by Zac
22. January 2010 01:32
You’ve set up a GraphicMail account, your campaign is mapped out and your newsletter design, if you do say so yourself, exceptional…but is there any point in sending out those crafty newsletters if no one reads them?
The intent of email marketing is to reach as many potential clients or customers as possible and to maintain existing client relationships; the key to fulfilling this purpose is a vast mailing list of interested contacts who have opted in to your newsletter. Now is as good a time as any to ensure you have a top-notch database of readers – and, if not, to give yours a revamp.
Here’s how you get them hooked:
Why does anyone want to know which shower gel I use? Long, tedious subscription forms requiring seemingly irrelevant personal information can scare off prospective subscribers. Keep your sign-up process short, to the point and relevant. If you don’t have a subscription form, or you’ve just realized yours needs a face-lift, check out GraphicMail’s customizable subscription form.
Become a collector – of contact info. Don’t sit and wait for them to click on the subscribe button on your website (you do have one of those, right?), add links to subscription options to all your potential contact points: from your newsletters to your sms/text messages, your email signatures to your guest books, your cash registers and events. Most importantly, don’t forget the friend of a friend of a friend route, ask your friends to share your details. Social media remains the most effective networking tool - place sign-up links on your Twitter and Facebook pages to optimize your popularity.
Make sure you segment your list to ensure your emails reach appropriate clients or customers - your great uncle probably does not want to hear about the opening of the latest trendy club, but might prefer the scoop on pensioners’ specials at a highly regarded restaurant. To learn how to use the GraphicMail system to efficiently target the right people on your list, take a look at our targeted list management. Once they’re reading, spoil them rotten! Entice them with everything from inside info to discounts, competitions and more. They’ll always open-up and read when they know there’ll be something in it for them…
Then there’s the clincher: Maintaining your list to ensure all your good efforts weren’t in vain. Keep an eye out for those subscribers who gave you the flick by unsubscribing, your enticing newsletter to bounce, the ones who just don’t bother opening your emails and those who gave you incorrect information that caused your enticing newsletter to bounce. Delete them.
Then make sure your loyal subscribers update their details on a regularly - you don’t want a change of email address going unnoticed.
Done? Now get ready for higher delivery rates, new and more dedicated followers, improved client relationships and a greater return on investment.
Time to put your new and improved list to the test!