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The 7 Deadly Sins of Email Marketing
Promoting
your products or services by email can be a very cost-effective and powerful
form of direct marketing. Not only does it help you to build up customer
relationships, it enables you to communicate your messages quickly and
easily.
However, you
should plan your email marketing with care because if you don't set up your
campaign properly, then not only will your messages never get seen but it
could also damage your reputation.
So if you
want to avoid the common pitfalls that many businesses make, read on to
learn the 7 deadly sins of email marketing.
DON'T:
-
Use your
ordinary email program. The majority of ISPs place limits on how many
messages you can send out and how many people you can send them to, so they
may block your account if you exceed this limit. Instead, use an email
marketing service to send messages and newsletters to your contacts.
-
-
Add people to
your mailing list without their permission. None of us wants to be accused
of sending spam emails. The only sure way of knowing that people want to be
included in your database is to use the double opt-in method. This means
that only people who have signed up and confirmed they want to be added are
on your list.
-
-
Send a
message without personalising it. Put your details in the From field and add
the recipient's name to the subject line and message as appropriate. This
helps to build a relationship with the contact and prevents the message
being treated as spam.
-
-
Forget to put
a reminder of why the recipient is receiving your email. Add some text at
the top of the email, such as "You're getting this message because you
signed up on our website". By adding this reminder, you will help prevent
the recipient from automatically deleting the message.
-
-
Add "spammy"
words in the subject line such as "free", "discounted", or "$$$". Your
recipients will think that it's another email scam and send it straight to
the junk folder.
-
-
Hide the
unsubscribe link or forget to add it. Make it easy and simple for people to
unsubscribe from your mailings by ensuring the link is clearly visible.
-
-
Only send out
an HTML version. Don't put your whole newsletter into one large HTML image
as very few people will be able to view it. The majority of email users have
images blocked on their email browser, so make sure that you do a plain text
version as well for those who can't or won't view images.
If done
correctly, email marketing is a very effective way of promoting your
services and products directly to your clients. Therefore, it is essential
to make sure that you have done everything necessary for your messages to
reach your potential audience.
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Valerie Eaton is the owner of Smart VA Ltd, providers of virtual
assistant support to small businesses and self-employed professionals.
They specialise in providing a wide range of general administration
support, as well as email marketing, website updates, document and
presentation design and event administration. Find more information on
http://www.smartva.co.uk and grab
one of the free guides which give tips on a wide range of topics from
how to set up an email marketing campaign to designing and delivering
professional PowerPoint presentations.
Article Source:
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