What Can You Gain from Email Marketing?

Today, we’re featuring a post from our own Customer Success Rep and email marketing expert, Ryan Miller:

As technology evolves, so too must our marketing efforts. The world has changed, and people now spend more time in front of their computer screens than their TV sets or newspapers. And while this shift may render traditional marketing channels less effective (though by no means obsolete), it also brings about a whole new set of possibilities for reaching out to and connecting with clients and prospects via the Web. Email marketing is a fantastic tool for increasing the number of potential clients you reach and staying in better contact with customers you have already established.

The idea behind successful email marketing is to establish trust between you and your contacts. Set your messages apart from all of those unwanted email messages that clutter your contacts’ inboxes. Clearly define their expectations up front and stick to delivering what you promised. If someone is expecting to receive a message from you once a week and you send something to them every other day, chances are they’ll become upset and unsubscribe from the contact list. With all of the ways for customers to review your business online, they can easily write a bad review and thus tarnish your online reputation and ultimately harm your brand.

With building trust and protecting your reputation in mind, you’ll want to focus on three main areas of concern for email marketing:

1. Growing and maintaining your list of contacts It is obviously important to have a list of email addresses where you can send these messages and stay in contact with potential customers. It is also essential to grow that list if you want to grow your business. However, obtaining new addresses through less than reputable means can do far more damage than the upside of finding a few good leads. It’s extremely important that you obtain your list of addresses from people who are interested and consent to receiving messages from you. Giving an option on your website to subscribe to your mailing list is a good starting point. Leveraging social networks and reaching out to “friends of friends” is a great way to use the Internet to obtain new emails, but the old adage of “a handshake and a smile” can still go a long way toward growing your list of contacts as well.
2. Improving the delivery rate of your messages Your online reputation in the eyes of internet service providers (ISPs) directly impacts your delivery rate. Unfortunately, the old saying “one bad apple ruins the whole lot” can be applied to email messages. Spammers have been abusing the system for years now, and their poor behavior has caused countless headaches for legitimate email marketers. The CAN-SPAM act was passed in order to establish rules and requirements for commercial messages. So knowing the law and following it will go a long way toward distinguishing yourself as a legitimate email marketer in the eyes of the ISPs.
3. Tracking the performance of your messages Tracking the performance of your messages is one of the biggest benefits to using email marketing. The easily measured nature of emails allows you to monitor your campaign’s progress towards achieving goals that you’ve established for your marketing efforts.

In an effort to help our users and visitors to our blog become more successful online marketers, our Customer Success Team has created a helpful article that discusses some best practices and tips for effective email marketing. Check out the full article here.

As we continue to transition to an online world, consider the value of shifting your marketing online and thus staying in contact with clients better while reaching a wider audience. Email marketing is an inexpensive and very effective way to accomplish this. So take a look at the article, review the resources provided, and drop us a line if you have any of your own tips on email marketing.