Emails… Email Marketing

Does email marketing work?

Yes! It works very well but then like everything there are degrees of success and there are a number of factors that must be taken into consideration when planning an email marketing campaign.

If you think you can just harvest emails willy-nilly from all over the internet and then blast out your sales message then you are asking for trouble. Spam emails are a real nuisance and account for millions of hours of wasted time deleting them. And yet they still keep coming! I guess the originators think that persistence pays, whereas it just simply annoys. So please stop doing it. (I’ll probably get even more now that I’ve said that).

So, that’s evidently NOT email marketing, it’s pure unadulterated spamming and it simply doesn’t work and never will.

Next, you can buy or rent an email list. If you are based in the UK you can go to a list broker like www.listbroker.com and you can select a list of prospects from over 3000 lists targeting a whole host of categories and interests. There are many such list brokers with lists for just about every type of demographic imaginable, so is this a good choice? Yes if you are dealing with an opt-in list but not so if the list source is a bit dubious.

What I mean is, some lists are generated by offering free information or free subscriptions or a free product and all the subscriber has to do is to agree to accept emails about similar offers. So, the subscribers have opted-in to the list by their own free will. However, when they start to receive hundreds of related emails they might very soon opt-out.

A better list is the double opt-in. This is where the subscriber gives up their name and email in return for a free offer but has to then click on a link in the initial email they receive to confirm that they have opted-in. So this type of list is highly targeted and is worth more to the vendor and so costs more to buy or rent. It is important also that the list is current and active. For a targeted list like this, you can expect to pay top dollar but as it will be highly targeted you should also get a good response as long as the offer is appealing enough.

Now the absolute best way of getting your hands on a very highly targeted email list is to generate it yourself. You can do this from your website by installing an email capture form from an email management company like GetResponse, aWeber, ConstantContact or Mailchimp. You will need to offer something of value in return for your prospect’s name and email and they will need to confirm their opt-in to your mailing list. Creating your own list of prospects in this way is your road to certain riches.

Marketing to your own list is by far the most profitable way of email marketing and has accounted for many online millionaires. There are many ways to generate your own list and as mentioned the free gift is one of the best. Another is to offer part of a valuable product or service for free and then email the prospect with the offer of buying the rest. An example might be an ebook about a new way of making money. It might have 12 chapters and you offer to give the first chapter free to anyone who asks for it, by giving you their name and email.

Then over the coming weeks, you send out regular emails to your list explaining what the rest of the book covers and how they could benefit. In the emails, you will have a link back to your website where they can make a purchase. You can also email them offers on related or subsequent products you create or affiliate products from which you make a commission. To “work” the list to the max you mustn’t try to sell something each time you send an email. You should also send out valuable or interesting information for free, and even a few free products every now and then.

The idea is to build a strong relationship with your list and that includes building trust and credibility, which are absolutely essential if you are to build a loyal list of buyers or followers. Email marketing can be very effective and the autoresponder is the most valuable tool you will ever use in order to manage your list efficiently. What do you know about autoresponders?

If you would like to know more about email marketing, autoresponders and generating your own email list… CLICK HERE