Your First Email Marketing Campaign
Congratulations! So you've started your business and now you are thinking of landing your first contact. You heard money is in the list and you are now thinking of creating a list of prospective clients for future marketing purposes. Or perhaps you haven't created your first contact but you intend to start a list.
The thought sounds exciting and adventurous until you discover that you can lose those hard earned contacts and worse, you could be criminally charged for spamming or sending unsolicited emails on the internet. Most of us are unaware that there are laws that prohibit businesses sending unsolicited emails on the internet and we become liable when we do the wrong thing.
In this article, I will show you how to create an email campaign without putting you or your business at risk. You will develop what is called a "whitelist" which means a list of authorized contacts while maximizing your earning potential through lead generation. You will also learn what is email marketing, how to build your first authorized email list, how to create autoresponders, and how to use email marketing as the premier tool for success in your business. Let's start with sending a clear message...
Sending Loud and Clear
Let us say that you have never sent an email before and you are thinking of introducing your products and services to potential buyers. The first impression is always the best foot inside the door of any business. Therefore you want to ensure that an introductory letter is prepared. This should be brief and highlight the features and benefits of your business to the prospect.
Once your letter is prepared, make sure it is edited properly before sending it to your contacts. Depending on the nature of your business, you should target people who would be interested in your offer. In order to determine this, you could look at the yellow pages within your neighborhood or community,
After you have identified your market you are now ready to make your first communication with them. This communication is referred to as an email marketing campaign, but first, we need to seek permission from these contacts. Many would ask the question: "what is email marketing"? We will now look at how an Email Marketing Campaign aids in this communication...
Email Marketing Campaign
This form of communication is one of the best ways to communicate effectively with your contacts. It is a planned and organized way of sending emails, newsletters, updates or marketing information to your customers and prospects in a timely manner.
Time-based emails are normally automated and sensitive. Sending an email at the wrong time could negatively impact the desired response. On the other hand, sending emails regularly and on a timely basis could improve the possibility of future business between parties.
With that being said, there are 4 important things to look for in an effective email marketing campaign.
Who is sending the email- It is legally mandated that contact information is affixed to your email campaign. This adds credibility to your message and creates trust about your business.
Content- This form of communication is different from ordinary emails because it is specific to your business. Whether you are sending a newsletter, or you are informing your contacts about an offer or promotion, it must be clear in your mail.
Action- Your email must have an action at the end for it to be effective. These actions are normally linked to a sales page, an offer or a giveaway. If one is sending a newsletter, it must be very informative and entertaining. It should highlight community happenings, events or notices.
Opt In Features- Unfortunately, there could be a time when your contact is no longer interested in your offers or business. He or she should have an option to exit your program. It is mandated by law to have your unsubscribe button at the end of your email marketing campaigns.
Authorized Recipients
Now that you have ascertained who to send these emails to, you are ready to dispatch them. Your list should have contact persons who agreed to receive your first emails. Once the client agrees, you should create a template email that indicates you recently received permission to send emails. After the prospective customer receives and clicks the "subscribe" link in the email, they are automatically added to your list.
You can build various lists within your email marketing account. This enables you to send relevant offers and information to each list, for example, "work from home list" "employed list" "students list" "Customers list" "Prospect list" and so on.
If you did not get permission, in the beginning, you should not send an email marketing campaign until you at least first communicate with your prospective contact.
The purpose of this preliminary exercise is to reduce the likelihood of unsubscribed contacts on your list. Although you cannot control when someone decides to unsubscribe from your program, there is an accepted ratio that will not send a red flag to your email marketing providers.
If there are too many unsubscribes and spam report, your account could be terminated or BLOCKED. Therefore, it is reiterated and advisable that you get permission prior to sending your first email marketing campaign.
When you have satisfied the above requirement and are ready to send your emails, you will be asked some questions by the provider. This is a further attempt to advise you of the laws of email marketing and also to ensure policies are adhered to with respect to a method you used in garnering your first contact list. In addition, it is an opportunity to welcome you to the email marketing program.
Now that you have satisfied the above criteria, you are ready to send your first email marketing campaign. However, after sending your first campaign, there is no need to manually time and follow through. Setting up an email marketing campaign allows you to set the time and frequency of trigger emails. These trigger mails are called autoresponders.
Autoresponders
Autoresponders are time-sensitive emails that are sent out automatically to your contact list. The purpose of this smart way of communicating is to keep your list updated and fresh. It also provides life to your business as it triggers a follow up once someone receives, opens or reads your emails. You can always change how you want your autoresponders to be sent.
Your email marketing plan should allow you to create signup forms which could be embedded on your website. The smart way to build contacts is to affix your email marketing link in your personal email. Please be reminded that it MUST have an opt-in link to allow the subscriber to enter or leave your program at any time. THIS IS MANDATORY.
The key to a successful email campaign is to keep your emails unique, short and very informative. Always remember to communicate your intentions with a link to solicit further actions. Once you set a time for the email to be sent, you will be able to get feedback. Let's use similar initiative to review the entire purpose of email marketing.
Feedback
We have looked at how to create an email marketing campaign by preparing for the first authorized recipients of the campaign. We further looked at creating an effective autoresponder and now we will need a feedback from our program to tweak our marketing efforts.
Fortunately, most email marketing software have tracking capabilities similar to Google analytics. This tells you the demography, affinity, and habits of your target markets. The software also indicates who opens your email, unsubscribe or take action by clicking on a link and so on. Having reviewed all the relevant details of the work that you put into your email marketing campaign, you will be able to change your timing, improve your product information, or increase your list to improve your chances of conversion in the future.
Your company's Email Marketing campaign should set the pace for your business expansion while you concentrate on another aspect of your business. The good thing about email marketing is that when the entity is not open for business, email marketing is still open 24/7. That is the beauty about online marketing and technology.
Jon Oringer once quoted: "The best ways of marketing were email and banner advertising, but I needed images... and they were very expensive."
Today most of our email marketing plans are equip with free images and templates. Combine all in your email marketing platform and create magic!
One reader once sent this message: "So here I was browsing this website and after couple seconds, a contact form jumped out at me, I just couldn't resist! Pretty smart, right?"
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