email

Many companies still don't understand the whole idea about doing email blast.  Many of them simply put in a "<adv>" in the email subject title, and thinking that their monotonous action will do the trick of impressing their recipients to buy their products.  That is so childish, and is another number game.

It's like taking several innocent apples that you have, and blast it with your gun.

The reason why your recipients choose to be with you is because they are expecting something interesting from you.

What's your habit?

If you are consistently sending tactical email blasts to your recipients, your recipients will soon be trained to delete it in their email box when they are not interested to look for your product.  Eventually, they will only look at your email when they think of buying your product.  That's because they have been trained to understand that your emails are always selling selling selling!

Can you do better than selling?

It turns out that some small companies are now approaching a different method from the bigger companies.  Because they are much smaller, they can "afford" to try this very personalized way of communicating with their email database.  They simply speak to their email database topics that they are interested in.  It may not be about their products.

It's like your minesweeper and solitaire in your Windows XP and other Windows platform.  The reason why Microsoft is having such games in its Windows system is actually to educate its users on how to use a mouse more efficiently.  (I got this reasoning from Chris Brogan's blog.)  It's something which is somehow related to Windows XP, but it is still a game which can keep me hours of entertainment!

Simply thinking of something which is somehow related to your product indirectly, can really help people to get back to your product better!

Public contact and yet personal

An email address is something which anyone will be more willing to give than their mobile phone number.  It can be very personal to that person, but that person is tolerant enough to take in any other emails (or perhaps spams actually).  In fact, there is another way of reaching out to these people (via RSS feeds) without getting their email addresses.

It takes time to educate the media owners

It's not easy to let those people who only know how to do email blast to understand how email marketing really works.  To me, email marketing is a relationship building exercise.  It gives us the power to communicate to the mass with a very personal message.  And that personal message must avoid selling as much as possible.  It's like going out with your very best friend, and you will know that your best friend will never thought of making money out of you.

Photo Credit: Mr. Moog

Chapter Two

Coming to Realize

The future of customer service is here. Technology has made seeking out support faster and easier than ever. But, has your digital age company sacrificed true service in the name of automation?

Today, finding customer support is as simple as writing an e-mail or picking up the phone. But, even though you’re not face-to-face with your customers, you still leave a lasting impression. Do you come across as caring and competent, or menacing and mechanical?

Offering stand-out service on the Internet isn’t as hard as it is rare. Take these simple steps towards old-style service in the digital age:

1. Give Each Customer a Personal Response
2. Be Clear, But Sincere
3. Offer Live Customer Support
4. Make Sure Your Support Reps Have All the Answers

When a customer sits down to e-mail your company, it’s because he needs help. He chooses e-mail because it’s quick, but his request still warrants a satisfying and personal response!

Companies eager to save time and money often take automation too far in their customer support. Each customer has a unique question, and deserves a unique answer. Even if you save time by copying and pasting stock replies, change the opening and closing to make the message sound less robotic.

When responding to customers’ e-mail, be sincere and to the point. Before sending a message, try turning the tables. Ask yourself, “Would this answer satisfy me if I were the customer?”

Subject Line of a Viral Email

Although this comes prior to the actual opening of your emails, this is incredibly important. The subject line is the first thing that a person sees whenever they open their inbox. There are only two options for them: to click on the mail you sent or not. Hence, it is important that you convince them to do the former. One technique is to keep your subject line interesting or provoke curiosity.

Using the “Open Me” or “Read Me” approach is fast becoming ineffective. Plus, it is a very lazy approach at convincing people to actually read the mail. Try to keep your subject line short but snappy for higher effectiveness.

Content of a Viral Email

You have three options in terms of how you build the content for your viral email marketing: sales letter, newsletter, or review format. Regardless of your choice of content format, you need to keep it brief yet ample in scope. Remember, people browsing the internet have short amount of patience and you need to feed them the information they need within the shortest time possible.

If you find that the message is too long but all parts are too relevant to omit, consider sending them in parts. This is also an effective way to rouse the reader’s interest.