10 email marketing tips to increase sales

If you are deciding on a marketing strategy which will deliver results, then email marketing should be at the top of the list. Email marketing has many benefits including quick results, is affordable to run and is extremely efficient. Email marketing campaigns can go viral in quick time and generate new sales for your business as well as promote it to people who have not heard of you. If you create a successful email marketing campaign you can open the doors to a new audience.

If you are looking to build a solid relationship with all your customers then email marketing is the way to do it as it is the best and most effective way.  Email marketing will ensure people will buy from you over and over again.

If you are looking to start an email marketing campaign but are not sure what you need to include in it to boost your profits, read on for ten proven email marketing tactics that deliver results.

1. If you want to develop a relationship with your customers and build some credibility then it is important to offer your subscribers something in return.  Free information is always great to entice people. This could be free a guide, a How To sheet or testimonials from existing clients.
   
   
2. Once a user subscribes always acknowledge the subscription. What this means is giving them the choice whether they want to receive email marketing from you or not. There are some great auto responder tools out there that let you create a custom message which is automatically sent to a new subscriber to let them know you have received a message. It is good practice to send out an acknowledgement email thanking them for subscribing to your weekly newsletter.  It is important you keep a record of all subscribers to your newsletter.
   
   
3. Always give subscribers the choice to unsubscribe from your list. It is courteous to always include an opt out message at the bottom of the email telling the subscriber they can opt out from your email newsletter.  It is important you include clear instructions and a link telling them how to opt out form future emails. This helps you deal with the people you are not really interested with but also helps you keep and build trust with the readers you currently have. Periodically go through your email list and have a cleanup. Look for faulty email addresses which could be spam.
   
   
4. Personalise. If your email newsletter is personalised, chances are you will get a better response rate. If a subscriber receives an email that is addressed to them either with a salutation or use of their name, they will be more inclined to read on.  However, only personalise emails if you have the information from your opt in form. Personalising emails with incomplete data will do more harm than good.
   
   
5. Subject matter. Always be honest about your subject line.  Ensure this is relevant to the actual content of the email you are sending out. More importantly, make this catchy to capture the reader’s attention. IF your first couple of opening sentences are not related to your subject line, it is more than likely the email will not be read and the email will be marked as spam.
   
   
6. Keep your customers by offering them ‘loyalty’ rewards. These could be electronic discount vouchers and are a great way to entice your customers back time and time again. An even better tactic is to put an expiration date on your voucher as this will prompt the customer to use it. Once they use it send them follow up offers to keep them interested. A follow up offer is fantastic for generating more revenue.
   
   
7. Make sure you clarify your privacy policy and contact info. When you have your email design, make sure your contact info is visible in two places. Doing this is much better than inserting click here links all over the place. Strategically place one link at the top and one link at the bottom of the email, as this makes it easier for the subscriber to respond.  When a subscriber subscribes to your list they trust you implicitly. They don’t expect you to pass on their personal information to any third party organisation. Trust is essential for building online relationships. Clearly state in your policy and registration forms the type of information you want from the user.
   
   
8. In the words of Dory just keep testing, testing, testing. Create an email test group. Here you can check the email formatting, check the links in the email all work and that they are going to the right place. Once you are happy, send a test email to a few users in the group – a large enough number to be able to measure the effectiveness or not of the message.
   
   
9. If you receive an email enquiry, always be prompt in responding. Responding immediately is a sign of good customer service and shows you care about your customers. The seal of approval of good customer service for online businesses is the response time to any email enquiry. Ensure you deal with any subscriber email query promptly as this tells them you are dealing with the request. Tell the customer that you are more than happy to help them and answer any questions that they may have. Even offer to contact them at a time convenient to them.  Adopting this method will increase the chances of you getting a sale.
   
   
10. Track and spend time analysing results. It doesn’t matter what type of marketing campaign you are running, tracking the results is imperative. Fortunately this can be done quite easily using tracking and analytical tools. One of the most popular tools that are used is Google Analytics. Once you get to grip with Google Analytics it is fairly easy to track.  Metrics to track should include pass-along, click-through rate and conversion rates.  Analysing these metrics will tell any a marketer which offers and customers are driving the highest ROI.

By following these 10 email marketing tips you should easily be able to increase revenue and traffic to your site.