Email Marketing

I believe that a good e-mail list is an asset that will stand the test of time as other digital sites come and go. If you provide value in the form of content your readers will appreciate the information and when you have a product or service to sell, they will listen and purchase because of the trust relationship you have built.

The goal of all marketing is to establish a better relationship with their customers and target markets. All business owners are looking for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.

While I am a strong believer in e-mail marketing I believe that it must be used in conjunction with other touch points. I have heard that it takes 7 to 8 touch points to establish a relationship with a prospect. I want to add that it takes 7 e-mail touches as well as an additional 7 touches through another media such as personal contacts, snail mail or telephone calls.

These are a few of the reasons why e-mail is a must in a marketing campaign.

• It’s easy to use. Tools such as Mail Chimp and Constant Contact make it easy to send a personalized e-mail touch.
• E-mail is inexpensive: All it takes is persistence in gathering “permission e-mails”, writing compelling content and then pushing a button to send them out.
• E-mail is interactive. It is easy to track. You can measure the overall effectiveness by the number of openings you have with each mail. It allows you to make changes to increase the readership.
• E-mail is content driven. You have to know your customers and target market. Sharing information that you have in your Vision Based Business Plan is a good place to start.

There is one other important issue that must be covered. E-mail should only be sent to those that give you permission. Your job is to gather as many e-mails as possible and to ask permission to e-mail your value based newsletter.

Don’t wait until you have hundreds of permissions to send e-mails. Start with what you have now and make a commitment to gather at least 8 new ones each week. If you accomplish that as a goal, you will have at least 400 prospects and customers that you can touch every month.

Remember, e-mail is just a portion of a good marketing plan, incorporate the other touch so that you have a minimum of two touches every month.

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Tips & Advice by Nick Petra, CFP – Founder of Strategic Duck and BizQuack