E-mail Marketing is still one of the most effective ways of engaging customers online. Social Media is definitely on the rise but there are so many distractions on one’s Facebook and Twitter pages that it’s so easy for a user to miss your update. In e-mail the user’s attention is focused on your message once he opens your mail. Here are just a few tips that I want to share with everyone on how to build a good e-mail marketing campaign.
1. Make it easy for them to sign-up!
The most important part is how you will build your database. You have to make it easy for your users to sign-up. There are two ways to do this. The first is to make sure that the sign-up sheet is prominent in your page so that it’s almost next to impossible to miss. Initially I had the sign-up for my eBook at the upper right hand corner of the sidebar which is a premium spot for any site. Eventually though I realized that it wasn’t enough so I changed the settings so that it appears to first time visitors as a lightbox (page fades and sign-up sheet pops up). Here’s what it looks like:
Another way to boost sign-ups is to give incentives or to offer value. For New Media Philippines, I wrote an eBook called “Social Media Guide for Filipino Entrepreneurs”. This eBook is rich with valuable content which I gained as a consultant for the past few years. Give your users a reason for them to give you their e-mail address. Maybe this can be in the form of discounts or freebies.
I personally prefer using AWEBER for all of my e-mail marketing campaigns (aff. link). They have a lot of templates which you can just customize and they also provide the lightbox service option which I just talked about earlier. I highly recommend them.
2. Don’t spam.
Once you’ve gotten their e-mail address, never ever spam them. As much as possible I only send out e-mails to my database when I have something really important to say or I have data to share. I send out 2-3 e-mails per month and always about stuff that’s relevant to my blog’s niche. Once they’ve “entrusted” you with their e-mails, don’t abuse it because when you do they will unsubscribe and they probably won’t speak good of you anymore after.
3. Think twice about using images.
Lastly, take note that most e-mail services like GMAIL and YAHOO automatically block images by default. If your mailer has a lot of images the recipient will probably just see a blank page and he will have to click on the option to show images first for him to see what you’re sending. I’ve done image and text-based campaigns in the past and the ones that get the most number of opens and clickthroughs are the campaigns with the least amount of images.
Ultimately it all boils down to trust. Gain their trust by offering an incentive. Build the level of trust by engaging them with quality content that offers more value. And lastly don’t abuse the trust by sending crap to their mailboxes. 
These days, I think an attractive piece of snail mail gets noticed over e-clutter.
Good point Joel. Only problem is delivery time and the costs involved to ship and create the package.
Hi Carlo,
Wondering if your group has a list of companies/individuals based in Manila that do or specializes in email marketing or sending out bulk emails? Super thanks!
Actually, what I wanted to ask is if there are Manila-based entities that offer specific solutions/tools such as Aweber, Mailchimp, etc.? I know it’s like asking if we already have someone doing a local version of WordPress or Blogspot. Just wondering anyway. Again, many thanks!
I hate this part which e-mail to always block to show images content and file content. Even sometime it forward my friend, i still need to click show content. Internet security so tight but still internet security through mail is the highest. 80 percent of mail is spam.
Great email marketing tips. But I’m not really sure about the pop up thing. Some people who usually come from Google search engines want to immediately see the information they are looking for many hours, so a pop up even before entering the site can sometimes become tiring. However, with the great blog like yours, I think people will accept it for the value they will get in your site.