Why E-Mail Marketing

Surveys Show:
91% of Internet users between the ages of 18 to 65 use email.
E-mail is second only to Keyword search for online sales success.
In short 147 million people use email everyday.

E-Mail Will:
1. Attract new customers
2. Build Relationships
3. Up sell and Cross sell
4. Collect Customer feedback
5. Generate High ROI(Return on Investment)

NOTE:
Surveys show that E-mail marketing is generating $50 in business
for every $1 spent.
E-Mail marketing can be 20 times more effective than Direct mail
A good CTA(Call to Action) usually leads to a response within 48 hours.

An E-Mail should:
1. Direct Action
2. Get to the point fast.
3. Call to Action (CTA)

E-Mail Content Should:
1. Hook them fast.
2. Back up the hook.
3. Keep it short.
4. Use normal every day language.
5. Be Repetitious. Repetition sells.

Use the Rule of Three:
1. Hook them with the Subject line.
2. Set the hook with the first line.
3. Last chance to close the deal is with the final line.

The Subject line of an E-Mail should:
1. Tell reader what e-mail is about.
2. Convey a benefit of reading the e-mail.
3. Avoid using “Free”, “Amazing”, “Cash Bonus”
4. Be short: 35 characters maximum.
5. Add urgency.

The First line of the E-Mail should:
1. Clearly express main point.
2. Encourage reader to read the e-mail.

The Final sentence of the E-Mail should:
1. Repeat the call to action.

The Call to Action (CTA) should:
1. Be benefit driven.
2. CTA should be on top, middle and at the end of the e-mail.
3. The more CTA’s the more responses.

Website Hell

We have been through the Cabbage Patch doll craze, the American Girl doll craze, the IPod and you name it craze. And yes many companies are now going through the Website Craze. They MUST have a website or else! And in jumping into this craze, many companies are getting severely burnt by unscrupulous web developers or web developer charlatans.


Many companies that have spent thousands of dollars on websites are still sitting and waiting for the world to discover them. The Build it and they will come craze has long been shattered for many a company. And then what do they do? They get roped into more expenditures on so called Search Engine Optimization. There are many good Web developers and SEO experts but just as with any business, it is the few crooks that are ruining it for the entire industry. Go to any business conference or networking meeting and you are surely going to hear many people asking, Who is doing your SEO? It has become the mantra of the 21st century, SEO, Search Engine Optimization.


So you spend $5000 or more for a website no one finds and than another several thousand doing that all important SEO. AND IF YOU ARE LUCKY, VERY LUCKY, YOU MAY GET AN ORDER. MAYBE.

But wait, what about that website? How SHOULD it be designed to take advantage of basic marketing, how SHOULD it be designed to attract customers and make them want, yes you heard right, make them WANT to purchase something from us? Have you been to the L. L. Bean or Amazon website lately? Lets face it, if they have what you are looking for, you want to purchase it from them. And the history of these websites proves that out. So how do we do that with YOUR website, it is an art and few practice it well.


So what's wrong with your website? Simply put, just because you have one does not mean you can forget basic concepts, Marketing 101. If I have a store, online or brick and mortar, what will PERSUADE them to come and find me? Will they come if I am selling ice in the winter, more than likely NO. Will they come if I have a restaurant without air-conditioning in the peak of the summer? I think you know the answer. But wait, what if I offer something very special that they can not get elsewhere, and what if I provide a dining experience very special, maybe in the food, decor. Well , maybe I then will have a fighting chance.

The point is, just because you have a website you mustn't ignore basic marketing. It is one thing to get people to find your website. But it is quite another to get them to purchase from it. Conversions (purchases) are the thing that pays the bills.


On your website you have to do almost the same type of thing you would do in your store. Can you attract a first purchase with a special? A unique product? A unique design ? Maybe it's your pricing or your exceptional guarantee of their satisfaction.

In conclusion, getting people to find your website is a science, but getting people to purchase from your website is an art, an art as old as Marketing itself. And some of the basic marketing concepts have not changed much in 1000 years or more. Learn them and you will greatly improve your conversion rate.

Should You have a Website?

Not to long ago if you had asked this question from my staff or I we would have advised most small businesses to stay away from the Internet. Today of course we see such advice would have been very short sighted. Just about every small business should have a website. The type of website of course will depend a great deal on what you expect to get from your website.

Do you want to make money directly from your site? Do you want to use your site just as a replacement for an expensive catalog or do you just want to use your site for different ways of informing your public.

Today not only should you have a website...a useful website... but you should also connect it in as many ways as possible to social networks that your customers or clients would use. Today, most businesses establish themselves on Facebook and LinkedIn and many are now experimenting with the use of Twitter.

By connecting your website with the major social networking sites you can develop more and more ways to keep in constant contact with your customers/clients and have them keep in contact with you. You can now build a community of your own easily and inexpensively by having your website interact with the various social networking sites.

More on this subject in my next post.