Email Marketing Set Up and Strategies
When we first started out with our online business, we learnt about how powerful email marketing can be. What we didn’t learn right away is how to do it correctly or effectively. There are two primary or key components we must use to our advantage if we want to be successful. These are list building and autoresponders. You have to know how to build a list from a target market and maintain that list, and how to use the autoresponder to automate your workload and use it to your advantage. If you are looking in this forum I presume you already know the basics, so I will jump past them into actual strategies.
There are several reasons to build a list of subscribers, but the key here is finding a target market for each specific list. If your online business model is built around email marketing, be sure to follow the steps outlined here. The reason may seem simple to you, but you would be surprised to know that many self-proclaimed marketers have no idea what a target market is or how to find the “right” or target market for the list or product or service. So then how do you find the right market?
I use questionnaires on my sites and blogs, and in my newsletters, plus use information other marketers gathered too. I find that most people who stay on the sites and blogs came to look, possibly do research, or simply are intrigued. But, most of them will take time to answer some simple questions that relate to the subject material of the site or blog if you make the questions visible or in plain sight. Another thing I do is do some scouting on other forums to look and see if there is any feedback about specific markets.
Once you get your target market research completed, give that market what it wants – not necessarily what you think it needs. Use the answers to the questions you proposed. Then create a product that appeals to that market, and trade that product for names and email addresses. You can usually capture quite a few future customers or clients in a matter of days if you work at it.
The next step you want to take is to build a good relationship with your new subscribers. This is an important step and will determine whether or not you will be able to sell to them in the future.
The best way I know of to build a good relationship with your email list is by providing good solid useful content that will actually help them. And not some dribble about things that don’t matter or rubbish that doesn’t offer your subscribers meat. If you found a product or have your own that relates to the content you are sending out, post the URL with a short note explaining how the product or service will help them.
There is a certain balance you have to maintain with your subscribers when it comes to content and selling. People get tired of being sold to all the time, so if you want to retain these people, you should start off slow with the sales pitches. I see so many marketers who claim they get good results using email marketing but yet they use what I call throw away lists. As for me, I want people to trust me and eventually become repeat customers. I do not want to spend most of my working hours finding new subscribers. I would rather set my sites up on autopilot while I am off making other additions to my online business. Remember what you are trying to do and then stick to your goals.
Now, set your autoresponder messages up for a full year. Yes this means to write a series. Personally, I like series better than individual newsletters because you can build on each section. This keeps your subscribers hanging on and wanting more from you. You can sell more products that way, and build better loyalty or following.
To get the most bang for you buck when email marketing, check up on you lists often. Weed out the people who want unsubscribe as much as you can so they don’t complain to your hosting company or you. Every once in a while someone gets irritated and starts bad mouthing you and your business when they aren’t removed quickly enough. You might also want to weed out the non buyers if they continue to do so over a six month period so your email list is mainly full of people who purchase.
The primary email list usually ends up being broken into 2-3 other lists if you set things up right. The primary list is full of buyers. What you do is keep the buyers on their own list, remove the non buyers and put them into another list all together. This way you don’t get rid of them completely. These types of subscribers usually with buy something once in a while. Who knows, you may end up with a product or service they will buy into later on. This is when email marketing is at its best. You have to be able to use a system that allows you to retain and build relationships with subscribers long term.
Another thing to remember is there is a big difference between a series and a broadcast. you send out a broadcast or special edition or special announcement to your subscribers any time. Email marketing has become more about broadcasts these day then it's been about true email marketing.
There is so much information on email marketing that I can go on for days explaining. Feel free to add your comments and ideas to this thread …
Last edited by Admin; 06-19-2010 at 06:21 AM.
|
