September 2002
MARKETING ANGEL ™
Making sense of e-mail marketing
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
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I took the plunge into e-publishing last fall when I launched a weekly newsletter featuring my latest columns on marketing, sales, public relations and advertising. It's been a thrill to build a list of opt-in subscribers, all of whom give me permission to take a moment of their work day each week. Mailing to current and prospective clients has also provided me with quantifiable results, a most desirable outcome that's often elusive with other marketing techniques.
E-marketing makes sense for just about any business — massive to minute — that has something of value to impart to its constituency on a regular basis. To understand how to start and maintain a results-producing e-mail newsletter, I asked Sally Loving, president of the Hallowell-based Inbox Marketing (www.inboxmktg.com) for advice. Loving's company specializes in e-mail marketing and newsletter services. In addition to creating and mailing newsletters for clients, Inbox Marketing offers a do-it-yourself newsletter service.
Kimberly McCall: Can every company benefit from an e-mail newsletter?
Sally Loving: I'll have to give you a "Yes, BUT" answer on this question. E-mail is very effective at getting your company's name, message, and products or services in front of customers at an affordable cost. It can produce instant sales and feedback, foster long-term customer relationships, and help position you as an innovator and trusted expert in your field.
The "BUT" is that this is only true if you send compelling messages that are uniquely targeted to your customers or clients. E-mail can be counter-productive if it's sent too often, is blatantly commercial with no incentives, is poorly written or designed, or isn't targeted to a specific audience. We should all resist the temptation to send e-mail unless we have something important or interesting to say — and it must be something that the recipients will think is important or interesting!
Companies benefit most when they have carefully crafted e-mail strategies. E-mail is particularly useful for delivering newsletters with how-to content, breaking news, and event calendars. When you provide useful information that clearly benefits the reader, e-mail can be astoundingly productive.
McCall: Why should an e-mail newsletter be part of a comprehensive marketing campaign?
Loving: Like all other marketing efforts, e-mail cannot swim alone and is most effective when coordinated with other marketing programs such as special events, sales promotions, seminars, shows and print ads. I think of e-mail as just another way of reaching customers, with the added benefits of speed, low cost, personalization and interactivity.
E-mail gives you the ability to tie together several marketing efforts and receive instant feedback. For example, with today's technology, links to specific products or events can be tracked to determine who and how many people are interested. Polls and surveys can now be embedded directly in an e-mail. You can test and fine-tune a marketing strategy in a few days instead of weeks or months. That's a huge competitive advantage.
McCall: How can an e-mail newsletter add to a company's bottom line?
Loving: The power of e-mail is in reducing the cost of acquiring new customers, while simultaneously helping to retain current customers. Mailing an e-newsletter versus a print newsletter is about 90% less expensive. That's such a major cost savings that you can see why so many companies are switching to e-newsletters. You can't replace all of your advertising and marketing with e-mail, but you can get your name and message in front of a lot of people faster and cheaper than ever.
McCall: Since opt-in is a must for any legitimate e-mail newsletter, how does a company get subscribers?
Loving: What's important is how you ask for addresses. Always state the benefits for the subscriber. Make it easy to subscribe and unsubscribe. State your privacy policy in easily understood, clear terms. Try to collect addresses at every point of customer contact: at the counter; on your website; on inbound calls; at trade shows and events; on all printed matter — ask early and ask often!
Focus on quality not quantity. A smaller list of loyal buyers is far more valuable than a larger list of strangers. Once you get an address, treat it as sacred. Don't rent, sell or share it. Don't abuse it by mailing too frequently, and above all, keep it on your list by providing useful, interesting, and truthful information.
McCall: How often should an e-mail newsletter be sent? What time of day is best? What day of the week?
Loving: Most of my clients mail once per month, but it will depend on the message and the audience. Some consumer catalogs mail weekly or bi-weekly if there is a compelling reason such as an upcoming holiday. The most effective e-mail newsletters are sent regularly and on schedule. I customize the time of day and the day of the week for every client but as a general rule, business-to-business e-mail is sent on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday and business-to-consumer e-mail is sent on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Today's commercial e-mail programs provide "open rate" statistics so it is easy to test optimum mailing times.
McCall: Text and HTML formats are options for newsletters. Which is the best format, and why?
Loving: There's a time and a place for both. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Many marketers have reported extraordinarily better responses with HTML's color and graphics than from plain text messages. But there are cases in which text is better such as: messages sent to people whose e-mail platforms can't read HTML; messages sent to the approximately 25% of people who simply prefer plain text; and messages sent with a serious tone, such as an apology.
Most commercial e-mail software allows recipients to choose whether they want to receive plain text or HTML. Our software automatically creates an HTML and a text version simultaneously.
McCall: All the sleazy marketers are making it hard for those of us who've built a loyal opt- in list. Many ISPs and company firewalls are now blocking e-mail newsletters, even though the e-mail recipient has requested the newsletter. How can e-mail publishers work around the spam filters and firewalls?
Loving: Funny you should ask. I just received results of a recent industry survey on this topic. The report states that despite prevailing fears that spam and increased e-mail filtering will hurt open rates, in reality this doesn't seem to be the case for house lists (a company's own opt-in lists). Companies mailing to their own lists have experienced little to no change in open rates and in fact, 22% had increased open rates. The rates plummeted for those mailing to third party or rented lists. I think this just reinforces the value of getting permission and focusing on your customer's wants and needs.
You can avoid most spam filters by making certain that the subject line accurately reflects the content of the message — don't use all caps or exclamation points or the words FREE, VIAGRA, or SEX in the subject line. Also, use a valid e-mail address in the "From" line and provide users with either a simple online means or a toll-free number to opt-out of future mailings.
There are some interesting new filtering tools, such as Digiportal.com, that help verify legitimate e-mail and block spam. We'll be seeing a lot of innovation around this issue as consumers and legitimate mailers work together to stop spam.
McCall: Any additional thoughts on e-mail newsletter marketing?
Loving: E-mail technology is still in its infancy. There are some very cool enhancements coming in the next few years that will make e-mail more exciting and accessible. You can be sure that consumers will have more control over what is allowed in their mailboxes so businesses must pay attention to sending messages that are relevant, personal and rewarding.
Kimberly L. McCall (a.k.a. Marketing Angel™), is president of McCall Media & Marketing, Inc., a business communications company in Freeport, Maine. McCall writes monthly columns for Entrepreneur magazine and contributes to inc.com and The Wall Street Journal's StartupJournal.com. Sign up for her free weekly bulletin at www.MarketingAngel.com or contact McCall at 207-865-0055.