Hot Retail Topic: E-Mail Marketing

Hot Retail Topic: E-Mail Marketing

As more and more consumers get used to the idea of reading marketing messages through e-mail on the PCs and cell phones, e-mail marketing is truly beginning to catch on at retail. At the recently completed PRO Convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., e-mail marketing took center stage is a session hosted by the author of Digital Photography for Busy Women, Laura Oles. Oles touched on many points retailers need to consider when developing an e-mail marketing campaign and we have highlighted a few of the more important here:

• High Value Content for Your Readers

• An Attention Grabbing Name and Sub Heading

• A Regular Publication Schedule

• A Killer Subject Line (that will get past Spam filters)

• An Ezine Mission Statement (to keep you on track)

• E-mails sent out Tuesday-Thursday have a far greater open rate than the other days of the week

We’ve also included a few E-Mail Marketing Factoids you might not be aware of:

• Spending on e-mail marketing will reach $2.1 billion by 2012, nearly double 2007’s spending of $1.2 billion.

— JupiterResearch.

• Findings suggest that e-mail open rates rise with subject lines that are between 50 and 80 characters. However, open rates drop to mid-range when the length is 60 or 70 characters, suggesting the subject line either provides too much information or not enough.

— Alchemy Worx, London.

• E-mail marketers must create the right message. Every dollar spent on e-mail marketing generates more than $48 in sales, and e-mail marketing resulted in nearly $22 billion in U.S. sales last year, according to recently released data. It’s important to follow specific protocols and create appealing content for e-mail marketing to succeed.

— The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), New York

• One of the most horrible things you could do as an e-mail marketer is to have broken links, or your website not working. So test, test, test and then re-test your message before sending it out.

— TalkSwitch

• It’s a good idea to survey your subscribers once in a while and ask them – how are we doing, what do you need? After all, the key benefit of e-mail marketing is building customer relationships and loyalty. Above and beyond everything else, it’s an excellent tool for keeping in touch.

— TalkSwitch

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