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Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective marketing techniques on the web, even these days when times are tough and it seems like no matter where you turn, that’s all you hear about. Do some channel flipping, cruise around on the web, cruise around in your car and listen to the radio, and if you’re one of the few that’s still reading the newspaper, pick one up and take a look. The economy doesn’t seem to be getting any better and apparently, that news really sells because it’s everywhere. If you’re out doing your thing, shopping, or just window shopping, you’ll notice that there are people out there spending money. They might be spending less, but they’re still spending.
Even though the recession is here and future isn’t looking so bright, there still is money to be made and if you’re involved in email marketing then at least you’re marketing efforts are low cost. Look at it this way, you’re not paying for postage and printing and everything else. With some thoughtful decision making and a clear head you can still earn some money with your efforts. Don’t panic. Think things through. Use common sense and be creative.
Right now is a great time to step up your efforts. The old saying, only the strong survive, really shows itself when the economy struggles. Now’s the time when the big dogs thrive and the little guys fade away. Think of the mentality of the buyer during uncertain times. They want what seems to be the strongest. They’re not interested in the weak. So, it might be the best time to really step your game up, even if it means you’re appearing more successful then you are. Isn’t that what you always want anyway? So, do the most that you can and take advantage of all the tips and tricks you can find. You might be using some of these things that I’ll talk about, but you probably aren’t doing them all. Maybe you were doing some, but you got lazy. Maybe you’re new to it all and need some advice.
Take a minute and think about your email inbox. What does it look like? I’m not asking what color is your background or what does your font look like, but what is there? Is your inbox loaded with unread email? Is it loaded with only the emails you think are important because you clean it daily? Do you spend twenty minutes a day deleting emails that you never read? It doesn’t really matter what you do, because most likely you’re getting emails you don’t want. Let’s say you get an email from a sender you’ve never seen before.
If the subject of the email isn’t so ridiculous that it makes you swear under your breath, or the name of the sender isn’t some combination of two unrelated words that couldn’t even possibly be somebody’s real name, then you might read on. That’s a pretty big “if,” but you might, especially if there’s a reasonable promotion in the subject line or something clever that doesn’t sound to sales-pitchy. So, you read it and you go from there. If the email had some value to you then you might click through and make some kind of purchase or save it to a folder, or whatever. The next time you get an email from that address you’re more likely to act on it.
Think about that for a minute when you’re putting together your own emails to create sales. If the emails you generated on your mailing list came from some kind of sign-up application that is legitimately related to what you’re selling, then you’ve already got your foot in the door and it’s up to you to not stick your foot in your mouth. Don’t be pushy and over bearing. Be informative and clear and offer up something that is going to get people at least a little excited.
Don’t overlook the little things. When you’re sending out emails you might forget how the email is going to appear to the recipient. Think about how you determine what emails you read. In your inbox you probably see the sender’s name and the subject. It’s kind of like if you’re at a bookstore looking for a book. The author’s name isn’t terribly important unless you’re looking for something specific. You just want the name to be a name, and not something corny or fake-sounding. That’s kind of the same thing with your email. Then you read the title and make your decision from there. A good title is going to get your email read, a stupid title is going to wind up in the trash.
You really have to step back and be objective about every aspect of your email marketing. If you were getting these emails you’re sending, then what would you do? What would you think? When you’re putting together some kind of promo or offer, think about it and what it’s worth to the consumer. Be careful, don’t get too imaginative here, really be honest with yourself and objective. Would you be attracted to the offer? Now that you’ve answered that question, ask yourself the question again and this time be honest about your answer. Would you really?
There are aspects of sending out emails that seem ridiculous to mention. You wouldn’t think that anybody would need to be told to include contact info or some form of support in their emails, but it’s amazing what gets overlooked during marketing campaigns, even the major ones. It’s not just enough to include contact information. You have to make it readily available and easy to find and you’ve got to express how easy it is to get in touch with you or your company if the need exists to do so. Obviously, not including contact information is going to prevent people from directly contacting you, but forgetting it is also going to give the impression that you don’t want to be contacted. That’s not good.
There’s a lot of things you can do to create sales through your email marketing efforts even through this recession. When the dust settles, if you’ve done things right and put the hard work into it with a little creativity, you’ll be standing tall with an even greater market share since the others will have fallen off. You just have to stay positive, be smart, and take in as much knowledge as you can.
