The Exciting (and Very Much Alive) World of Email Marketing

If you’ve been ignoring email marketing on the assumption that it simply doesn’t work, it’s time to think again. But don’t worry, it’s never too late to launch a successful email marketing campaign – you just need to take the right steps first. In today’s article, we’ll show you how to successfully launch an email campaign that really works.  

Starting from scratch

If you’ve not yet looked into email marketing, there’s still a very good chance that you have the prerequisites. That is, a set of valid email addresses. If you’re an active business with active clients, it’s likely you already have their email address stored somewhere. But let’s not run before we can walk – you can’t simply email everybody en-masse without permission. Doing so would land your domain on spam blacklists across the country, and we don’t want that. The best way to get started is to speak to each of your existing clients and ask if they’d be happy to receive email communication (including exclusive offers, news, and so on) from your company. If they’re okay with this, add them to your newly growing subscriber list.

Finding new subscribers

Once you have a small subscriber list of existing clients, you’ll also want to find a way to reach new subscribers. The best way to do this is to add a non-invasive sign-up box somewhere on the front page of your website or company blog. The reason we say non-invasive is because nobody wants to feel like they’re being forced to sign up. You can wax lyrical about the benefits with the surrounding text, but the motivation needs to come from the user. Depending on the traffic to your site and how active your blog is, a sign-up box can be a very effective route to email marketing success.

Choosing the right email distribution method

Just as with any other form of marketing, the way you deliver your message is all-important. If your subscriber list is very small, you may be able to get away with using an email program and the BCC: field, but that’s really not a scalable solution. Instead, do your research and look at some of the mass email services on the web. These come in the form of either software or web apps, and will allow you to really scale up your email marketing. Examples include options like MailChimp and DotMailer, but Google is a great place to start. Using these services is recommended because they offer security and privacy for your clients, both existing and prospective.

Now you’re all set to launch your first email marketing campaign, the only question is: what will you send? This ball is in your court, we’re afraid, but there are plenty of examples online for you to explore. Just like a company blog, your email content should be engaging, entertaining, and most of all should offer some tangible benefits (like offers and such). Doing your research here will really pay off.

To learn more about managing your marketing the right way, and keeping your subscriber list topped up with happy customers, why not check out the AutoVu CRM platform? It really is CRM made simple.