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Part 3 - Email and Autoresponder Basics

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the third article on how to Internet Marketing For Small Business. So far we’ve introduced the importance of using the internet to build relationships with customers, finding and nurturing prospects through their entire buying process, and some of the tactics to do these things. Now lets move on to one of the most important activities of growing a business - using email to prospect and develop relationships.

The quickest and easiest way to get starting is to work with the people you already have relationships with. The bad news is that emailing a lot people on a regular basis can be a great deal of work. The good news is the computer will do this work for us - or at least most of it - with something called an autoresponder.

Before we get started lets first talk about email in general. It’s also important to know that there is a lot more on these subjects than can be fully discussed in this article. Topics like copywriting, that is making the emails interesting and attention grabbing, headline writing, and creating offers that convert to sales (among other things), are covered in-depth in other articles. Check out the Article Directory to get more information.

Email is still the Web’s Killer Application

Now I know what you are thinking: I already get too much email! Most of our inboxes are overflowing. The first thing many of us do after opening our inbox is to delete the emails we don’t want, didn’t ask for, and don’t have the time to look at. The very things that have made email so important and so popular have almost destroyed it. Spammers, those that send out tons of unwanted emails are the bane of the Internet. Laws have been passed to control these Internet abusers. The problem is worsened by others send us emails that have no value - nothing more than sales pitches.

Despite all of that email is still the most important application of the internet. People still open, read, and respond to their email, especially when it comes from a business they know and want to communicate with. A recent study by Internet firm, DoubleClick, Inc. showed that over 88% of consumers have bought something because of an email message. Done right, and believe me when I tell you that most people aren’t using email properly, email can be one of the most powerful tools in your Marketing Toolbox.

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• It is the one tool everyone uses
• Most people start their days by checking their email
• People open their own email

As a business email also offers you some distinct advantages that you can’t get with any other medium, including Direct Mail.

• It’s free
• It’s very targeted
• It’s very fast and responsive - people write emails back
• It’s based on Permission Marketing (more on that later)
• It’s effectiveness can be tracked and measured
• Email marketing is what allows you to connect with customers and prospects to build relationships.

What will make your email different - keeping it from being deleted and out of the spam folder? We are only going to email those that want our emails! Called “Permission Based Marketing” the idea is simple - marketing messages are only sent to customers who have requested them. This is very different from traditional marketing, which typically interrupts the consumer to try to get their attention. Permission emails are also different from Spammers who bombard readers with unwelcome e-mails.

We need to be very clear about what permission email is: people give their permission to receive email from you. When consumers get junk mail they can toss it. But unwanted emails are different. They go directly into a person’s home and business and force someone to deal with them. Sometimes they can overload an online mailbox keeping wanted emails from being delivered. Have you ever gotten a “this email box is full” error message? SPAM upsets people and can set off nasty replies and complaints to the sender’s ISP (Internet Service Provider). It can get your email account shut down and may even be illegal.

Compare that to what happens when you check your mail you see your favorite magazine or a letter from a close friend? You can’t wait to sit down and read it, right? Well that’s how all email should be - expected, relevant and desired! Permission email allows you to deliver welcome messages to your customers. Using email, you can build relationships with consumers. The real power is the way email connects with people in an amazingly personal way - if it is used properly.

Email will be used to prospect and to get additional business from existing customers. You know the 80/20 rule: 80% of business comes from 20% of the customers. Getting customers to spend only 5% more can mean increasing profits from 25% to 95%. Building stronger relationships with existing customers is simply good business. It’s easier to keep an old customer than to go out and find a new one.

A key to using email successfully is having great content and descent writing. Write like you talk - conversationally, as if you were talking face-to-face. Forget about correct sentence structure. Nobody cares online - they’re more interested in the information than in perfect grammar. Don’t write emails that sound like a corporate memo - no one want to read those anyway.

Writing as you speak is a powerful technique that makes people feel like they know you personally, and that they can trust you. It’s the best and quickest way to get your message across. For example, which is easier to read?

