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Make them Want Your Email
by Susanna K. Hutcheson
Spam almost ruined email advertising. I remember when I was getting a constant stream of advertising messages --- most
of them get-rich-quick schemes. Daily they poured into my email box. Finally, I set up filters and got rid of a lot of
the junk. Lots of other people did the same thing.
But now opt-in lists and one-to-one marketing have Jupiter Communications predicting that permission email will be a
$2.1 billion business by 2002. But getting permission to send marketing email can be tricky. It needs to be handled
delicately.
You're basically asking people to raise their hands and say, Yes, I want to be advertised to, says Tony Priore, YesMail's
vice president of marketing in an article for New Media magazine.
YesMail, formerly WebPromote, is a permission email network that connects businesses with consumers who have given
permission to receive promotional messages targeted to their personal interests. YesMail's audience
chooses among numerous categories of interest.
I have signed up to receive several different types of email from their clients and, thus far, have been pleased with
their marketing. In marketing to your audience, it's important to learn how to do it right. Many of the direct marketing rules in the
offline world do not apply to the Web. Some marketers make the mistake of marketing on the Internet exactly as they do
offline. It just won't work.
Potential customers are spam-savvy and often delete messages before they are opened. Just like I do when I filter
messages. There are certain names or words that I filter out. And if I get a message with those words or from those
businesses or people, they go directly to the trash without me even seeing them.
For example, using the word "free" in the subject can be a deal killer. Email software, like that I use, will see
that word and automatically delete it. People who don't have filters often simply hit the delete key when they see that
word.
It's a word that works well offline. But not online. Many people have their email software set up to delete messages
with that word in the subject line or even the message. But mostly the subject line.
So you can't assume that everything that works in the offline world works in the online world.
Clients also need to know that their privacy is being respected, and that they have control over how their
personal information is being used. Any reputable Web site that gathers your email address should post a very visible
privacy statement about how your address is going to be used.
Powerwriting.com has a privacy policy posted for anyone who cares to read it. In addition, we post a short privacy
statement when you sign up for our newsletter or our free content. This is an important part of Permission Marketing.
Just as important, the privacy statement should also state that it will be very easy for you to opt out and get off
that email list at any time you wish. The customer, or Web site visitor, must be the one in control of their
information.
Many permission email services offer enticing perks and some, like Opt-In Email.com, offer additional incentives if
subscribers volunteer more information than simply their email address. Subscribers have a 500 percent greater chance
to win their daily vacation giveaway if they provide additional information about themselves, such as their age,
income level, or whether they are male or female.
It's also most critical to send people what they asked for. If they opted in for a newsletter on marketing, like this
one, that's what you should send them. If you told them you would send them a certain type of message, that is what they
expect and deserve.
Without clearly giving people what they want, marketers can easily lose customers trust. The biggest blunder is
sending subscribers something they didn't ask for. This violates a basic tenet of opt-in marketing: You lose the
permission and destroy the relationship by sending somebody a message that is unrelated to the category that they
signed up for. You are betraying them.
Permission marketers must keep their standards high and realize that sound marketing efforts mean the
difference between earning a customer's long-term trust which generates lasting sales or burning a customer or
client and having them permanently reject you.
Many Internet permission marketers are looking beyond simply getting an immediate customer response --- a strategy that
has driven direct-response advertising for decades. Permission marketing's initial goal is to establish a trusting relationship with customers before attempting to
lead them to a sale. The permission email message is not there to sell.
The message is there to drive them back to the Web site. And that's what a lot of people forget in these messages.
I often get a lengthy email missive of one or two pages that says, `Here's my service and here's how great we are'
but it will end with `now dial 1-800 something.
That's not true permission marketing. That's a sales pitch. It has its place. But not at this point. This is not what
the prospective client opted in for. Your sole object is to drive traffic to your Web site. The site should make the
sale.
Getting permission to email spam-weary consumers is a touchy proposition. But if you learn and apply the rules
faithfully, you will gain their trust and business.
PERMISSION MARKETING POINTERS
- For Web-wise consumers, free means spam.
- Clearly knowing what you're giving customers
- Make sure that's what they get.
- Don't send something a person didn't request.
- Scrupulously observe privacy concerns.
- Don't use permission email to sell.
- Use it to drive customers to your site.
Susanna K. Hutcheson is a professional advertising and direct mail copywriter. She was the first copywriter to utilize the Internet as a place to market this type of service. Susanna has clients all over the world. She writes everything from Web site content to direct mail and radio spots. Visit her Web site at http://www.powerwriting.com. Her email address is powerwriter@powerwriting.com.
Telephone: 316-665-7626.
© Copyright 2006 by Susanna K. Hutcheson and Power Communications LLC. Any
republication in any manner is prohibited without the consent of
Power Communications LLC or the author. We do give you limited permission to use
this article on your Web site or in your newsletter if you print it or
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article for a purpose other than the type of distribution for which it is intended may be purchased from us. Call us at 316-665-7626. You may, however, link directly (not by redirect) to this article.
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