What is Email Marketing?
Introduction by BIG Response Surry Hill Australia
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Have you ever received a special promotion, a newsletter or an invitation to an event via email? If you have then you've experienced email marketing first hand.
Here's Google's definition of email marketing:
Email marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating to an audience. In its broadest sense, the term is usually used to refer to sending emails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its new and existing customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
It's the last sentence that makes email marketing such a powerful communication tool:
"... sending emails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its new and existing customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business."
When a customer is loyal to you he or she will buy from you over and over again, because they trust in you and your products or services. Trust is one of the major reasons why customers buy from one company over another.
In todays world of relentless "let's do anything for a sale" advertising bombardments and over-hyped buy-one-get-one-free offers, earning trust can be difficult. This is where email marketing can help you stand ahead of your competition.
Let's look at an example below.
Earning Trust With Email Marketing
Trent owns a small accounting firm in Sydney. He understands that trust and email marketing go hand-in-hand and so he spends about an hour each month typing up an email to send to his subscribers. Trent's subscribers include his current clients as well as people who have signed up to receive his email by visiting his web site.
In his email Trent shares tips to help his small business clients reduce their tax and also reminds them of any information from the Australian Tax Office which might be important to them. Trent sends out his email at the end of every month, without fail. When any of his email subscribers have a taxation problem Trent is the first person they call.
Why?...
Because they trust him. Over the last few months all of Trent's email subscribers have received informative, money-saving tax tips via email free of charge. To them, Trent is perceived as an accounting and taxation expert and he already has their trust from sending out his emails, so who better to call when they have a tax inquiry?
Trent's monthly email tips also help his word-of-mouth advertising, as his clients are more likely to recommend his as a knowledgeable accountant to friends and family members by forwarding his emails. In this situation everyone wins: Trent gets more clients and his subscribers and their friends and famiy receive free tax advice.
Conclusion
Email marketing builds trust and trust is a powerful motivator to buy from (and then remain loyal to) a small business or industry professional such as yourself, producing repeat sales and countless referrals from friends, family and associates. If you want to experience real, consistent growth and unbreakable customer loyalty then email marketing is the fastest, most affordable way to do so.
Why Should I Use Email Marketing?
In 2008 email continues to be the most profitable and affordable way to reach prospects and customers. A MarketingSherpa study found 78% of business email marketers and 69% of consumer email marketers still think that email marketing is effective, and its impact continues to grow.
... but what does all this mean to you, the hard working small business owner? It means that your competitors and businesses whose products you use every day (such as your bank, mobile phone provider and accountant) are all using email marketing to their advantage.
No matter what industry you're in, there are several ways you can use email marketing to attract new customers and turn them into life long evangelists and repeat buyers.
Here's five reasons why you should be using email marketing to compliment your other marketing activities:
It's extremely effective. Email marketing works to build a trusted bond between you and your prospects and customers. As we've already discussed here, once you've earnt a prospects trust it becomes much easier to sell to them. In fact, you don't even have to give them the "hard sell" because in their mind you're more like a trusted friend with products and services they need, rather than a faceless corporation.
It's measurable. How do you measure the success of a TV or radio advertising campaign? Guesswork would be most people's response. With email marketing you can see exactly how many people have opened your email and which links they clicked (if you have a web site). You just can't get this type of measurable campaign information from any other communication medium.
It's affordable. Using Big Response, it costs just a few cents to send an email to a prospect or existing customer and you can do it yourself. Because people have voluntarily subscribed to your email list, they are more receptive to your message than any other medium, including TV, radio and print.
It's easy to get started. Big Response includes absolutely everything you need to get started with email marketing - even if you don't have an email subscriber list just yet. Click here to try Big Response free for 30 days, no strings attached.
It's fun. Really! It's hard to describe the feeling you get when you send an email to your subscriber list and you see - in real time - how many people are opening your email and which links they are clicking on. It's truly a liberating experience which can become quite addictive.
5 Benefits of Email Marketing
Email marketing is an extremely cost-effective way to communicate with prospects and existing customers. Similar to direct mail, email is a faster, cheaper and easier way to communicate with your prospects and customers. It doesn't matter what type of business or industry you're in, email marketing can have a positive impact on your sales.
Here are the top 5 benefits of email marketing, in no particular order:
Increase your sales - Did you know the average person has to see or hear about your product 7 times before they will buy from you? Using email marketing you can send a series of messages to your email subscribers, educating them about your products and services.
An educated prospect trusts you, and when you have a customers trust selling becomes a painless, more natural process - increasing your sales as a result. Even if they aren't in the market for your product or service now, you'll be first on their mind when they do need what you offer.
Finally, email is a great way to send promotional messsages. If prospects want to know when you release new stock or when your next sale is, email can put your message in front of them in minutes... for just a few cents per subscriber.
Generate repeat business - What's better than someone buying from you once? How about the same person buying from you over and over again, referring friends and family members in the process? As you may already know, it costs a lot more to acquire a new customer then it does to keep an existing one, and email marketing is your secret weapon when it comes to customer retention.
Keeping in touch with customers regularly after they buy is a great way to generate repeat sales. For example, you can offer them special deals on items that compliment what they've already bought from you.
Let's say you sell electronic equipment and John (a fictional customer) has already purchased a TV from you. Why not send him a follow up email 2 weeks later advertising a special promotion on surround sound setups? The possibility for repeat sales is only limited by your imagination.
Increase your average order value - For most industries email provides a great way to up-sell customers and can easily add up to 30% to your average order value when done correctly.
For example, if you sell a service like dry cleaning, you can email your customers about other services you provide, such as ironing business shirts and home delivery services. You save time for them and generate more sales for youself in the process, so it's a win-win situation for everyone.
Increase your offline sales - Have you ever used the Internet to research a product and then gone into a shop to buy it? According to a recent survey by MarketingSherpa that's what 59% of Internet users do on a regular basis.
If you run an offline business and don't have a web site, email marketing is a great way to drive foot traffic through your door - just include your address so potential customers can find you!
Gain honest, valuable feedback - It's easy to get honest feedback about your products and services by simply asking and because email is a form of faceless communication, your subscribers will be more honest with you.
For example, if you send an email asking what they think of your customer service or how you could improve your products you'll be surprised at the invaluable, honest feedback you'll receive.
Click here to start your free 30 day trial of Big Response - it includes everything you need to successfully create and send your first email marketing campaign. There's no commitment, nothing to pay, and you can close your trial account at any time.