| |
| |
|
Email Marketing Information |
|
|
|
EMail Newsletter Marketing Essentials
If Gutenberg were alive today he would be in publishing heaven! Forget the printing press, the web has fast-forwarded self-publishing in ways that are evolving so rapidly it's becoming difficult to integrate technology and process to leverage the opportunities. Any company, regardless of their size and marketing resources should be publishing an opt-in e-mail newsletter - it's a very low cost way to build community with customers, keep suppliers/partners/other informed and generate new business. How do you get started? You must decide up front if you have the marketing expertise to develop your "newsletter creative" in-house and how you want to manage the distribution of your newsletters. Many companies turn to agencies/marketing services firms to help them develop the actual newsletter creative and also outsource part of the process to ASP (Application Service Providers), who handle all facets of the list distribution, signup and ongoing management. Content format can be critical to the effectiveness of your newsletter - we typically don't recommend HTML (text with images/graphics embedded) format unless our client's product or service is very consumer-focused Plain old text is not as glamorous as HTML but it's a lot more effective in most cases - people want information, not fancy eye candy that's appealing to marketing geeks - keep your message, simple, to the point and with customer success stories or references when/where you can to drive credibility. It's relatively simple to use a Word processor with a mail merge program to integrate the addresses (depending on the volume) with your message and then send out via your ISP. But, doing it in house can be very time consuming - you have to deal with inbound requests for people who want to be added to your list, "unsubscribes" (people who want to be deleted) and integrate your web site into the process, so people can automatically sign up with a back end auto-responder (automatic message) that confirms their sign up. Most companies utilize an Application Service Provider ("ASP") to outsource the list hosting, signup and unsubscribe management processes and web site integration - typical costs are under $50. per month based upon your number of subscribers (on average up to 10-30K), frequency of your newsletter mailing (rule of thumb would be 2-4 times per month) and other specialized features, such as bounce back deletions (deleting any e-mails that have a "bad address") and making the HTML code available with a graphic to sign up people directly from your web site. Be forewarned, most list hosting providers tell you up front they reserve the right to delete your account if they catch you spamming thousands of people whose e-mail addresses were not "opted in" (given to you with permission to market to them). What do you want to look for in an ASP List Hosting Provider? You want great customer service, an online interface that enables you to easily manage the process, the ability to easily to cut and paste your text (newsletter copy), instant distribution of your newsletter and the ability to know at a glance how many subscribers you have on an ongoing basis and the number of new subscribers and unsubscribers. There are lots of list hosting companies out there - I'd recommend including two on your short list. One of the oldest, most well established companies that has consistently won rave reviews for excellence in customer service is Sling Shot Media, LLC www.listhost.net - they've been hosting since 1998 (ancient in web time) and offer a wide range of consulting services related to all aspects of newsletter marketing. The other company to check out would be Microsoft's bCentral Services www.bcentral.com which offers list hosting as one of its services. I can't give them rave reviews for customer service, as they make you pay extra for anything more than e-mail support which can be a hassle at times. But, their list hosting interface is easy to use, works well most of the time and they are price competitive. Finally, one of the biggest marketing challenges facing many small to medium sized companies is generating a newsletter subscriber list. I don't have sufficient space in this column to address this challenge - but, it's a classic go/no go situation; the longer you put it off the harder it becomes, so get started, the upside rewards are too significant to delay! About The Author Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience - he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com a results-driven marketing services company providing proprietary services to clients encompassing startups to public companies. Lee@intelective.com
MORE RESOURCES:
e-mail email marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Combating List Building Frenzy: Take The Time To Promote It is an accepted fact among the experts now that online marketing succeeds only with a quality, highly targeted permission email list in place. As a result, the multi-level marketers have pounced on this and everywhere you look another "matrix" lead generating system springs up. Persistence, Patience, Dedication - The Nick Martin Interview Name: Nicholas John Martin aka Nick MartinAge: 24Residence: Copenhagen, Denmark (Europe)Business name: LifeStyleNetworkerBusiness address: http://www.LifeStyleNetworker. Add Email To Your Marketing Mix If you are serious about adding email to your marketing mix, you should take email seriously enough to develop a plan for it. Too many organizations launch a half-baked email program and then are disappointed when it doesn't live up to expectations. Using Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) For Email Privacy Need for PrivacyPeople have become hypersensitive about their privacy during the last few years. They now expect that their details will be used only for the purposes for which they have been provided and not shared by original trustees. 5 Things You NEED to Know About Your AOL 9.0 Subscribers In Fall 2003, America Online (AOL) released its brand new AOL Version 9. (Have you noticed all the TV ads?) AOL estimates that up to 50% of their users were using the new version by the end of December 2003. What Is An Email Signature And What Do I Do With It? You hear it all the time.. Market Your Business through Newsletters Most business people on the web subscribe to at least one newsletter, if not more, that focus on different aspects and markets they are interested in. Because of this, it is important for your company to also have a newsletter that provides viable, relevant, and current information and that also markets your product or service. Lumpy Mail Gets Your Message Through When it comes to your gravy, lumps are bad. When it comes to getting your marketing message through the mail room, past the gate keepers, and onto your buyer's desk, lumps are just the ticket. Learn The Five Key Steps To Getting Free Publicity For Your Internet Site and Products 1) Website FocusMake sure your site is focused on a specific category of products. I cannot stress this enough. Build Credibility With an Email Course When you are an expert, you sometimes forget that others don't know as much as you do. Not only do you understand your topic at a higher level, but you also know what's important for a novice to know. Use Permission Based E-Mail Marketing to Promote Your Home Based Business With all the negative Publicity that S.pam is Getting, Permission Based E-mail Marketing is frequently too often overlooked as the Misunderstood step Child of Internet Marketing. Free Email Accounts - Pros and Cons Free email accounts are great if you want to hide your identity. They are great to sign up for free stuff. Great Response by Auto Responder 1. Collect leads with your autoresponder. Save Time By Creating Email Signature Templates If you're like me, there are certain types of email that you send out regularly that follow a set form (client follow up notes, meeting notes, email article submission, etc). These can be irritating to have to recreate from scratch every time, but the tried and true method of creating a seperate document-file template, then sending that out as an attachment, may not always be appropriate. Email Scam Warnings Most people online are very familiar with the Nigerian Email Letter Scams. They've victimized thousands over the years and continue to do so. Hot List-Building Tips Here are some hot list-building tips for you to grow your list and your business.1. Your Money Is Still In Your List - Build It! You are a home business entrepreneur. You have just built a fantastic website, acquired a host of good products but your advertising budget is small. Autoresponders for Beginners Hi you may or may not know that your Autoresponder in your first few months promoting your service, product or opportunity, is the most important tool in your box!So, you have just joined your new business or taken on a new product that you would like to make you a few $ or a lot of $ on the net, first thing you must do is get yourself an Autoresponder.You can get them free from lots of places on the net if cash is tight, but remember if it's free then there will be a down side, like their ads on your mail, to your subscribers so think carefully on what you decide, as it's probably your single most important decision you will make!Right, let's get started. Email: When You Dont Get a Response The lack of an email response is an issue I have grappled with many times especially since I rely on email as a primary means of communication rather than the phone because of my hearing loss.You email a client, follow up, and whatnot. Signature File Dos and Donts Signature files have been around since, well, before most current Netizens were even aware that e-mail existed. Most will use their signature file as a quick identifier of who they are and what they do and provide a link to their Web site while those online for personal use will serve up witty, clever and many times interesting quotes.
|
| Article List | Index | Site Map |
|
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved. |
