Email Marketing

One of the major pitfalls of mass email marketing campaigns is that many of the intended recipients never even open the email. If they bounce or are reported as spam or abusive, there is also a problem. There may also be a problem of immediate unsubscription if your email is not properly done.

But let's say you have a great product, a great company and have researched and found your target audience. You are now thinking you may be ready to perform a mass marketing campaign via the internet. You have high expectations that you will send out a bunch of emails, they will get opened and everyone will go to your website.

Perhaps you are right, but the implementation is critical. In fact, to get the result you desire, you cannot simply open up your email program, type in a bunch of names and write a little jingle. You may wonder why, given your great product or service and the correct target audience, this will not work. First of all, typing in those names can be quite a chore, and you can make mistakes. Importing your contact list via reliable software is a good first step. Being able to sort your contacts according to unique specifications is optimal. You will receive feedback that you will want to take advantage of, and once you really get going you will need to manage multiple contact lists.

You may now think you have all you need. There is, however, more to be done because most email programs cannot hide the fact that an email has been generated by a mass mailing program. Therefore, your email may very well end up going straight into the trash. The solution is to use browser based, bulk email marketing software that is white listed with the major ISPs. There are a host of regulations, authentication requirements and permission-based policies that have to be 'passed' in order for your mass emails to be received. This is one area you cannot ignore.

Now you must address the content of your email. Professionalism is the key here. To make sure all your recipients are able to read your mail, use a WYSIWIG HTML editor when you compose it. It might even be a good idea to use a template that has been professionally designed as the basis for your correspondence. You will want to have the ability to easily modify the template.

You will want those who are interested to be able to opt-in for promotions. Future mailings should be addressed as well - you want your recipients to be able to customize when and what they hear from you.

Your recipients have seen your message and visited your website. Those who have visited your website have made some selections, and you need to take advantage of this information. Whether or not someone bought your product or service is just the tip of the iceberg. Your successful marketing campaign should include an ability to analyze everything from email opens, clicked links, forwards and soft and hard bounces. Your marketing software must make the most out of this for you to launch successful future campaigns.

Never send bulk emails through your office computer and always use white-listed, hosted email marketing software. Choose software that works for you to dramatically increase your success rate. I've researched over fifty companies and recommend just one. You can find it at MaxiMails.