Permission Email Marketing -- www.OnlineOrganizing.com

You Are Here: Home - Newsletters - "Organized For A Living" - Article

	Permission Email Marketing

	by Robin Nobles

We all hate e-mail spam, right? I even have the coolest software program that will help you combat spam and actually bounces the spam e-mail straight back to the user. But what do you do about spam that comes from a list you SUBSCRIBED to?

GIVE THEM A WAY OUT

One thing that we often fail to admit is the importance of permission e-mail marketing -- where the members of your mailing list have given you permission to CONTACT them, or where they're past customers of yours. Obviously, these e-mail lists are always opt-out, so if someone chooses not to continue receiving information from you, they can easily get REMOVED from the list.

A POWERFUL TOOL

Stephen Mahaney is the editor of Planet Ocean -- one of the best sources for up-to-date information in the search engine industry -- and he's easily one of the top marketing guru's on the Internet. I spent several hours on the phone with him recently, and he told me that Time Magazine wrote an article in their November 3 edition that dealt with the importance and impact of permission e-mail marketing. In quote straight from the magazine, it is said that "E-mail marketing is fast, EFFECTIVE and dirt cheap -- a godsend for marketers in an economy that has crunched advertising budgets." Time is clearly going on the record of saying that permission e-mail marketing is one of the most VALUABLE means of making sales on the Internet, but only if done properly.

STAY IN TOUCH

In the words of Stephen Mahaney, "If you have yet to 'correctly' integrate 'permission email marketing' into your online business plan, then you risk being thwarted by your competitors that do. It's just that plain and simple." So, while SPAM e-mail should always remain locked tightly in a closet (never to be let out), permission e-mail marketing is a crucial way for you to keep in touch with your customers and those interested in your products or services. Let's look at five effective permission e-mail marketing strategies, tips that many Webmasters fail to do, and they ultimately LOSE business because of it.

TRENDS IN EMAIL MARKETING

Traditionally, permission e-mail marketing campaigns result in a significantly higher RESPONSE RATE than traditional direct marketing or other forms of online advertising, such as banner ads. According to FindMoreBuyers.com, the response rate for a typical permission e-mail marketing campaign is 4-12%, where as the response rate for a banner ad is .5-1%. Quite a difference.

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE

According to Emarketer.com, DoubleClick projects that e-mail marketing BUDGETS will increase by 17.0% in 2002, which is nearly twice the rate of other types of online marketing, which are expected to gain 9.0%. TV, print and radio budgets are all expected to decrease. Not only that, DoubleClick reports that 61% of marketers plan to increase their e-mail marketing budget in 2002. And Forrester Research estimates that the total spending for e-mail marketing services in the United States will reach $2 billion by the end of this year.

MAKE THE MOST OF INQUIRIES

If someone writes for INFORMATION on your goods or services, save those e-mail addresses! Remember that sales aren't always made the first time someone hears of a service or product. One trusted source told me that you have to hear about a product, service, or company at least twenty times before you begin to TRUST that company enough to do business with them.

MAKE IT EASY

Set up an online FORM where people can sign up with their names and e-mail addresses to receive a copy of your monthly or quarterly newsletter or updates to your site, or to ask you questions. Have the information go straight into a DATABASE that contains the e-mail addresses of everyone who has written to you for information. Then, create a newsletter that is not just a sales pitch for your products and services. Offer valuable tips to your potential customers. Give the newsletter true VALUE, and those potential customers will begin to look forward to hearing from you. Then, when it's time for them to purchase the types of goods or services that you offer, who do you think they'll go to? The company they can trust: you!

DON'T MAKE THEM WAIT

Respond to your e-mail or to the questions asked on the form within 24 HOURS, if not sooner. When people go online looking for something, they usually send e-mail out to 5-6 companies. If your company is the first to respond, and if you've taken the time to answer the questions professionally and thoughtfully, you'll have a jump over those other companies, many of which won't even answer the e-mail at all.

DON'T TIE THEM DOWN

Always provide a way to "opt-out" of your e-mail list. Make it very clear how your subscribers can choose not to receive the newsletter or e-mail any longer, and then immediately UNSUBSCRIBE them when they write to you. Remember: having permission to send the e-mail in the first place by only adding those who have contacted you and expressed an interest in your product, and giving those people a way to get off your mailing list, will DIFFERENTIATE you from the millions of e-mail spammers that have given e-mail marketing such a bad name.

START OUT RIGHT

Take time in creating your SUBJECT line for your e-mail marketing campaign. Make sure it doesn't sound "spammy" in any way. Including your name or company name is a possibility, as well as describing the focus of the e-mail. With these new e-mail programs that combat spam, if you use a subject line like, "We've got GREAT news for you!" or "Hi, Friend!," you can expect the e-mail to be deleted without ever making it to your potential customer.

CONTINUE TO SHARPEN THE SAW

How can you learn effective permission e-mail marketing strategies? Stephen Mahaney attributes much of his online success to effective permission e-mail marketing. He's even gone so far as to write a COURSE on the subject, which I've personally reviewed. It offers a step-by-step approach on how to create an effective permission e-mail marketing list and how to market to that list. The course even comes packaged with a full version software program for merging each message with the people on your list so they'll each get a personalized e-mail. Check out Stephen Mahaney's "Business Guide to Permission Email Marketing" course and software at www.email-solutions.com/moreinfo/.

MAKE THE MOST OF EMAIL

So, hit while the iron is hot, and permission e-mail marketing is certainly "hot" right now! Learn how to use it effectively, and then watch those PROFITS increase!

RobinvNobles, Director of Training, Academy of Web Specialists, has trained several thousand people in her online search engine marketing courses and also teaches 4-day hands on search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe. Visit her website at www.academywebspecialists.com. You may contact her at .

Would you like to reprint this article in your publication -- or distribute it to a wider audience? Click here for reprinting instructions.

Want to receive these kind of articles via e-mail each month? Sign up for a free newsletter subscription.

Click here to return to "Organized For A Living" -- February 2003...