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Is Email Marketing Right For Your Business? Deciding whether or not email marketing is a good idea for your business can be a difficult process. The concept of email marketing is very simple to understand the process of determining whether or not it is right for your business can be significantly more complicated. This is because you have to consider a number of different factors before making your decision. You should consider your target audience and their propensity to use the Internet, whether or not your message can be effectively states in an email and whether or not your message is likely to be misinterpreted as spam. All of these factors are important and can help you determine whether or not email marketing is right for your business. One of the most important factors to consider when deciding whether or not to invest your money, energy and time into email marketing is your target audience and how likely they are to use the Internet regularly. This is important because an email marketing campaign is not worthwhile if members of your target audience are not likely to use the Internet to purchase or research the products or services you offer. Even if the use the Internet for other purposes it is not worthwhile because they will not be likely to become online customers for your products or services. However, if you have a target audience who is very likely to use the Internet to purchase the products or services you offer and to research these items, an email marketing campaign is a good idea. In this case it is absolutely worthwhile because you will be providing information which the members of your target audience will find useful and which they may already be looking for elsewhere. Next you should consider the products and services you offer in an attempt to determine whether or not your message can be effectively stated in an email. This is important because if you offer a product or service which is difficult to explain the emails you use for marketing are not likely to be understood or well received by the recipients of your email distribution list. This is important because you want to be able to convince potential customers of the need for the products and services your offer, not make them feel more confused. Finally, an important concept to consider is the possibility that your email messages will be viewed as spam. This is a very important concept because emails which are viewed as spam are not likely to be well received by the recipients and may not ever even make it to the recipients if their spam filters tag these emails as spam. Even if the emails do reach the intended recipients many Internet users have grown accustomed to weeding out spam rather quickly and will be quick to delete, without reading first, emails which are suspected to be spam. In determining whether or not your emails are likely to be viewed as spam, it is important to consider the subject of your business and therefore the emails you send out. This is important because certain subjects such as weight loss pills are likely to be viewed as spam more quickly than other items. If you are in the business of marketing products or services which would likely cause your emails to be deemed spam, orchestrating an email marketing campaign may not be worthwhile.
Tell people the major benefit of your product, web site or service on your banner ad. It could be benefits like ‘make money’, ‘lose weight’, ‘increase energy’, ‘save money’, ‘save time’, etc. For example, you could say, "Lose 20 Pounds In One Month!" Another example, "Make $200 In One Day!" You could advertise a free offer on your banner ad. People love free things. The freebie should relate to your target audience. If the freebie is attractive to them, they will click on the banner. For example, you could say, "Free Business E-zine!" or "Free Garden Tips E-book!" or "Free 7 Lesson Investing Course!" Keep people at your web site for as long as possible. Allow them to download free e-books, sign up for contests, use free online services, etc. This will help increase your sales. You could use pop-up pages, pop-under pages and exit pages too. But be warned, this can annoy some visitors. Anticipate any objections your visitors may have about your product’s offer. You must research your target audience's needs and wants. For example, your target audience may not like businesses that use free web site domains. Another example, they may not like to buy from web sites that don't accept offline checks. Remember not to use outrageous or unbelievable claims in your ad copy. People are too savvy online and won't believe you. For example, don't say, "You can make 1 million dollars in 2 days!" Another example, "You can fold paper at home and make up to $2000 a day!" Pick a good name for your business and product. Your names should be memorable and describe the kind of product you're offering. Names that rhyme are easy to remember. If you're selling information products you may want the word "publisher" in your business name. You also don't want your name to have any offensive words or phrases in it. Solve your customers’ complaints by being quick and friendly. The faster you respond, the more your customers feel you care about them. You could set up a handy FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list. You could also add more ways they contact you faster, like by e-mail, phone, web message system, fax, instant message, cell phone, etc. Never think your customers are satisfied with their purchase. You should be constantly finding new ways to better your product and service. You could give the free surprise gifts, survey your customers, take all their opinions and questions seriously, set up focus groups to improve your product, etc. Market yourself, as well as your product. You could write articles, e-books, do free consulting, do speaking engagements, etc. You could tell your prospects a little bit about your personal history too. You could tell them when you were born, where you grew up, tell them about your parents and other family members, etc.
Selling Banners by the Impression A final type of banner ad is sold by “impressions.” Less popular than pay-per-click ads because the advertiser is simply paying for his ad to be seen and not acted upon, they can still be a profitable way to sell ad space once your readership grows. Let’s say, for example, that your blog is dedicated to investments in the natural resources sector. Your readers are also potential investors in the companies that inhabit the market you talk about, but there is no way to know if a reader buys (or sells) stocks or investigates companies based on your writing. In this case, selling ad space directly to a company that will pay you to simply feature their banner can be worthwhile. You promise the company that a certain number of people will view their banner or that it will remain on your site for a certain amount of time, and they pay for the link. You’ll know how much revenue to expect every month and you won’t have to share it with an agency that takes a cut for bringing advertisers to you. While potentially more profitable than pay-per-click programs, selling banners by the impression has several drawbacks, the most difficult of which is convincing advertisers that you are worth their money. That’s why your expertise and contacts are so important in choosing your blog topic. Once you become a clearinghouse for information, you can be sure that companies – especially small ones in small industries – will know you. If you have a million readers a month and are an acknowledged expert in their industry, they may be happy to pay to have their name in front of their readers, especially if they can measure the number of people of visit their site as a result of your ads. But watch out for conflict of interest, real or perceived. When you feature a company’s ad, you may feel (and will be perceived by your readers to feel) pressure to treat your advertisers with kid gloves. It’s a part of the deal: your advertisers are not paying you to have you bad-mouth their company on your pages. So it’s essential that you be upfront with your readers when mentioning companies, informing them if you are a shareholder or that the company is an advertiser. It’s often best for your reputation to never mention a customer company or its main competitors directly, and while this can reduce your ability to sell these profitable ads, it can also help you avoid the reputation of being a shill and can help keep your commentary (or at least readers’ perceptions of your commentary) independent.
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