Vol. 1 Issue 19 - October 1, 2002 - Professional E-mail Campaigns


In this Issue...

  • Writing Professional Campaigns
  • Campaign List Targeting and Personalization
  • Getting Action and Closing the Sale


WRITTING PROFESSIONAL E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS

Yes, e-mail marketing will get you in trouble because it's spam.
On the other hand, successful e-mail marketing campaigns are well-planned, expertly written and skillfully executed. It's not spam or unsolicited commercial advertising.

As a professional communication tool e-mail has no equal. It easily overcomes the phone in its capacity for generating interest, initiating conversations and building relationships. E-mail can be tremendously effective as a sales and recruitment tool, especially when used in conjunction with traditional phone efforts.

The quandary is that e-mail marketing will work against you if perceived as spam. There is no quicker way to turn people off than to harass them with commercial solicitations. You know that e-mail can be a valuable tool for increasing your contacts, yet you are understandably weary of any negative implications. So, what do you do?


You use AIDA:

Attention ---> Interest ---> Desire ---> Action

You got their attention with a compelling or magnetic subject line. You kept their interest with a persuasive message. You effectively communicated an opportunity, but e-mail campaigns consist of more than just an initial message. Once you establish communication with your target audience, it's imperative that you keep things flowing.

If any of your future messages are dull, boring or tedious, your readers will certainly bail out. That means you will either be perceived as a spammer, or simply banned from their inbox. You must keep their interest right from the start, but also maintain it through the entire campaign. Here are some quick tips on gaining their attention and keeping their interest:

Keep paragraphs brief
Use short sentences and simple words
Maintain an upbeat tempo
Divide your message into several sub-headings
Now we can explore how successful campaigns are constructed and delivered. Desire is facilitated by two basic tenets, targeting and personalization. These two concepts play principal roles in ensuring that your e-mail campaign is a boon and not a bust.


CAMPAING LIST TARGETING

The number one e-mail campaign killer is poor targeting. Your excel spreadsheet, ACT! database or Outlook Contacts must include at least one or two categories outside of typical "contact" information. Whether it's location, skill set, interests or some kind of demographic, your e-mail list has to be targeted for a very specific audience. The more accurate you are in narrowing down your audience, the more successful your campaign will be.
Even a list consisting of hundreds of thousands of leads will be absolutely useless if your campaign is not targeted.

I love targeted e-mail. Every day I check my inbox and look forward to messages that are timely, interesting and help me save money - or do things more efficiently. Businesses that send me the right marketing messages are often rewarded with a sale - or at the very least - my attention, which like yours, is in short supply.

Spam damages customer goodwill. Conversely, targeted e-mail builds goodwill and develops relationships. Done cleverly and correctly, it can be the most inexpensive and effective way to
reach your customers, time and time again.


THE SECRET IS IN THE LIST

How do you ensure your e-mails are anticipated, desired and add to your bottom line? The secret is in the mailing list.

An effective method is to keep separate lists for each group and run individual campaigns. For example, one list for the "Medical" audience and another for "Telecom." Even more effective would be to keep separate lists for Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals. Of course, effective targeting goes beyond simple demographics.

A truly brilliant targeted list consists of sending relevant information to people who crave it. How do you find out what is relevant information?


ASK THEM

You could send out e-mails to the people on your list and ask them what they are interested in. Divide up your list into as many major groups as you can create, then make smaller sub-groups
based on their responses. You can ask future contacts about their interests during your initial communication.

Once you have a list of people interested in a narrow topic like Optical Long Haul Engineering you tailor your e-mail campaigns to offer them news, information and opportunities in that industry.

Besides directly asking your contacts about their interests here are a few other ways to get a targeted list:

Reward your current contacts for referrals
Offer freebies to encourage website visitors to sign up
Buy targeted opt-in lists from a vendor like
Postmasterdirect.com or yesmail.com
Rent lists from a third party like directmedia.com
Sponsor someone else's newsletter
Exchange banners with partners
Create a contest to encourage people to sign up
Run a survey and ask people to register to get results
If you do use some form of list from an outside party, or generate traffic from another external sources, be sure your message drives people to a place on your site where they can register for something and subscribe to your list. Don't lose out on building your own list!


MESSAGE PERSONALIZATION

There is no more effective method for fostering e-mail communication than addressing your reader by name.
In fact, statistics show that when addressing a reader with just one or two more personal items yield exponentially better results. Using e-mail merge software, like the kind we'll discuss in our next issue, you can use your ACT!, Outlook or Excel target list to insert a reader's information into your message.

