Email prose, pros and cons
Used appropriately, email is a cost-effective and efficient way to prospect. However, as with any business development tool, email can turn into a minefield if not deployed respectfully, judiciously and professionally.
Three critical issues must be addressed when developing an email business development campaign:
- Always get permission before sending a promotional email. You don’t want to be tagged as a spammer, as this will create consternation with the intended recipient as well as the search engines, which may block future “spammy” emails.
- Send information that’s truly salient to prospects. Otherwise, they will start deleting your emails without reading them, or opt out of the program.
- Make the email professionally polished, grammatically correct, and free of typos. If your email appears sloppy or poorly conceived, it could do more harm than good. After all, unprofessional correspondence establishes a less-than-stellar reputation for the sender. Think about it in the context of a vitamin supplement carrying a label full of typos. If the label is this sloppy, why trust that the formulation is any better?
Consider two email marketing approaches. One is a periodic email with a special pitch and call to action, designed to create sales. The second is a newsletter/advisory tool that incorporates educational and useful tips for the reader.
Following are key tips for making email marketing most effective. These were culled from a news release featuring email consultant Troy Foss that recently posted on the Vistage website:
- Place newsletter or email sign-up boxes strategically on your website.
- Include your physical address and phone in all emails.
- Never use a borrowed or purchased email list.
- Send subscribers an email immediately after they sign up. This message should thank the user, describe the benefits of joining your list, and describe how someone can unsubscribe easily from future emails. Also, ask the user to add the "FROM" email address to their “safe sender” list.
- Use your welcome message to send a validation link that subscribers must click on to activate their subscription. This minimizes phony and unwanted signups, and further documents the subscriber’s permission to receive your information. In all your emails/newsletters, include a heading message such as, "Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter." This reminds the user that they did in fact subscribe.
- Use periodic email messages about product announcements/discounts, exclusive events, pre-sale specials, grand openings and tips/trends to drive interest.
- Use newsletters to address relevant articles/topics. Engaging content can include top 10 lists, surveys/survey results, quizzes, news/commentary, and customer profiles. Provide links to salient content on your website.
- Track your success, and adjust based on feedback. Most email sending software has built-in tracking features.
- Invest time trying out different subject lines and “from” names, and incorporate your brand name in both. Avoid spam-like techniques such as all caps, dollar signs, multiple exclamation marks, or over-the-top calls to action.
- Stay consistent with strategy, messaging and timing so that your email becomes a predictable event. Studies indicate that people need to see an offer five to seven times before they take action.
- Conduct tests to see what times of week/day work best.
