How To Start Email Marketing
Written by: Steph Kendall, Published June 2007
- Overview
- How can you make the customer feel good about you?
- Why email marketing is an useful online marketing and advertising tool
- How to create email lists
- Rocket Mailing for Avatar clients
- What not to do
- Legal advice
Overview
New Zealand email marketing is a very cost-effective and efficient way of reaching your target audience.
A relationship with your customers not only allows you to communicate with them, but the information communicated is an all-important factor in making the customer feel good about you. Making the customer feel good about you creates long-term loyalty.
How Can You Make The Customer Feel Good About You?
Make sure that you provide information to your customer base that really gives value. You can do this by simply providing relevant information and tips about your industry or product that may help them in the future.
For example, Avatar provides information in a monthly newsletter offering tips and advice on Website design, how to link build, etc. This information builds a professional image about you as an expert in your field. It is also a chance to make your email database feel special about you. Tell them about special offers before you release the offers to the public, make them the first to hear about new products, reward them with discount vouchers etc.
Why Email Marketing is An Useful Online Marketing & Advertising Tool
This very discreet form of marketing, allows you to create a loyal database of customers through the perceived value of your information. By simply 'keeping in touch' customers feel that you have not forgotten them and it is often a reminder that they need to purchase one of your products or services.
You can utilise your database by offering them special offers to cover periods of low seasonality or over stock production. The cost of sending an email is minimal compared to the more substantial costs of direct mail. Also an email can be prepared and sent in a day, where as the production of direct mail and postage will take at least a week. This means that you can communicate effectively and quickly before your competitors.
How to Create Email Lists
- Where possible in all of your communications, obtain their email addresses. This may be on booking forms, or a telephone request when the customer makes and enquiry.
- Make sure that you explain to the customer that they will be added to an email database and give them the option to refuse.
If you can provide an incentive to encourage customers to join your email database, for example you could enter all new applicants into a prize draw for one of your products / services. Your Web site should have a clear call to action to join your email database, and all of your advertising should contain your Web address. Use online banner adverts on relevant sites, to depict the benefits of joining your email database. Viral campaigns are another good way of building your database.
Rocket Mailing for Avatar Clients
We offer clients hosting their Web sites with Avatar, use of Rocket Mailing software. Rocket Mailing enables the sending of personalised mails and campaign reporting.
View more information about the email marketing service we provide.
What Not To Do
- Do not sent out irrelevant or uninteresting information to your client base, and make sure that you communicate within a reasonable time frame.
- Never 'over' email, otherwise it will be considered to be SPAM and your customers will unsubscribe.
- Never email customers without their consent, and never pass on your customers email addresses to another company unless express premission has been given by your customers to do so.
- Always check the email that you sent thoroughly, an email sent full of errors can do far more negative publicity then if you had never sent it at all.
- Make sure that you keep your email list up to date, and do not add irrelevant email addresses.
Legal Advice
More advice about the New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act (September 2007) can be viewed here:
- Introduction to the New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act
- New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act
For clarification on legal aspects of email marketing, seek legal advice from a specialist lawyer.
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