Even if you don't keep a separate list for each demographic or interest group, it's possible to build a personalized message through e-mail merge software.


USE THEIR NAME

Using a reader's name when writing to them makes them feel important. The advantage is that it also tells them the message is not some anonymous commercial advertisement. If you identify them with another piece of personal information like the name of their City or Company then the message becomes much more personal. A third item will really catch the reader's attention and make it known this is no ordinary e-mail.

Compare these two examples:

"Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to register for our newsletter.
I know you will enjoy it and benefit greatly from it.
Please pass the word along and feel free to contact me any
time with questions."

vs.

"Joe,
Thanks for taking the time to register for our newsletter.
I know you will enjoy it and benefit greatly from it.
Please pass it around to other Systems Engineers at Calico
Enterprises. I'll be in Tempe late next week if you would
like to meet for lunch or a cup of coffee."

Which of the above would you rather receive? Obviously the second message is much more personalized, but which one grabs your attention better? Which one is more likely to make you want to stay in touch with the sender?

Using your mail merge software you can easily create very personal messages like that for your campaigns and in your auto responders. The personalized information Joe, Systems Engineer,
Calico Enterprises, and Tempe was obtained directly from our contact record for that individual. They are simply the FIRST NAME, TITLE, COMPANY, and CITY fields inserted into a template message then populated by an e-mail merge application. Any contact database like Outlook, ACT!, or even a simple spreadsheet, will suffice if it contains some of those fields.

You can also use this technique to:

Announce your travel plans to your customers or clients.
Lline up a few other meetings while you are in their part of town.
Send out your job openings for each region.
Ask your readers to forward job openings to their friends.
Conduct a survey of customers' interests.
Send out specialized news bites for each technology interest group.
Write customized newsletters for different skill sets.
Create a sequential auto responder to prospects.
Make geographically relevant announcements.
Tailor your message based on the history of your relationship with groups of readers.


ENGAGE THE READER

One of the most creative uses of auto responders and personalization I have ever seen is a progressive e-mail course. This mini class was mailed out one message at time. Each installment was a separate chapter, sent out after I responded to a previous chapter. They personalized it by using my name and tracking my progress. They even had multiple-choice questions to which I could respond by clicking on an e-mail link that generated a reply to a customized address with a predetermined subject line.

The course kept me engaged for months. At the end both the sender and I were very familiar with each other. Done completely through automatic responders and personalization, it required little work on the part of the author. You could do something like that and gain an incredible advantage over your competition by capturing the attention of your readers for an extended period of time.


GETTING ACTION: "CLOSING THE SALE"

One of the worst things you can do is to leave your reader hanging. They've read your enticing messages, your captivating story, your creative responses, now what?
Well, don't make the fatal mistake of leaving out the call to action. Chances are your reader will scan the message quickly. At the end of every message a resource box suggests to the reader a few courses of action. These are the last lines your reader sees. It's your chance to set the next step, so make it obvious.

The resource box also needs to be compelling. Make the reader jump to your website, sign up for an e-zine, download an e-book, claim a free gift, try new software - get creative!

Viral marketing can be used to your advantage. Ask your readers to forward your message to friends and co-workers and claim a prize. Track referrals from existing customers and reward them. Most Web hosting services or programs can track clicks and traffic. This is a good way to see how well your campaign worked and where it can be adjusted.

Don't forget to give your readers a way out of the list. Goodwill depends on their ability to opt-out. If they have the option to opt out, chances are they won't use it. However, if they don't have an easy way out then it's more likely they will be irritated and ask to be removed.

Your last words must briefly demonstrate your value and also prompt readers to take advantage of something available only through their relationship with you.


WANT TO LEARN MORE? READ HERE:

  • Direct Marketing Association
  • Intro to E-mail Marketing
  • E-mail Marketing
  • Content-Based Targeting
  • Is Targeting Overrated?
  • Targeting E-mail Geographically
  • MessageMedia Case Studies
  • Software for E-mail Lists
  • How to Create an E-mail Marketing Campaign
  • Personalized Campaigns


Some Opt-in List Vendors:

  • Zapdata
  • InfoUSA
  • USA Data
  • Email 2 Success
  • HTMail
  • Optin Inc
  • Email Results
  • E Direct
  • ListBuilder