eNewsletter
Fact Sheet
If you want to download this
fact sheet as a PDF to read later, or to print out, please
click here. Alternatively
read on.
So, you have been doing what the experts advocate and gradually
building an email list of regular customers and potential
new customers through your various marketing activities.
This list now represents a potential goldmine that will enable
you to sell more products or services to these contacts, if
you can communicate with them easily and affordably.
How can I set up my own regular eNewsletter?
Outlook can be set up to send small groups of emails, we would
recommend no more than 100. Larger groups can tie up your
machine and can crash the system.
When planning your eNewsletter consider
the following:
• Make sure the recipients on your list have opted in
to receive your newsletter to stay within the law.
• You may want to set up Outlook to send your email
from a generic email address (eg:- info@domain.com) rather
than a specific person, so that replies can be separated electronically
and therefore dealt with more easily.
• The subject box title should be worded so that spam
filters will not remove the email from the inbox. Select your
title carefully to match the content of the email and make
it interesting enough for the recipient to want to open it.
Avoid symbols, like ‘£’ signs and words
like ‘free’ as these could be marked as spam.
• Make sure the content of your email is well written
and contains interesting and relevant information for your
readers and Include images where possible.
• Set up links directly to the pages or products on
your website that are relevant to the article.
• Allow the recipient to unsubscribe if they do not
want to receive further newsletters. You can do this by asking
them to type “Delete” in the subject box when
they reply.
Some of the disadvantages of using Outlook
for your eNewsletter:
• Large mail-outs tie up the machine
• Sending can be slow
• Crashing halfway through a mailout can cause serious
problems and halt your sales progress
• Broadband providers can bar you from sending bulk
emails through their servers
• Including images makes each email very big and slows
down the sending process.
• Design and layout of the email is limited
How can I produce an eNewsletter like
the ones I get from the big retailers? (html eNewsletter)
Option 1: Standard format
There are a large number of email newsletter providers available
on the internet, or you can contact a local design agency
with the capability to design and send emailers. You can use
one of the many simple “off the shelf” design
templates or ask for your own design to be developed, usually
at an extra cost. Your text and any photographs or images
and hyperlinks can then be inserted either by you or the agency
using a content management system. When you are happy with
the final result the agency will arrange to send your emails
out to the database you have provided.
Prices vary and usually depend on how many emails you want
to send at a time or how many campaigns you want to run over
a period of time. If you are using an internet service, make
sure they have a good customer service record and a UK based
call centre so if you have any problems or need advice you
can get the support you need.
The advantages of an html eNewsletter:
• Allows for creativity in the design and layout for
greater impact and customer interest
• Email list size is not limited
• Images are not embedded in the email, making sending,
and more importantly, receiving faster
• A link can be added to view the email in a web browser
• Allows you to measure “open rates” and
“link click through rates”
Option 2: Integrated eNewsletter system
An integrated system allows you to be more customer-focused
and can be developed to meet your exact requirements. The
Emailer system can be linked to your website and other IT
systems. For example, you may have asked your customers to
inform you of their particular product or service interests
in advance, their individual newsletter can be set up to pick
out and target these interests. This provides a more personalised
service with increased potential of customer take up.
With an integrated system customer registrations via your
website are sent straight into the customer database ready
for the next mailing without further handling and the same
for any deletions. The entire system becomes much more automated
and can save money and time in the long term.
Other advantages of an Integrated eNewsletter
System designed to meet your specific requirements:
• View history of previous emailers and resend.
• Keep a record of sent emails
• Set up emailers in advance and save them for later
use
• Personalise with names and other information
• Send emails to specific client subsets
• Add attachments to emails
• Track statistics and click-thru
Whether it's IT support in Shropshire, a website in Herefordshire
or Marketing assistance in Worcestershire, we can help.
To arrange a meeting please call us on 01584 890725 |
