SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE PROMOTION

Email Promotion Campaign

It is important to integrate opt-in email subscription fields (ideally accessible on every page) into your website. This is a great way of collecting a qualified database of future prospects to sell to.

The many advantages of an email campaign to your business can range from increased sales and profits, building and maintaining customer loyalty, establishing credibility, decreasing expenses, improving customer service and more.

This is achieved by providing free advice and tips, promoting your products and services by highlighting their benefits and informing customers of current sales, events, contests, etc. You need only write your email content once and send it to thousands, with no printing or distribution costs.

Unlike conventional advertising methods, where costs can be huge for little or no return and only provide one-off sales, email internet marketing is very cost effective. You can target a specific market, test your sales copy, track responses and click-throughs, control the exact timing of your communications and continually improve your sales process to maximise your return on investment. The frequency of email distribution can vary from fixed, frequent intervals or sporadic intervals, with communications occurring only when something is newsworthy.

Your email promotion campaign might be in the form of an e-zine (electronic magazine), tip of the week, newsletter or sales letter all of which should contain information that will be of interest to your subscribers. Hotlinks from your email to your website sales copy, special offers, discounts etc., will validate that you are a ‘real’ company, with legitimate offers.

Email marketing offers great benefits:

• A simple follow-up email to your subscribers can increase your profits by 30%.
  
• Personalized emails can increase your response rates by 60%.
  
• You can track and monitor online responses to your email to determine their effectiveness.
  
• Offline businesses can benefit from email promotion campaigns and increase profits by up to 30% even without a website.
  
  For example: Local stores can offer weekly coupons by email to keep customers returning; car repair shops can offer discounts for tyres and servicing when business is slack; a local salon can offer discounts for ‘quiet’ day, or special offers on colourings, haircuts, or manicures. The possibilities are endless, and setting time limits on offers encourages the customers to focus and take immediate action.

Of course, having a website is the best option, but even without one, you can start email marketing as part of your marketing strategy by collecting your customer's email address at the point of sale. Simply ask them if they would like to be updated on future promotions.

Offering an instore contest giveaway that requires the contestant fill out a form with their name and email address is another way to draw visitors into your store. This assumes you're offering a worthy enough giveaway to generate buzz or that you've advertised the giveaway promotion through other media channels. Email marketing is effective as it boosts sales by ensuring that your customers constantly remember who you are.

Customer service is improved also by advising clients of downtime, construction near your business location and re-routing, parking alternatives, extended hours, etc. For example, a dentist could send out an email notifying patients that his office will be closed for a week and include instructions on what to do in case of a dental emergency.

Initially, you will need a database to store customer details and an automatic responder to send out regular communications. We can provide a couple of options of distribution companies with email list management, delivery and tracking and reporting services. Their prices are usually based on your email list size and start at approximately $15 per month.

What we offer is a complete range of services in design, content and direct email copywriting, article and ezine creation, database entry and development of an opt-in page or opt-in field in your existing website. All you need to do is contact us and tell us what you want to achieve.