Thursday, April 5, 2012

E is for Email Marketing

I don't have to tell you that email marketing is huge right now.  If you are promoting anything that you want people to buy, I highly recommend it. It's very effective and cheap, if you know where to go. Let's talk about the basics.   
  • Gather emails by asking people to sign up for newsletters from you on your blog/website. Purchasing email lists is very rarely effective. Get emails with permission.  If you haven't got a contract to pub yet, it is still a great time to start gathering emails.  Gathering emails is a lengthy process. Why not have a head start?
  • You can't just email from your own personal gmail/aol/yahoo/etc. account. It's not professional, and, if you are sending a good deal of emails, your email carrier will eventually put a stop to it. You should sign up with an email service. Most cost a monthly fee, and for my clients I generally use Icontact, a very reputable and reliable service. But you can do what you need to as an author for free at Mail Chimp. Mail Chimp is very easy to use and you can do very simple emails to more complex without needing any design skills. Here's a sample email I created on Mail Chimp to show you ( If I were using a paid service, I wouldn't have to have the words "MailChimp" at the bottom.)

  • Do not spam your email list! Be sure to only send out emails on a very limited basis. I find you shouldn't do more than one per month. More than that and people start to ignore you or unsubscribe. 
  • Include a Call to Action in each email. That means you should ask the recipient to do something such as buy your book, enter a contest, or like your Facebook page. You don't have to say "Buy my book" outright, but you need to know what it is you want the recipient to do when you send the email and then make it easy for them to do it. For example, in the email sample above, the call to action is for people to follow me on my blog. Since this is just a picture you can't tell that if you clicked on the email it would take you to my blog. You can do the same thing with a coupon that's $1.00 off your book or whatever. Effective email marketing is never just news. 
  • Always look at your statistics after you've sent your email to see if people opened it and/or clicked on links. This will help you to figure out what works and what doesn't for next time.
Well, that's email marketing basics. Are you scared of email marketing? Will you/do you use it?


33 comments:

Marta Szemik said...

Yes, I agree email marketing is a lengthy process, but effective. Thanks for the good E Post:)

A Daft Scots Lass said...

I can't stand SPAM in my Inbox though.

Sue Roebuck said...

It's all down to doing it properly though, isn't it (as you say)? I never ever look at emails that say, Buy My Book. A newsletter type of mail is good though, with some writing tips for example, or details of a competition. I haven't done it myself yet because getting the balance is so difficult.

AlexJCavanaugh said...

I don't send out a lot of emails, although I sent a lot to those who signed up for my Catch Fire blog party. And those went out in small batches so I wouldn't get zapped for spamming.

Kimberlee Turley said...

Completely agree on the one month thing. If they even send bi-weekly I tend to unsubscribe.

Leighcaron said...

Excellent "E" post. If you allow, I want to copy your tips to my laptop for future reference.

thehopefulromantic said...

Fab post Laura!

Jay Noel said...

Excellent infomation, Laura. I now email marketing can be an effective tool for a very targeted audience. In sales, I use email to reach out to prospects every day. So many prefer it than getting a phone call.

Laura Barnes said...

Your welcome!

Laura Barnes said...

Me either which is why I'm highly selective about where I give my emails. But if people willingly give you their email, they are expecting to receive information or newsletters. Just make sure it's done tastefully and minimally.

Laura Barnes said...

Yes, yes, Sue. The "Buy My Book" emails are a total fail. Send newsletters - give NEWS. I don't do it for myself, yet, but I do manage emails for clients and the only ones that work are informative interactive newsletters. The ones that have fun things are the best.

Laura Barnes said...

That was a good way to use email. Doing the batches is the way to go.

Laura Barnes said...

I might even go so far as to say bi-monthly is ideal. Depends on how often you have legitimate news.

Laura Barnes said...

Of course!!

Laura Barnes said...

Thanks!

Laura Barnes said...

Yes, so true.

Jasmine Qureshi said...

Yes, email marketing is very effective! I dunno if I'll ever self-pub or not, but this is good info. Thanks!

Laura Barnes said...

Thanks!

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

I haven't really ever tried it... Something to look into!

Laura Barnes said...

Well, it's not for everyone. But if it's for you, it can work really well.

Stacy S. Jensen said...

I agree with the value comment on your sample. Do you have to include an address on these marketing materials?

Laura Barnes said...

No, you dont. And I shouldn't have myself. Whoops!

Jocelyn Rish said...

I used Mail Chimp to do email marketing for my movie, but I felt a little 'dirty' and don't think we were doing it right. We are planning to revamp and do a newsletter instead. Thanks for the tips!

Continued success with the A to Z challenge,
Jocelyn

Ashley Nixon said...

*bookmarks this*
Looks like I need to start collecting more e-mails. lol. Awesome post!!

Laura Barnes said...

There are definitely dirty ways to do it and clean ways. Newsletters are much cleaner. Always ask yourself, would I consider this useful or spam? That can help guide your marketing decisions. And sometimes the answer could go either way. Some people will mark you as SPAM and others will be glad to have received it.

Laura Barnes said...

LOL! Me too! I have, like, 11 emails. See how well I take my own advice?

Jamie Gibbs said...

I've never thought about email marketing, but then I don't have anything really that needs selling. It's definitely something to think about though. Thanks :)


Jamie Gibbs
Fellow A-Z buddy
Mithril Wisdom

Laura Barnes said...

It can actually be a pain to do well, so don't venture into unless you are completely committed.

Simentha Williams said...

Nice sharing Laura, thanks for the post. It is really nice post on email marketing and I used to read this kind of stuff very often. Keep updating it I will be following it.

sales leads said...

they say that leads you gather through your own efforts with double opt-in are of highest "quality", however not everyone has the time and patience for that.
For those I'd recommend renting a list from trusted list broker.
What do you think about that?

Laura Barnes said...

Truthfully, it depends on what you're selling. I have used them with various clients and have never found them to be successful at all. We could argue that it is exposure, at least. People will identify with your name. But I'm not sure that's true even. Most people will delete your email if they don't know you and may even identify negative thoughts about your "spam". I really believe that opt-in quality emails are the only ones that truly work. If a client doesn't have time to build this up, I recommend they hire someone to do it or partner with someone who will introduce the client to their email subscribers.

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