When it comes to getting a marketing message directly in front of a targeted group of viewers, there may not be a better option than email marketing. It gives you control over who sees your message, when they see it, what the message is, and in the right situation it can be extremely cost effective.
Email marketers have three options of who will receive their messages. They can choose to send emails to their existing customer database, or they can purchase lists of new prospects, or they can use a combination of the two. These lists may be sold by third-party database sellers, or by companies which specialize in email marketing solutions. When buying these lists, you can choose from a wide array of demographic characteristics, including: age, gender, marital status, average household income, geographic location, whether or not they own their home, whether or not they have children, and many more.
If you don't already have a database of your existing customers, you should definitely start building one. This is a powerful asset in retaining these valued constituents, and it's relatively easy to do. There are a number of ways to collect email addresses: you could provide customers with a survey that includes a contact information field in which they can list their email address, you can tell them you are updating your database and would like to include email addresses, you can offer them an incentive (such as a one-time discount) for providing their email address, or you could hold a contest in which a requirement of entry is providing an email address. No matter which method you choose, you will need to be sure to explicitly tell your customers how you will be using their email address. There is no faster way to turn customers off than to abuse their email address privileges.
With each type of email distribution list, you can tailor the message you send. For instance, You may want to send a more aggressive special offer to new prospects than you would to existing customers, since you already have their business. For existing customers, you may want to use terms like "loyalty" "rewards" and "customer appreciation" in your messaging so they know their business is important to you. You could even tailor your messages to feature specific products or services you know that they need. For instance if you sell cell phones and your database shows a customer's plan is expiring in a year, you may wish to develop a series of messages that arrive every couple of months featuring new phones and new plan options.
The message really can be anything you want. We've focused mainly on special promotions, and those tend to work the best. Remember, the average person receives a lot of email each. Between work and personal accounts, they could be viewing hundreds of messages including bills, messages from friends, daily news updates, and correspondence from other marketers. So you will need to deliver a message that cuts through the clutter and compels them to open your email. That is one reason discounts, coupons, and exclusive offers work so well.
But there are other messaging options as well: newsletters with interesting facts and helpful hints, surveys, and fun games and apps that give your brand some personality while potentially driving traffic to your web site or social media page can all work as well. You can schedule these to be delivered any time you like, so you can have messages delivered on a standard weekly timeline, or at specific dates to coincide with in-store events, to promote online sales, or a combination of all these.
The first factor determining cost will be the resources you have to manage it. If you can handle it in-house, then you can save a lot of money (though you will be expending a lot of time upfront). You may choose to work with a general marketing agency or an email marketing specialist if you do not have the internal resources to create and manage a campaign yourself. Email marketing firms offer a variety of solutions to fill your needs, from full service programs that include graphic design of emails and actually sending them out on your behalf to self-service platforms that allow you to upload your own creative and send messages out yourself in exchange for licensing fees, you are sure to find a solution that works for your budget and needs. Most of the cost involved in these projects will be in the setup phase - either in buying new prospect lists or uploading your own; developing creative, and getting emails set up for delivery on your desired dates. Once that's all been taken care of, you'll just pay a small fee for each email that is sent, and over the long haul the price becomes quite reasonable.
Email marketing offers superior flexibility and control in messaging, target audience, price, and delivery frequency. If it isn't currently a part of your marketing mix, explore how it can help you win new customers and keep existing ones now!
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