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Have you been searching for a quick and inexpensive way to keep in touch with your clients and customers? Don’t worry. It’s really not as difficult as you may think.
In fact, you probably already do it everyday anyway. Ever heard of email?
According to the Small Business Administration, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to keep in touch with customers.
At a typical cost of only .02 per message, email marketing is a real bargain in terms of price and time when compared to direct mail. (As of this writing a first-class stamp in the US is .44)
In addition, response rates on emails are very strong, ranging from 5% to 35% depending on the industry you are in and the format in which you send your emails. These numbers are great when you consider that response rates for traditional direct mail average much lower, barely cracking 3%.
If you’re ready to create your email newsletter, ask yourself the following questions before you begin:
- The 2 Versions of Email – HTML or Plain Text?
I think most of us love fancy text and fun colors. So it should be no surprise that response rates for HTML newsletters are generally far higher than just plain text email -since graphics and colors tend to make the publications look far more professional.
The major downside to HTML email is that it is slower to download, and more than a few email providers may screen out HTML email as a matter of course.
Which means that HTML email newsletters may not even reach your prospects inbox at all.
- What incentive can I provide my prospects?
To get prospective customers to sign up for your newsletter, it is wise to lay out the benefits of receiving your newsletter – such as helpful tips, informative content or early notification of special offers, or coupons – and the fact that it is delivered to them free of charge. Additionally, you can offer a free gift in the form of an ebook, MP3 audiobook, or mini-course.
- Am I providing value to my readers?
Many studies suggest that email newsletters are read far more carefully when they offer information that is useful to the customers’ lives rather than merely reading about products and services that you offer. Helpful tips, engaging content and humor are often expected to accompany email newsletters.
- Make It Easy On Yourself – Use An Auto responder
Though the thought of creating an email newsletter every single month may at first seam like a lot of work, it is really very easy to do as long as you use the right tool to help you do it.
By using an auto responder, you can create your email newsletters and then drip-feed them over time to your prospects. In other words, it call all be done on autopilot!
An email auto responder such as that offered by Aweber, Get Response, or Mailchimp, allows you to automatically collect the names of your prospects and add them to your email list (you add the form to your website) and deliver your content automatically – on the days that you specify.
So for instance, in the case of an email newsletter you want to send every month for a year – you can simply have (12) emails created and then insert them into your auto responder. The auto responder will allow you to input the sending schedule of your newsletter deliveries.
Once you’ve set how many days apart you want your emails to arrive (in this case, 30 days apart) there’s nothing more for you to do!
Your email newsletter will be delivered to anyone who is on your email list on the days you have specified – and it will continue for the entire year.
Don’t pass up on this excellent opportunity to keep in touch with your prospects.
Relationship building by sending interesting and informative email newsletters on autopilot is one of the biggest keys to building your business and brand.
