Email Marketing and Building A List

Email is a powerful, time-saving tool in today’s business world, but it can also be an unsuspected trap for people who may be unwittingly driving customers away through improper email etiquette. Email has been shown to provide the potential of retaining clients up to three times longer than other online methods of communication, but only when it is used correctly. It is an expression of trust if someone shares their email address with you. However, if you abuse that trust you may as well have thrown their email address–and more importantly their business–in the trash!

So, when you’re collecting information, what are you really after? This is the secret, and it’s both easy and important to get these e-mail addresses from your customers. You’ll likely agree that you’re more likely to score an e-mail address than quickly sell an expensive item to someone. If you’re handed vital contact information from a customer, they are allowing you make contact with them, and for free.

Tips for Successful Emailing:

1. Use personal cues in your correspondences. You can be uninviting to your potential customers if you address them impersonally. A majority of marketers don’t do this properly, and this is a vital failure in customer service. Address them in a persona-to-person manner. Treat them like an individual person. Do not treat them like they’re just one person in a much larger crowd.

2. Put your name in the From field in the email. It shows youre a real person, and gives a personal touch when potential customers initially see it. If youre doing things right, youre using a personal approach in the text of the email itself, so why not do it with the first thing they see when they get an email? Be warm and personal and dont look like spam. Say something specific, so specific to them that they know that it cannot possibly be spam. This will help ensure they will read it.

3. Write a provocative subject line. Subject lines should be in context with the rest of the e-mail so that your readers’ interest is piqued. Here’s the trick : by clicking onto your e-mail, your customer is already relaying their interest in you. Make a reference to this from the subject line on. Don’t say something generic! “Can we help you? This is Client Services here to serve you!” is a far more personal greeting. While not terribly sophisticated, it’s also clear that this isn’t spam.

These need to be customized to what youre selling, and not in a cookie-cutter format. But with a little work, constant tweaking, and a commitment to personal touch, you will gain more long-term customers.

Anthony Flores of www.attorneymarketingnow.com is an expert in Attorney Marketing and Law Firm Web Design. Contact us with proven PPC and SEO results for attorney’s all across the country.