“My e-mail endeavors were largely unsatisfactory until I acquired the requisite skills in articulating messages that the majority of readers could appreciate.”

OR?

“My response rate sucked until I learned to write the way I speak.”

Of course not every writing rule you learned in school can get thrown out. A casual tone of voice is fine; bad grammar and spelling mistakes are not. Nobody wants to take the advice of someone who can’t write or spell. Use the spell checker religiously. Pay careful attention to words that sound alike but have different meanings, i.e. their/there, its/it’s, hear/here, etc.

Other tips for writing lively, interesting emails include:

• Short paragraphs. Break up big blocks of writing into smaller blocks. No more than 3 sentences belong in any paragraph.
• Vary sentence length. Make sentences shorter rather than longer. Use one or two word sentences. Like this.
• Eliminate useless words. Short is better than long. The best emails are shorter than 500 words, shorter than 300 is even better. If you need to say more put it on your website or send out the option to get your newsletter.
• Give Their Eyes A Break. Use whatever you need to give your reader’s eye a break. Liberally use bullets, the dash, ellipses (the three dots like this …), the dash, CAPITAL letters, and headings will make pages more inviting to the eye.
• Use various formatting techniques—Bold, Italic, Underlined. However don’t use too many different fonts. Change your fonts for quotes or special text boxes, perhaps for making headings stand out. Too many fonts make the text unreadable and it looks unprofessional

Perhaps most important, get personal with your readers. Let them know there’s a real person writing them. Just as I’ve shared some of my life with you here - become a real person to your readers. Life is in the details. Don’t be afraid to let people know who you are. That’s not to say you should release your home address and invite everyone out for coffee. But just as like you would exchange a bit of small talk in any business meeting, allow your readers to get to know you by sharing a little of your life with them.

E-mail Marketing—You’ve Got To Do It Right

If email is so important why are so few local businesses using it? Most small businesses rely on repeat customers. As much as 70% of a business’ income may come from existing customers. Besides good content and decent writing what do you need to do to be successful growing your business using email?

• Email marketing takes thought and planning
• Email should not be used for only sending sales messages
• Don’t forget your other prospecting activities
• Customers want to hear from you
• People will respond to your emails.

Email is not the electronic equivalent of direct mail. It’s not simply collecting a bunch of email addresses and sending out sales letters. You need to have two-way communication with customers. It’s not as simple as it looks, and requires planning and testing. Your communications must be organized and coordinated. You don’t want customers to get mixed or untimely messages.

Email should not be a one-way monologue either. Emails should encourage a dialogue. If you want to build a relationship with customers, you must get them to talk. Get them involved by asking questions and offering incentives for their input and suggestions. Create surveys and contents. Yes, it can be a lot of work, but that’s how to build long-term relationships -profitable long-term relationships. Besides, it’s much more fun than a one-way conversation, for you and for your customers.

The reason that so much bad email exists (and gets deleted) is because readers are tired of wading through hyped pitches. Instead of being part of an on-going two way conversation emails must be more than sales messages. If all you ever send your customers are canned pitches don’t be surprised if they reach for the delete key.

Don’t be afraid to email your customers. They always have the option of unsubscribing to your emails by removing their permission. Customers don’t go away because of emails. They’re much more likely to go away because they aren’t contacted and they forgot who you are. Of course, nobody wants boring, rehashed information in their mailbox either. Emails must have valuable and interesting information to offer. Then they will be happy to get them.

If someone responds negatively to your email and unsubscribes let them go. They probably wouldn’t have bought anything anyway. You want a list of buyers, not people who enjoy your information, then go purchase from your competition. If there is the opportunity to learn out why they unsubscribed - find out. This can be done in the email used to confirm their deletion. Speak with them if they shop your business. Some customers will fill out satisfaction surveys, especially if they are left in your business where you’re asking for their email address. This kind of feedback will help improve your email marketing.

People are very responsive to email - at least those that interest them. They may not reply the first time (as Direct Mail proves) but as the relationship is built they will become more and more responsive. Give email subscribers valuable information and they will come to trust you, even rely on you. Give subscribers a reason to contact you. Ask questions, solicit their feedback, do whatever it takes to get them to open up a dialogue. The web now offers many ways customers can interact and promote a business.

