You have realized the value of email marketing and you have created your strategy, now what?  Many businesses need help when they build an e-mail database or worse - they ignore it and their list never grows!

DO - Start Email Marketing to your current customers - carefully.

If you have had the foresight to begin collecting email addresses for use in invoicing, etc., then you should definitely connect with these customers because they are likely to be interested in other products or add ons to products that they have already bought.  Rather than just adding these customers to a list, however, it is a good practice to send them an initial email, preferably through an e-mail service (such as Constant Contact) that will allow them to "opt in" and continue receive your emails.  If they do not "opt-in", respect their choices and do not continually contact them.

DO - Place an "opt in" box on your website. 

Rather than "fishing" for email addresses, it is smarter and less time consuming to give them a way to add themselves when they feel comfortable doing it.  Some email marketing companies will integrate this for you, and typically it is as easy as placing a small amount of HTML code into your site.  Alternatively, you can design a check box next to whatever "contact us" form you have now, which will allow people to opt in, but it is always important to be very clear about what people should expect.

DO - Create an incentive.

Your process of building an email list can be sped up significantly if you tie a reward to the "opt in" process, and this can take the form of a valuable coupon or a contest drawing.  Once again, you should be very clear to the people providing these addresses about how you intend to use their information.

DON'T - Buy e-mail lists. 

Some e-mail list vendors seem professional, and some seem like back alley peddlers (check your e-mail spam folder and you are more than likely to see an offer in there next to the rest of your junk mail).  The reality is, directly marketing to people via e-mail without their consent can lead to many problems.  First of all, often times these lists are gathered by robotic programs that scour the web for e-mail addresses.  Not only are these going to have questionable value as far as targeting, but sometimes people can be outright resentful for the unsolicited intrusion.  Also, because of standards that have been set to thwart spam, the worst case scenario is that you could have your business email stem (@yourbusiness.com) labeled as a spam address by the major email hosts, such as GMail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail, which means that you can be blacklisted from having ANY of your important business emails get through to ANY people that use these systems.

DON'T - Skimp on the planning.

If you start with good practices at the beginning of a email marketing campaign, as you will thank yourself later.  No matter where you get your email addresses from, make sure that you have some system of filing them and tagging them so that you can target mailings at a later date.  Thinking as future-forward as possible will allow you to save time later.  Some possible categories could be based on geography, what customers have ordered in the past, or how customers tie into other marketing (like following up on direct mail, for example).  When you send your initial "opt in" emails, it is a smart idea to let people indicate what their interests are, which you can easily use to classify them.

For more information about email marketing strategies, feel free to contact the author or visit our blog at http://www.smartroiconsulting.com/smartroi-blog/.

As 2009 comes to a close, we thought that we would share with you our thoughts on one of the best ways to kick start your internet marketing program in 2010.

One of the easiest and least expensive ways that you can keep your clients involved with your business and to make more money in 2010 is to start an e-mail marketing campaign.  Many small business owners immediately respond: “but we don’t have any news”.  The truth is, anything can be news, whether it is something as simple as a new product, the hiring of a new sales rep, community awards, or the announcement of a new blog entry.  Whether you are in the retail or service industry, email marketing is crucial, especially if you have customers that make recurring purchases.  They will benefit when you update them on special pricing and seasonal offerings, and many very wise retail businesses will use targeted and timely email campaigns to reduce inventories of surplus or expiring goods.  Think about including a special coupon with an expiration date that your customers can print out which will motivate them to take action.  A direct mail piece with a similar coupon could cost hundreds of dollars.

For retail businesses who don’t have recurring purchases (real estate agents, for example), email marketing is a great way to follow up with your customers after the sale and give them updates about their purchases.  The customer will feel great knowing that you are still around and standing behind your product, and this will dramatically increase the amount of satisfaction and referrals that you can expect.

Though it is tempting to send out emails from your own email address in one big batch, it is not a wise thing to do.  It can look unprofessional, especially if you not take steps to shield your client’s email addresses from others reading the email.  Also, there are very little tracking options to make sure that your clients are receiving and opening the emails.  In the worst case scenario, your day-to-day business email address can be flagged as spam!

There are several services available that are internet based and allow you to manage your regular emails along with your mailing lists from any computer with just a login.  Managing your mailing lists and designing your email design can take some time, but it is a simple process to learn.  You will want to look for a provider that adheres to the best principles of the major anti-spam industry groups.  These providers will also be able to tell you if and when your email was opened, and this can help you realize if you are targeting the right people with the right message.

SmartROI Consulting manages email campaigns for clients using their business partner Constant Contact, which is the industry leading online email marketing provider.  For any questions regarding SmartROI Consulting’s email marketing services, or any other internet marketing services, please visit www.smartroiconsulting.com or send us an email.

NEXT BLOG TOPIC:  “What are the best methods for building an email marketing list?”