Email Direct Marketing: What you need to know to sell more

Owning your content via a blog and email direct marketing (eNewsletters) to your audience should be part of any marketing strategy. As I've discussed previously, relying on social media to connect with your customers is fraught with danger as the rules change and the landscape shifts.

A blog is essential for SEO and to provide your customers with new relevant content, but unlike social media the audience may not keep returning to you which is why I recommend having a newsletter sign up on your website so you can continue to market directly to your customers.

Now you have the blog, you have the opt-in but how in the world do I make an eNewsletter you ask? Well read on as I have some great free tools you can make use of to simplify the job and show you how to use your eNewsletter to sell more.

1. Get your eNewsletter Tool & Opt-In

If you don't already have an opt-in and eNewsletter tool then I would recommend either AcyMailing or MailChimp (with RSForm!Pro Integration).

AcyMailing is a great option because everything is managed from within your Joomla Administration and I would recommend this if you are sending emails to less than a few thousand subscribers.

If you have more than a couple of thousand people on your mailing list, either go for MailChimp or look at using a 3rd party SMTP server to process your mail. The main reason for this is that processing large volumes of mail is best handled by a dedicated server away from your website so that in the event that your server IP address is blocked for sending too many emails, it will not affect delivery of other email from your website.

2. Start Designing

Take a look around at other people's eNewsletter designs to get some inspiration. It's great to get ideas and identify elements you like, but copying is a big no-no! You have a unique voice and a unique way of working with your customers, so don't just copy and paste from someone else, build your own style and be authentic.

While coming up with your design, consider who your audience is and the tone of the conversation you want have with your customers. Is it a corporate relationship, is it fun or is it friendly and familiar?  This will help you decide on the style of your newsletter to represent you and your company. Using a template that re-inforces your branding is important for consistency and so that your email looks good in most email clients, browsers and on mobile devices.

MailChimp has a built in email designing tool - which is another reason to consider using MailChimp for eMarketing. If you are using AcyMailing, or some other eNewsletter tool, then I can recommend the Campaign Monitor "Build your own email template" tool. It's free and very easy to use.

Once your template is complete, it's just a matter of copying and pasting the code into your eNewsletter Template Tool ready to start composing.

3. Composing to create trust

The content of your newsletter is the most important part of this whole process. You can have the most amazing, creative eNewsletter design on the planet, but if you've got nothing to say, the audience won't stay. So take some time to try and deliver something of VALUE to your customers. It's a great way to show that you know your stuff, but more importantly, it creates TRUST.

Customers who trust you are more likely to buy from you. By giving them something useful for free, you're tapping into your customer's subconscious altruisic nature. When we are selfless and giving, others often want to reciprocate and help us out when they can - the old "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours". This may not result in a sale right away, but if you demonstrate this capacity to provide value without expectation and stay in regular contact with your customer, then the next time your customer needs a [insert your business product or service here] you are very likely to spring to mind.

Is it working? Do you need a new website? ;)
I find evolutionary altruism fascinating and if you're interested you can learn more on how and why we evolved this way.

The other point I will make about the content is tone. Like when you were considering the design and how this represents you, your products, services or company, it is important to match the tone of the newsletter content to the style of relationship you want with your readers.

For me, you can probably tell I write as if I were speaking to a friend because that's the type of relationship I want with my customers. Building a website is not a cold, corporate business transaction. I need to understand your business, how you differ from the competition, your goals and how you like to work to ensure that the website delivered represents you and your company. I've found the best way to establish this relationship is to be friendly and to have some fun while being professional and informative.

4. Send!

You're ready to send but before you hit that button a couple of quick checks should be made.

First read, read and re-read. Proof your work and even send it onto a friend or trusted colleague for review as nothing stinks more of laziness and unprofessionalism than typos and poor grammar.

Next, send a copy to yourself and preview it your email client (Outlook etc.), check it in webmail, test it on a smart phone and tablet if possible.

Finally, set up your email queue process so that only a small number of emails are delivered at a time to avoid your IP address ending up on spam blacklists. If you end up on a blacklist, most mail servers will reject your emails and there goes all your hard work. I would suggest 40 emails per minute and then waiting 4 minutes before sending the next batch (but check this with your web hosting or SMTP provider to be sure).

And that's it! I hope this has been of value to you and I welcome your feedback. You can contact me via the contact form.