Next Generation of Email Marketing

Things go in cycles - we've all heard this. Email marketing isn't new, far from it. It's been through at least one cycle from being leading edge, to being a trend, to being abused. Many thought that spam filters would reduce the applicability of email marketing. Well, read on, because we're in the next generation of email marketing - post learning - and the opt-ins are on the increase!

It's called "direct-to-desktop" publishing, and right now, it's the exclusive property of Fortune 500 companies who are paying tens of thousands (even hundreds of thousands!) of dollars to have hotshot developers create custom software that lets them cash in on the new technology.

Direct-to-desktop publishing gives these elite companies the kind of advantages that most Internet marketers can only dream about...

• 100% guaranteed message delivery

• Instant messages that appear in full color and sound, right on a customer's computer desktop

• An exclusive, private communication channel with loyal customers and subscribers
  ... All in a customized, branded window with their company logo at the top.

When you visit one of these companies' web sites (think online music stores, sports fan sites, entertainment sites, and so on), you'll see an offer that says something like "Click this button to receive instant updates direct to your desktop."

Click the button and you'll download a small, customized "reader" application that lets your computer receive messages from the company.

The advantages of 'Direct-to-desktop'

Direct-to-desktop publishing lets you send HTML messages directly to your customers' desktops -- instantly, reliably, and electronically -- without having to wrestle with e-mail filters, bounce backs, or competition.

Once customers sign up, they don't have to check their e-mail or visit your web site to get your latest news or updates. A flashing desktop icon alerts them as soon as they receive a message from you -- and all they have to do is click to read it.

It's brilliant. The system doesn't use e-mail, yet it is 100% opt-in -- subscribers simply turn off the program if they wish to stop receiving messages.

... It's a win-win situation for everyone involved: Subscribers receive messages only from companies they trust. No spam, no pop-ups, no third-party ads... just legitimate messages from a sender they want to hear from. And companies get to deliver their messages without ISPs or e-mail filters getting in the way.

Treat Email Like The Telephone And See Incredible Sales Success

All marketers, listen up. Readers treat emails like phone calls, and you must recognize it. As the volume of email per person per day now vastly exceeds phone calls and direct mail, email recipients have become more discerning in how they react and respond to an already overloaded inbox. The primary method of corporate information delivery has switched from telephone to email, and the deluge of email now forces marketers to wonder why their email campaigns are stagnant, ineffective and resulting in single digit response rates. The root of the problem is mismanaging recipients’ expectations. Email communication must follow consistent, socially acceptable business communication protocols. The closest comparison to email in today’s business world is the telephone. Both the telephone and email are used for conversations to connect vendors to customers, prospects, partners and even their employees. Sending email marketing campaigns and generic email newsletters are not conversations, though.

Below are some thoughts to ponder before you send your next--we hate to say it--email campaign. Consider the expectations of your recipients and how they view your communications with them. Do your communications resemble direct mail, or have you begun to adopt a more respectful, and expected, set of telephone rules when using email automation? Remember, readers can delete email as fast as voicemail, and Caller ID is pretty much the same as your From Address and Subject Line. Will your customers, partners, employees and prospects answer or hang up the next time you hit “Send”?

FOCUS ON TIMELINESS

Is the information that you send timely enough for your readers’ needs or are you constrained by traditional email campaigns? For example, what happens when you want to quickly share information about a new product, a recent client win or a price change with prospects, customers or partners? Salespeople who call with these timely updates are usually successful at improving their relationships. Your email updates should be just as timely and even more consistent in reaching interested subscribers. Email relationships should allow you to ask a subscriber when and how often they would like to hear from you. This practice is no different than the instincts your salespeople use to manage their sales calls. Finally, email can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When a new user subscribes, do you send what they want immediately, or do you have to make them wait until your next campaign? Generic “thanks for subscribing” confirmation messages do not show responsiveness or build your relationship with the subscriber. Good salespeople and relationship managers respond immediately and satisfy the information needs quickly and accurately. Your email program should, too.

BE RELEVANT

When your salespeople decide to call a customer, prospect or partner, what motivates this action? Do they have information to share? Most salespeople believe this information would be seen as relevant to the recipient. Would they call if they didn’t know? If you were to leave them a voice message about several different topics without knowing for sure if they were interested, would they call you back? If the topics were irrelevant to their needs, would they take your next call? Think about relevance and try to understand how email should convey your information simply and efficiently. Stay relevant and you audience will respond favorably.

