Brett Krkosska
Managing Editor
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How to
Market Your Business
With Email
Marketing with email is still a great way to communicate with customers. Use these tips to
make your email marketing the best it can be.
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| Email marketing continues
to be a favored method of reaching consumers among U.S. businesses. In a survey by the
Direct Marketing Association, two-thirds of companies say their sales increased because of
email marketing, and sixty-three percent credit email as the most effective way to retain
customers. This isn't so surprising given
that email is the most popular activity among Internet users. This popularity, coupled
with email's cost-effectiveness as a marketing vehicle, make it an important customer
acquisition and retention tool. |
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Before looking at the various ways
you can use email marketing, let's examine how to make your campaigns more effective. Like
other marketing methods, when using email you should pay attention to some basic rules of
engagement.
Track Your Marketing Results
Another important consideration is the performance of your promotions. Tracking allows you
to test your promotions and zero in on things that work. Here some ways to
evaluate the results of your marketing efforts:
Six Effective Ways To Market With Email
By targeting your market you bring in willing
buyers. With an attention to delivering value, you remove barriers that hinder sales.
Through repetition you're able to demand recognition, and with performance tracking you
are able to market with the greatest impact. Now you can market with gusto! Here are six
very effective methods:
1. Start an Opt-In Mailing List
This is a favored method of many email marketers. Those who opt-in to your list have
already shown an interest and are ripe to receive your messages. Provide useful and free
information people can really use, and at the same time offer services or products which
cater to their needs.
To collect email addresses you can use a free cgi script such as the one offered at WorldWideMart.com.
Another increasingly popular email collection technique is the "one-click"
script from OptInAutoMator.com.
To send out your messages you can use programs that run on your computer or you can use an
online service and avoid all the techie stuff. Programs such as GroupMail from Infacta.com and WorldMerge by ColoradoSoft.com are both
good choices for personalizing and sending mail from your computer. Constant Contact , Dundee.net, and Sparklist.com provide reliable online
distribution service.
2. Offer an Email Course
There are a couple of ways this can work. The first is to offer a free email course from your site. Using an autoresponder you can deliver your
material in small chunks over the period of a week or two.
Alternately, you could offer a valuable freebie
that requires your visitor to leave their email address before claiming it. The delivery
of your e-course becomes a condition of claiming the freebie.
You can introduce your products and services within
the context of the e-course, but it should be done in a subtle and casual manner. Just
make sure you are enhancing the information they first sought. Overall, the idea is to
create a relationship with people - a trusting bond built upon your expert status and
ability to deliver truly useful information. This credibility factor can result in sales
long after the course is over.
3. Self-Submit Ads to Ezines
You can save some money and advertise in your own
hand-picked ezines. There are literally thousands of ezines looking for advertisers, and
if you've got the time to browse directories such as EzineLocater.com, you're bound to find many ezines that target your
market. Placing classified is very cost effective and if you choose well, you can see
fantastic results. A couple of good ezine directories are EzineHub.com and WebScoutLists.com.
4. Advertise in Email Newsletter Networks
These services let you advertise in newsletters within their network. The amount of time
you'll save is worthwhile in itself, but the real value comes from being able to profile
your ad for specific target groups. Some reputable networks include Opt-Influence.com, EzineAdHelper.com, and SodaMail.com.
5. Rent-a-List
You can promote your business with a rented list.
Reputable companies providing this service maintain only the email addresses of people who
have agreed to receive commercial email. Renting a list can be quite expensive since
you'll pay as much as 25 cents per address, however you can get some great results with a
highly targeted list. Safe list sources include HTMail.com, and PostMasterDirect.com.
6. Write Articles and Get Published
Many ezine publishers and site developers are
hungry for good content. Getting published in just one high-profile ezine can give you
exposure in front of thousands of potential buyers. Prime spots to promote your articles
are IdeaMarketers.com and GoArticles.com. For a listing of
other sites accepting articles click here.
Joining a few article announcement lists from hosts such as Groups.Yahoo.com is also an effective
way to get published. Some popular lists include Article_Announce, Free-Content, and
ArticlePublisher.
In conclusion, email is without a doubt a very potent
marketing tool. It should be an integral component of your marketing plan if your goal is
spectacular results. And what business doesn't want that!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brett Krkosska provides how-to advice on small
and home-based work issues. Get start-up guidance, business ideas and inspiration at http://www.HomeBizTools.com. Become
a subscriber for a
fresh and original perspective on today's business issues.
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print publication.
REPRINT TERMS:
- You may re-format article for your publication. However, the
content must remain unedited and author's resource text at bottom of article must be
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