Email Marketing - Increase Your Business

Although the reputation of email marketing has been sullied by unscrupulous practitioners who have flooded people‟s email accounts with the Internet version of three-card monte the vast majority of email marketers are legitimate. They are, in truth, the vendors who ply their wares along the virtual Main Street that runs through every town, village, city and country of the world. They are IBM and Microsoft. They are also my friend Ellen. Broken down to its most basic definition, email marketing is simply a form of direct marketing that takes advantage of the Internet and email services to allow businesses – and non-profits and charities, etc. – to send commercial or fundraising information directly to potential customers and clients. While this definition covers “email marketing” in its broadest sense – that is, any and every email message sent to a current or potential customer or client, when we speak about email marketing, we usually have a much more focused picture in mind. “For example,” I said to Ellen, “let‟s say that you wanted a regular customer – me – to come in to try and different kind of pie. You could engage me in email marketing to get me back in the shop and to think about trying more of your wonderful pies.” In other words, email marketing is a lot more than simply sending out emails saying, “Here I am!” They are as subtle and important as any other type of successful marketing, only adapted to the realities of the twenty-first century world. Email marketing is designed to improve the professional relationship between a merchant and his or her customers, to bring old customers back or to just keep the customers coming in (both to the mortar and brick store or to the virtual store on a website.) In short, email marketing seeks to strengthen the bond between merchant and customer. Of course, a well-crafted email message is also designed to win over new “converts” – people who might become new customers. Such a message also acts as an enhancement to some “impulse” shopping. For example, if I wasn‟t in the mood for pie but I received an email from Ellen with a brilliant graphic of strawberry shortcake… well, that might just be enough to get me to stop by for a slice. Or, more likely, if the email advertised candies, to make a point of ordering or picking up candies for a special friend. Oftentimes, email marketing will be a “collaborative” effort. In other words, Ellen‟s emails might include virtual coupons from some other shop. “The ceramic store perhaps?” Ellen asked enthusiastically. “They have a lovely line of coffee mugs.” “Exactly,” I said. There are many reasons to opt for email marketing over the many other marketing methods and outlets that exist. For starters, email marketing is the most profitable – and affordable – way for a merchant to reach his existing and prospective customers. Studies have shown that nearly eighty percent of marketers and almost seventy percent of customers believe that email marketing is effective. “Can you say as much for the advert you put in the paper?” I asked Ellen. “God no!” she exclaimed. Then she became thoughtful. “I don‟t think anyway. How would I know?” “The same way the pros would – you‟d guess,” I explained. “That‟s how it‟s always worked in the past. Whether print, radio or television, there was no way to really know how effective your ad campaign was. “Sure, you could track the changes in business or sales before and after an ad runs, but in the end, you are just guessing. With an email campaign – especially one that is linked to a web site, you would be able to know exactly how many people opened the email, how long they spent reading it, which links they clicked and what they were most interested in.” “You‟re saying that I could probably figure out if people shopped in my shop because of what I offered or what I charged?” “With a well-structured campaign, absolutely,” I said. “And once you‟ve earned a customer‟s trust then your continued emails will be incredibly effective. Your email campaign will seem almost like a personal correspondence with them.” There are many advantages to email marketing that make it preferable to other forms of advertising. Once a merchant has purchased or acquired a mailing list (through in-store sign-ups, etc.) she is able to get her information out to a large number of specific actual and potential customers without the scattershot imprecision of every other type of media and marketing. What‟s more, this can be done at a very low cost, particularly when the mailing list is used over and over. (The mailing list is often one of the most significant costs in email marketing.) Another advantage to email marketing is that it is instantaneous. Unlike other forms of marketing – like snail mail – when you hit the “send” button, the message is delivered immediately, not two, three or four days later – if at all.



