Email Marketing Requires Frequent TLC
Effective email marketing messages are critical to the success of your book sales, or publishing business. In an economy struggling to survive - now more than ever before - e-mail plays a central role in reducing your costs - and increasing your return on investment.
Simply put... Email Autoresponders are a series of email messages - sent sequentially - to potential readers and loyal book buyers over a schedule of time.
A good email autoresponder keeps you in touch with your readers now and then...
A GREAT email autoresponder sequence is an income generating asset which builds credibility, encourages return website visits, sells more of your books, spreads your writing to friends and associates virally, educates potential readers about your books, and runs completely on auto pilot once it's planned out!
Your email autoresponder will become one of the strongest marketing tools you rely on because it is one of the easiest sources of revenue generation that you will ever own.
In fact - you can use the Frequent TLC method I use with all of my most successful email marketing campaigns.
Just keep reading and learn how Frequent TLC will help you boost your email marketing performance today.
Frequent TLC stands for ...
Frequency, Template, List, and Content
Frequency
Do you remember the results of the last email marketing campaign you ran? Maybe you quadrupled your open rates, or doubled your conversion rate. Perhaps you boosted the average order amount by 30% or more. How did your Boss respond? "Way to go Johnson! Let's send that email out again!"
Your Boss is just following his classic front-office thinking: A little is good, so a lot must be even better. Unfortunately, with email marketing, this is not the case. Years of research report that over-mailing your list leads to an increase in unsubscribes and even spam reports.
So it is important for you to find the right frequency to send out your email messages. Finding that frequency is a little bit art, a little bit science, and a whole lot of listening. Listening closely to your subscribers.
How Do You Choose The Best Frequency
Frequency is not just a function of how often you send your marketing messages. Frequency also incorporates how often your subscribers want to hear from you. Both are valid concerns; how you balance those concerns will determine the success or failure of your email program.
Ask yourself this question: Do you send each email message because you have something new, urgent, timely or relevant to tell subscribers? Or - because you have to meet a sales quota, or other deadline?
Examine your competition, too! You might be able to discern a trend that gives you a starting point to set your frequency. What's good for the goose, is certainly good enough for the gander.
Better yet, quit playing guessing games and ask your subscribers directly what frequency they prefer at the time they opt in to your list. This will save you hundreds of dollars on costly market research and testing. It will also ensure that your customers get exactly what they what!
Template
Once you convert a website visitor into a subscriber - it is vital that you maintain the conversation through email autoresponders, and email newsletters. What's the best way to stay in touch with your customers? The VERY best method to choose is the method that gets your customers to take the action you require to move you closer to your goals!
One very effective method used in successful online marketing for years is the HTML Based Email. By using the power of HTML programming you can design and layout a more attention grabbing email message.
HTML Email marketing is one of the best internet marketing tools available to you as a website owner. A well designed HTML email (otherwise known as a Graphic email) is certain to convert more subscribers into customers. HTML Emails will surely lead you into higher sales of your product or service.
It is important that you are familiar with HTML design standards, and email marketing techniques that will make you successful. Makes sure you study and understand the unique constraints and capabilities of email reading programs.
HTML emails are a much different challenge than website design. Graphic email marketing campaigns have often been the "red headed step child" of the internet marketing world. They have been both ignored and actively repelled by some business owners. But you can choose to adopt this highly effective marketing method - and do it right the first time so your campaign is a success...
Whether we like it or not, graphic emails (built on HTML) are here to stay! And since they are so demanding in their constraints, someone experienced in those constraints should be hired to design the email properly. The professional you choose should be someone with web programming experience - as well as a handle on internet marketing techniques.
List
As you consider becoming an email marketer, one thing is certain, your list is something to be cherished. But creating a good, permission-based list is not always easy, and there are many hurdles. One wrong move and you can find yourself blacklisted, or marked as a spammer.
When you are building a list from scratch:
Define your strategy
Before building your list, you have to consider a few important things. Who will be on that email marketing list? Will you use opt-in or double opt-in? Where will you get your email addresses? Decide on those important factors first - before you start building your email marketing list.
Establish a capture process
The very best thing you can do is plan a capture process with multiple ways to snap up email addresses. Do you run a brick and mortar store? Ask people to sign up when they buy something. Do you own a website? Are you going to attend a convention? Gather email addresses everywhere you go! Just remember one thing... Wherever you gather your email addresses, make sure you have some proof of permission from your subscribers.
Display list builders
If you run your own Website, you should display list builder forms on every single page of your website. If you want to grab all the email addresses you can - make sure that little form is clearly displayed. You can always setup larger forms to grab more than email addresses - such as full names, birth dates, types of products the customer likes and more.
Content
When you begin writing your email marketing message, it is best to keep your customers best interest in mind. Your subscribers have joined your mailing list because they believe you have something valuable to share with them. Have a marketing person write your email message if you want a good, compelling message that hits the bulls eye.
The email message should include all of the following items to be totally effective:
Benefits: how the customer benefits when they buy your product or service
Features: some of the most outstanding parts of your product or service
Audience: think about who reads your email, and who you write it for - makes sure to write them into the product descriptions
Call to action: how to purchase your product, or participate in your promotion!
Where can you get affordable content:
Many articles are available in exchange for credit to the author. Although these articles are cost-effective (many are even free – you can’t get cheaper than that), finding quality articles that target your exact audience is very difficult. But there are many other ways to get affordable editorials for your email marketing message.
Transcribe Interviews
Speak with industry experts and write the interview out in question-answer format. Interview work very well when you can gather a panel of experts!
Offer Seminar coverage
Attend a conference or seminar your subscribers would find interesting. Write an overview of what happened at the event - the products introduced, the industry trends emphasized, and more.
Share Case studies
Do you have any satisfied customers? If so, write up a success story of the customer who used your product or service.
Accept Guest columnists
You can even open the doors to industry experts who contribute content to your email message. Contributors will often send articles for the free exposure. If you get someone who’s a really good writer, you may consider asking them to write for you on a more regular basis.
Use Previously Published Content
If you happen to read something and find it valuable - you should share it with your subscribers. This is easily done by writing a brief introduction and then linking to the original article.
If gathering great content and putting together an interesting, informative newsletter sounds time consuming - it can be. But finding great articles takes time as well. You’ll produce a high quality email marketing message by using these methods and tips. Stay organized and plan ahead. Give yourself enough time to write and edit your articles. Before long you will find that your subscribers are sharing your content with others and they will subscribe to your email message too!