E-Mail Marketing

PE: Understand the use of direct marketing to attract attention and to build brand.

PI: Explain the nature of e-mail marketing tactics

E-Mail Marketing

• E-Mail Marketing - Sending promotional messages across computer networks.

Why?• Keep in-touch with current customers • Educate consumers• Build brand awareness• Enhance business image• Sell Products• Engage in viral marketing

Common Uses of E-Mail Marketing

• Businesses often use e-mail marketing for:– Announcements– Newsletters– Bulletins– Suggestion selling– Reminder service– Handling requests– Obtaining feedback– Order confirmations

• Getting customers to talk about the company/products/message with other people• Create a Discussion• Usually through interesting or funny messages

E-Mail Marketing Options• Opt-In (Permission-Based)– Customer grants a business permission to send them

promotional e-mails, product announcements, or newsletters.

– Subscriptions : Most common use of opt-in e-mail marketing

• Double Opt-In– Requires recipients to confirm that they want to be a registered email subscriber.– Upon completing the subscription process, individuals

receive an e-mail that they must respond to in order to be added to the list of subscribers.

E-Mail Marketing Options

• Opt-Out– Customers have the option to stop receiving emails– E-mail contains an explanation of the process that to

be removed from the list.

Example:

• This e-mail is a Best Buy advertisement. If you no longer wish to receive our marketing e-mails, unsubscribe here. If you have difficulty with the unsubscribe link, you may also send an e-mail to PrivacyManager@bestbuy.com For more information, read our Privacy Policy or call 1-888-BEST BUY.

E-Mail Marketing OptionsSpam– Unsolicited (unwanted) junk e-mail sent out

to advertise a product.

– Spam bogs down networks and wastes time.– Companies send out in large quantities

Benefits of E-Mail Marketing

• Reduced Time and Effort• Cheaper– Avg Direct Mail = $20,000– Avg Email = $1,000

• Real-Time Messages• Personalized Messages• No Paper• More Frequent Messages– Shouldn’t be more than once a week

Activity

• Split class into 10 Groups and have each group research a benefit of E-Mail Marketing– Each group must present their information to the

class including:• Tell us about the benefit• Two examples of the benefit• Why it is so important

http://emailmarketing.comm100.com/email-marketing-ebook/email-marketing-benefits.aspx

Challenges of E-Mail Marketing

• Customer lists• Duplicate e-mails• Undeliverable e-mails• Obtaining responses• Spreading viruses• Battling filters• Unauthorized

subscriptions• Angry recipients• Managing lists

Plain Text E-Mail Marketing

• Most often email is plain text.• Words on a screen. (No multi-media)• The key to successful text-based e-mails is

proper formatting.– Sections are separated by lines.– Text is left ( ) aligned– Hard returns are used at the end of each sentence

or paragraph.

HTML E-Mail Marketing• HTML - Hypertext Markup Language• E-mails that contain colorful logos, graphics,

background designs, animations, sound, banner ads– It takes longer for HTML e-mails to load than plain-text e-

mails.– Not all e-mail clients support HTML.

Capabilities of E-Mail Marketing

• Depend on the type of software that is used. – Non-interactive content• Plain-text e-mail used to correspond among friends,

family members, and coworkers

– Links • Within the message• Link a word, graphic, or other element to another place

within the e-mail.• To web sites• Link from somewhere within the e-mail to a web site.

Capabilities of E-Mail Marketing

• Attachments– An attachment is a file sent with an e-mail.– (Word document, PowerPoint presentation, jpg photo)

• Streaming media– Delivers sound, video, or animations – Play when the recipient opens the message or clicks on a

“play” button.– Expensive and needs a High-Speed Connection

• Individualized addresses– Individual e-mail address in the “To” field– This helps businesses to personalize e-mail – Readers feel that they’re the only ones receiving e-mail.

Capabilities of E-Mail Marketing• Personalization

– Inserting personal information within an e-mail message.• such as name, title, and purchasing history• Make customers feel unique and special

• Automated– E-mail software can function automatically – (send personalized e-mails to entire customer list or create list of

undeliverable addresses)

• Autoresponders– Automatically replies to incoming emails– Common uses:

• Confirm orders and newsletter subscriptions• Make customers aware that the business person is unavailable until a certain date

Activity

• Choose a sport/event product. (Game, Season Tickets, Concert, Merchandise) Create an email marketing campaign to promote your product. Send the email to me if possible.– Be sure to determine the type of email you are going to use.– Will there be any opt-in/double opt-in/autoresponders?– Include a combination of links, streaming video, attachments ,

and individualization.– Answer the following questions separately:– Who is the target audience?– What types of advertisements are normally used to market the

sport/event product?– What are the benefits of using e-mail to market the sport/event

product?– Is the e-mail promotion effective? Why or why not?