In the small business world, where the landscape is crowded with competitors and marketing budgets can be very tight, the email marketing campaign provides a potentially viable method of promoting your company.

 

I use the word “potentially” because, like everything else, there are effective ways to conduct email marketing campaigns and very ineffective ways as well. This article will compare and contrast both ways, drawing upon my experience in marketing across several industries.

 

The email marketing campaign has evolved and become more sophisticated as the role of technology has evolved in the business environment.  The many forms of email marketing include the following: newsletter, E-Blast, Response to Inquiry, Targeted Blast (contacts from event or trade show), and Guerilla campaigns.

 

The Newsletter Format – Benefits vs. Risks

 

The newsletter format has some definite beneficial aspects. Most of these types of email marketing campaigns are targeted to a specific audience or customer list based on prior interactions with your business. Therefore, it is safe to assume that these campaigns target “warm” leads.

 

However, in order for the newsletter campaign to be successful I have always felt that your communication has to add value for the customer. The value is diminished if you are sending a newsletter with information that is already not fresh because it took a week to get through the internal approval process. In the same way, if you are sending a newsletter which is full of great information, but it is in a format which is hard to scan or read quickly, then you could be doing your business a disservice by sending it out.

 

The “E-blast” Format

 

The “E-blast” format has some benefits to your business and some downside as well. The main benefit to this type of campaign is the exposure it provides to a wide group of potential customers.

 

In my experience, I have worked with companies which gained interested customers for a product or product line directly from the “e-blast” format. In those cases we got business from areas which we had never previously gained access.

However, I worked with a company that ended up alienating customers and potential customers with this “e-blast” practice. The customers did not want to get these e-mails from us and complained to the sales force about the whole email marketing campaign.

Then, to make matters worse, the company ended up forgetting to place a few accounts on the “no further email list” and continued to send the “e-blast” to those accounts. The company I was consulting in this case lost that business from those accounts.

 

“Guerilla” email marketing campaigns

 

I have worked with clients that love the “guerilla” email marketing approach; it is one that I feel is not very effective. The main issue I see with this approach is that if the contact person at Company X does not know who you are, or who your company is, then they are going to delete the email before opening it.

 

These days we are all bombarded with emails and messaging of all types: texts, tweets, and posts on social media “walls” – the list goes on and on. If I feel like I am overwhelmed by it some days, can you imagine how a procurement officer or a purchasing manager feels?

 

A large component of successful marketing and social media marketing is simple: know your audience.

 

I feel that this form of marketing: where you try to surprise a new customer with a marketing message, essentially an emailed “cold call”, is not a very effective use of your marketing toolbox.

 

Response to Inquiry

 

This is pretty self-explanatory, if your small business receives inquiries for information in the standard “contact us” section of your website, then this is the type of email that would be sent in response to that request.

 

A response to inquiry email is something that may seem obvious to have readily available, but I have worked with companies that had not thought about this component of their marketing at all.

 

Your small business must have a response to inquiry email template done and ready to be sent out when you pull together the information inquiries from your website.

 

However, where it can get tricky is if you have several inquiries for vastly different purposes. One could be an inquiry for a product sample, while the other could be an inquiry for promotional materials.

 

I have seen two different approaches to this situation. One approach is to have a “boiler plate” response to every inquiry which reads something along these lines:

“Thank you for visiting our website and for taking the time to contact us on this matter. We will have the appropriate person respond to your inquiry within 48 hours…”

The other approach is to have a custom response to each inquiry done by the department head for each type of inquiry. This approach can produce issues if the email response to the inquiry is not done in a timely fashion.

 

You could also do a mass email to all of the contacts that made an inquiry to your site twice a year or quarterly depending on your business, and update them on industry news, or new products you may be promoting. I have seen some companies have success with that approach as well.

 

Targeted Blast (contacts from events or trade shows)

 

The final format for email marketing is a targeted blast. This is one approach that, in my experience, is very successful. The reason why it is successful is that your company or small business have met these contacts at an industry event, conference, convention, or trade show.  The audience knows who you are, and they also know what services or products you can provide to them.

 

The challenge with a targeted blast is that in order to do it correctly it must be done as a specific, tailored response to the nature of the context in which you initially made the contact. This type of custom response takes time, and many companies handle this by dividing the work load between several people familiar with the specific accounts.

 

An example would be that the initial contact was made at a conference for marine equipment and supplies, so you would not send an email marketing your railroad or trucking equipment supply products to the marine customer.

 

The positive attribute to this campaign is it converts to sales more than the other approaches to email marketing because of the nature of the way the initial contact was made. The convention or trade show is a very personal and fun vibe versus meeting in another setting. I think that translates well to the effectiveness of this campaign.

 

A New Approach for a New World

 

In conclusion, email marketing campaigns have many forms, each with varied degrees of success. The positive attribute for a small business is that email is free and so for cost conscious start-ups and other small operations, it is a potentially great way to spread the word on who you are and what you do.

 

We live in a new world of increasing technology and social media advancements. The internet is a sea of businesses and so you have to be prepared to utilize a message which differentiates you from the pack.

 

I will detail that in my next article – Part 2 of this series on email marketing. I hope this article is valuable to your small business in developing an email marketing campaign.