 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Six Tips for Nonprofit E-mail Success
An opt-in e-newsletter is one of the most effective marketing tools you can use because it is fast, personal, and inexpensive. Many small businesses are using e-mail newsletters to introduce themselves to new customers and to communicate with existing ones. By sending useful information on a regular basis, you maintain continuous contact without being annoying. In addition, an e-mail newsletter can enhance your credibility and increase sales. Creating an E-mail Newsletter Producing your newsletter doesn't have to be a monumental task. First, decide on the frequency of publication. This is based on how much time you have to do the work. Publishing it monthly or quarterly is probably a comfortable pace for both you and your readers. Next, produce a graphic design for your layout. Many e-mail list management companies provide online templates for their customers. You simply type or paste in your information online and an HTML or text-based newsletter is automatically created for you. Now it's time for the content of your newsletter. Concentrate on topics that your readers will be interested in, not only the ones that you find fascinating. Try to use real-life applications. For example, you can describe past successes and maybe even interview a customer or two. This way, you tell your audience how you solved a problem that relates to them and conveys that you are a results- oriented professional. 12 Tips for Successful E-mail Newsletters and Campaigns 1. Do not purchase, trade, or borrow an e-mail list Sending e-mail to people who have not specifically requested to receive your mailings (opted-in) is almost always regarded as spam. 2. Make signing up and unsubscribing easy and visible Add a sign up form to your home page or link to it and ask your customers if they would like to sign up when you speak with them in person. You may only want to ask subscribers for their e-mail address, first and last name, and one or two other questions such as their interests. This will allow you to target future mailings. 3. Use double opt-in registration There are two standard methods for online registration, single and double opt-in. Double opt-in is the preferred method because it requires confirmation. 4. Link to your privacy policy Place a link to your privacy policy near your list sign-up form. Your policy should describe how you handle the information you collect and how people can contact you in case they have any concerns or questions. 5. Send a welcome message to each new subscriber Once someone subscribes, send a welcome message immediately. Include a description of what they will receive, how frequently, and how to unsubscribe. 6. Keep accurate sign-up records Sometimes, you or your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will get a spam complaint from someone who forgot they subscribed to your list. Keep accurate records that include the date and web address from which they signed up. 7. Ask your members to opt-in again if you are using an older list If you have not sent a mailing for a while, ask subscribers to indicate that they want to stay on your list by sending you an e-mail, clicking a link, or visiting a web page. 8. Remind people that they subscribed Include a standard heading each time you send a message. A short note such as, "Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter, Mary," will remind recipients that they requested your mailings. 9. Avoid certain terms in your subject line and message text If your message contains words frequently used by spammers, people will delete it and possibly file a spam complaint. ISPs often filter e-mails with suspicious subject lines and it is also illegal to use deceptive or misleading ones. 10. Include your physical address and phone number Put your phone number and postal mailing address in your message. This allows readers to contact you to place an order or inquire about your services. In addition, federal legislation requires physical addresses on commercial e-mail messages. 11. Send your mailings regularly Keep in touch with your subscribers frequently so they don't forget they signed up to receive your mailings. They will begin to anticipate your messages if you adhere to a schedule. 12. Reply promptly to each inquiry or spam complaint When and if you receive an inquiry or a spam complaint, respond to it as soon as possible. Always include the subscriber's sign up information with your response. Following these simple suggestions will help you retain your subscriber base, which is fundamental for a thriving permission-based electronic newsletter or outreach campaign. Raj Khera is a partner in MailerMailer, a web-based e-mail list management service that provides customers the ability to create and track opt-in newsletters and e-mail campaigns. Receive a full copy of the E-mail Marketing Metrics Report: http://www.mailermailer.com/metrics. Copyright 2005 by Raj Khera, MailerMailer LLC. All rights reserved.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Organizing Your Mailing Lists For Your Email Promotions With all the safelists and different methods for using them, it can get hectic trying to come up with a good way to post to them. Most of all, it is important to remember if you did post to them. Five of the Most Powerful Elements In Opt-in Marketing Lack of trust is the biggest problem marketers have on the internet, or better yet, the biggest opportunity.The power in this lies in the fact that affiliate programs have given us easy access to a huge variety of products and services that we can present to potential buyers, opening up an endless number of possibilities. E-Marketing Deliverability Issues Does it seem to you that when you view "openings" within your statistics, that fewer recipients seem to be opening your campaigns?.. Proven Techniques For Building A Responsive List