Here’s a Quick Way to Improve Your E-Mail Campaigns

E-mail spam is something that everyone HATES, but as soon as they start sending their own e-mail campaigns, they don’t consider it to be spam. Sending to a list of random “leads” may be common ground for many businesses using direct mail, but should not be considered when using e-mail marketing. Here are some guidelines you can follow to make sure you’re getting the most out of your e-mail campaigns:

You should only be sending campaigns to people who fall into the following categories:

1. People who have specifically signed up through your website: For example, if one of the forms on your website has a checkbox where customers can opt-in to receive your newsletter.
2. People who completed offline forms & indicated they wanted to be e-mailed: For example, if the person filled in a competition form or a survey where they specifically agreed to receive email campaigns from you.
3. People who gave you their business card and asked to receive email: If someone gives you their business card and after hearing about your newsletter, they show an interest and ask to receive it…you can contact them.
4. They purchased something from you in the last 2 years: By purchasing a product or service from your store, the customer has implicitly agreed to receive correspondence from you. However, it is much better to get explicit permission from each customer.

The underlying concept here is that they asked to receive e-mails from you. I always say, “a list of 10 loyal fans of your company with open ears is better than 1,000 strangers who couldn’t care less about you.”

E-Mail is NOT Direct Mail

Technology has given anti-spam organizations the ability to track and attempt to prevent people from sending unwanted mail to massive lists. One of the reasons e-mail marketing has such a higher conversion rate than direct mail is that people have asked to receive correspondence from you. With direct mail, many people throw your mail away and become frustrated, linking that anger with your brand. But there isn’t anything they can really do about it. They could try calling and complaining, but would it really accomplish much? No.

With e-mails, people can show their frustration by either unsubscribing from your list, or worse…marking it as junk mail in their e-mail program. Each time someone marks an e-mail as spam, the e-mail marketing provider is notified and may suspend your account if too many spam complaints are received. Also, the reputation of your domain decreases the more you are flagged as being a spammy sender and this may lead to legitimate e-mails ending up in your customers’ junk folders.

So, when building your lists, always consider these guidelines:

• Never buy a list of leads for e-mail marketing purposes: You will regret it. Not only will it lower the reputation of your domain name, it will also generate little to no revenue compared to a list of genuinely interested customers.
• Don’t assume people care about you just because they’ve purchased from you: Yes, many e-mail marketing providers, including GoldVine E-Mail Marketing, allow you to send e-mails to past customers, but not all of these customers want to hear from you. You will experience a much stronger response rate if you ask your customers first. This is as simple as adding an option to sign up for your newsletter that they’ll see when they are completing their purchase on your website. Or if you’re selling out of a physical space, just tell your customers you have an awesome newsletter with promotions, hot news, etc. How could they say no to that?!
• If it doesn’t feel right…it probably isn’t: In these sorts of situations, just put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. How would you feel if you received the e-mail considering the relationship you share with the customer? Would you mark it as spam, or would you be truly interested in reading what the person has to say?