A few days ago I had an opportunity to read John C. Dvorak’s post on PCMAG.com tittled “9 reasons E-mail is dead”. This grabbed my attention…. with all the fan fare of Social Media that includes, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn it’s easy to feel this way. I however, found the author’s comments not reality to a well done email campaign.
If you are automatically sending emails out to people with no real content… guess what? Email IS dead for you. If you are sending out receipes to people and you own a plumbing company …. email IS dead for you. If you are sending out stock newsletters on old information or information that is also being sent out by 3,000 other people….. email is dead for you. If you have no targeted information pertaining to your business or give nothing of value to the reader… hey … guess what???? Email IS dead for you.
However…….
If you are sending receipes out to people and you own a bakery, you are a caterer, you own a cooking business of some sort ….. (insert a church sounding chorus of AHHH…. here) email is alive and well! If you are an owner of a niche market item …. email IS alive for you.
I have a company that complained of newsletters not getting read, emails bouncing back and people opt-ing out on them. The question came “why should I pay for an email campaign when I’m not getting any business from it?” … my answer… “why, as a gift shop are you sending newsletters?” The opportunity to get your company information out is not in the form of boring… here’s what’s going on in our industry…… It’s in the “buy one get one free this month”…. it’s the “free wine tasting while you shop this saturday” …. It’s the “We got a great new product . … come in and check it out; 20% this month” ….. It’s a video sent in an email of fun things going on in the shop. Short, sweet, useful and fun emails …. THAT’S the emails that need to be sent out!
I had another company that I spoke to who complained that they were not getting business because of the road construction outside their shop. GREAT! Video tape that with some funny comments, tell people where to alternately park … offer a “construction obstruction” deal on your items and send it out! Not everyone has time to search for your business online…. but you can keep your name and information in front of a customer that likes you….. has an interest in you….. and wanted to be on your list in the first place. Don’t dissappoint them!
When doing an email campaign – always keep your audience in mind. Think about what they would like … not what’s easy for you to send out, just to send something out. If you are continually sending an email out showcasing specials, coupons, new events, free / fun events and things that will bring a customer in … along with a great email subject line…. email is still where you need to be.
When utilizing emails … it’s important to keep in mind that no response isn’t a bad response….. it’s permission that allows you to email again, a sortof, “Send me something next month I might like” response. It’s a ….. “I didn’t have time this month” response. When you hit the right thing for the right person …. they’ll come to you.
Keep sending boring, useless information to people who signed up hoping you would send them something of value ….. guess what????
DEAD,DEAD,DEAD!
