unsubscribe requests
5) The number who request what you’re offering
Monitoring these checks will give you a pretty good idea of whether or not your email campaign has worked for you.
Good luck.
How to make an email campaign work - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling's Website.
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WHAT IS AN EMAIL CAMPAIGN?
You know in the old days, (about 3 years ago) one of the methods of contacting potential customers was direct mail – in other words sending out a letter to people or businesses who you thought might be interested in what you do. Well what are replacing direct mail quite rapidly are email campaigns – that is, emails that are sent out to potential customers with information about your products or services.
Emails have several advantages over direct mail. You can tell that someone has opened them; you can tell if that email is no longer valid; the communication is instant and it’s free!
WHAT’S THE LAW ABOUT THIS?
Generally speaking you need to be careful about spamming people – in other words sending them communication that they don’t want or haven’t asked for. That’s easy when they’re already your customers – of course you can communicate with them, but what about people who aren’t your customers? I would say contacting people who aren’t your customers once or twice is fine. Make sure that you have an unsubscribe option at the bottom of the email – you know, “If you no longer want to receive mail from us, click here to unsubscribe”.
HOW CAN YOU MAKE EMAIL CAMPAIGNS WORK FOR YOU?
Let’s face it, no one likes purely promotional emails – you’d much rather read something that was of interest to you. Last thing you want is someone deleting your email without even reading it. So, the email you send out should be designed to test out whether someone receiving it is ‘interested’ in your products or services. Ideally, this should be in a series of stages i.e. stage 1 could be requesting a free report (email sent to everyone); stage 2 could be asking them to participate in a free workshop (email sent only to people who have asked for free report); stage 3 could be an offer of a free meeting to discuss your products and services (sent only to people who have attended workshop).
Sending emails in stages as outlined above tests how interested people are at each stage meaning that at stage 3 or 4, you’re only communicating with people who are really interested in what you do.
WHO SHOULD I SEND MY EMAIL CAMPAIGN TO?
Ideally you should send your emails out to a list of your target customers. If you don’t have a list already, you could buy one – there are a number of list providers around. Or you could start to build a list by offering your target customers a free tips sheet if they give you their contact details. For instance, if you’re targeting mothers, you might want to give a free talk at a mothers and toddlers group and offer to send them your free tips if they give you their email address. Once you’ve got their contact details, you’ve started building your list.
Always go for quality over quantity though – far better to have 10 people who really are your target customer than 300 people who aren’t.
HOW DO I START?
Get your list together or start building it, write your email and press send. Don’t forget to check your email through for spelling and grammar before you let it go. And if at all possible, Blind Copy everyone so that all the other emails can’t be seen (press the TO box on your email and you’ll see the BCC option).
Remember to tick the Read Receipt box so that you know who’s read your email (or at least opened it anyway) and you can also tick the Delivery Receipt box so that you know your email has been delivered.
You should aim to test and measure your campaign so you know whether or not it’s worked. The key things you want to record are:
The number of emails on your list
1) The number of emails that were delivered
2) The number of emails that have bounced
3) The number of emails that were read
4) The number of unsubscribe requests
5) The number who request what you’re offering
Monitoring these checks will give you a pretty good idea of whether or not your email campaign has worked for you.
Good luck.
How to make an email campaign work - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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