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Posts Tagged ‘e-mail marketing’
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
For small businesses, making more sales is what keeps your doors open. We have talked about a lot of ways to boost your business and get your name out there. It’s been mentioned a couple of times, but mailing lists are one of the most important marketing tools you will have.
It’s important to keep mailing lists up to date with current postal addresses and email addresses. You may only use this list to send out newsletters or flyers every once in a while.
Think about ramping up your mailing list by adding new customers to the list and using it for more than a newsletter. You could make several templates of how-to tips, products, or did-you-know facts. Whatever your business is, use that business for all kinds of ideas you can use in a mailing list.
Most regular customers will expect your mailings as they are used to getting them, but new customers like the feeling of a welcome letter maybe coupled with a discount coupon in appreciation of their business. It makes them feel like you value them, which you do. You just need to do something to reinforce that feeling.
The single most important thing you can do in building a business is to build customer confidence in you and they will come back. Customer loyalty goes a long way in making a business a success. Mailing lists help you do that. You may not see a regular customer but once every month or so. Let them know about special sales that they might be missing in between their visits.
Think about your mailing list. Clean up any discrepancies and ramp it up for the coming year and you will be surprised at how much it will help you and your business.
For ideas or help with setting up mailing lists, visit a small business consultant who can get you on the right track.
Tags: advertising, business, e-mail marketing, internet marketing, small business
Posted in Tools for Small Business | 6 Comments »
Monday, December 26th, 2011
The year 2012 is going to be a good year! A positive outlook goes a long way in making your small business grow. The coming year will be new; it’s time for a new look and a new way of doing things.
The first thing to consider is employees. If you have employees and you are growing, think about if and how many new employees you need. Figure out a new budget which includes employees and any upgrades or repairs that need to be done.
It’s also an excellent time to make a new marketing plan, some fine tuning to your website and possibly new business cards. Consider how you want to advertise your business such as online, radio, television, newspapers and the simple newsletters or e-letters.
New technological advances need to be considered as well. Implement a plan for texting, email campaigns, phone apps or video chat. There are now so many ways to stay in contact with clients, suppliers or employees. These new ideas are just the ticket to jump start your small business right into 2012.
Since you are now thinking of all kinds of things you can do or start in the coming year, be sure to organize your files and get tax information ready. That dreaded time of the year is not far off. At the same time, clean up all the old email addresses you keep telling yourself you need to update. Even if it is winter, get the mind set for spring cleaning.
And don’t forget to add social media to your new marketing plan. It’s such a simple and free way to get your business noticed and out to the public, using social media. Word of mouth goes a long, long way in bringing in business.
Tags: advertising, business, e-mail marketing, facebook, internet marketing, small business
Posted in Tools for Small Business | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 9th, 2011
What is the definition of an online business? Any business, whether it is a physical location or just a website, you need to advertise everywhere you can. Because people are on the go so much these days, they prefer to see a website address that they can jot down and go to the site later, when they have time.
Online advertising is a great way to advertise. But for those who never think of searching for items online, when they see a poster or a business card with a website address, they will be more likely to go to the website when they are relaxing at home.
The traditional ways of advertising can be increased by adding your website to the ad, whether it is newspaper, radio or television. You could conceivably pull customers in from everywhere.
Be sure to also include your email address so customers can email you with any questions they have. You can also do an email marketing campaign. If you regularly stay in contact with your customers, you will be able to bring your online business and you physical business together.
One of the best ways of advertising off line is to take a walk around your local town. Meet and greet people, hand them a business card, let them know what your business is all about. Mention the website and email address. You would be surprised at how well this works, even in today’s technology.
Tags: advertising, Branding, e-mail marketing, internet marketing, small business, website
Posted in Tools for Small Business | 14 Comments »
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Can you send out too many e-mails? Is there ever a point at which you’ve gone too far in your e-mail marketing?
I think there is, but you can probably get away with e-mailing your subscriber list to death if you let them know right up front how often you send out your e-mails.
For a business, weekly is probably enough. Monthly might be better in some cases, but the problem with monthly e-mails is that you aren’t in the minds of your prospects often enough. That’s why I prefer weekly. However, many businesses can find profit in sending out e-mails daily. It’s a case where you have to know your audience. But what about multiple times daily?
You have to set your e-mail marketing schedule according to your audience and their expectations. If you can get away with short e-mail messages throughout the day, then by all means make it work for you. But be up front about your intentions.
You’ll get a lot more receptivity from your list if you tell them on the opt-in form that you send out multiple e-mails per day. You’ll see fewer unsubscribes and more opens. That said, for most small businesses, again, weekly is often enough.
