Email Marketing: Work hard to earn their business. Work hard to keep their permission.

We pride ourselves in educating clients on tools they can use to market their services online. In this case, it happened to be related to email marketing.

Well, I just received an email in my inbox from a client using a tool we’ve talked about. I was happy to see this email, until I read it. Now there were no misspellings, there were nice graphics. Appearance wise, it was a nice looking email. Where it fell short was the message. If it were in print like a newspaper or magazine, it would have been good. Lots of immediate calls to action to buy, save, act.

But email marketing is much different. It’s permission based marketing. Meaning you’ve been given permission to email me and thousands of others. And when you have permission like this, you need to communicate a little differently.

The email I received assumed I was ready to buy a new car or parts. If I were, this email would have been excellent. However, I am not. And the majority of their recipients may not. So when they read this email, there is no value to me…or to them. So without value, what do they do? They’re more likely to unsubscribe because they didn’t sign up to just be sold over and over again. Once they’ve unsubscribed, you lose touch with them for when they really are ready to buy what you offer.

Any email that goes out should have value. The value is determined based on how your recipients are segmented. If you have a list of emails that are specifically for people who are interested in buying a new car within 2 weeks, this is great. If it’s just to Ford owners in general, you’ll need content with a more broad appeal. The quality of your list will help you determine your content and approach.

Just keep in mind people are solicited via email to buy things many times a day. Buy now, buy this, etc. Work hard to earn their business. Work hard to keep their permission.

If you want to promote the new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, I would write a quick blurb, something like “Did you know that the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is capable of x, y, z. Furthermore, did you know, depending on your current vehicle, you can make it also do x, y, z. This is how you do it. This is what you need. But if you are interested in this Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, we’re offering one for only $X (MSRP is $X!).”

I may not be able to afford the car. But I may have a Mustang that I would really like to perform or look like it. This email relates to me. It has value to me. I am wanting to hear more ideas from this company. I stay subscribed. I still give them permission to talk to me. And soon, when I am ready to buy, I am only going to think about Ford. Because that is where I am getting value.

For more information on how Mindscape can help you with your web marketing, please check us out at Mindscape-HM.com.