This week we will focus on two additional elements of email marketing that one should keep in mind when reaching out to potential and existing customers on the web. Read on to learn more.
Lesson 3:
Do: Create value in your e-mailing.
Don’t: Attempt to sell with no utility for your subscribers.
It’s easy to use your newsletters as a means of selling your products or services. It’s harder to offer a value to your subscribers whether they make a purchase or not. Give people a reason to subscribe and to remain subscribed. Understand it’s not ‘free’ to people to be on your e-mail list; it costs their time and that is arguably the most valuable and irreplaceable resource people have.
Your goal should be to have a mix and balance of both and offer content that is useful and that the reader can’t get anywhere else. You have to figure out ways to engage your subscribers. E-mail one part of a three-part story and follow-up with the other parts in later e-mails. Have polls or solicit open-ended questions and give them a place to respond.
Lesson 4:
Do: Allow users several ways to opt-out.
Don’t: Neglect preferences.
All the experts agreed that offering an opt-out option is essential to not annoy customers and clients, but also as a measure of protecting your brand. You don’t want your company e-mails to be associated with being spammers. Recognize and understand the importance of permission. It isn’t taken, it’s given. Subscribers will revoke permission, one way or another.
An e-mail preference center is a Web page you create for customers who sign up for your e-mail program. Here, you give them a chance to tell you what they want by letting them choose and manage the types of messages they receive from you. While preferences can create a little bit more work for you, they improve the experience for your customers by ensuring they only receive the kinds of e-mail from you that they want.
Stay tuned for more great tips to follow in upcoming editions of this blog post. We hope to get some feedback from you when you read these posts on Ginger Domain. Thank you for tuning in.