Of the hundreds or possibly thousands of marketing messages consumers are bombarded with each day, e-marketing is still one of the most effective marketing methods available, in both the online and offline worlds. In fact, a study from Forbes Media last year found that e-marketing generated the most conversions, second only to search engine optimization. Offline, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reported that e-marketing outperformed all other forms of direct marketing last year as well. So the data clearly shows that e-marketing works for reaching (and converting) customers today. But why?

A Broad Reach

One of the reasons e-marketing works so well could be that it has a very broad reach, since almost everyone today has an email address, and many have more than one. Spam-compliant e-marketing services (such as Constant Contact or Vertical Response) are readily available and very affordable, meaning you can easily reach your entire customer base using email. If you are not regularly e-marketing to your customers, you’re missing out on an excellent opportunity to keep your name and products/services in front of customers and remind them of the value you provide.

Taking Action

Also, e-marketing makes it easy to enable recipients to take some type of action. Whether it’s clicking through to an optimized landing page or printing out a coupon, your special offers can be delivered directly to your customers’ inboxes where they can interact with your message and take the desired action. Just be sure to use a clear call-to-action and provide recipients multiple ways to engage with you (including links to your website, email links, phone numbers, social networking links, etc.).

Targeting, Tracking, and Measuring

Targeting your messages is also easy with e-marketing, since you are sending directly to people who have opted-in or given you permission to contact them with your information. You can even segment your e-marketing list into specific groups based on interests, gender, time of year, or any other criteria that may be useful to your business. However, you cannot segment your list effectively if you are not keeping accurate stats and tracking your results. Most listserv services provide very detailed data on who opened your message, what links they clicked on, if they forwarded it to another person, etc. This level of results measurement is simply not possible with other more traditional marketing methods.

No Interruptions

E-marketing is also less intrusive than other types of advertising (like TV or radio commercials or the dreaded telemarketing call at dinnertime). Recipients will see your message when they are checking their email, and if you have done a good job of providing valuable content, they will look forward to what you have to say when they see your email in their inboxes. If you send too often or send only self-serving promotions, however, they may simply delete your message without reading it, or possibly unsubscribe or block you altogether, so be smart about the types of content you send and how often you send it.

Because It Works!

The bottom line is that e-marketing works, and is an easy, affordable way to market to your customers and reach them directly with valuable content and special offers they may be interested in. E-marketing also averages a return on investment (ROI) of $43.62 for every dollar you spend, which is a convincing reason to add it to your marketing mix in the first place.

By using e-marketing regularly, your business becomes more visible to your customers and regularly reminds them about your products, services, and value, and can trigger a flurry of renewed interest every time you send.

E-marketing is one of the most effective online marketing tactics a small business can use, and it becomes even more powerful when new contacts are regularly added so the email list continues to grow. But other than adding an e-newsletter signup form on a web site, how can small businesses get more people to opt in to their email lists?

Offer Something of Value

One very effective way to grow your email list is to offer your customers and web site visitors something of value in exchange for their email address. To get started, think of a few items that would be valuable give-aways, then build marketing campaigns around those offers. For instance:

• Have a monthly drawing to give away a free product or a gift certificate, and gather email addresses for this in a fishbowl at your place of business.
• Add a special “offer” to your home page that gives visitors a free report, e-book, or whitepaper but requires them to enter their email address in order to download the piece.
• Implement a direct mail postcard campaign with an offer redeemable at your web site. Have recipients go to your site and enter their email address to claim their report, money-saving coupon, discount, etc.
• Start a social marketing campaign announcing a special deal, then provide a link to your web site and ask for an email address to claim the offer.
• For online forms or web downloads, always make the email address a required field.

Make the Most of Special Events

Special events and networking functions are great venues for capturing email addresses, as long as you remember to ask permission before adding your new contacts to your email list.

• For events that you attend, gather business cards at each one (seminars, industry training, Chamber events, etc.). Then in your follow up emails (“It was nice to meet you at such and such…”), be sure to ask if they would like to be added to your email list.
• For events that you present or sponsor like seminars, training, or anything that would require an RSVP or registration, ask attendees to use their email address in order to register or reserve their spot.

