Making Sure Your Email List Doesn’t Get Stale
Email marketing has been found to have such a significant ROI that most businesses, regardless of their size, are either currently capturing emails on their website or landing page, or plan to do so soon. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the expected ROI on email marketing in 2009 is $43.65. Email marketing’s ROI in 2008 (also per the DMA), was over $45 for every dollar spent.
So there’s little question that email marketing can be an extremely effective strategy. But once you’ve implement an email capture system on your website or landing page, how do you ensure that your list subscribers stay on the list, and open your emails?
Create Value in Every Email
Every email that you send to a subscriber should have some kind of value to them. That value can be found in an informative article that your subscribers would find interesting, links to new articles on your blog or website, a coupon, or news of upcoming sales and specials.
Another way is to increase the value of your mailing list is to include, if appropriate, occasional free gifts. These don’t have to be tangible products. Even something as simple as a 5-10 page report on a topic of interest to your subscribers. For example, an online store that sells wedding favors might compile a 5 page report entitled “10 Things You Should Know Before Choosing Your Wedding Favors”.
Send the Right Number of Emails
You want to find the right balance between staying regularly connected with your customers, and overwhelming them with too many emails. For many businesses, sending a monthly newsletter-style email with information about upcoming events, and including a subscriber-only coupon, is enough to keep their business in the mind of their subscribers. For other businesses, such as those that are seasonal in nature, an appropriate schedule may be once a quarter in the off-season, but then every week leading up to and during their busy time.
The analytic information provided by your email marketing provider can help you to determine the best schedule for your subscribers.