ECommerce Fast Start

Many people may think that email marketing is dead, no thanks to spam and the emergence of social networking. However, one might be surprised to know that recent surveys say that email marketing is very much alive and active. In fact, a good number of companies have increased their email budget this year.

There are several reasons why many businesses still incorporate email in their marketing strategies. Aside from being cost-effective and easier to track, email marketing:

• Targets your audience directly
  • Through email, you can reach out to people who can see the value of the information you are sending. They are your target market – create a template based on their needs. To make it more effective, use strong headlines that offer a value proposition. Make it easy for them to jump in by making the set of actions available in one click.
• Establishes loyalty and trust
  • Your initial goal in sending emails is to attract your target’s attention and make contact. The emails you send should be motivating enough to lead to a desired response – joining a newsletter, answering a survey form, downloading a sample, etc. – which could result in a purchase and establish a future relationship. What they experience in this process will be an important factor in creating trust and loyalty to your brand. However, to protect that relationship, avoid sending gimmicks and promising offers that are too good to be true.
• Drives direct sales
  • An effective email campaign can increase sales conversion. By limiting the time period of offers, you can generate quick responses that could result in increased direct sales. Another effective strategy is to promote special pricing, which your customer can only get online.
• Pushes multi-channel sales
  • Aside from promoting your web store, mail a catalog as well as a list of your store locations to encourage sales through these channels. In return, you can build a solid mailing list for future campaigns by collecting information supplied by customers when they place orders.

To make email marketing work for you, you must first ensure that your emails are read, or at least opened by your prospects. The best way to have your mail appreciated by your recipients is to keep them from being “spammy.”

No one appreciates spam mails. Once your emails fall into this category, you will not only lose a prospect, you could also be held liable for violating the CAN-SPAM act of 2003, a law that, according to the FTC website, “sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.” Failing to comply can cost you a lot – violators are subject to fines of up to $16,000 or even imprisonment.  So how do you make your email campaign CAN-SPAM compliant? Just make sure that your emails abide by the following:

• Email only to those who have consented (opt-in) to receive emails from you. The opt-in process will allow your subscribers to voluntarily request your emails, choose the types of emails they want to receive and how frequently they wish to receive them. This also gives your list members the option to unsubscribe from those emails once they no longer want to receive any further communication. This set up empowers the recipient and makes it more likely they’ll look for and read your emails.
• Set an autoresponder with a welcome email that is automatically sent to a subscriber immediately after they sign up. If you wait too long to send the first email, they may forget they signed up and report your email as spam (once you do get around to sending that first email). Create an email schedule and stick to it.
• Avoid the use of misleading header lines. Make sure that the email has your correct information. The originating domain name and email address must be accurate and identify you or your company as the one who initiated the message. Help your subscriber recognize you immediately – and remember your name.
• The subject line of your emails should be catchy (while still being truthful and accurately reflecting the content of the message). The integrity of your subject line is essential in getting past Spam filters and giving a positive impression about your business. Avoid the use of common spammy words (e.g., guarantee, act now, new and improved, credit, etc.), excessive CAPITALIZATION and certain symbols or punctuation!!$%!!
• The email message should include a valid physical postal address. Having a physical address gives you credibility – it assures your subscribers that your company has a real world presence.
• Make it easy for your subscribers to opt out of receiving emails from you.  By providing effective unsubscribe links, you establish your reputation as a trustworthy company. The unsubscribe link must be seen easily with clear instructions on how members can stop getting emails from you in the future. Ask those who unsubscribe why they’re opting out. You may find that a simple change could reduce the rate at which readers unsubscribe.
• Ask subscribers to add your “from” email address to their address book or safe sender list. Being in the recipient’s email address book or safe sender list will ensure your emails get to the inbox and doing so will also enable images to automatically load (most email clients set “images off” as default).

Don’t destroy your reputation by being way too aggressive. Follow the above practices to minimize the chances of your mails of being flagged. Remember, it’s better to lose a prospect than be branded as spam.