E-mail Marketing: Four E-mail Strategies to Implement NOW
While e-mail marketing is nothing new, many catalogers still aren’t using it to its fullest potential, said consultant Reggie Brady, president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions in a session at the recent List Vision conference in New York. Following are a few areas Brady feels that catalogers should improve upon.
* Send triggered messages. If customers try to put items in their carts that are out of stock, first tell them the products aren’t available; then e-mail them when the products are back in stock, Brady advised. E-mails sent a few days after an abandoned shopping cart also are important because customers tend to comparison shop online.
“You can remind them that you have a good deal by sending a triggered e-mail,” she said, adding that it’s not unusual to recoup up to 25 percent of abandoned cart sales this way.
* Do more e-mail prospecting. While catalogers should continue to mail to their housefiles, some mailers can succeed with e-mail prospecting, Brady said. She recommends that catalogers refrain from selling products in an initial prospecting e-mail, however.
Business-to-business catalogers should promote whitepapers or research, as these items tend to get a lot of positive attention. Brady also suggests promoting your e-mail newsletter in prospecting e-mails. Although it doesn’t have to be the primary thrust of the prospecting effort, it should be part of the message.
* Put your phone number in the e-mail. Whether it’s an e-mail to a prospect or a customer in your housefile, always include your phone number in the message. Brady noted that up to 20 percent of sales will be made via toll-free numbers.
* Use e-mail to announce the catalog. Including a picture of the catalog in an e-mail, Brady said, gives customers a visual clue as to what to expect in their mailboxes in the coming days.
