|
Ask Ryp
OverCoffee’s Permission-Based E-mail Marketing Can Drive Business and Build Loyalty with Your Customers
2007-10-10
|
Your Web site operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And yet, that’s not enough.
While your customers can visit your Web site in the comfort of their homes or offices and review your latest offerings, the problem is that they don’t always know you have something new to offer or have forgotten you exist!
Permission-based e-mail marketing can remind your customers why they were attracted to your business in the first place.
“For those retailers whose goal is to generate more traffic to their Web site or retail store, sustain high response rates and develop long-term loyalty with your shop, permission-based e-mail marketing is a great, cost-effective option,” says Ryp Walters, president of OverCoffee Productions.
It’s important to note that unlike unsolicited e-mail, which is illegal, permission-based e-mail marketing allows you to connect with your customers in a way they have come to expect in our fast-paced world – instantly, according to Ryp.
Permission-based e-mail marketing can play an important role in your marketing mix as it allows you to safely and professionally get your message to a large group of people, for a very low price which was very attractive to Jean Haller, owner of lifestyle, gift and bookstore Journeys of Life in Pittsburgh.
“OverCoffee led me through the entire process,” says Jean, who is absolutely delighted with the look of her Web site, www.JourneysOfLife.com, and her permission-based e-mail marketing campaign. Jean sends a quarterly printed newsletter but began permission-based e-mail marketing after her customers asked if she could keep them better informed of new information on a more regular basis.
Jean targets her e-mails based on customer preferences, which they are asked when they sign up for her e-newsletter. While she is still learning how to better use her segmented lists, she appreciates the fact that she can “be in touch with certain people in a timely manner,” Jean says. “Those who want class schedules can be sent info on a weekly basis.” Other customers prefer information on just new products and will not receive those e-mails.
Another great way to connect with Jean’s customers and to encourage e-mail subscriptions is her Birthday Club. “The Birthday Club is a great way to get people to sign up for our e-mail list,” Jean notes. “We send out an e-mail at the beginning of each month to all people who have a birthday that month and we give them a $10 coupon for anything at Journeys of Life.”
Through the Birthday Club program, Jean has been able to quantify the success of the program through the permission-based e-mail program. According to Jean, about half of those who redeem the coupon spend it for an item around $10. The other half, though, spend more than $50. Either way, Jean says, it is a great way to generate customer loyalty through an immediate and customized communications method.
Who can benefit from permission-based e-mail marketing? Almost any company can benefit whether you are an online retailer or a beauty salon. And the benefits are many, including:
- You are able to communicate effectively with not only customers, but prospective customers as well. Your customers will appreciate the regular communication from your store and prospects will be reminded of your store. Also, those who have opted in want to hear from you and tend to be active buyers from online businesses.
- It’s cost-effective! Unlike costly direct mail pieces which require a designer to design, a printer to print, and postage to mail, permission based e-mail marketing offers you an opportunity to communicate with your customers for just pennies – and it often allows you to develop a communications piece at the comfort of your desktop.
- It’s immediate. You simply need to draft your message, upload any pictures and hit the SEND button. Your customers will see your e-mail in their in-boxes within minutes allowing them to act on your information quickly if they’d like!
- It’s another point of contact. It allows you to connect with your customer base by creating a different opportunity to experience your company and brand as well as portraying a professional image for your business.
“Online retailers have the unique opportunity to service their customers’ needs by offering their products 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” says Ryp. “However, since they don’t always ‘see’ their customers, it’s important to develop a connection with them as many ways as possible. Permission-based e-mail marketing allows you to do just that.”
OverCoffee Productions has several clients who use permission-based e-mail marketing effectively and have seen an increase in sales as a result.
Retailers work very hard for their customers. Permission-based e-mail marketing offers online retailers yet another opportunity to connect with them and not to lose them by not keeping in touch.
Interested in learning how to integrate permission-based e-mail marketing into your marketing mix? Contact OverCoffee Productions at 319.398.7300 or toll free at 888.220.1300 and get started today!
|
|
View Archive of 'Ask Ryp'
|
Back
| Home |
OverCoffee Productions, L.C.
222 3rd Ave SE, Suite 8
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-221-1424
Toll free: 1-888-220-1300
Fax: 319-363-8280
For any questions or comments contact
webmaster@overcoffee.com.
|