In Your Everyday Routine

There are also some things you can be doing as part of your normal routine in your business, such as:

• When customers call your business, be sure to ask if they would like to receive your e-newsletter, then ask for their email address.
• If you have an online checkout system, make sure email addresses are required.
• Add a spot on your client intake forms, customer profiles, or member applications (depending on your business) where customers can add their email addresses.
• Make sure your existing customers have an email address on file; if they don’t, make sure you get an email address as you update your records each year.
• Add an email signup form to all of your social profiles. Facebook allows you to do this with a custom application, but you can also provide a link to the email signup form on your web site in your other social profiles.

Remember, one of the main goals of email marketing is to encourage people to visit your web site where they can DO something; whether it’s to download something of value, register for an event, claim a prize, or find more information and details about your business, all of which contributes to a positive impression and experience for visitors.

When visitors feel good about your company, they are more likely to forward your information or recommend your site to others, creating more opportunities for new visitors to join your email list and keep it growing for your business for a very long time.

Although many companies are warming up to social networking as an effective marketing tool, it’s important to remember that social networking is most powerful as a marketing tool when it is integrated with other marketing initiatives, such as email campaigns. People use social networking sites to pass along information and share with others, so it can be useful to set up your social networking profiles to “play nice” with your email campaigns to improve your results and overall marketing effectiveness.

Integration is Key
Integrating your social profiles with your email marketing initiatives can be as simple as including links to your Facebook business page or Twitter account in your email signature, or as sophisticated as using a “Share With Your Network” (SWYN) button in your email campaigns, allowing recipients to share your emails with others in their networks right from the message itself. Another option is to include special “share” links available from social networking sites (e.g., http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.yoursite.com/email.htm for Facebook) that lets users share your email message with their own contacts with just one mouse click.

One of the key benefits of integrating your social networking profiles with your email campaigns is that you give your email campaigns a chance to reach countless additional people that you may not have otherwise reached. The viral nature of social media means that when users find information that they like, they share it with the people in their own networks, who in turn share it with their contact lists, and so on. By integrating social media with email campaigns, you can make it easy for your recipients to propel your message out to their social network contacts, with the chance your message will travel even further from there.

Make It Two-Way
In addition to using email campaigns to promote your social media profiles, you can also give social network users the chance to opt-in to your email list as well. For instance, you can add your email signup box to your Facebook business page using FBML (Facebook Mark Up Language). Or, you could add a link to an email signup page on your web site to your profiles on LinkedIn or Twitter. The idea is to make it easy (and obvious) for people to join your mailing list and opt-in to receiving communication from your business on a regular basis.

Getting the Word Out
The content of your email campaigns can be re-used in your social media profiles, which is a great way to help your message find its way to new audiences. For instance, if you are sending out monthly coupons to your email list, why not add the coupons to your Facebook business page as well? Or you could use Twitter to announce the coupons at the beginning of the month (including a link to the coupons on your site), then send a Twitter reminder a few days before the coupons expire.

For business events, email and social media are both very effective for promotion, but are even more powerful when used together. For example, after sending out an event invitation via email to your list, you could post the information as an “Event” on both Facebook and LinkedIn, and use Twitter to broadcast a link back to the Events, or even include a link to more information, the event location or maps, or online registration form on your web site.

Social Media is Definitely Here to Stay
Whether you’re new to social media or you’re already using it as a marketing tool for your business, you can make your email campaigns work harder by integrating them with your social media profiles. Integration means that your marketing efforts can be centralized and shared; for example, making your Facebook business page “talk to” your Twitter account and your LinkedIn profile, as well as showing off your latest email coupon offers and e-newsletter articles.

By integrating your social networking profiles with your email marketing campaigns, you can take advantage of the viral nature of social media and potentially reach new, untapped customers and potential customers, and re-use your email messages across new channels. Combine the two, and you can make your online marketing even more effective than by using either channel on its own.

