Email marketing is just one of many tools available to market your products and services. Is it right for you?
To aid in making your decision, see if the following are true for your business.
1. Your prospects use email.
If a sizable number of your prospects do not use email, you might want to find other methods of communicating with them. If, on the other hand, your target market already makes use of email nad is comfortable with it, email marketing may be an excellent choice for your business.
2. The decision to buy your product or service is not made on a moment’s notice.
While there are exceptions, generally where customers want to learn about the product or service, you have a good candidate for email marketing.
3. You can give away a sample, prior version, or “first chapter”.
It might be a free report, consultation, whatever makes sense for yur particular business. The free item does two things. First, it is an inducement for the prospect to actually give up their email address (as more and more, people are reluctant to do so). Second, it gives the prospect a sampling of what you have to offer.
The tangible aspects of your free item can be discussed through follow up emails, either to explain the value of what was received, or if you have provided a free report, you can simply break the report up and deliver it in small chunks over the next seven, ten, or more days.
4. You have other products or services to offer.
If that does not describe your business, I suggest you make plans to rectify it immediately. The reason is simple. You have already spent a considerable amount of time and effort to locate interested prospects and persuade them to buy. A certain percentage of them will want to “go deep” and buy more from you, if only you offered something more. The easiest sales you make will be sales to existing customers, and it’s not difficult to understand why. They already trust you and want what you are selling.
If you are marketing an information product on how to begin selling on ebay, you may also choose to offer a workbook complete with checklists and other valuable information, a series of teleseminars, a personal coaching program, and perhaps a certification program.
Virtually any type of business, whether you sell to retail consumers or only wholesale, whether you provides services or products only, can make use email marketing.