We've all heard those who have Internet business-success stories proclaim, "Nothing will make you as much money as building a responsive list!" The trouble is, most people won't let you in on their secrets for building these goldmines. In reality, it isn't all that hard to do. How To Improve Your Open Rates And Click-Thru Rates In Your Email Campaigns In this article I will give you several tips that can help you in improving your open and click-thru rates.1) Open rateIn order to your email campaign be successful the first necessary thing is that people open and read your email newsletter. Let The Email Wars Begin Things just got a lot hotter in the hyper-competitive world of online email providers.In response to Google's announcement that their soon-to-be-launched "Gmail" service will offer users 1 gigabyte of email storage, Yahoo! announced an upgrade of their free email service to allow users 100MB of free email storage along with other enhancements. NCOA for Email - Is Your Email Address List Clean and Up-To-Date? Introduction Shrewd marketers devote a great amount of attention to crafting their email messaging campaign. They scrutinize the subject line, fuss over the content, and carefully monitor the timing of delivery. Avoiding Blacklisting: Making Sure Your Email Gets Through We all know that email is probably today's most popular way to advertise. Every day our inboxes are filled with messages from people who want our business--whether we asked for the contact or not. Explode Your Sales By Building Your Own Opt-In List! ------------------------------------------------- Top 10 Ways to Quickly Build Your List -------------------------------------------------Have you ever wondered how many times you have heard this comment/suggestion/mantra from the gurus:"YOU HAVE TO BUILD YOUR OWN LIST"If you are trying to market on the internet; probably,too many times for you to count.Unfortunately, it's also true - the real successful marketers build a loyal and faithful list of subscribers. 7 Wise Ways to Collect Email Addresses and Build Your Mailing List => Wise Way #1 - OFFER A FREEBIEYou have to give in order to get. If you want people to offer up their email address, you`re going to have to offer up an incentive. How Effective is Your Email? How Can You Tell? Is your email getting to your list members? If so, how many of them are opening your message? If the email isn't getting through, how many of your messages are "undeliverable" because of a bad email address? And how do you find out what these numbers are? In order to test the effectiveness of an email campaign, you need to use html email. Although I have fought against it for several years, I consented to use it this one time in order to do the necessary tracking. Building The Best Opt In Email List The #1 Thing You *MUST* Have Before Even Thinking About Building An Opt In Email ListIt's not a website.It's a smart autoresponder and mailing list software. Tips to Build Your Email Address Database WHY BUILD YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS DATABASE? Gaining your customers' email addresses will: Provide an additional channel for reaching your customers Increase the ROI of your marketing investments Significantly reduce your customer acquisition and marketing costs Allow you to easily measure the impact of your marketing campaigns Increase your customer participation and retention rates With ongoing postal and telemarketing pressures impacting marketing budgets for many organizations this year, email marketing could become the "silver lining " for many marketers. But how do you create a successful email marketing campaign if you do not have a substantial email database? That question may be one of the largest Internet related challenges facing companies this year. Use Permission Based E-Mail Marketing to Promote Your Home Based Business With all the negative Publicity that S.pam is Getting, Permission Based E-mail Marketing is frequently too often overlooked as the Misunderstood step Child of Internet Marketing. E-mail 101: The Dos and Donts Even though many people have been writing e-mails for a few years now, you would be amazed at some of the pure gibberish that arrives in my e-mailbox on a regular basis.Many people seem to think that because they aren't dealing directly with another person (or as directly as they would be face-to-face or by telephone), all forms of civility and basic respect for the other person (i. Who Else Wants to Sky Rocket Their CD Sales, Fan base and Indie Music Career? If YOU Answered YES, Then Start An Online Newsletter?It's Easy, Here's How!I've always praised the benefits of using a newsletter to promote your music, but this article give a bit more detail into how to go about it.First, there are tons of different providers out there that can send out your email newsletter. The Innovative Ways To Use Your Autoresponder If you have auto response system set up for following up your customers or prospects, you may just use one or two purpose. Here is a list of brainstorming ideas for you to get more out of it. 7 Ways Email Can End Your Business Relationships Before They Start Too often, people forget they're anonymous in the internet world. Your friends and colleagues might know you as being a tireless worker, a great friend and loving parent, but I don't know that. The #1 Thing You Must Have Before Even Thinking About Building An Opt In Email List It's not a website.It's a smart autoresponder and mailing list software. How's Your E-mail Etiquette In a fast moving global economy, e-mail offers you the convenience of being able to quickly get your message across to your colleagues or clients at any hour of the day or night. The Internet revolution has had the unintended effect of decreasing the use of oral communication and increasing the importance of text - particularly e-mails - as the primary means of business communication.
|
|
|
 |
 |
