What your email address says about your computer skills (Photo credit: Emilie Ogez)
This morning’s post by one of my favourite bloggers, Dubai’s Desperate Housewife (always entertaining but based in reality) has inspired me to write this post that I have been wanting to do for some time now: email shots.
I am quite vocal with my clients about ‘buying’ email databases. Vocal in saying no. Its quite tempting to acquire these emails that are being offered quite cheaply. What most companies either don’t know (or don’t want to know) is that these emails are the result of harvesting off the internet and more often than not does not have the permission of the owner to be used, sold etc.
Here are some simple rules for email communication because its not JUST about marketing, it is about building a brand. And this goes not just for companies but also individuals.
- Numbers don’t matter. It doesn’t. Its the quality of the email addresses you have that DO matter and that they are people you know and who know (or know of) you. Acquire them (the email database) organically. Build it from your business and your contacts. What is the point of an email that gets deleted over and over again because its not relevant. Think about the number of emails (no matter how good your spam and junk mail filter is) you have to keep deleting of having to create rules around. Think of your potential customer that’s doing the same thing to YOUR email. Whatever slim chance you had of getting a new customer’s attention, you’ve lost it by spamming them. In the long term, you also have the danger of getting blacklisted.
- Use a reputable email service. This is a no-brainer. There are several some large, some small. Find one that suits you. Give your recipients the option to opt out; to choose what kind of messages to receive. Create lists based on your target message and key goals. Make it easy for them to like you more. We use iContact. Its simple and easy to use. Even populates three of the most popular social media sites – Twitter, Facebook (including pages) and LinkedIn (including groups and company pages). These services also ensure that you DON’T send multiple copies of the same email to the same person.
- Pace your messages. Even with the service and sorting out your email database, its important not to overload the same people with repeat messages. Make sure you tailor-make your messages to the kind of people you are sending your communication to whether thats the media, your customers, or your partners.
As a PR agency, we try not to spam. We have lists to differentiate different messages. If you are reading this and you’re in the wrong list, we’re sorry. Please feel free to click on this link and ensure that you are in the right lists to get the messages YOU want. Or just unsubscribe. We won’t take that personally. Promise.