WATCH MESSAGE LENGTH

Ask yourself how long a typical business call lasts. In most cases, people will only discuss one or two topics and the main points can be conveyed in a few minutes. Longer telephone calls usually result from a face-to-face meeting or a planned conversation that meets the longer time expectations of the participants. Similar to your phone calls, do not try to send too much information in your emails. Studies show that most email recipients spend less than 15-20 seconds scanning emails they actually open. They immediately delete the others. Send a summary format with topics that are simple and easy to navigate. Do not over-design your emails or attempt to “boil the ocean” in one transmission. Keep it short and the relevant information will be read, retained and acted upon by your readers.

CREATE DIALOGUE: LISTEN FIRST, THEN RESPOND. LISTEN AGAIN.

How do your emails foster a dialogue with your subscribers? Do you believe email campaigns are interactive? They are not. Do you engage and listen to your readers before you send them email? Do you give recipients a chance to respond and rate your information, or are you just blindly sending without the desire or ability to take feedback. Effective companies sell by listening to their customers, prospects and partners. Does your email strategy give you an ability to listen and respond? You can have an electronic dialogue with your individual readers if you address their interests and exceed their expectations. Finally, when someone asks you for information, are you actually listening to their expectations? These ideas are the very same expectations readers would have if you chose to call them on the phone.

REVENUE RETENTION

How does your company communicate electronically to retain customers and partners? Are you actually building relationships when you send email to them? More importantly, do your recipients believe you are helping the relationship with the information you send? Do you provide value or an experience that your competition does not? Are your email newsletters generic and merely a sampling of your corporate information, compiled to fish for leads? Do they look and feel like a cold call? Customers and partners know the difference between revenue desperation and long-term relationship and loyalty building. Email newsletters seldom convey a sense of personalized effort and value. Customers and partners who do not feel valued and engaged are difficult to retain.

IMPROVE YOUR REPUTATION

What does your email strategy say about your company and your brand? When your customers, prospects and partners interact with you electronically, it affects their perception of your reputation. Each email is a relationship opportunity that can help you or hurt you. If a salesperson from your company unexpectedly called a customer with generic, untimely, or poorly targeted information, would the receiver view it as a positive boost to your reputation? Additionally, what if that salesperson did not provide a chance for the customer to respond and give feedback? Your emails say a great deal about your efforts to educate, inform, and build relationships, exactly like your employees and their phone calls currently do. Your customers and partners will know when you are making an effort to personalize and impress them. Remember, irrelevant, impersonal and untimely email marketing will train people to ignore you.

EMBRACE THE POWER OF EMAIL

Email’s timeliness make it an ideal relationship medium. Use email as a way to consistently improve your organization’s personality and brand by empowering your readers and inviting them to participate in conversations and relationships with you. Find a technology partner who can really help you manage the process

Writed by Carey Ransom .

Email Marketing Might be Right for Your Business

Using Internet technologies to market to new and potential customers can be a highly productive tactic with great ROI. Businesses of all sizes have successfully developed emarketing campaigns that help them drive sales and improve customer retention. If your company is thinking about using email marketing, here are some important considerations to discuss before you get started.

Develop a Strong List Before You Begin Your audience can be made up of everyone with whom you have an existing relationship. That means clients and customers, people that you know on a business level, personal friends. Do not violate the CAN-Spam Act by buying or stealing email addresses from any source. That’s spamming and it’s illegal.

Eletter or Ecommerce? Consider your audience and develop email campaigns that are appropriate for them. If ecommerce is the driving force behind your emarketing, develop campaigns that offer value and pull customers to your site to order. If your business offers professional services, develop an eletter that will educate, inform and even entertain. Content is a critical component of successful emarketing.

Plan for the Long Run Do not start any email marketing strategy unless you are willing to invest in it for at least 6 months, preferably a year. While traffic and metric reports give nearly real time information and you can monitor results quickly, you need time and exposure to evaluate the data, craft the best message and develop your subscriber base.

Measure for Success You will want to have an idea of how to define success for your campaign before you begin. It may be immediate sales, open rates, click thru’s or, most probably, a combination of factors. When you have established goals it is much easier to develop an emarketing strategy that will reach and exceed your expectations.

With a sound strategy you can use emarketing to connect with customers and build your business. And after all, that’s what all marketing is about.

Writed by Claudia_Trusty