Ok, this is kind of an advanced post so I’m not going to go back and review all the foundation elements of how I prospect. If this is all new to you, at the very least, sign up for and download the free email course at prospectfactory.com to get some idea of the basics. Remember that interaction with prospects, collecting pertinent information and systematic outreach are critical parts of any prospecting system. As far as email marketing goes, there are five main elements I would like to talk about here:
- Permission Only Email – “Permission only” means that you will only send email to persons who have given you their explicit permission to do so. Permission only email is the only way to send email. Almost everything else is spam. If you care at all about the future of your business, you will never send spam. Everyone who engages in email marketing must learn email “best practices” and follow the guidelines of the CAN-SPAM Act. If you collect email information, you’ll also need a privacy statement that discloses what you plan to do with the information you collect and how you plan to protect that information.
- Email Capture – This refers to how you are going to collect your permission only email addresses. To build an email list, you’ll have to ask prospects if they are willing to let you send them email. In some businesses this is more challenging than others. Generally, wherever you talk to or engage potential customers – on the phone, in person, at your website, at trades shows, etc. – you’ll need to set up a way to ask for permission email addresses. To a prospect, his or her email address is a valuable thing! To have a person be willing to share their address with you, you’ll need to offer something of value in return. A free newsletter, a free PDF, a free large drink, 3 chicken wings, free breadsticks, etc. Something of real value generally must be exchanged to motivate folks to allow you access to their email box.
- Email Design – This refers to the appearance of any email you send. Email is generally either text or html. Design elements vary greatly, as do response percentages. Email may contain links that can be track able. If you were to send a group of emails on a particular subject, you can include links about that subject on the page. If prospects are interested in those links they can “click” on those links for more information. Link tracking will tell you who clicked and on what links. Link tracking is a powerful way to discern which prospects are interested in what products.
- Email Testing – If you have 200 prospects, you can divide the prospects into two groups of 100 and send a different version of the same email to each half. Whichever email version gets the highest response, keep using that one. In the future (and get ready folks, this is a big secret that is simple but can make a huge difference over time), once you have identified an adequate test group, ALWAYS SEND TWO VERSIONS! The best responding version is sent the most, the second version(s) tries again and again to beat the first. If it does beat the first, it replaces the first and the process repeats itself. This process is known as “split-testing.”
- Email Frequency – This relates to how often you send email to prospects and customers. People take a variety of approaches to this issue. Some people send a lot of email (once or twice a day or more) others, send relatively infrequent email messages. Appropriate frequency will be based on the parameters of your business. A snowplow company might send only three or four messages a year while an investment or political newsletter might send a message several times a day, if needed. The prospects expectations need to match your frequency. In other words, try to let folks know in advance how many messages they are probably going to see. If you send too many emails, you risk overdoing it. If you send too few, the prospect may forget about you. The key is to help manage your prospect’s expectations and to try and strike a proper balance. This may take you some trial and error over time.
Resources on Email Marketing
A good book I found on email marketing is, [Sponsored Link - E-Mail Marketing For Dummies
], by John Arnold. John is a speaker, entrepreneur and business consultant. He helped create a training program for Constant Contact, and in the book he uses many examples on how to work effectively with Constant Contact. The book covers many issues:
- Setting up a strategy for email marketing.
- How to build an email list.
- How to write effective email and effective subject titles.
- Email delivery and tracking.
- How to design the look of your email.
- Top Ten Mistakes people make with email marketing.
- Top Ten Resources for help with email marketing.
If you are serious at all about getting involved in email marketing, learning more about how to do it right is a good idea. Well written and easy to read, I found this book to be a very helpful resource.
Five Main Elements of Email Marketing
Ok, this is kind of an advanced post so I’m not going to go back and review all the foundation elements of how I prospect. If this is all new to you, at the very least, sign up for and download the free email course at prospectfactory.com to get some idea of the basics. Remember that interaction with prospects, collecting pertinent information and systematic outreach are critical parts of any prospecting system. As far as email marketing goes, there are five main elements I would like to talk about here:
Resources on Email Marketing
A good book I found on email marketing is, [Sponsored Link - E-Mail Marketing For Dummies
], by John Arnold. John is a speaker, entrepreneur and business consultant. He helped create a training program for Constant Contact, and in the book he uses many examples on how to work effectively with Constant Contact. The book covers many issues:
If you are serious at all about getting involved in email marketing, learning more about how to do it right is a good idea. Well written and easy to read, I found this book to be a very helpful resource.