Effective E-mail Marketing Strengthens Customer Relationships
Permission and value are key to effective e-mail marketing. A customer who opts in to an e-mail list expects to receive something valuable in return.
Fostering valuable e-mail dialogues elevates your company above those who randomly blast one-way communications to clutter up their targets’ inboxes.
Used well, e-mail can be one of the most effective means of generating product awareness and building customer relationships.
E-mail can be used to:
- Cross-sell/up-sell products and services
- Perform customer care functions, such as billing and payment, confirmations, and thank-you messages
- Advertise sales, such as holiday-driven promotions, close-out sales, and sales incentives (i.e., 50% off)
- Promote loyalty programs by offering discounts and incentives
- Distribute newsletters
Used poorly, however, e-mail can annoy and alienate customers to the point they will never do business with you again. By May 2003, more than half the e-mails received by U.S. businesses were unsolicited. The time we spend deleting or defeating spam costs an estimated $8.9 billion a year in lost productivity.
Permission and value are key to effective e-mail marketing. A customer who opts in to an e-mail list expects to receive something valuable in return. When you deliver relevant content or sales offers, the customer develops a more positive relationship with your company. Fail to meet customer expectations, and they will delete your messages unread and perhaps even opt out of future mailings.
Sending marketing e-mail is like making a personal sales call. Listen. Ask questions. Offer a solution. If you dominate the conversation with your agenda, waste prospects’ time, or neglect to ask questions about their needs, your calls will never be answered again.
Successful e-mail campaigns include several elements:
- Content. Deliver useful and timely information. Be brief.
- Interactivity. It’s not a dialogue unless your customers can talk back. Include vehicles for replies, feedback, surveys, and questionnaires to capture responses and information.
- Convenience. Deliver messages at the most convenient time, in the preferred format, and at the preferred frequency. Don’t assume you know — ask!
- Customization. Address customers by name. Talk to customers on a one-to-one level by tailoring content to their individual preferences.
- Customer control. Give customers as much control as possible over frequency and content.
Fostering valuable e-mail dialogues elevates your company above those who randomly blast one-way communications to clutter up their targets’ inboxes. With an interactive campaign, your messages are more likely to reach your targets, and your response and conversion rates will improve.
July 2003