Get Going With Email Marketing And Keep More
Customers
by Chris Swemba
It's Never too Early:
We often talk with companies who aspire to reach many of the
same goals we've achieved with email - regular communications,
and enhanced relationships. Amazingly, many of these companies
are considerably larger than us - but yet object on the grounds
that they 'aren't ready.' Baloney! Email marketing is incredibly
easy to get started - and in our opinion it is most effective
when it is done with a philosophy of simplicity
Frequent Contact is Key:
Email marketing does not work as well for a one-time quick hit
marketing strategy. Email allows you to build a regular,
ongoing dialogue with your best clients and prospects. And that
becomes self-selecting - those who most wish to do business with
you will appreciate the regular communications. Those who do not
can opt-out. It truly is a win-win.
Be Regular:
One of the real keys to success is how frequently (or not) you
communicate. We occasionally provide special alerts, but
generally, for us, once a month is plenty often to communicate.
I firmly believe - and our results have confirmed - that regular
but respectful communication is optimal.
Content is King:
Ultimately, for professional service firms like ours it is
ideas that build relationships - and ideas are driven and
supported by content. We strongly recommend the creation of a
regular communications vehicle - whether an e-Newsletter or
other vehicle. It has worked for us and it works for a number
of our clients.
Be Brief:
We also have found that it is critical to keep the content out
of the newsletter. While this may seem to be a contradiction to
the previous point, it is not. You should let people know about
your ideas, but not force them down their throats. Use the
newsletter to point to your content (on your site or elsewhere)
but don't try to cram it all in. It shouldn't take someone 10
minutes to decide if your newsletter is worth a read. An overly
long, dense, hard-to-read newsletter simply wastes people's
time. In addition, by keeping the content external, you can use
click through analytics to see who is really interested in what
content - and tailor your follow-up appropriately.
Keep it Entertaining.
We’re shocked by the number of dry, boring newsletters that
clog our inboxes. We subscribe to many newsletters to keep up
on our competitors, but we usually only read those that keep us
entertained. Try adding a bit of humor if possible.
Don't Hard-Sell.
The flip side of the coin is when we see companies who feel as
though they need to close business in every sentence. Email
marketing is about relationship building, and it is something
you're doing for the long- term - not a quick revenue hit. Even
for consumer- oriented retailers, this fact still holds true-
customer relationships are profitable when they are long-term,
so your marketing efforts need to be oriented that way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Swemba is the founder and CEO of
Kinetica Media, an internet marketing company that develops and
implements affordable internet marketing and website design
services. Please visit http://www.kineticamedia.com for more
information on our website design, logo design, email marketing
and search engine marketing services.
Resources
Marketing Software
ViewletBundle (ViewletBuilder Pro and ViewletCam)
Net Prospector Professional
OfficeReady Professional 3.0 - 25 User License
MULTI USER PKG-DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN:SCANS 2000
Dynamic MailCommunicator (Pro)
EmailUnlimited 6.0 Professional Edition
Marketing Hardware
MAGICARD AVALON 100 ID CARD PRINTER BY ULTRA ELECTRONICS
Books
Marketing Basics
Rand McNally 2006 Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide
Consumer Atlas & Marketing Guide 2005 
International Marketing Forecasts: 2005 / 2006
European Marketing & Data Statistics 2006
International Marketing Forecasts: 2004/2005
European Marketing Information Sourcebook
Latin American Marketing Information Sourcebook
China Marketing Data and Statistics
Industry Directories
World Directory of Marketing Information Sources
World Cosmetics & Toiletries Marketing Directory 2005
World Food Marketing Directory
World Drinks Marketing Directory
Pharmaceutical Marketing: A Practical Guide 
Direct Marketing Market Place 2007: The Networking Source of the Direct Marketing Industry
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