The Importance of Collecting Email Addresses

GET READY FOR 2012!

Please let your shoppers and customers OPT-IN to receiving emails from you. Soon, we will be saying "please let your shoppers and customers to OPT-IN to receiving text messages from you". Lets start with emails since email marketing is one of the more powerful and affordable branding tools available. Your customers must see your branded business on a regular basis

The first step to email marketing
In talking with business owners they often admit that they are not collecting email address information about their customers. If you fall into this group of businesses that is ignoring the value of email marketing here are some techniques you should consider implementing.

Most companies that have tried to collect data on customers have -- at one time or another -- used long forms, thinking, "We have one shot at getting this information. Let's ask for everything." But with identity theft being a genuine concern these days, your customers are reluctant to offer up anything but the most basic of information.

One way to gather more information is to do it slowly. Customers are usually willing to offer up information if they trust you, and in small amounts. If you use a little information in a trustworthy manner, they may consider giving you a bit more information. Email simply happens to be a great way to implement this technique

Start by asking for an email address in a simple subscription form on your website. Here are a few suggestions:

NOTE: When I say "simple" I mean simple. Just ask for an email and address and perhaps a name; nothing more. Here are two examples - 1) landing page on your website for visitors to add email address - there is no database for managing emails - manual administrative process, 2) managed database by Constant Contact.

Upon receiving the email address, immediately send a welcome email to the email address. The welcome email should be informational and should acknowledge the subscription to your list and put the subscriber at ease with her choice to offer up her email address.

Over time, your company can quietly attempt to gather a piece of data missing from her customer profile such as purchase preferences, etc.

If you match the data collected in your email marketing efforts to the data residing in your main customer databases, targeting messages becomes much easier and it increases your opportunity for cross-selling and other purposes.

Helping out email
Simply put, you can't send email without email addresses, and companies often fail to take full advantage of their touch points with customers to gather email addresses.

It is recommended to every business that engages in email marketing is to identify every touch point your company has with customers -- customer service, at your cash registers, package inserts, direct mail, online shopping carts, newspaper ads, billboards, radio, banner ads, events, search engines, radio, television, etc -- and turn those touch points into email address collection points.

If you would like control of this essential business practice, SMC will help you (no cost to you) get started with a 'self-serving' footprint. This includes:

1. Setting up your account for both SMC and YOU to have complete access to your account. Please click here to view Constant Contacts monthly pricing plans. Most of you will fall under $50/month.
2. Training you on Constant Contact with respect to database management, email distribution, creating ads and viewing reports.
3. Embedding the Constant Contact Email Widget on your website.

Beginning January 2012, if you would like for SMC to manage your email campaign (one per month) from design to distribution, this is possible for a monthly fee of only $99/month. This excludes all new clients who signed an Agreement after May 1, 2011.