What do you send after the welcome has been made and your company has been reintroduced? Again, it depends on who you’re talking to. Generally speak- ing, though, the following communications can work across the board:
Newsletters. This, of course, is one of the most popular means to keep in regular contact with your customers, registered users, and registered leads. The newsletter can be brief and to the point. See Figure 12.1 for a sample newsletter.
Or your communication can be of the more lengthy but information-packed variety, such as the one offered by ChipShot.com that we saw earlier. You can re- view the case studies from both of these companies at the back of the book.
Most e-mailed newsletters include a header or an “In this issue” at the top so that recipients can quickly scan the contents. There are then two or more brief “sto- ries” or links to stories on the advertising site. In the case of a site with an adver- tising model, text or banner sponsorships can be subtly “woven” into the content.
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145The main thing to keep in mind with a newsletter is that if you are going to call it a newsletter, you’d better make it newsworthy! Mondera offers quick bites such as interesting facts on select gemstones of the month—where they’re found and how they’re mined. It also provides advice on wedding jewelry, selecting a di- amond, and other helpful tidbits, all in a brief weekly newsletter that encapsulates the best that Mondera has to offer.
Chipshot.com also provides content along with a pitch. Its newsletter—
geared for golf lovers—provides tips on swings, lessons, equipment, and more.
And there is always an embedded promotion or two.
Special offers. If you’ve ever bought anything online, you know what these are. Some online retailers send out a regular “special offer” promotion once a week, while others save these communications until they can offer something truly special.
See Figure 12.2 for a look at another one of Tavolo’s house promotions. Sim- ilar to a snail-mailed bulletin or small catalog, this type of offer can showcase a
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Permission-Based E-mail Marketing That Works FIGURE 12.1 Mondera Newsletterbig sale, or can highlight specific products and services that have just been intro- duced, or can announce a special discount of some kind. There are plenty of examples of these at the back of the book in the Case Studies section.
Holiday/timely updates and promotions. Because a direct e-mail is about as close to direct postal mail as you can get—as far as space, type of offer, and measurable response—and because it is so closely connected to merchandis- ing Web sites across a variety of categories, an e-mail has become a favorite of on- line retailers everywhere. It’s especially a favorite in the gift-giving seasons, such as the two to three months before the December holidays, not to mention Valen- tine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and even Easter.
There is one caveat to holiday promotions, however, and that is that you have to be prepared to get lower response rates than at other times of the year. Why?
Because just about everyone with an e-mail marketing budget will be promoting during those key times. And it stands to reason that the more e-mailed advertise-
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147FIGURE 12.2 The Lure of Special Offers Has Customers Returning to This Site Again and Again
ments that consumers receive in their inboxes, the more likely they are to hit the
“delete” key. However, this does not mean that your particular e-mail marketing efforts will do worse during such times. You may just find that you get a lift in response during the holiday season. The recommendation would be to e-mail lightly during that time. If you achieve success, you can become increasingly ag- gressive. If you see a falloff in response, you will then know to cut back on any similar subsequent efforts, unless a higher per-customer buying average makes up for the lower response rate.
The main thing to keep in mind so that your promotions stand out from the crowd is to be creative. Create a unique offer and present it in a timely and/or com- pelling manner. Yes, it is easier said than done, but you can do it. Follow the steps laid out in previous chapters with regards to planning and creating promotions and you’ll be more successful than a good portion of your compatriots.
Additionally, because we are talking about retention promotions here, your odds are greater (that you’ll get a higher response) than another marketer who is simply prospecting. Just be sure that you have maintained your credibility and that you are offering content that truly is of value.
Members-only club offers. In addition to getting hard core results (such as click-throughs and conversions), this can also be a dynamite way to create loy- alty, which is also a part of the retention process. Posed as a “for your eyes only”
proposition, recipients can be made to feel welcomed and special: not to mention that they believe they are getting the best discounts, deals, or special offers possible.
Chipshot.com occasionally offers a “Secret Sale” to its subscriber customers and has found this a worthwhile tactic to get them to buy. Think about what strate- gies you can use in this category for your unique business model.
Coupon offers. Typically these types of offers are sent to people who have signed up to receive them. There are sites with business models built on driving people to their affiliate sites, so coupons are what they send. There also are online retailers who offer coupons as part of their “special offers” e-mails.
Announcements of updates to or specials on site. This can some- times be beneficial, from a sales standpoint, but more often than not this strategy is used to maintain customers’ top-of-mind awareness. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, for instance, will occasionally send an update to Amazon’s customer database, in- forming them of this change or that improvement to the Amazon Web site. It also can be a worthwhile method to drive folks back to the site where they can (guess what?) make a purchase.
There are plenty of other methods for you to communicate with your sub- scriber base of customers, leads, and users, including gift certificate announce-
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Permission-Based E-mail Marketing That Worksments, special alerts, and more. Any of the above methods can be set up in either
“full-blown” or “teaser” formats. A full-blown format is where all or most of the content is laid out in the e-mail. The links either go to specific pages related to that particular story or showcased product. A teaser e-mail contains quick bits of in- formation and the completion of a thought or story can only be found on the site by clicking on a “continue” button or link. Either can be effective: results depend on the content of your e-mail and how much space you need to present it. Brevity often can be the key to success here.