Business Email Marketing

A business email marketing strategy can be an amazingly effective way to exceed specific objectives, a complete waste of time and money, or somewhere along the spectrum between those two extremes. The key to positive results is to have a clear understanding of how emailing contacts on a list integrates into the company's larger marketing plan. After all, email itself is only a communication tool. There is nothing magic, or even wise, about emailing overblown hype about one's products or services to a million people on an indiscriminate distribution list. Companies often spend a great deal of time and effort creating a brand for themselves and their products and services. They research the demographics of the target market and develop strategies designed to increase name recognition and feelings of goodwill. Advertising dollars may be spent on print media, such as ads in newspapers and magazines, and also for television and radio commercials. The business email marketing strategy is another option that, depending on the size and nature of the particular company, can be used in conjunction with other advertising tools. The market emails, though much less expensive, should be as carefully planned and designed as a print advertisement or a commercial would be. Because it's so cheap and easy (relatively speaking) to send out mass emails, it can be tempting to write up some fast copy, add snazzy graphics, and hit the send button. But this approach is almost guaranteed to result in irritated recipients who then have a poor impression about the particular company.

Once the overall promotional plan, based on relevant research into the demographics of the target consumer, is established, the marketing department can break down the plan into goals and objectives. Before creating specific ad copy, the professionals need to ask themselves the purpose of the business email marketing campaign. Some questions that may be considered include: Is the message designed to provide additional information on a product or service to a prospective customer? Should the message motivate the reader to take some type of action? Will the message be sent only to previous customers, perhaps providing them an incentive to make an additional purchase or to refer the company to friends and relatives? Both the message and the distribution list of recipients have to be connected to a specific objective for the business email marketing campaign to be effective and to have a positive outcome. For example, let's say an online store sells stationery and related products. Through a carefully crafted market campaign, the site has developed a distribution list of people who have made past purchases. During a sales slump, the store's managers create a carefully worded and tastefully designed "preferred customer" message that includes a ten percent savings on all orders placed within the next two weeks. Because this email message is being distributed to people who have made successful purchases from the store's website before, it will likely prove more effective than a similar message being sent to greater numbers of people who may or may not ever buy stationery.

One thing that all marketers should know is that consumers hate spam. They don't want indiscriminate messages popping up in their inboxes. Of course, some industries don't care. Because of the very nature of the email message, these lowlifes make money if even a very small percentage of recipients respond to the ad. For them, business email marketing isn't a strategy, but a numbers game. The Old Testament writer said: "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Proverbs 30:5, 12). Consumers respond by setting spam filters to keep the junk from getting through to the inbox. The best way to respond to spam that gets through the filters is to simply hit the delete button. Experts warn against responding to any such emails because that only verifies that recipient's email address is legitimate. The recipient may find his address then being sold to other similar spamming lists.

A business email marketing campaign can legitimately build a contact list that doesn't include current customers. The company can include information on its website that encourages viewers to provide contact information. For example, the site may offer a coupon or a how-to ebook in exchange for the contact information. Perhaps site visitors will provide the information in order to participate in an online opinion poll or survey. From a marketing standpoint, these people are potential customers because they have visited the website. This indicates an interest in the products or services even if a purchase isn't made at that time. Retail locations have another source for getting email addresses. Customers to the physical store are often asked to sign up for emails that give advance notice of special sales or perhaps a monthly newsletter. This kind of business email marketing distribution list takes more time to build than simply buying one, but the recipients are also more likely to respond positively to the emails they receive than those on the bought list. Many software applications have been created to help organize and distribute advertising messages. One great feature allows the company to customize the message which helps to take away the spam stigma. With appropriate software, a company can track the effectiveness of different messages and even test special offers. Knowing which ads were successful in reaching the stated objective (and which ones were not) can help when it comes to planning future business email marketing strategies.