With internet marketing spreading its wings all over the globe, more and more are now switching from the physical strategies of business promotion to web marketing. Email marketing is one of the best ways to promote your products and services online. It is also one of the oldest sources of business-to-business marketing used by practically anyone.
Indeed, email marketing is a great way to reach your customers where they are without spending a lot of money. However, it comes with a big responsibility as well, as people do not just give out their emails to anyone. If you are thinking about starting a newsletter, here are some tips on email marketing to keep in mind from Forbes.
- Make it easy to subscribe.
- Tell subscribers what to expect.
- Send a welcome email.
- Design your newsletter to fit your brand.
- Make it scannable.
- Send people content they want.
- Keep a publishing calendar.
- Edit.
- Test.
- Think about mobile.
- Know your spam rules.
- Make it shareable.
- Keep an eye on your stats.
- Be friendly.
- Only send email if you have something to say.
Many marketers do not exactly know how often they should send their newsletters. It is your subscribers who know best how frequently they want to hear from you. They will let you know by unsubscribing. To prevent this, consider asking for a perfect frequency, and perhaps ask those who unsubscribe for their reason. Here is a rule of thumb on sending newsletters from About.com.
- Everything less often than at least every other month is not often enough. People will forget about you, and the surprise of a newsletter from you showing up after a year will probably result in a surprise unsubscription.
- Everything more often than once a week is too often unless your subscribers specifically agreed more frequent mailings. People will get tired and annoyed by your emails, and unsubscribe even if they like your content.
Now that you are armed with helpful tips to get started, it is not time to come up with ideas on the content of your newsletter. Consider taking a look at your calendar. According to About.com, historic dates and holidays can inspire you with content ideas, and give your readers something to relate to.
- Of course, this need not (and should not) stop at Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and maybe the Oscar. Just about every day is a holiday somewhere or has been the reason for festive activities.
- Many of the stories behind these holidays are very interesting in their own right, and you can possibly connect them to the core theme of your newsletter easily.
Email marketing is a well-used tactic for business promotion. A good email marketing campaign can grow your customer pool and add to customer’s loyalty.