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Email Marketing: Buying, Building, Doing

Most business owners try to find creative ways to stimulate their bottom dollar. Usually, they do what is most comfortable, which is what they know best. However, if what youre using isnt giving you the results you need and want, the only way to grow is by trying something new.

Have you considered email marketing? Do you have a list of people you can send a campaign to? This is the first step. An email campaign does no good if you have no one to send it to.

There are several ways to start and maintain an email list, but it comes down to two basic methods: buying or building.

Buying Email Lists
Buying email lists is not the most recommended method, but it is the quickest. The problem with paid lists is that many of the individuals on it dont actually wish to participate. Thus, much of the email sent to them from companies fall under spam. Enough reports of spam and your business email address may be blocked by the email providers. As well, email marketing lists are not exclusive, which means youre not the only one with the addresses.

Building Email Lists
Building email lists greatly reduces the chance of being reported as a spam account. Its slower going, but those on the list are already familiar with you and your business. Have a call to action on your site and give them quick access to a way to sign up for your newsletter.

Success very rarely happens overnight, and the same is true for an email marketing campaign. However, the right strategy can, not only help you generate new business, but can also increase your customer relations for repeat business.

Business Concerns for Email Marketing Campaigns

When you think about your email marketing campaign, there are tons of things to keep in mind:
What product or service should I use to convert readers?
What words are considered spam words?
How long should a good email be?
Is there a good time to send out an email?
What if Im selling a male or female product in the email but have a general mailing list?
What if I dont have any conversions?

There are more things to worry about, but these are some of the most important.

Business Answers for Email Marketing Campaigns

A large part of what you need to know, you need to know before the campaign even starts. For instance:
What do you want to accomplish with your campaign?
Do you want them to buy something?
Do you have a special deal you want to share with potential clients or customers?
Do you merely want to have more visitors to your website?

Anytime you send out an email during your campaign, keep the purpose of the campaign in mind. Each email should be geared toward that purpose, whatever it is. As well, statistics show that readers respond better if you dont hide your message in the email. If your title mentions a sale, make sure theres a sale mentioned in the email.

Also, the links in your email should lead directly to the product or service landing page, rather than to a general or home page. The landing page should be similar to the email with the link. A home page, general page or landing page without the email information will quickly lose possible conversions because they didnt see what they were promised in the email.

In short, a successful email marketing campaign has three main components:

1. An email marketing service with a customer database. Why is a customer database important? Because it allows you to do split testing, to figure out the best type of email for your targeted market, as well as for segmentation. With segmentation, you can also set apart groups of lists for specific emails.

2. Automated email follow up. Once you have more than a few contacts in your list, responding to everyone can take a long time and a lot of work. With an automated email follow up, you can set up different messages for different links. It also gives your readers a sense of constant communication and stops you from making mistakes " like sending the wrong response.

3. Multi-media campaigns with multiple steps. Most email campaigns include a sequence, such as read email, click link, read landing page, complete conversion. Each step is a chance to insert something spectacular that compliments the campaign, such a letter or gift for someone who converted. Follow this up with a voice message informing them that they should receive a gift soon.

In conclusion, keep the above questions and components in mind. Putting all these aspects into your email marketing efforts will give you a major jump on the competition.