Email marketing is proactive. Unlike simple website marketing, which is a passive form of advertising (the site is there, the customer must come to the site) in the same way a mortar and brick shop almost always represents a passive merchant-customer relationship (the shop is there, the customer must walk through the door.) I refer to this dynamic as the “mother ship” dynamic. Almost every merchant feels that she can offer her customers a first-rate product or service if only her customers would come to the mother ship. With email marketing, the dynamic is shifted and with it the energy of the relationship. Email marketing allows you to go to your customer. It is proactive. It is forward-leaning without being agressive (your customer can still choose not to respond to the email or the advertising.) Of course, as I‟ve mentioned, email marketing allows you to track your customers‟ preferences. Knowing your customers‟ preferences puts you, the merchant, in a much stronger position when it comes to marketing your service and product. “Imagine,” I said to Ellen, “if you had the ability to identify which of your customers loved only pie and which loved only chocolate candies and which leaned towards chocolate chip cookies – you would be able to tailor advertising to each one of them in such a way to bring them into the shop, or to have them make a purchase on line. In either case, you do not waste time, money or your customer‟s goodwill by bombarding her with product or service information that is of no interest to her.” What‟s more, many new laws (and even marketing etiquette) require customers to “opt in” to receive emails. By working with such “opted in” customers, you are already working with a customer base which you know is inclined to respond favorably to your product or services. It is also possible to make email marketing “interactive.” Certain types of responses to your marketing campaign could result in other messages to be delivered. As I suggested to Ellen, someone who purchases a box of chocolates at Valentine‟s Day is likely a romantic who might be interested in her line of “sweet seduction” candies. Someone ordering a “theme cake” automatically adds to the customer profile on hand. While this advantage might not be terribly obvious for Ellen‟s products, imagine how other merchants could take advantage of such things. A sporting goods company getting an order for hiking trousers could automatically add the customer‟s profile for a special sale on hiking boots, fishing gear or birdwatching books. A druggist whose customer purchases suntan lotion automatically puts that customer on the list for sunglasses specials. And, email marketing is green. No more wasted paper and envelopes. No more trees needlessly chopped down for naught. Ellen, as you can imagine, was duly impressed by the possibilities email marketing afforded her – and equally energized by the possibilities that the world of the Internet opened to her as a person, should she choose to embrace it. But despite her enthusiastic response, Ellen had, to quote her, “seen more than a few seasons come and go in my lifetime.” “I‟ve been to more country fairs and heard more carney barkers than I‟d care to remember,” she said. “I know for a fact that nothing is ever as good as it sounds. So what‟s the downside?”



Ah, that‟s Ellen. Always thinking. A good thing too. For nothing in the world is perfect and for you to be successful at email marketing, you need to be thoughtful, creative and hard-working. The primary disadvantage to email marketing has been the problems created by the overuse of email marketing and the unscrupulous behavior of a small minority of marketers. These people churn out and send unsolicited bulk email – better known as SPAM. Because the misuse of email marketing predates the more appropriate use of email marketing, legitimate merchants have found themselves digging themselves out of a hole not of their own doing. Often, the perception of email marketers is so negative that it is nearly impossible for legitimate marketers to convince customers to distinguish them from the spammers and outright fraudulent email marketers. This is made more difficult because illegitimate spammers go to great lengths to appear to be legitimate, making it even more difficult for the legitimate email marketer to establish his space. The proliferation of spam email on the Internet has forced most users to set up a spam filter on their computer. Some marketers complain that their legitimate emails get caught up in the filter‟s net. “That‟s the downside?” I nodded my head. “That‟s it. Other than the fact that unscrupulous folks kind of got there first, I can‟t think of any downside to email marketing.” Ellen was thoughtful as she nodded her head. “That‟s very interesting,” she noted. “No downside.” She looked me in the eye. “It‟s effective, efficient, affordable…” “Easy to get started,” I said, adding to her list. “Flexible and, to tell the truth, it‟s kind of fun.” I chuckled. “Watching all your customers read your email in real time.” Needless to say, I had gotten her attention. I hope I‟ve gotten yours.