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Alex Daniel, 3rd July 2006. Email: Friend or Foe? Email marketing at its simplest can be divided into two distinct groups: Unsolicited and solicited. Unsolicited email, otherwise known as spam, is a burden to all internet users. Spam email is generally sent to millions of email addresses at a time, email addresses that have been programmatically generated or sold as part of an email list. Kinesis will never send any unsolicited email. Solicited email on the other hand is an acceptable and proven marketing practice. Solicited email involves sending email to customers who have signed up to receive email from your company. There are many good reasons why you should be sending regular marketing emails to your customers. I have identified some of these reasons below. Email compliments your web site Most people spend more time reading email than they do surfing the Web. Having a great web site that is concise and informative can encourage repeat visits, however it is very easy for a customer to forget to read your web site for weeks on end. Sending a regular email to your customers is an effective way of keeping your company at the fore-front of their mind. Your email, when prepared properly, can be sent in HTML format - your emails look like your web site - further enhancing your company brand. Email effectiveness if measurable When used in conjunction with web site tracking software you can see how many people read your email and how many visits to your web site are generated by your email. Your customers look forward to your email Every one of your web site subscribers have chosen to receive your email marketing. These customers are your best customers, and you should do what you can to satisfy their needs for information. Your customers are already patrons of your business - sending regular email updates encourages repeats visits more often. The following graph shows trends in email marketing over the past few years. Latest statistics show that just under 33% of solicited emails sent are opened with a full 8% clicking through to the originating web site.
Imagine a moderate email list of 1,000 subscribers (typical for a 2-4 screen cinema). Sending a weekly email newsletter would result in approximately 330 customers reading your latest news and information, with approximately 80 customers clicking for more information. It takes only a small percentage of these customers to purchase from you for your email to have a great return on investment. Email is cheaper than print Sending a regular marketing email to your customers is far cheaper than sending an equivalent number of print newsletters/flyers. Unlike print marketing where costs per print stay relatively the same, email costs decline with each additional email. Print newsletters require design, printing, packaging and postage costs which can easily add up to $1 or more per customer. Email marketing can be done for less than 2 cents per customer! Also, no matter how many colours or pages your email is, or where in the world it is sent, costs stay relatively fixed. Email is interactive In an email, and content you provide can be directly linked back to your web site. This makes it easier for customers to make enquiries and gain further information. Emails can be forwarded If you email marketing contains enough information you may find it is forwarded by your customers to their friends or associates. This is a form of word-of-mouth advertising - it doesn't cost you a cent and comes with the added bonus of being referred by a common source. Get started with email marketing today! As with most Internet technologies, there are many complications that can arise. Email is particularly troublesome and without proper knowledge of spam filters and email marketing rules many of your emails may never reach their intended audience. Kinesis is experienced with email marketing. Send us an email, or give us a call.
Additional Information and References This article was adapted from Flyte article: http://www.flyte.biz/resources/articles/0303.html |
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