Grow your business WITH EMAIL MARKETING

03 / Mar / 2008

Email marketing is winning plenty of fans the world over who are convinced that it is an effective, low cost tool to reach customers.
HERE’S GOGGLE’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.
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 today’s 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. Here is some advice on email marketing.

Why use email marketing?
• It’s extremely effective. Email marketing works to build a trusted bond between you and your prospects and customers.
• It’s measurable. 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).
• It’s affordable. 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 fun. 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.

There are a number of benefits from using email marketing:

1. Increase your sales — Did you know the average person has to see or hear about your product seven 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 customer’s 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 messages. 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.

2. 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 complement what they’ve already bought from you.
3. Increase your average order value —
   For most industries email provides a great way to up-sell customers and can easily add up to 30 per cent 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 yourself in the process, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
4. 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, that’s what 59 per cent 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!
5. 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.