Many types of Internet advertising don't work as well as they
once did. People have gotten used to banners and don't click on
them. Some ezines have failed to keep their readers' interest
and ads sometimes get less response. Search engines are
overflowing with submissions. Getting your site listed high is
almost impossible. More and more businesses and organizations
are now turning to email marketing to keep profits rolling in.
While an increasing number of people say they rarely surf the
Net, the vast majority of North Americans check their email
every day. Email marketing is the most effective and efficient
way to influence purchases and keep customers informed and
happy. It is also extremely inexpensive. Where you might have
mailed out one printed customer update every month, you can now
email one every week for a fraction of the cost. Increasingly,
companies need to embrace email marketing in a big way in order
to stay competitive. Those who formerly used a service to send
out their newsletters, sales info, and consumer updates are now
doing all the emailing themselves. New technology that is
powerful yet easy to use allows anyone to handle email jobs that
previously required expensive professional help. Many companies
are bringing their email campaigns in house in order to have
more control, grow their email efforts, and decrease costs. Here
are four features you will want to use in your email marketing
efforts:
1. Include HTML in your email messages. Most email
programs are now equipped to read HTML. Your logo, banner,
bullets, and color elements can make your message jump off the
screen. You can even include forms that allow customers to order
instantly from your message. You take advantage of impulse
purchases that can lead to big increases in sales.
2. Use a
campaign manager feature to schedule when your email messages
will be sent out. You can prepare an entire months' worth of
messages and tell the manager which weeks, days, or hours to
release them to your list.
3. Take advantage of a POP import
feature. It automatically takes the email addresses from
messages you receive and puts them on your mailing list. This
insures no one who requests information from you is left out of
your next update. This also helps you grow your list as fast as
possible. You can even use a feature that automatically
unsubscribes those who ask to be removed from your list. Many
companies say this saves them hours of work each week.
4. Make
sure the software you use to send your messages includes a
walk-through wizard. You get step-by-step instructions on how to
do any task you wish to achieve. Instead of waiting for the tech
guy to show up, you can speed through the job on your own. I
hope this helps in your future marketing decisions.
About the author:
David Bell is Manager, Online Marketing, at
http://www.wspromotion.com/ , a leading Search Engine
Optimization services firm and Advertising Agency.
