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If you own an online business, you are probably always on the lookout for new forms of Internet marketing. As you have no doubt discovered, there are many different ways to market your business online. One of the best and least expensive is direct email marketing.

Direct email marketing is a simple, but effective form of Internet marketing. It allows you to reach your customers, and provide them with information that you want them to see. Direct email marketing is very similar to classical direct marketing, but is much less expensive because you don’t have to pay for stamps, paper, return envelopes, and printing costs. Yet, at the same time, direct email marketing has all of the benefits of direct mail.

For example, direct email marketing can be used before and after a sale. You can utilize this form of Internet marketing to promote products, provide news, and to send confirmations and thank-you notes. Many of your website visitors will up to sign up for regular emails and offers. Take advantage of their interest and tell them more about your business.

If you don’t have time to send the emails yourself, you may choose to use email autoresponders. Email autoresponders are triggered when an email is sent to you. If you are unavailable, email autoresponders can contact the customer for you, providing order confirmations, information requests, etc.

If you’re not sure where or how to get started, here are five tips that will allow you to easily incorporate direct email marketing into you Internet marketing strategy.

Use a Professional Email Signature
This is an important part of direct email marketing. Every time you send a business email, you should include a professional signature at the bottom. Your signature should include your name, business name, and full web address. This is like free advertising for you. Plus, the person opening the email has instant access to your information. If they need to contact you, they will know exactly how to do it.

Find an Affiliate
An affiliate, or signature buddy, can step up your Internet marketing campaign and allow you to reach more customers. Simply ask someone to include your web address below their own signature every time they send an email. In return, you can add their web address to every email that you send below your signature. The benefit is obvious. You both get free advertising. However, you should keep in mind that this form of Internet marketing works best when you don’t pick someone who has a competing business.

Create a Newsletter
A newsletter or e-zine should be included in your Internet marketing strategy. A free newsletter takes a bit of time every month to create, but it is well worth the effort. Newsletters are an effective form of direct email marketing, and can be used to promote your products and services. If you don’t have time to produce a quality newsletter yourself, you can hire a freelancer to do it for you.

Send Coupons
Everyone loves coupons. Make them part of your direct email marketing campaign. Send coupons for your products and services to your customers on a regular basis. Use them as promotional tools to increase business and increase sales.

Send Thank You Notes
Using an email autoresponder to send thank you notes to your customers after the sale is a polite gesture. It’s also Internet marketing at its finest. Thank show your appreciation and should be incorporated into your direct email marketing if at all possible. Sending a thank you note is polite and an example of good customer service.

If you have the products or services that you want to sell on the Internet, you’ll want to create a web site where you’ll advertise what you are offering and you’ll also want to spread a word about your products or services to the world. You can easily and quickly do it via email. Email marketing is certainly one of the most powerful strategies in internet marketing. It’s quick, cost effective – you do not have to pay a set price for every email that is sent out – and allows contact people in all parts of the world. So, you can get more purchasers and respectively more revenue for less investment of time and money.

How does one accomplish bulk email marketing campaign?

You can use online bulk emailing services, or you can pay a marketing firm to do your bulk email promotions, or you can use direct email marketing software to distribute your email campaigns sitting at your computer.

Using software can be the most cost-effective method if you have the time to manage your prospects list and accomplish your email campaigns with a constant frequency.

There is wide choice of direct email marketing software packages available on the Internet market. Some are even freeware programs that don’t require any investment. Although they don’t generally have the value-added features that come with software packages that you purchase; however, if you aren’t running a large email marketing campaign, they may suit your needs for accomplishing specific tasks just fine.

What is Drip Email Marketing?

The concept behind drip email marketing consists in sending periodic emails to prospects and clients hoping to bring them to your website and make them purchase products or services. It is an effective method to generate new purchasers from your prospects and keeping relationship with your existing clients.
Drip Email Marketing tactic results from the idea that nobody purchases online products or services instantly. A visitor can come to your web site a few times before he becomes a purchaser. Keeping this in mind, how are you going to stimulate your prospects’ interest to your site and keep them informed about your products and services? This is where a drip email marketing campaign is quite to the point.

Imagine that a prospect has just visited your site and left you the email address. It’s important to note that you should add a sign-in form to your web site to collect the prospects’ email addresses. It’s rather useful if your sign-in form asks the subscriber to provide some about additional and not only the email address. I’m not talking about private information. I’m talking about the subscriber’s area of interest, hobbies, specific needs, or at least the emails he prefers to receive, text or HTML. All this information will help you segment your prospects and send more relevant email messages to each group.

So, based on the subscribers’ preferences, you set up a drip email marketing campaign catered to their specific needs. Each message you send them give more information about their inquiries slightly hinting them at you and your products or services. It is an importunate way to stamp your name in their mind. Remember, you don’t sell anything yet. You just give an advice and information about their particular needs and wishes.

For your existing clients, a drip email marketing campaign is similar. You only need to tailor the emails so they are oriented to the client after purchase. Your email drips must contain relevant information that can help the customer with the products or services he purchased. The customer must be sure that you are always there to assist him. When your client believes that you are a faithful and reliable partner, he is ready to purchase again from you.

It may probably sound like you will need more than one tool to accomplish your drip email marketing campaign. But you can find many programs on the Internet that can handle your growing lists of prospective and present clients. Our email management software must be flexible enough to treat each client or prospect according to the routine of your drip email campaign.

The most important thing to remember about drip email marketing is that you must not send meaningless emails. Each message must have an informative content, a real reason to contact your prospects and clients, not just a note saying “Hi!” or “How are you?”.

If your drip marketing email cannot keep the client’s interest, it will be deleted immediately next time when they read the sender’s email address. We all are busy people and won’t spend our time for dull messages. If you are trying to build the relationship based on trust and faith, you cannot tolerate that they never open your emails. You can start directly from the subject line. The subject itself must grab people’s attention and make them want to read your message. This is the essential concept behind a drip email marketing campaign – to develop a trust and faithful relationship with your customer by sending valuable information. When the rapport of informative and useful emails is established, your clients and prospects will be looking forward for every email from you and they will even recommend your company and your products to others. Isn’t it exactly what you want for you business? I’m sure it is.

Product Description
Written in straightforward language, this guide offers tested advice on constructing profitable marketing strategies for any business. Explaining how to revitalize products and services with some basic marketing know-how, How to Market Your Business covers market research, advertising, promotion, selling techniques, product launches, and using the internet — everything a business owner needs to ensure their product reaches the market successfully. This new edition … More >>

How to Market Your Business: A Practical Guide to Advertising, PR, Selling, Direct and Online Marketing 6th edition