Monday, September 21, 2009

So what is e-marketing and should I be doing it!

The internet has changed the world it has given every business and every one the ability to go global. It also enables us to build massive databases of customers not just in our suburb but worldwide. Seems everyone is talking about e-marketing and debating the pros and cons. So what is e-marketing? Its simply communicating with your past, present and potential clients via email.

Marketing gurus believe that consumers forget a brand, business or product completely within 21 days. Making regular communication essential. E-marketing has taken over in popularity from old fashioned snail mail (post) due to the fact that it’s instant and very economical. An email marketing campaign can cost anything from free to 30 cents per email considerably cheaper than the cost of printing and then posting a newsletter. If you keep your e-marketing interesting and informative, you’ll build customer loyalty and trust

If you use an e-marketing software they provide you with statistics and reports on open rates, click thru rates ie who’s reading and what they’re reading. They offer autoresponders that reply to readers on sign up and can be set to send emails each week, fortnight or monthly and the process is fully automated. You can effectively measure your return on investment.

The key to successful e-marketing is that you must keep your newsletters interesting, if they are full of advertisements and junk it’s basically spam or junk mail and you’ll find readers unsubscribing at a rapid rate. So include a mix of interesting articles, perhaps a product review, a competition, some testimonials, maybe a couple of jokes as long as its correspondence you’d be happy to receive then you’re on the right track. Of course you want these customers to buy so be sure to include an exclusive deal or offer and a call to action ie Members and friends special – 25% off winter stock for one week only, click here to buy online now or drop into our store and mention the newsletter deal.

If your website is a major part of your business and you have an online shop the aim of your newsletter should be to get them revisiting your website. So when you include your articles just put the first paragraph or an enticing summary with a link through to the remainder of the article on your website. The same for any product reviews, tips or competitions.

Your newsletter doesn’t need to be just about you and your business. You want it to be as interesting and informative as possible. So think about who your target market are and provide content that will interest them. A kids clothing store might carry some articles on under 8’s week and the activities on in your local area, their target market is mainly young mums. So they might want to include topics of interest like choosing a school, local playgroups and easy recipes for cooking with kids.

Of course they are going to highlight there latest range and offer a great deal for readers but with their informative, interesting newsletter the kids clothing store is nurturing a following of loyal customers.

So how often should you send a newsletter? It’s up to you and the time you can commit. If you find you have a definite increase in sales after each newsletter you can try to schedule them more regularly but just be careful not to compromise the quality of your newsletter. If you notice your subscribers dropping off then revise your newsletter content or frequency.

for more strategies and tips on cheap marketing grab a copy of "Marketing with No Money" the book at www.marketingwithnomoney.com