Email marketing is incredibly effective at maintaining customer
loyalty, as well as at converting interested prospects into
customers. However, for the acquisition of a new prospect, email
marketing may not be the most ideal method due to the proliferation
of unwanted offers. So how do you get these ¡°hand-raisers¡± to give
you the permission to market to them in the first place? Here are
some online marketing techniques that combine well with email
marketing.
Search Engine Listings
Search engines and directories such as Yahoo and MSN are still one
of the first sources that people go to when looking for information
online. The searcher is trying to find a solution to a problem, and
their psychology is such that they can be highly receptive to your
message if it is relevant to solving that problem. Once they have
clicked thru to your web site, your goal is to get them to volunteer
their email address to allow you to continue the dialog with them.
You can only achieve this by giving them a valid reason for doing
so. For well-known brand names, simply asking for the information
may be enough. For newer or niche-focused companies, techniques such
as providing information of value like a report, or actual giveaways
are needed to convince most visitors to participate.
Pay Per Click Search Listings
Pay Per Click (PPC) listing services such as Overture and Google¡¯s
AdWords have all of the same benefits as non-paid search engine
listings. There may be somewhat less credibility, as searchers are
more skeptical of paid listings. However, this is more than
countered by the predictability of the results. PPC listings are far
superior to traditional search engines from the perspective of an
advertiser because of both the immediacy with which you can obtain a
listing, as well as the ability to achieve a specific desired
ranking. Promotion becomes simpler because you get the positioning
you are willing to pay for. And once you have paid for a visitor to
click-thru to your site, your next objective is getting them to tell
you their email address, so you can maximize your Return On
Investment (ROI).
Content-Based Marketing
Creating original content is one of the best ways to demonstrate
expertise and establish credibility for a company as an authority in
a particular field. Allowing other web sites and online newsletters
to republish this content along with a link back to your site is an
excellent way to acquire new prospects. Many people would like to
receive further information from an expert that they respect, and
are quite willing to not just receive, but also anticipate receiving
email from said expert.
Newsletter Sponsorship
Although not quite as good at establishing credibility as is
creating content, ads that are located in someone else¡¯s email
newsletter do tend to get noticed in a good light. By carefully
selecting the correct target audience, along with proper timing,
these ads can deliver qualified prospects to your site. And once
they get there, your brilliant call to action and your well-crafted
content will convince them to start a "conversation" by giving you
their email address.
Site Sponsorship
Like newsletter sponsorship, site sponsorship ads do tend to get
noticed in a better light than banner advertising. Combining
sponsorship with content (the so-called "Advertorial") can get more
attention than advertising alone. Again, proper targeting and a
compelling call to action are critical for achieving a response.
Conclusion
Give people a reason to ¡®talk¡¯ to your company and you can
concentrate on talking to the people that already want to hear from
you. Anything else wastes your time and annoys non-prospects
unnecessarily. You can generate new leads by using other forms of
online marketing, and then stay in touch with these prospects over
the courtship process of getting them to become customers by using
email marketing, and you will have adopted a powerful online
marketing strategy.
