The dos and don'ts of email marketing

"Refer to your e-zine on your website so people can sign up easily and invite people to 'opt into' receiving it"

The advent of email means you can now easily market to a global audience at a low cost. However, you need to adopt a softly, softly approach to avoid being accused of spamming (sending mass unsolicited emails) which has dire consequences...

Etiquette

Unlike conventional direct mail, email marketing has etiquette of its own. Break this, even unwittingly, and the consequences can include being cut off by your ISP.

You can, of course, send straightforward sales messages but there are tricks to making these more palatable. Including them in the form of an e-zine (electronic magazine), and keeping messages brief - ideally around 250-500 words works well. People don't have the time, or inclination, to read off the screen and it's easy to click off when they get bored.

Target

Above all, target your emails at groups who will appreciate your service. Whom can you approach? Well, for a start, if people or companies leave an email address on a website, they are inviting emails.

If you want to send sales emails, do your homework first and write to specific people personally, knowing a little about them. For example. 'Hi Peter Smith, I notice that you offer X through your website. We have been X wholesalers for the last twenty years and specialise in... Would you be interested in us giving you a quote?'

Definite dos

Use an ezine as your 'mass' sales medium. Fill it with news updates relevant to your audience and intersperse these with special offers. Always provide an opportunity at the end for readers to 'opt-out' or unsubscribe from your service.

If people subscribe to your e-zine, personalise it by prefixing it with their name, and wind up with full contact details of your business, plus email and phone numbers.

Suggest, if they like what they are reading, that they pass it on to a friend. This is known as viral marketing and is a great way to build your email database.

Refer to your e-zine on your website so people can sign up easily and invite people to 'opt into' receiving it.

Create a 'club' feeling for members. Include special offers (which you can also preview to arouse interest). For example, 'Next month we'll be reviewing some new software and offering discounts to our valued subscribers'.

Put some thought into your subject line. Make it enticing and targeted. For example: 'How to make your web content more compelling'.

Ask for feedback and run short - no more than six questions - questionnaires to encourage involvement.

Deadly don'ts

Never send mass unsolicited emails - spam. If caught, you will be cut off. If your ISP doesn't spot you, the chances are some of the angry recipients will complain and alert the ISP. ISPs are themselves policed, and there is another not-for-profit watchdog, Spamcop, that polices the Internet, so there's really no chance you will get away with it. You may also be:

Sued (this applies in some US states)
Bombed - literally millions of emails from one individual
Flamed - which is where people send complaining emails to you and to News Groups, so word gets around about you.

Avoid overselling. Email is much more personal than direct mail and recipients resent hard sells. However, people do respond if you share interesting and useful information with them.

Never swap or rent your email list to anyone else. You won't find many emailing lists for rent because email marketing doesn't work like that. Simon Collery of internet business advice company Free Pint says, 'We built up our list by personal recommendation and by people contacting us to receive our e-zine or other information. When you rent email marketing lists you don't know how they are put together. The chances are people will either ignore your email or worse, will probably be annoyed because they haven't asked for it.'

Don't phrase your final opt-out clause in your e-zine using conventional words such as 'removal' and 'unsolicited'. Some people set their email to recognise these words and automatically delete any incoming mail that includes them. Instead, rephrase your message along these lines: "If you would rather not receive these mailings from Pickandchoose, please send me a blank email titled No thanks."

Observe email etiquette and you will soon be building up your business profitably on the net, without fear of attracting the dreaded spamming label.