E-Power: Using E-mail Marketing and Newsletters for Building a Small Business

E-mail Marketing and Newsletters for Repeat Sales:

Keeping in regular contact with your potential and existing customers is important for any business owner, but especially small business owners.

Let's face it, the cost of snail mail and the poor return rates on direct mail campaigns have made e-mail and online marketing strategies far more appealing to small business owners. Lose the letters and get on the E-train if you haven't already; it's where the profit party is happening.

Here are some useful tips for small business owners who want to send newsletters or use e-mail as a key marketing strategy.

Use an E-mail Marketing Service:

Rather than create bland, HTML-scripted e-mails or plain text, you can take advantage of any of the many e-newsletter or e-mail marketing services out there. 

Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com) is just one of hundreds that only cost a small fee each month. Vertical Response is another. You can, of course, always send out e-mails to your list yourself with a free service that offers less functionality than a paid service.

Set Up a Communication Schedule:

Staying in regular communication allows you to let your opt-in list know when something's new, there's a sale, or something else they can't pass up. 

Make sure that you only communicate when you have something of value to tell your customers. E-mailing too often or with irrelevant content will only get customers to unsubscribe. If you send only interesting e-mails, customers will begin to anticipate and even look forward to your next e-mail.

Put Opt-In and Sign-Up Boxes on Your Site:

Several of the smartest business owners I know make it as easy as possible for customers and visitors to their website to sign up for their e-mail list. 

Even brick-and-mortar stores should have an e-mail list sign-up at their checkout or events to collect customer information. There are also a host of other creative ways to obtain customer information (legally) such as:

1. Offering a free sample with registration.
2. Hosting a contest or giveaway.
3. Offering an exclusive coupon or discount only for subscribers.

Track Your Statistics:

Many of the e-mail marketing services you can subscribe to also let you see vital statistics. Who opened the e-mail? Who didn't?

How many people clicked through to your site? How many people unsubscribed? How many new subscribers do you have? How many e-mails didn't get through? How many were marked as spam? Knowing this information will help you gauge the effectiveness of your newsletter campaign.

Include Images and Links:

No newsletter or e-mail marketing campaign can be effective unless there is a call to action, with links to your website where customers can either find out more information or purchase products that you've promoted. 

Make sure that every photo is linked back to a product or service on your website, and that there are several links within your text that readers can click through to learn more or buy.

 

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What's Next

Next In This Guide
Part 37:
9 Tips for Successful Article Marketing - Writing articles and publishing on the web is an excellent marketing strategy for online or brick-and-mortar companies.

Previous In This guide
Part 35:
Getting Links to Your Website - Links are the life source to any website; without links your visibility online is limited to people who know your website address. For successful online promotions, links are essential.

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Street Smart Guide to Small Business Marketing

 

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