Bretts Marketing Bytes

A lot of people ask me if email marketing still works. The answer is without hesitation… YES!. Email marketing is one of the best methods to reach customers if done properly, However, it  has evolved into something more complicated than it ever was. This is due to more sophisticated email software and savvier consumers.

So why are some people saying that email marketing is dead?

One of the most common reasons why email marketing doesn’t work for a lot of companies is because they run into something called list exhaustion.

List exhaustion is when your emails have no perceived value to your recipients anymore. This occurs when:

• You are not sending information that is useful to your readers
• You are sending your non-useful emails too frequently
• Your emails are hard to follow
• Your emails have poor designs and your readers do not take them seriously

No one wants to receive emails about something they don’t care about.

Some of you reading this may have already run into list exhaustion problems. I feel for you. You will have a lot of work ahead of you to fix this. Been there, done that and yes it can be fixed. But those of you that are new to email marketing should start off on the right foot.

Here are some things that you can do to prevent list exhaustion.

Note: I use a program called Constant Contact to provide the following functions. If you are not using an email marketing software program you are missing out on everything that email marketing can do for your business. I recommend trying a free trail with constant contact.

So here goes.

• Segment your list - Segmenting is the process of splitting your list into multiple lists based on your recipients interests. You might have a general list of 1000 people. By splitting those 1000 people up into smaller segments based on their interest you can email them more frequently. These smaller groups of people will be more tolerant of your emails because they will be relevant to their interests. Example: A computer training company who does business in Buffalo and Rochester NY might have a general list of current and potential customers. The people in Buffalo do not want to hear about computer training courses in Rochester. So the more this company sends out unsegmented general emails about classes in Rochester, the more the Buffalo list gets exhausted. Eventually the Buffalo list will just start ignoring the emails, resulting in lower sales conversions.
• Provide something useful – This is where most companies really have a tough time. I think it is because the term “News Letter”. “News Letter” means tell em about your company right? Not in my book. Unless you have share holders, no one cares about what you are doing on a monthly basis. If you want to fill people in on what your company is up to, do it once per quarter. Use your other emails to provide value, sell products or provide useful information. Remember to use the WIIFM factor.
• Have a frequency that works for your readers – If you send too many emails without good content, people won’t even read them anymore. They will just end up getting deleted.
• Make your emails easy to follow – This seems simple right? Well you’d be surprised how many companies try to pack as much information as possible into one email. It is information overload. The important content in your emails should only be on one page. The user should not have to scroll to see it.
• Use a good design – A good design will make your emails come across more professional. Email marketing template design is a pain in the butt. Templates seldom work across multiple email platforms, but with a little testing you can get them to work with a majority of them. Constant Contact has a bunch of really great templates. You can also pay a professional to create one for you.

Try to avoid list exhaustion before it occurs and you will have huge success in your email marketing campaigns.

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