You need to build a strong mailing list; collecting contacts from a range of sources can do this. The key to a good list is permission based email marketing; you should have the email address owner’s permission before you send them an email. Sending email campaigns and newsletters to recipients who have given you permission will result in a better response. Consider the methods below to build a permission based email list:

• Existing customers: compile a database of existing customers, who have already requested to be on your list.
• Online: collect email addresses online by offering a newsletter sign-up on your website.
• In store: have customers sign-up in store, with a “Join our club” form at your register. Offer incentives for signing up, such as members’ only discounts.
• Incentives: offer an incentive for signing up, such as a 20% discount, free eBook.
• Online advertising: use online ad campaigns, such as Google AdWords, a keywords advertising program, in which you bid on keywords that people type in searches. When someone searches on a term that you purchased, your ad will be displayed under the sponsored links section. If the reader clicks on your ad, you pay Google, also known a pay per click.
• Relevant information: provide content that your customers are interested in and find relevant. Send out targeted email messages, by collecting additional information from your subscribers, such as demographics and interests. This allows you to target customers living in a certain region and in proximity to the business and provide them with material, which interests them.
• Refer a friend link: consider offering incentives for those who refer a friend.

Email marketing can provide your business with many benefits.

• Send any type of email communication: create newsletters, special offers, follow-up emails, invitations and much more.
• Cost-effective: email marketing is extremely low-cost compared to other marketing methods.  There are no printing or postage expenses.
• Measurable results: email marketing allows you to determine how effective your campaign has been with comprehensive reports outlining open, click-through, bounce, forwarding, unsubscribe and forwarding statistics.
• Generate repeat sales: email marketing allows you to generate repeat sales by keeping in touch with your existing customers. A good email marketing campaign will encourage your customers to make repeat purchases, for example by sending them special offers and promotions. Sending periodic emails to people who are interested in your products or services encourages them to make repeat purchases.
• Up-sell and cross-sell products and services: for example once a customer has purchased from your store, send them email campaigns with special offers on related products or services. If a customer purchased a golf club from your store send them offers for clothing, golf balls and shoes.
• Personalisation: email marketing allows you to personalise your messages, using custom fields.
• Forward option: see how viral your campaigns are with a refer a friend link.
• Gain feedback from your customers:  use the built in survey forms to create a customer satisfaction survey and gain valuable feedback from your customers.
• Global reach: email marketing is not limited to a specific region like other forms of marketing; you can reach anyone in the world.
• Immediate action: after your email campaign is opened, your audience can take immediate action with just a few clicks to make a purchase. Conversion rates are higher with email campaigns, as it does not require people to make a call or visit a shop to make the purchase.

Email marketing is a growing industry in Australia, during the second half of 2009, there was an increase in the response rate from email campaigns. See the comparison in the table below:

• Avoid mistyped email addresses, by requiring retyping in the signup form for your newsletter.
• Make it easy for subscribers to change their email address, by including a link to a form, allowing them to change their details.
• Ensure unsubscriptions are effective immediately, this can be achieved in FutureMail by inserting an unsubscribe link.
• Looking for inspiration for your newsletter? Great ideas for content include holidays, events and occasions. Send out an email campaign wishing your subscribers a Happy Easter and provide them with a special offer.
• Do not go overboard with too many images.
• Test to see what works; create a split test of two email campaigns, to see which one is more effective.
• Incorporate social media into your campaigns; include a link to facebook and twitter.
• Use a button image as a link (on the button, include a call to action, such as buy now or free trial).
• Include a navigation bar at the top of your campaign, which can replicate your web navigation bar.

