Email Marketing Techniques
Basic Rules of Email Marketing You Need to Know
How to Builder Your Email Lists
How to Write Irresistible Email Copy
Using Email Autoresponders Effectively
Sending HTML and Plain Text E-Mail Simultaneously
Email autoresponders can become a vital feature of your online marketing plan. In order to use them effectively, it's important to understand the different options available, and methods of increasing their effectiveness.
Autoresponder Features To Look For
There are important features to look for when choosing your autoresponder program or service. These include:
- Allowed length: be sure to check whether the service limits how long sales letters can be.
- Response time: how long do customers wait for an answer when they visit your site for information? They should be receiving an email from your service immediately.
- Options: you should be able to choose between HTML and plain-text versions of emails, and subscribers should be able to "opt-out" or unsubscribe if they don't want to receive further emails.
- Daily Reports: since your autoresponder emails are part of your marketing program, you'll want to know how successful it is (and which ones are working!) by being able to view stats on subscribers, unsubscribe requests and other information. This information will help you target your marketing efforts, and drop or change the emails that don't generate a good response rate.
- Flexibility: make sure that you can change or personalize your emails, free of charge. You will want the option of making changes to emails, since most marketers like to "tweak" their copy from time to time.
Making Autoresponders Part of Your Marketing plan
Autoresponder emails can be an integral part of any business CRM (Customer Relationship Management plan) notes Smith:
"Smart businesses today are using emails, because of the push to downsize, with less manpower to accomplish things. Autoresponders let you contact your customers, but without paying for human manpower, and can literally add fuel to a good web
site in gathering sales."
Temple agrees that autoresponders are an important part of online marketing, but adds that they don't replace other methods. "They're an addition, not really a replacement. Each sale does generally require a "human touch," however there are some times that the autoresponders will close a deal by itself. They are our "automated follow-up" mechanism, and do that extremely well."
Temple shares how he uses email autoresponders in his personal marketing approach:
1) Drive qualified hits to the site.
2) Convince a prospective customer to sign up for a free trial account.
3) Send out auto-responder messages frequently.
4) Personal follow up by telephone / email as soon as reasonably possible.
Email autoresponders are an integral part of the follow-up process in this marketing plan.
Jerry Powell of Ready-Set Internet believes that autoresponders are a useful tool when used correctly as part of a balanced marketing plan. He does advise caution when first learning to use them, though: "I bring in new customers with other marketing methods and use the autoresponder to get the info to them quickly. You do need to make sure that you set up your autoresponder to prevent inadvertently Spamming people. IT HAPPENS! Sometimes autoresonders can hurt you too, so you need to be careful when using them. "
At the same time, Powell sees the value of autoresponders, and uses them because they support his marketing efforts online. "Autoresponders are a tool that automates follow-up with your customers," he states. "In fact, I believe that autoresponders are one of the top three tools needed to run an effective campaign. They are also one of the top tools you need for customer service support."
Testing: the Key To Effective Email Marketing
Once you've chosen a service, and start sending out emails, it's important to keep track of which emails work-and which ones don't. Just as you would track your online ad results, you should monitor your email performance as well, in what Smith calls the "scientific approach" to marketing online.
"Testing is vital. If you aren't a tester, you won't make it in online marketing; otherwise how will you know if you're getting results for your hard-earned money?" he asks. " I call it the "treasure hunter" versus the "scientific engineer" approach. A treasure hunter is out there, digging all over the place, and sometimes he gets lucky. A lot of people approach marketing this way. They try things here and there, hoping that something works."
"Sometimes it does, if they're lucky, but frequently it doesn't. "
"The scientific engineer, on the other hand, approaches marketing after doing research. He or she knows exactly what they're doing, and they test different approaches, keeping what works, and discarding what doesn't."
Some of the better email tracking programs include hyperTracker; and many email services provide statistics as well. These can be valuable tools, since you will want to drop or change those that don't generate responses, and keep the ones that do!
So How Effective Are Autoresponders?
While it's impossible to generalize completely since email copy varies widely, as well as methods of sending them out (monthly, weekly, or series of ten versus a one-time mail), overall autoresponder emails stack up favorably against other methods of marketing. In fact, they can be less expensive and generate better results than some of the more traditional methods such as direct mail.
Smith says, "In general, direct mail averages about a .5 to 1 % response rate. Email responses are usually higher, around 1.5 to 3% with a decently strong email; some of the really good ones can get a response rate of up to 10%!"
Temple states that he has gotten even higher results by integrating autoresponder emails with his overall marketing plan. "Autoresponders are an integral part of the sales process, and yes, they've increased sales. Being a small shop, it generally takes us 3+ days to respond to new signups. In the meantime, potential customers are being reminded of our services on a daily basis - each sales letter explains the benefits, new ways to use the service, and gives more bonus items when they purchase.
Currently, we are closing about 10-20% of our qualified leads with the auto-responders and new sales method. Before, we were doing about 1 in 100." He adds, "I attribute a significant rise in sales rates to the auto responders."
Powell has enjoyed good success with autoresponders as well. " We got 100 leads; 35 want more info and the autoresponder closed 7 of them for $35 per person! We spent $70 on getting the 100 leads. We made a profit because our autoresponder helped us close the sale."
In today's online market, email autoresponders are being used more frequently for a simple reason: they work, and help to save valuable hours in customer follow-up. According to our web marketing experts, it definitely pays to understand how this effective marketing tool works, and to add it to the items that you use to generate inquiries and sales.
These lessons have been brought to you by Sheri Waldrop, the owner of Pro-Scribe Writing Service, specialists in creating online marketing communications. If you need information and assistance with your online growth, we can help. You can find out more information by emailing us at info@pro-scribe-writing.com
