Getting the Best Results with Email Marketing

What is email marketing?

Putting
it simply, email marketing takes place every time you send out an email
to a prospect, lead, or customer. It can be a simple reply from your
website contact us form or it might be a email broadcast going to your
website leads and current customers telling them about an appreciation
event you have going on.

The point is
every email communication you have is considered email marketing. This
doesn't mean that you bombard every email with sales/selling
info/content. Some emails are very low key and just your word-smithing
ability supports your 'brand' and continues to build confidence and
earn trust with your prospects and customers.

The Everyday Email

These
are the emails that you use for correspondence day in and day out.
These emails re-enforce your brand, who you are as a dealership. As
email correspondence increases it is critical for your dealership to
create some simple standards and best practices. Here are some
suggestions…

• Use
  email addresses that represent your dealership domain name. An example
  would be joe@franksrvs.com instead of joe5233@yahoo.com.
• Have
  the folks that use email at your dealership use a common or standard
  signature or closing in their email. Your prospects and customers will
  feel that you have it together as multiple employees interact with them
  through email.
• Give your employees
  using email a brief lesson in wordsmithing and email etiquette. A quick
  15 minute overview will go a long way. You wouldn't let your employees
  talk rudely on the phone or come dressed to work innapropriately would
  you? A simple search on Google.com for email etiquette will get you started.

Everyday
email communication can be a good marketing tool or a negative
marketing tool. Don't be fooled into thinking it's not a big deal. It's
a big Internet world and your competitor is just a click away.

The Broadcast Email

There are a number of questions/statements I get regarding email broadcasts. Here are a couple…

This is just spamming and my customers won't like it.
Email does get a bad rap, however if it is done correctly and
professionally it can produce results like you've never been able to
produce before with radio, tv, and billboards.

• It
  has to be permission based. Make sure when collecting your prospect and
  customer email addresses they are aware they will be receiving emails
  in the future. Make it very easy for them to unsubscribe from receiving
  future emails.
• Make it personal.
  Email can include your prospect and customer names. It can be targeted
  toward their desires and needs. Getting personal builds confidence in
  your ability to meet their current and future needs.

Can't I send email broadcasts myself from my Outlook software?
Technically, sending emails from your own computer using your email
software is doable. However, there are a few things you want to
consider before doing so…

• One
  of your goals for sending a broadcast email is for everyone to actually
  receive it. Sending it through your email software, like Outlook, uses
  your ISP's network and more than likely they will block it or blacklist
  your connection. Using a service 
  to send out emails eliminates that problem. In addition they have
  relationships with ISP's like AOL, Yahoo, MSN, and others that allows
  all the emails to go through and not get blocked.
• Crafting
  or word-smithing your emails is critical to the success of your email
  making it through spam-blockers and actually getting read. Services
  like Constant Contact have filters/tools that you can test your emails
  on before sending them out.
• Using
  an email service also gives you list management tools like subscribe,
  unsubscribe, bounce management, and click-thru reporting. All these
  tools make the $30-$100/mo a very cost effective service.

Sending
emails is or will be an important part of your business as more and
more prospects and customers continue to flock to the Internet for
researching their next RV purchase and finding a dealer who can give
them what they want.

Take these simple suggestions to heart and start making a difference in your email marketing today!