• Check your links are working before sending a campaign, do this either in the preview window or by sending a test email to your account.
• Include a refer a friend link in your campaigns, this way your campaign will receive additional exposure. Also provide a special offer for subscribers who refer a friend.
• Check your campaigns thoroughly for mistakes, it is recommended to type and edit the campaign in word and then copy and paste the text into your campaign.
• Create interest in your campaigns, include a special offer for your subscribers.
• Segment your contact lists, this way you can send different promotions to different customer groups. This way your marketing campaigns are tailored to suit your individual customer groups. Your campaigns can be targeted towards individual customer groups, by knowing more about your customers. When a customer joins your mailing list, simply include a section with a few questions about their demographics, interests and promotions they would be interested in.
• Create interest in your campaigns, include content that interests your readers. Not sure what your readers want to know about? Why not ask them? Include a section in the email asking for feedback about what interests them.
• Use your name in the from field at the bottom of email campaigns, people do not like to read mail from strangers or robots. Including your name at the bottom of an email, creates a personalised email and makes your reader feel like you are someone they can trust.
• Use your brand in the subject line to create interest.
• Ensure plain text and HTML are corresponding, otherwise your campaign may be flagged as spam. Including both plain and HTML format gives your readers options, they have the best of both worlds.
• Track your email campaigns, this can be done through Google Analytics or the statistics tab in FutureMail. You can monitor the click-through, open rate, bounces, unique opens and link clicks to name a few.

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We would like to take this opportunity to introduce the FutureMail team, these are the friendly faces you will be dealing with. We value our customers and are willing to go the extra mile to provide you with superior customer service and the ongoing support you require.

Craig Collins is the General Manager and Founder of FutureMail. Coming from many years experience in the information technology field, he has valuable experience within the industry. He will be there to provide you with technical support and assistance. Craig also offers cloud hosting services, contact him today for more information.

Cassy Braithwaite, is the newest addition to the team, as Account Manager. She has just completed a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Management and Marketing at Curtin University. Cassy brings a fresh perspective to the team and you will be hearing from her a lot during 2010. Please contact her today if you have any questions regarding FutureMail.

• Test the layout of your newsletter with email clients; ensure your email campaign looks good in your recipient’s email. FutureMail allows you to view your email campaign in different email programs.
• Send newsletters regularly, at least once a month and on time. Try to send newsletters on the same day and at the same time.
• Use a template for your newsletter, this way your readers will recognise and respond to your newsletter.
• Respond to requests within 1 day, this is the amount of time you have to either win or lose a customer.
• Create a clear call to action in email campaigns, so your recipient knows what they are expected to do.  Do not distract readers with too many links or offers. If the aim of our newsletter is to give readers a discount on their next purchase, simply have a link “click here to receive a 20% discount.”
• Experiment with link placement in newsletters, the placement of a link in a newsletter can be crucial to the click-through rate.
• Emphasize key words in your email campaign with bold face.

Interested in knowing how successful email campaigns are?

Here is a snapshot of statistics from email campaigns in Australia taken from an independent source.

• Unique open rate (the number of emails opened for the first time): 23.73%
• Unique click-through rate (the number if unique clicks): 4.59%
• Time taken to open an email: 52% of recipients will open within 8 hours of delivery, 75% within 24 hours and 5.1% after 17 days.
• Email bounce rate (the number of messages undelivered): 7.22%
• Monday is the weekday with the highest percentage open rate of 26.19%
• Sunday has the highest open rate of 33.43%
• Wednesday is the day most emails are sent, but has one of the lowest open and click through rates.

We took a sample from one of our email campaigns to show successful FutureMail can be. The campaign was sent to a total of 157 recipients, the statistics are as follows:

• Unique open rate: 36.94% (58)
• Unopened: 63% (99)
• Email bounce rate: 0%
• Click-through rate: 1.91%
• Total unsubscribes: 2

• Send your email campaigns on Monday; this is the weekday with the highest open rate.
• Personalise your emails, by starting your email with the subscriber’s name, you can increase both reading and click-through rates.
• Utilise autoresponders to maintain contact with subscribers and provide them with additional information on the product or service you offer. Customers appreciate constant contact, showing that they have not being lost in the system.
• To ensure your emails do not get flagged as spam, avoid words such as free, $$$, save and discount in both the subject line and content of the email.
• To maximise click-through rates, make sure links are blue, underlined and bold.
• Always have some interesting content in the top of your email, as this is the part that will show in the preview of your client’s email program.
• Email marketing should reflect your corporate design and overall marketing strategy. The design and content of your email campaigns should reflect your corporate design. Ensure you have consistency with images, logos and designs. The success of your email campaigns will depend upon you conveying a consistent corporate image.
• Send newsletters at least once a month, you do not want your subscribers to forget about you.