Marketing campaign planning requires a knowledge and use of all the parts of the marketing mix. Direct mail via the Post Office is still a popular distribution channel for marketing campaigns, but don't forget the potential benefits of marketing by email.
If you have a hot prospect that wants more information on your offers, each day spent waiting for it to drop through the letterbox dampens their enthusiasm. E-mail lets you communicate instantaneously and worldwide with anyone that has access to the Internet. This means you can get messages to your prospects while their interest is high.
E-mail is reliable
When you send a single or multiple e-mail message to clients or prospects, you know within seconds whether it has reached its destination. If you receive an "undeliverable" message, you can call your prospect, get the right e-mail address and send the information out again within five minutes. This helps you keep in close contact and removes the possibility of information getting lost in the post, or put on the wrong desk.
Email can be set up to perform certain tasks automatically
Autoresponders, also called mailbots or autobots, are special email programmes - very much like fax on demand. They automatically send email messages back to any prospect that sends email to them. This means that prospects can get information about you, your company, products and services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all without the need for a human to follow-up each sales lead.
E-mail is inexpensive
Similar to the time-saving advantages of form letters, e-mail lets you send the same message to many people without spending time and money on long-distance phone and fax calls, stationery and other printed materials, postage labels, postage itself, printer toner or ink, and labour for stuffing and addressing envelopes.
The cost of mailing a first class letter may not seem like much, but when you're sending a large number as part of a marketing campaign, postage expenses add up. The same applies to long-distance phone and fax calls. Depending on how much you use e-mail, it can very soon pay for itself, enabling you to keep in touch with your customers, prospects and suppliers very cheaply.
In summary, e-mail may suit your sales lead generation programme if:
• you're in direct marketing or another business where your markets aren't just local, but are national or international;
• you spend a lot on regular post marketing;
• you send many long-distance faxes;
• you make many long-distance phone calls;
• you want to do one or more of the above three things to expand your business, but don't want to spend a lot to do so.
Incorporating email into your marketing campaign planning could help you to reach existing and new customers faster and have a positive impact on your bottom line. It's too good a resource to ignore. To find out how we can help with e-mail marketing campaigns, call 01423 529300 or email info@wmg.uk.com