What Is Email Marketing - Is The Money In The List?

Another in my series of "What Is", this time, what is email marketing.

You may have heard the phrase and you may have a completely incorrect view of what it is, how it's done and what benefits it may bring.

Let me say first of all that email marketing has nothing to do with spamming. I've heard that the average spammer has a conversion rate of something like 0.001%. With figures like that, why would you possibly want to spam anyone? Apart from the ethical angle, you'd have to be rather silly to partake in an activity that nets such a small return. All the while, risking prosecution.

Email marketing is pretty much the same as any other type of marketing. Put your offer in front of potential buyers and use your marketing skills to convert the sale.

You've been the target in email marketing, for sure. If you've bought something from an online retailer and they've sent you a follow up email. No company worth its salt would miss an opportunity to market further to you. Just remember:

Every customer TouchPoint should be seen as an opportunity.

So, as this isn't an in depth guide on how to market with email, I'm going to give you a quick rundown.

In order to enter the highly lucrative email marketing arena, you need to follow these basic steps:

List Building

In the internet marketing field, we generally build a list by having customers 'opt-in' by entering their email address, and then (for the double opt-in) confirm that they wish to receive communication from us. This is the main thing that separates us from spammers, who just mail any email address they can scrape from anywhere at all.

Using an auto-responder, like Aweber, the most trusted auto-responder in the business, to collect the names, email addresses, etc, we entice the potential customers to opt-in by offering them something of value. Often a free e-book, course, video or anything else that they may find useful.

Trust Building

Once the target has opted-in your best bet is to then deliver further value by convincing them that

1. You're worth listening to
2. You're trustworthy

By sending them regular content relating to your niche, that will be helpful for them.

So for example, if you're in the mountain biking niche, you could entice the reader to opt-in by offering a guide to the best trails in Nova Scotia and when they've signed up, periodically send them:

• More trails
• Reviews on awesome new kit
• Tips on maintaining and repairing mountain bikes
• etc

The list is endless. And the more valuable your list find your content, the more likely they will be to trust you and pay attention to your recommendations.

Fortune Building

It's often bandied about that good marketer can make $1 per month per subscriber. I would personally say that it depends on the niche, but a great marketer CAN make more than that. In fact if you're making 50 cents per subscriber per month, it's a relatively easy road to the $100 per day milestone.

Remember what I said before about using every customer TouchPoint as a sales opportunity? Well, you have to use your discretion. Plastering every email with constant promotions will only annoy (and shrink) your list. A one line recommendation can be unobtrusive and if you're providing value (like you should be) giving an option to purchase a really relevant product IS good customer service.

A couple of harder sells in a month is normally ok, but you'll learn to judge your list and you'll get the hang of reading the unsubscribe behavior.

Now that I've answered the question, what is email marketing, I seriously suggest you start. Sooner rather than later.

Other installments in the series include, what is SEO, and are found on my internet marketing blog.