Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Improve your E-mail Marketing

In an era of Social Networking and Mobile, it's important for small businesses to remember that E-mail marketing remains an extremely active and viable way to communicate with customers.  At The Chamber, we send out E-mails multiple times a week (if anything, a bit too much, though our open and click through rates remain very high), and E-mail remains one of our most (if not the most) effective way that we communicate with our members.

So, does your business have an E-mail newsletter?  It should.  Here are some tips to maximize your e-marketing effectiveness.

1.  Use a professional service:  Of this, there is no shortage; Constant Contact and MailChimp are two that jump to the top of the list.  Professional services like this can create good templates, give you analytics and help you design the best E-mail possible.

2.  You can't just sell:  This is one of the areas where E-mail marketing and Social Media overlap completely.  You CANNOT use your E-mail list to just sell.  You have to create value and encourage people to read your information; this way, they will be more likely to use your business in the future.  here's an example: I get a "market update" once a week from a financial planner that I subscribe to.  This is useful and valuable to me.

3.  Track your success:  As mentioned earlier, a professional service can help you track your open and click-through rates, among other stats tracked.  Use that information to alter the timing and content of your E-mail.

4.  Keep it brief:  Do not write the great American novel in your E-mail.  Try to keep it as brief as possible and have lots of click-throughs for people who do want more information.

5.  Mobile friendly:  If your E-mails aren't mobile friendly, they are wasted.  Seriously.  It's that simple.  As more and more internet use shifts away from computers and goes to mobile devices, you are wasting your time if your E-mails cannot be easily read on a laptop or smart phone.

As always, leave your tips and comments below!
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