Mass Emailing the Right Way

The success of a website is measured in two ways: (1) by the number of visitors entering the site (2) the conversions such as sales, phone calls, and people joining your newsletter. While it’s one thing to drive traffic to a website, it’s a bigger challenge to have your visitors coming back. Businesses who consistently communicate with their visitors enjoy a successful internet presence.

The secret to retaining and maintaining visitors is communication by way of email. Mass emailing is the most effective method of marketing on the internet because it can drive traffic to your website; retain those who already visited the site, thus increasing the chance of conversion.

Methods of Collection
Have your webmaster create a form for visitors to enter their name and email. The form should be placed on a highly visible section of the website, perhaps the top right corner of the homepage. Add verbiage that encourages your visitors to add their information such as, ’Join Our Email List’, ‘Enter now and Win’, ‘Let Us Keep You Informed’.

Then we face the challenge of collecting names and emails. The hard way is to drive traffic to your site by standard marketing techniques. One such is search engines. Other ways is radio, tv, or other forms of print advertisement. These methods, while effective, can be costly, impersonal, and it does not guarantee that visitors will join the list.

The best way and most affordable way to add to your database is simple face-to-face networking.

Regardless of the advances of technology we still like the human touch of good conversation and a hand-shake. Once you’ve exchanged business cards ask the prospect if it’s okay to add their name to your email list. The newly added person will most likely want to hear from you and what you have to offer.

Designing the Email
1. Keep all emails short and simple.
An email already the size of this article will lose interest. Sending an email with too much text causes the reader to see in blocks. They don’t see words. Depending on their mood, they will not likely want to read. My suggestion is to keep it under 200 words and offer a link to your website where you can provide more detailed information.

2. Explain why the recipient is getting an email and how their emai was obtained:
This is an un-written rule but many mass email providers require it. At the end of the email add a simple line such as “You received this email because you opted into our list via our website” or “You received this email because we met at a networking event.” This way the recipient does not feel solicited.

3. Add your contact info
Any business or individual sending mass emails must disclose their address, phone number, and website. Its’ the law!

Find a Good Mass Email Service Provider

In order to send out mass email, you need to use the services of an email provider. Be cognizant of the rules. Many service providers will not let you send out large number of emails for the sake of it. They can lose their business license! Understand what their regulations are before utilizing any service.

Constant Contact is a popular service provider. So is iContact. Both are used by millions.
They offer templates, designs, and good customer service.

CrystalDI also offers affordable mass email services. Go to http://www.crystaldi.com/internet/em_massemail01.html or call us at 323.201.2184.

Now go talk to your contact list…they are waiting to hear from you!