Email Marketing

I did a talk on email marketing the other day to a group of people running expanding companies and it amazes me that after a decade or more of having everything that you need to be good at email marketing, it is so ignored or mis-understood by so many.

Email marketing isn't about spam or sending out a perpetual stream of untargeted offers. Email marketing is about keeping relationships and offering value.

Here are the key questions and objections that tend to come up.


How do I get email addresses?
From the business cards of everyone you meet; from your website – offer something to visitors in exchange for their email address, from your customers, from referrals. There are loads of places. Just make sure they are people who have an interest in what you do and are happy to receive your emails. You can buy lists, but these can present problems and are far less likely to give you the results you want.

What should I write about?
Anything that you do – whether generically, or that you specialise in – that they might be interested in. Comment on articles in the press or recent events that link in with what you do. Be yourself too. Don’t write your emails in difficult ‘business speak’ but convey a bit of your business’ personality.
You can also tell people stories about what’s happening in your business, what they should look out for this season, events, thank them, warn them, send them reports or links to other sites, or even just remind them about something. I’ve heard stories of an investment banker who used to send all her clients an email a couple of days before Valentine’s Day to remind them!

Subdivide the people to whom you want to write. You might want to send an email out to everyone, or just to existing customers.

How often should I send out emails?
As often as you like. Keep them bright and interesting and they will be well received. Daily works well for some people. I have worked with people who send out daily emails and have a very good read rate. For the large majority weekly works. There are no rules, go with what you feel is right and can fill with interesting and really useful material. I send them as-and-when with no fixed rule.

People in my line of business don’t do this
Excellent news! A vet once emailed me to tell me that this wasn’t possible for her and that it wouldn’t be the thing for them to do. I nearly fell off my chair, and then thought about opening up a veterinary practice. What an opportunity! People love their pets and would love to get really good advice from their vet by email. Getting their addresses would be really easy – these people regularly walk through your door – and the fact that no-one else is doing it is just superb news. In fact, unless you’re running a funeral parlour I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t be doing this.

Isn’t this just spam?
No. We need to be absolutely clear about this. Spam emails are unwanted, unsolicited, and irrelevant emails – think about your own experiences. We’re sending emails to people with whom we either have, or are beginning to have, some kind of relationship, about something we know they are interested in. You should clearly still give people the option of opting out on all emails too.

I have never worked with a company who has done this correctly and had problems with it. In fact on the contrary I’ve heard of clients whose customers have complained when their regular email has dried up when, perhaps, the author has been away for a week or two!

Should I send this out from me or the company?
From you personally, keep it as personal as possible. Relevant, useful and personal are the keys.

I did this once and it didn’t work
Probably because you hadn’t got this kind of leading edge information at the time you might have sent out one ‘10% off’ offer like everybody else. What I’m encouraging you to do here is different. Use email over time to develop relationships and you’ll be surprised at what happens. It won’t change your business overnight, but worked correctly it will provide you with all kinds of opportunities that you are simply walking past today.


And of course, it’s going to cost you somewhere between very little and nothing to do it! Please don’t fall in to the ‘too good to be true trap’. Get emailing today!