E-mail Marketing for Dummies: author interview

Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on January 03, 2008

Last November saw an email marketing tome added to the successful Dummies series of books (see at Amazon).

Author John Arnold is a speaker, consultant and Regional Development Director for Constant Contact. John kindly took some time out to answer a few questions on the book and the role of email marketing in small businesses.

Who should be reading E-Mail Marketing For Dummies?

E-Mail Marketing For Dummies was written for a wide range of small business owners and organizations - from email marketing beginners who have never executed an email newsletter campaign to more seasoned email marketers looking for the latest strategies, tips on interactive email marketing techniques, and consumer preferences.

Anyone who understands the impact email marketing has on their business or organization - or those who want to have a better understanding of how it can help them - should read the book. It is a great reference tool and covers a broad range of topics including:

Mapping out an email marketing strategy
Building effective lists
Formatting and frequency tips
Creating memorable messages
Including the correct content in your message
Ensuring your message gets delivered
Tracking results

Can you outline the main potential of email for the smaller business?

Small organizations have limited resources, time, and budget for marketing; email marketing addresses those concerns and allows small business owners to go head to head with bigger competitors.

Email marketing is inexpensive and has been known to be 20 times more cost effective than direct mail. It is also effective. Email newsletters and promotions are one of the few marketing tools that enable proactive communications with customers, increase traffic, drive sales, and build loyalty.

The most important reason is that it's easy. Constant Contact has designed their solution for the small business user with little or no technical expertise and limited time. They provide all the tools to quickly create professional emails: HTML templates, Email Wizard, free customer support, etc.

What are the typical mistakes you see small businesses making with email marketing?

I often see businesses start an email campaign without taking the time to think about what their goals are with this type of customer communication.

Most businesses want to increase sales but there are many additional reasons to implement an email marketing program.

For instance, properly executed email newsletters can also increase business referrals, reach a new or broader audience, offer incentives and promotions, provide hints and tips, recipes, photos or event invitations.

Below are a few suggestions for how to be certain your newsletter hits the mark you're shooting for.

1. Questions a business should address before getting started with email marketing:

What are your goals?
Who is your audience?
What is your message?
What will you consider a success?

2. Tips on building your email list:

Put a "Join My Email List" sign-up box on your website
Ask your customers for their email addresses and permission at every point of contact
Offer incentives for signing up
Partner with a related business or organization

3. Tips for subject lines:

Keep it short and simple; 5-8 words
Incorporate a specific benefit or message
Avoid excessive capitalization, exclamation points or other punctuation which often looks like spam

For those with little time, resources or expertise, where should they invest their email marketing efforts most?

The most effort should be invested at the outset of a newsletter program. By determining the goals of the marketing initiative, with what frequency the newsletter will be sent, and what content must be included, small business owners are more likely to send customers valuable communications.

How can a time-pressed small business distinguish itself through email from some of the expensive corporate email programs their customers/prospects are also receiving?

By choosing the right email marketing program, small businesses can have access to professional looking templates, appropriate graphics and support. If the content is presented in the right manner they can easily compete with larger companies.

What is Constant Contact doing to reach out to small business?

I'm proud of the email industry's efforts to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email, and I am also proud of what Constant Contact is doing to educate consumers and to help business owners.

Constant Contact's entire corporate focus is on small businesses and organizations. Not by trying to sell email marketing products but by teaching small business owners how to most effectively use email marketing to revolutionize their success formula.

I am the Regional Development Director in Colorado for Constant Contact and my job is to be a resource for businesses in the area as an email marketing expert.

Every month I give several free workshops on topics related to email marketing and I work in partnership with local business groups, such as the Colorado SBDCs and chambers, to help their members understand email marketing.

Additionally, Constant Contact offers a wide range of resources on their website including daily live webinars. We have a monthly "Hints & Tips" newsletter that offers "how-to" advice to help users succeed, and we also offer white papers you can download on topics related to email marketing. There's even a booklist that's a great resource!

What more can be done to reach these businesses with the "try email marketing" message?

Consumers are beginning to value email and other electronic communications over more traditional mediums. It won't be long before most consumers are going to expect email from the businesses and organizations they trust, just as consumers expect legitimate businesses to have websites today.

Education is the key to ensuring that businesses are equipped and able to continue communicating with consumers in the ways that consumers expect them to.

Useful links:

Book page at Amazon
John's own website
Constant Contact
Listings for other email marketing services
Constant Contact's seminar listings
Other introductory webinars and seminars

Tags: email marketing, constant contact, john arnold, email marketing for dummies

[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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