E-mail marketing: it’s still important
E-mail marketing gets a lot of flack these days, due largely to the unprecedented volume of spam that lands in people’s inbox every day.
That’s a shame, because it tarnishes e-mail’s image as a legitimate business marketing tool.
Used properly e-mail is still one of the most effective ways for your business to engage meaningfully (and profitably) with a massive potential audience.
As high-profile Irish blogger and online marketing afficianado Damien Mulley puts it:
How many people have an email address, how many have a Facebook account?
While new kids on the online-marketing block – like Search Marketing, and Social Media – may have a more “sexy” image, behind the scenes e-mail marketing is quietly reaching out to more people, and doing a great job of converting them into customers.
Focus on the right online marketing mix for your business
It’s vital to remember that newer media, while exciting, dynamic and gravid with opportunity, don’t replace the older stalwarts of online marketing. Social Media doesn’t usurp Search Marketing, just as Search doesn’t usurp effective E-mail marketing. Rather they all augment each other.
Focus on finding the most effective mix of online marketing disciplines for your business. Get traffic through SEO and paid search, build your opt-in e-mail list and engage with people through social media.
Effective online marketing is about finding the right blend of disciplines tools and techniques for your business, and applying them effectively. That should certainly include experimenting with the “latest and greatest” technology. Just don’t do it at the expense of building a solid online marketing foundation based on mature technologies like e-mail marketing.
E-mail marketing resources
There are some great online resources out there to help you get to grips with your e-mail marketing. Most of the leading e-mail marketing service providers offer tonnes of free advice, and no-obligation trials of their service so you can “suck it and see” if its a fit for your business.
Here are just a few of the leading e-mail marketing solutions out there:
- Benchmark E-Mail: A great easy-to-use all rounder, Benchmark e-mail offers lots of tools, tips and resources to help get you started, and the 30 day free trial means it’s completely risk free to take a test drive.
- AWeber Communications: A favourite with top online marketers, AWeber is another full featured, web based e-mail marketing tool that’s ideally suited to a wide range of businesses. Check out the e-mail marketing tips on their blog.
- Newsweaver e-mail Newsletters: Cork based Newsweaver offers some no-nonsense guides to getting started with e-mail marketing. Also check out “The Business of E-mail”, Newsweaver’s free e-mail marketing newsletter, crammed with useful tips to help you get more out of e-mail.