Category — Email Marketing

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When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton famously replied, ‘That’s where the money is.”

Direct marketers have been saying it for years. “The money is in the list.” For a while, many on the internet (including me, I’m embarrassed to say) got caught up in RSS feeds and subscriber numbers. Wrong.

The money is in the list

Turns out that your email list is more profitable than your RSS feed. If people are willing to let you into their mailbox, they trust you more than those who check your RSS feed.

It’s not just email

The list can be the people who see your Facebook or LinkedIn ads, or the networks and pages that display your Google ads. The medium is different than paper mail (and it’s a lot faster), but the principles are the same.

Talk to the right people

You can run on all day about your pig chow, but if the ads are only seen by people who live in large cities, your sales will be dismal. Same with trying to convince a web developer to buy heavy duty shipping supplies and packaging. Wrong audience.

Know your tribe

Who are your fish? What kind of people need what you offer? What drives them nuts? Are you solving a problem they have?  Or is your product a solution without a problem?  Market to those people (and only those people). Farmers whose pigs have poor appetites (is there such a thing?).

Choose wisely

If you run an ad, rent a list, post on Facebook, or use Google – choose wisely. The cheapest option isn’t the best option. The best option is the one with people who most closely fit your tribe.

Just don’t rob any banks. They don’t like it.

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If I ever write a book on email marketing (oh, wait I did, ahem, another book) it might be called “It depends.”

What’s a good email response rate?

It depends.

How many people will click?

It depends.

How many people will open it?

It depends.

Same for pop-up conversion, signups to newsletters, direct mail, AdWords….

It depends.

There are many variables that can affect the response you get from a mailing.

The three biggest are:

1) the quality of the  list you use (the audience)
2) the offer – is it any good?
3) the creative (copy and graphics) in the email and on the landing page – this includes the words, the typeface, any photos or illustrations, the colors of the buttons, the button text, and the call to action

Lesser factors:

1) the time of day
2) the day of the week

Spend most of your time on the first three.  Then worry about the last two.

Anthony on LinkedIn needed some email marketing tips.

He wanted to use email lists to figure out his target market.  He figured that whoever responded would be a good prospect for his product.  He could then see some patterns (get demographics) and figure out how to market to this audience.

Is this right?

He’s putting the cart first.  The audience comes first.  Then the marketing strategy.

For instance, if your target market is Spanish-speaking Hispanic adults who like music, then you know to make deals, buy advertising, etc. with Sabado Gigante (a Spanish-language music and variety show) and similar outlets.

If English-speaking teens are also showing interest, then research the teenage market.   Figure out where they hang out, what they like, and go after them. If you get signups, it’s right. If not, it’s no good and you adjust.

Research first, marketing second

If your market is on Facebook, hang out on Facebook.  If they do a lot of texting, use text messages. Do a survey.  Run a contest.  Get some signups for your very own email list.  Then use those findings to determine if the market is big enough and how to reach it.

Horse.  Then cart.  Then driver.

You can’t talk to your audience if you don’t know who it is.  Heck, if you’re marketing in Spanish to people who only speak English, you’re literally not speaking the right language!

A commercial photographer commented on Bob Bly’s blog last week complaining that email marketing has been destroyed by spammers. That anyone who signed up for one would invariably get spammed.

Another reader said she’d signed up for one, gotten the offer of a free consultation, and the sender never followed up.

What’s really wrong?

It’s not the newsletter (that’s just the tool). It’s the way people are using (or abusing) it.  It’s like trying to break an egg with a hammer.  It will work, sort of, but it will make a horrible mess.

Email without permission, build your newsletter the wrong way, or abuse the permission you received, and your readers will opt out, ignore you, or even report you.

Trust is essential

However, if you create a real relationship and they trust you, they will eagerly want to know what you have to say.

Say, for example, our photographer saw a newsletter from a digital photography software company. Instead of selling software directly, it had tips on how to use the software, where to get the best prices on equipment, and how to earn more money with fewer clients?

And, that newsletter offered regular, free, useful advice, without being annoying? What if subscribing got him access to exclusive ebooks or discounts? Or what if he got those things before they were released to the general public?

The problem with the free consultation offer was that it was never followed up. Not a good way to earn trust – regardless of whether the offer was delivered via email or snail mail.

If you want to break an egg, skip the hammer.

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A few weeks ago, a famous internet marketer had a problem.  The subscribers to his newsletter were complaining.   He didn’t say so, but I’m guessing his open rates, clicks, and sales were going down, and his unsubscribe rates were rising.

Too many pitches

When I signed up for this newsletter, I expected a monthly newsletter,  with an occasional pitch or an ad for something.   I got the newsletter, with some excellent content.  I also got six or seven sales pitches (at random intervals on random days, it seemed).  And, I couldn’t tell which was which.  It got to the point where I saw his name and immediately hit the delete button.

A megaphone, not a conversation

He got  caught up in all his new products, and didn’t realize that he was overdoing the sales pitches. As Dave Navarro says, “Free, free, free, sell.”  Not everything can or should be free, but too much selling will send people to the exits.

Not relevant or personal

He was talking at people (caught up in his new products) rather than to them.  The email promising news for people over 50 went straight to the trash folder.

I’m also signed up for newsletters from Sonia Simone and Naomi Dunford.  Their emails are personal, unique, and sometimes make me laugh.  I feel I know them, and like them, even though we’ve never met.  Most importantly, I look forward to reading them.  I bet other people do too.

To his credit, our guru has changed his approach.  His newsletters now spell out exactly what to expect, how often, and take a softer tone.  He’s also offering more free material.

What do you think? How often do you send your newsletter?  What’s your mix of free and sales content?