Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi,

Can you give details on what is your main aim for this email marketing campaign?

Do want to promote your product? or company? or have some idea on earning money through this?

If we get to know your focus for this campaign it will be easy for us to suggest some strategies.

Thanks.

What is your product and what are you trying to sell.

Most importantly what is the make up and profile of your email clients

Many ways to go on this you could do a newsletter first with no selling element and then something more posiitve afterwards but without knowing the profile of your customers and what you are selling its a bit difficult to comment.

Are you saying that all of these people work for the same company? I don't follow that part of your question.

If you have mostly email addresses with a single company domain attached, you're already dead in the water, since their IT department is going to block any mass quantity of emails to the company coming from the same person.

Phil is giving you good, real-world advice and feedback, though.

First, a good number of those email addresses are already bad.

Second, your message is likely going to be irrelevant to most of them, and that's going to tick them off.

Having been in email marketing for over 10 years now, I feel very strongly that it's not the lack of permission that irritates most people; it's lack of relevance. If you had a compelling, relevant email to send to someone (and if the sender had some hint of credibility), I doubt the recipient would care how you got their email address.

I've seen people try to use these ill-gotten lists time and again, and it has never, ever been profitable.

You can't sell something to someone unless you know what they need. Since you don't know much about your potential customers, you're guessing. At best, split test your emails - send different emails to each group of 10,000 (for example) and see which group has the best response rate. That'll help give you some information for your next email blast.

Dear Flanger,

Hmm. Right now, in the back of my head, there's one of those irritating alarms going off. You know, the kind you hear in disaster movies as the hero is frantically pressing buttons, defusing the bomb, rescuing the girl, and trying not to mess up his hair as red lights flash because the world's about to be eaten by an army of Zombie Godzilla from the Planet Tharg.

Sounds kind of like this: "Arrubah! Arrubah!" Hear it?

与此同时,金属,计算机生成的声音calmly telling me: "Attention! Attention. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill! The planetary self destruct sequence has been initiated! Detonation of thermonuclear warheads in sixty seconds from my mark. Board evacuation pods within ten seconds. Detonation imminent."

And so on. Not good, old chap. Sort of thing that'll put a crimp in your day. With me?

不管怎样,回到你的问题。

Sixty thousand e-mail addresses eh? All from one big worldwide corporation?

There's your first red flag (hence the alarm going off. See? It's all connected).

Where was I old boy? Oh yes, your question. Right oh.

Your list. Few questions for you to consider, before you spend all that money you're going to make.

How many of those e-mail addresses are connected to heartbeats? People you KNOW to be pre-qualified to actually WANT or NEED whatever it is you're offering? Pre-qualified because they've
already WILLINGLY put up their hands in response to a relationship you've established and said to you "Flanger! Dear boy! Over here! Spiffing offer! I need one of those things. On second thoughts, make it two!"

How many people on your list have CONFIRMED they need what you're offering? Do you actually HAVE an offer? (Er, if you don't have an offer, get one).

Flanger, my dear chap, look, I'm not trying to be a clever dick here, all right? Bear with me. I'm trying to help you.

Let's say you're selling an amazing e-book on jelly bean recipes. So, you put up your website, create an e-mail sales letter, send it out to your list of 60,000 people, and drive traffic to your site.

Of the messages you send out, let's say the planets align in perfect harmony and you get a delivery and open rate of 10 percent. So, 6,000 people read your subject line and open your e-mail (Note: this is HUGE and hardly ever happens, but let's pretend it's happened to you).

How many people reading your message (if they're pulled in by your headline, offer, and call to action), how many of these people actually LIKE jelly beans enough to consider (that's consider, not buy) clicking through to your website to look at your e-book in more detail? How many people are on a diet? Or are diabetic? Or only want a book about red jelly beans?

Do you know the answers to these questions? Probably not. If you do know theses answers, fantastic. Your list is segmented and you, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar!

Let's say of the people that open, read, and act on your e-mail, that 5 percent (that's 300 people) click on your link and visit your site. And let's say that 5 percent of those people like your e-book enough to buy it at $27 a pop.

That's 15 people x $27, giving you income (income, not profit) of $405. Is this the kind of money you were thinking of? And that final 5 percent? It's generous.

Why?

Because you've offered no evidence in your question of the relationship you've developed with your 60, 000 names.

How many of those people opted in some time ago? How long have you spent creating a relationship with them by offering them great content (with no sales message attached) to build your credibility, instill trust, and make them like, respect, and admire you and, more importantly, WANT TO BUY FROM YOU?

Know what I think? If you'd already ESTABLISHED a relationship with your list you probably wouldn't be asking your question.

Again, I'm not trying to be a clever dick here. I am trying to help you.

If your list is clean (not bought, hijacked, borrowed or otherwise obtained) and the people on it know you, like you, trust you, and want to buy your stuff because your offer rocks, then you'll do just fine.

But if you've no opt in record, no history, and no real relationship with the people on your list, you'll fail. Well, maybe not fail completely. You might make a little bit of money. But on the whole, without more information on what you're offering, you might ... just might have a teeny weeny problem.

If I'm wrong here, I wholeheartedly apologize. But if I'm right, consider slowing down a tad. Regrouping. Then move on from there.

It's not a sprint old boy. It's a marathon.

Endurance. That's the ticket.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

我从你的问题是你只是想麦e some money. I would do some research and identify several really good list brokers. Then make the best deal you can with one of them, flat fees or participation or combo of the two.

good luck,

Steve