Headlines aren’t just for newspapers, of course. But they are typically the first thing that customers read in your ads, in your e-newsletter articles, on your web pages, and even in your emails. A headline that grabs attention can immediately engage customers and pique their interest – or it can be skimmed over and ignored as they move on to something else. But since headlines are responsible for up to 80% of a customer’s response, here are some ideas for writing headlines that boost those response rates and attract lots of attention from readers:

1. Give Tips, Hints, or Information – One of the best ways to grab attention is to use a list of tips or hints in your headline. The “top 10 ways to”, “tips to help you”, or “the best ideas for” are sure-fire ways to get attention from readers.
2. Use a How-To – Another tried-and-true attention grabber is using a “how-to” teaser in your headline. Customers love free advice or gaining new information, and “how-to” headlines are a great way to clue in your readers that you’re about to give them something they already want.
3. Ask a Question – Involve your customers immediately by asking a question in your headline. Make sure the question is relevant to both their interests and your products or services. Use a question that will make them curious enough to read what comes after the headline.
4. Make an Announcement – People love something new, so write your headline to announce something in a way they’ve not heard it before. Use words like “Introducing,” “New,” and “Announcing” as a way to generate excitement.
5. Point Out the Benefits – Let your customers know right away that your message will help them in some way, or fill a need that they have. Touch on the benefits in your headline, then provide the supporting detail in the content of your offer.

Writing powerful headlines can be the spark you need to capture your customers’ attention and compel them to keep reading your message. And once you get their attention, you have an opportunity to convince them with your content and motivate them to respond. If you can write effective headlines for your ads, articles, and web pages, you greatly improve the odds that your content will be noticed instead of neglected.

Imagine a low-cost e-marketing tool that your customers look forward to receiving, reminds them of who you are and what you do, supports your web site and search engine efforts, and has results that can be measured almost instantly.  Sound good to you?

I’m talking about an E-Newsletter, which is simply the best e-marketing tool that you’re not using.

What’s so great about E-Newsletters? Well for starters, businesses that regularly send E-Newsletters typically have higher customer retention rates, better name recognition, and gain a competitive advantage over businesses that do not regularly send E-Newsletters. 

So why are small businesses seemingly hesitant about sending E-Newsletters to their customers and prospects?  It could be that they lack the staff (or confidence) to write articles, or maybe the time commitment required to make E-Newsletters a regular marketing activity seems too big.  Although these are valid concerns, they are small in comparison to the benefits gained by implementing this highly successful e-marketing tool.  To help your business take advantage of this invaluable web strategy, try these tips:

1. If you’re not comfortable writing your own articles, try using free, syndicated articles from sources such as www.goarticles.com or www.ezinearticles.com (two sites where Biz Talk articles are syndicated as well).  All you have to do is include the author’s resource info at the end of the article, and you can reprint it in your E-Newsletter at no cost.  You can search for articles by subject, title, or author to find articles that would be valuable and interesting to your own readers.
2. Include a section in your E-Newsletter that highlights your company’s value proposition or showcases something special about your business.  Change this section each month to include a special offer or announcement.
3. Add each E-Newsletter issue to your web site, and make sure you include links with good anchor text back to the other pages on your site.  Consider creating a newsletter archive or adding each issue to your “What’s New” page.|
4. Avoid using your E-Newsletter as a sales pitch. Instead, focus on providing your readers with useful information that reinforces a positive image of your company and helps establish you as an expert in your industry.
5. Be consistent in sending out each issue.  Sending E-Newsletters sporadically can cause a disconnect with your customers and may instead only remind them that they haven’t received an E-Newsletter from you in a long time.  Put your E-Newsletter on your marketing schedule and then stick to it.

After your E-Newsletter has been sent out, be sure to review the results of your campaign in the stats tracking section of your listserv service.  Take note of which topics receive clicks, and which topics don’t seem to generate much interest from your readers.  After several months of watching your stats, you will probably see patterns emerge that can help you fine-tune your E-Newsletter content to better match your readers’ needs and interests.

So in building a strong web strategy for your small business, don’t forget to include E-Newsletters as a way to reach your customers and prospects on a regular basis with a welcome addition to their inboxes.