• Customers can post comments on the website
• They may place links to the website on their site or blog
• They may write about you on other websites

Make sure to respond quickly to those that that write. Also let others know the business’ privacy policy to encourage their participation. Unless a person gives their permission don’t share someone’s email information with others. That is the surest way to lose business and trust.

Email Marketing Don’t Do the Work Yourself: Autoresponders

The real power of the Internet for a business is that you can automate most of the processes and work. Do something once and have it used over and over again. It isn’t possible to answer every email that comes in online so the computer will have to help. If you’ve ever asked for information online about a product or service, or signed up for membership on the Internet, and received a nearly instantaneous response in your inbox, an autoresponder program was responsible.

Basically autoresponders are email programs that send out a preset message in response to every incoming email received. Some autoresponders are simple one-response programs: a single response for every message received. The most common example of this is the “away from my office” message. When a person is away from their office or work email it’s quite common to turn on an autoresponse message that sends a reply to every email received. The message is a common courtesy, aimed at explaining why the person won’t be answering until they return to work. Just about every Internet company uses autoresponders to automate tasks that would otherwise take up hundreds of hours to accomplish. Autoresponders build prospect lists, automatically converse with customers and track promising leads.

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Serial autoresponders send a series of messages to an email addresses on a predetermined, timed basis. For example, a serial autoresponder can be used to send an instant response, then a follow-up message two days later, then another six days after that, and so on. It can be programmed to send a single message a day, one per week, twice monthly, or on any interval that satisfies the purpose of your campaign.

Autoresponders are the most powerful Internet marketing tool available to you. They are easy to use, and once they are set up the entire marketing process is automated and instant. When you use autoresponders, your Internet business runs itself 24 hours a day. Launching an effective autoresponder campaign can mean the difference between having a struggling business and a wildly successful one.

Autoresponders can be considered as your 24/7 sales force. You can design an email campaign that automatically sends out emails at regular intervals. You can design the content, frequency, and recipient of your emails. Autoresponders can even change what emails are sent out based on what the customer does, responds, or buys from you. Imagine having a tireless sales force at your command. And it’s a sales force that you don’t have to pay, never gets sick, and never needs a vacation. That is what an autoresponder will be for your business.

Just about any business can benefit by using autoresponders. Your autoresponder is your golden goose: the marketing tool that will sell your products and services far more effectively than any other form of advertising. Often it takes 7 to 9 contacts to make a sale - on or offline. Getting messages out repeatedly to people who are interested in what you have to offer will result in an explosive sales response.

Autoresponders Are Not Too Technical

You might be worrying about how difficult it is to work with autoresponders. Thankfully if you choose a good system you should get the hang of it within a few hours. There are always lots of help files and a customer support staff you can call on if you get stuck.

My autoresponder of choice is called GetResponse and I recommend it to everyone. It costs $20 per month - less if you prepay. GetResponse also offers email templates, newsletter templates and other tools to keep your customer approaches fresh, varied and interesting. They even have a free version that you can use for up to 100 email addresses. Use the free version to learn the system without paying for it. Start by entering some emails into the system and learning how to automate an email campaign.After you’re comfortable using the system you can become a paying member.

Just because GetResponse is my choice doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look around for yourself. There are many different autoresponder services available, some that are online services, like GetResponse, and others that get installed on the website or on your own computer. I strongly recommend choosing one of the online services because they are specifically set up to send lots of email. If you try and send out broadcast email messages to hundreds of people using your own computers you may be accused of spamming or your mail may be blocked.

The secret to putting an autoresponder to work is to collect as many email addresses as possible. Get customer’s email addresses, get the emails of everyone who comes into the business or who you have contact with. A website will need to have a sign-on where people will give permission to send them emails (called opting-in). All that is required are some creative approaches—coupons, contents, asking for referrals, etc.

We’ll look at the technical issues and how to use an autoresponder when we get together in the next article.