Does Your List Know, Like and Trust You?

The purpose of email marketing is to connect with any potential or current clientele,keep in touch and build relationships. It can be summed up as a tool used to solicit sales and donations, advertise a service or a product or to build customer loyalty and brand awareness. With all uses of this tool considered the aim is to spark a healthy merchant and client relationship. Learning how to use email marketing the correct way can mean the difference

between a list that ignores your offers and a list that jumps when you say buy.

Transaction Emails vs. Relationship Emails

1. Transactional emails

These are emails sent for the customer to take the specific action of purchasing your product or service.They are not personalized to the individual client and they do not  give the business the opportunity to engage the customers further.These emails are sent for the sole purpose of sales and advertisement. These emails are often sent to the spam folder. This option is less for relationship building and more for just promotions.

2. Relationship building

These emails are used to build a relationship with a customer for the purpose of having them as a long term customer. I am sure that you have heard before that it is cheaper to sell to a previous customer then it is to go out and get a new customer. I recommend building relationships because it allows you to profit long term from a customer who is already familiar with you and may send you referral business if they are a raving fan and believer in your product or services.

Keys To Building Relationships

1. Keep it Personal

Keeping the emails personal will increases the chance of a click and hence more conversion. This is done through target segmentation and personalization. Spend some time here. Your audience wants to get to know who you are as a person. Customers don’t just buy a product or a service…they buy YOU!

2. Be Consistent

Consistently send out emails that speak to your audience. Keep the relationship going either by using newsletters and automatic email services like triggered emails. The longer your email sequence is and the more your audience hears from you..the more they will be receptive to buy. I recommend a 60/40 ratio meaning 60 percent value and 40 percent selling.

3. Gain Trust

Do everything you can to gain trust with your audience.You must have a consistent message

and provide value. Show your expertise, add a testimonial or two to the end of some of your emails, if you have videos on youtube share a link. If you have done media appearances you can use those as headers in your emails along with your picture. Be creative just start taking little actions that equal to built up trust from your audience.

Email marketing is cheap and of convenience to the small and medium sized business as they can adapt easily to changes in the user needs therefore it is a reliable means of marketing your products and services. Follow these tips and you will be on your way to gaining the know, like and trust factor that helps your customers make the decision to purchase from you rather than a competitor.

Sharita Washington is the ‘‘Chief Autoresponder Developer’’ at Verbal Art Copywriting where she is on a mission to stop boring, lackluster, poorly written email copy from hitting the inboxes of innocent citizens worldwide. She helps her clients attract leads, convert potential clients, and generate more sales through email marketing.