Email marketing is a convenient and cost-efficient way to reach your customers…if your message actually gets to them. Knowing how to send a message without your customers thinking it’s a SPAM message is necessary, and EarthLink Web Hosting is here to help.
If you are directly replying to a customer you emailed you, you can rest assured your message won’t be mistaken for SPAM. But if you are initiating email contact (through advertisements, helpful info, or updates), there are precautions you need to take to be sure your customers (and potential customers) see your communication as legitimate. Here are the 6 ways to make sure your email marketing never hits their SPAM folder:
1) Email From a Recognizable Address
If customers visit “www.YourCompanySiteABC.com” to buy your products, your email addresses should all be “@YourCompanySiteABC.com”. If they’re not, many customers might not trust the emails. If you need help getting domain email, EarthLink has you covered!
1b) Use a “White Listed” Service
If you’re going to be sending out a large quantity of email marketing, use a service that has a good reputation, (If you send out too many, your URL can be “black listed” for sending spam, just based on volume) Constant Contact is an example of such a service. If you send out all the emails yourself, there is a good chance servers will mark your message as junk mail before it can even reach inboxes.
2) Never Ask for Personal Information
Never ask a customer to reply to an email with personal information. Have them log into your site to submit (if you have that functionality), or call you directly.
3) Only Link to Your Website
Only send people, through email links, to places on your website they have seen before. If you try to send them somewhere else, be prepared to get a low response OR calls wondering what you’re doing.
4) Check, and Double Check, Your Spelling/Grammar
Spelling mistakes are often a sign of spam, so avoid this by double checking your text.
5) Keep it Short
The more to-the-point your email marketing is, the more people will read it. If you include long passages of “convincing language,” your email may come across as desperate (which is how many scammers come across).
6) Don’t Email Often
Even legitimate companies can spam (over-communicate and flood inboxes. We recommend once to three times a month at maximum.
Internet marketing seems to be the only advertising people believe in these days. “Direct Mail is Dead!” “Door to door advertising is useless!” “No one listens to telemarketers anymore.” It seems that internet marketing is the way to go, but it can be confusing for a small or medium-sized business to know what to do.