Tags: e-mail, e-mail marketing
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 3rd, 2011
Let something get popular for a few days and someone somewhere is going to ask if something else is dying. Social media was supposed to kill search. It didn’t. Now, it’s supposed to be killing e-mail. But is it?
Mark Evans says “no” and I heartily agree.
It will be a long time before e-mail marketing dies. And it likely won’t be social media that kills it.
Social media is about public interaction. There is also a lot of competition for your content. You have five seconds to grab your prospect’s attention and sell them something. The stream moves on. Now what?
With e-mail, you don’t have any competition for eyes. It’s your prospect and your content. If your content is good and does its job, you will get the sale. No competition.
E-mail is seen as a private space. Your prospect will not give out her e-mail address willy-nilly. You have to earn it. But if you can earn it and get inside that e-mail inbox, then you have your prospect’s attention. If you can keep it, you can turn that attention into dollars.
E-mail is still one of the biggest converting tools in Internet marketing. That won’t change any time soon.
Tags: e-mail, e-mail marketing, Social Media
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2011
So you want to increase the number of followers and fans you have on the social media websites you use the most? That’s a good idea. You can use your e-mail list to drive new traffic to your social media profiles and increase your following. Here are three ways to do that.
- Send an invite – Aside from your weekly or monthly newsletter, send out a special e-mail invitation to your subscriber list to invite them to follow you on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites. But don’t just invite them to follow you. Tell them why they should follow you. What are you doing on those sites that no one else is doing?
- Present an exclusive offer – Make an offer that is available only to users of a specific social media site. For instance, you could offer a freebie or a discount to people who Like you Facebook, or to people who follow you on Twitter or retweet your content so many times.
- Add social sharing buttons to your e-mail - This one is gold. It takes just a few minutes and the dividend could be huge. Your e-mail subscribers will know that you have a social media presence by the buttons you add to your newsletter. Not only will they share your content, but they’ll friend you too.
In today’s online marketplace, it isn’t enough to have an e-mail subscriber list and a social media presence. You should be syncing them.
Tags: e-mail, e-mail marketing, social following, Social Media, social sharing
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
A new e-book by Constant Contact and HubSpot says that 76% of survey respondents promote events by e-mail and 40% use social media. Those are pretty staggering numbers, though not surprising.
I’ll say, first, that I think the 40% is due to increase. More businesses will promote events through social media in the future, especially if Google+ hangouts takes hold.
Facebook is still the most popular website online. You can’t ignore that it has turned the Internet upside down. As more and more businesses head to Facebook to take advantage of its huge user base, there will be more social media promotion. And events will be among the things that businesses promote through social media.
E-mail marketing, of course, has always enjoyed high numbers. That’s because it’s relatively easy to get the permission of someone who fits your target profile and then add them to your mailing list. Once you have permission to send e-mail promotions, you can push your events, products, services, and seek feedback all you want. An e-mail list is a hot list.
Another statistic to note is 47% of respondents still promote events through snail mail. It’s not really surprising, though I expect that number to decline as social media and other online marketing channels rise. Within 5 years, there will be fewer companies promoting events through mail and more using social media.
Tags: direct mail, e-mail marketing, event promotion, Social Media
Posted in Small Business Internet Marketing | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
Are you ready to win some new customers through e-mail? Here are 5 ways that you can use e-mail marketing to help you win new customers and to make your old customers happier.
- Hold A Contest – Send out an e-mail blast with a contest and give away something valuable. It can be a service or a product that your business provides or it can be something like an iPad or a Kindle that is in high demand. Make sure that you explain the contest rules clearly and what you are offering. Make it simple to enter the contest and make sure you are giving away something of value.
- Mail A Coupon – Through a service like Groupon you can send out a coupon for your products or services. People like to save money so give them an opportunity.
- Feature In Your Newsletter – Have a company newsletter? Start a featured client column. People love to see their name and photo in print.
- Celebrity Column – A variation of the “feature in your newsletter” theme is the Celebrity Column theme. Find a celebrity in your niche and ask them to write a column for your e-mail newsletter.
- Special Offers – Special offers are one time deals. Your subscribers won’t see this deal again – ever. The scarcity of something of ultimate value, a one-time deal, could spur your e-mail subscribers to action. It’s at least worth a try.
These 5 e-mail marketing tactics have won new customers for other marketers, they can work for you too.
Tags: coupons, e-mail marketing, newsletter, special offers
Posted in E-mail Marketing for Small Business | 3 Comments »
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