Top 10 Precision E-Mail Marketing Tips for 2001 - Brief Article

Information Superhighways Newsletter, April, 2001

Spending on e-mail marketing is expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2001, up 91 percent from last year, according to a report by eMarketer. What's going on? The short answer is that direct marketers have begun to embrace a tool that lets them reach customers in a more targeted and measurable way than ever before. But as use of this medium has skyrocketed, so have the risks. As a direct marketer and early explorer into the unknowns of e-mail marketing, e-Dialog president and CEO, John Rizzi, has discovered a successful approach that combines state-of-the-art technology with the best of marketing fundamentals, while avoiding traps that await the unwary in this new territory.

Here are his top guidelines for precision e-mail marketing for 2001:

1. Respect your audience's privacy by clearly letting users know that you are collecting information, and how it will be use. That same respect should be shown in your e-mailings: don't spam. Unwanted e-mails, sent without permission, are a major concern to legitimate marketers. And if a previously interested e-mail recipient decides to opt-out, make sure it happens.

2. Encourage an ongoing dialog -- increase customer retention by crafting your e-mail messages in a way that encourages your audience to respond to you and interact in an ongoing information exchange. Increase the relevance of the content and decrease frequency of messages. You'll get higher open rates, higher responses to your call-to-action, and happier recipients. The more value you give, the more value you get.

3. Ask each individual what information they are interested in receiving from you and in what format. HTML and rich media are appropriate for many audiences, but plain text may be better for others, such as people who access their e-mail via slow dial-up lines or those who prefer to decline marketing sizzle.

4. Learn with each interaction -- observe, measure, and analyze how each person is reacting to your messages, and tailor your communications to each person going forward. Each e-mail message should be more relevant and effective than the previous one. Each e-mail message should take you one step closer to your marketing objectives.

5. Leverage technology -- take advantage of today's leading technologies that enable you to dynamically create e-mail messages for each individual based on content rules created by the marketer. From custom publishing to rich media, there is a message format and content for everybody.

6. Respond when the readers of your message hit the reply button. Too many marketers focus on crafting the perfect outbound message and aren't prepared for replies. Be ready to handle responses as soon as you launch your campaign and answer every response within 24 hours, at the latest.

7. Make life easy for your recipients -- minimize the number of clicks it takes to respond with a purchase or feedback, or to find additional related information. When you set up links in the e-mail, don't just send people to your home page; send them to more content-specified "microsites," or to a page on your current site that is relevant to your message and where your customer can immediately find what they are looking for. This may also mean linking the offer to a purchase at a bricks-and-mortar site.

8. Resist the urge to make every e-mail message a hard-core sales pitch. When used effectively, e-mail can be a powerful relationship-building medium. Make sure that your revenue-generating offers are mixed with a healthy dose of relevant information, helpful advice, and requests for feedback. Again, the more value you deliver to your users, the more value they will deliver back to you.

9. Track beyond the first click. E-mail marketing effectiveness is not just about click-through rates, it's about conversion -- whether a purchase, a registration, a referral, or a request for more information. This is hard, so be prepared.

10. Grow business through cost-effective, high quality referrals. By encouraging your existing customers to forward your messages on to others who would be interested in your offerings, you get the best possible introduction to new customers. If you do the task well and create interesting e-mails, your readers will get new customers for you.