Don't let your emails BOUNCE

Emails which are returned undelivered are called bounces. It can affect your IP and sender reputation immensely, so much that when it reaches a certain amount, your account can be banned!
How does one navigate this tricky issue? Listed below are some key pointers on how to weed out the errors causing bounces.

 Do not have invalid email addresses in your lists. They are parasites that infect your email campaigns.

 Do not allow any formatting errors in your emails such as invalid email addresses, typos in domain names, and so on.

 The @ sign is the symbol of email and believe it or not, it is frequently replaced by the number 2 or just plain missing!

 ESPs provide granular delivery reports. Please request for one and make sure you go through it, inside out.

 Send welcome emails to all the email addresses to track if they exist. This is by far, the best method of confirmation.

 Test the heck out of your list. It doesn't hurt to recheck, you would rather be safe than sorry. 

 Set a bounce threshold, below the threshold of your ISP. Then you can act before its too late.

 Track your delivery reports based on various criteria such as domain names, email addresses, time of sending and so on. If you see a negative pattern, hit the panic button!

 Regular updates ensure your list is clean and ready for work.

Image credit: Imagezoo

Lead generation- Quality focused strategy

For an email marketer, sending emails in the thousands does not mean he will get business immediately. To do this, there are certain practices which he has to adopt. Lead generation through email marketing can be a potential gold mine only if hard work is put in.

Ø  Personalization of list

Ø  Management and segmentation of list according to various criteria

Ø  Utilizing in house lists to the maximum

An email marketer’s weapon is his email list. Using the above mentioned strategies, one is able to bring down bounce rates, increase visibility, and avoid spam traps and so on.

In a recent survey on email, 74% of survey respondents check their email daily and 22% check 3-6 days a week. Across all age, gender, education and other demographic groups. 58% believe Spam has increased. 

When an email is sent to a prospective client, he has to be interested in reading it. Making an email campaign suitable for easy viewership is one of the top priorities. After that the next best thing to do is not send bulk mail. It puts off any client in the long run.

Quality leads are those which open the emails which you have sent them, read them, and opt for the offer that you have put forth. These offers may be different for different clients.

Opt in emails are very strong means of ensuring that your lead gets converted to business. 

When a prospective client wishes to receive further communication from you, he will subscribe to it. This means that he is giving you explicit consent to email him. This is a quality lead generated. 

Honoring opt out requests also ensures CAN SPAM compliance. 73% of retailers sent no more emails after receiving an opt-out request. 

Top 10 advantages of Email Marketing

If you are still unsure, then here are top 10 reasons why you should invest in email marketing, now!

Reason #1 Global reach: No matter which part of world you are you can still send emails and communicate with your prospects. There are no borders as obstacles for email marketing.

Reason #2 Lower costs: It is cost saving method. Email marketing reduces the use of paper, saves money and also time.

Reason#3 Interactive: You can innovatively prepare your emails. You can initiate campaigns using graphics, videos, music, quiz, game or whatever that will be interest to your prospect.

Reason#4 Highly Personalized: Email enables you to personalize and greet every person you target. This helps in creating special bond with the prospects.

Reason#5 Round the clock marketing: With an email the audience can understand your offering even when you are out of office.

Reason#6 Measurable results: Special tools are available that accurately measure click-through rate, conversion rate, how a person arrived at your website and more to enable you to assess the success of different email campaigns.

Reason#7 Targeted marketing: Since prepackaged and custom built list are available, you could reach only those who might require your services, solutions, or products without bothering those who do not.

Reason#8 Opt-In or Unsubscribe option: Email contains opt-in opt-out options which will help shortlist your prospects and reach only the ones genuinely interested in your offerings.

Reason#9 Faster Response: Time to receive response through email is one to three days, where you will get maximum responses on day one itself, while direct mail campaign would take minimum 7 to 12 days to generate any responses.

Reason#10 Simplest: Starting an email campaign is very simple and it can be done at home as well without any extensive resources.

Online marketing will bring business to you if it is done right way!

How can Email Marketing work for your business?

Email Marketing can be a great tool of communication for business from dental clinic to florist store, hotel, retail stores, etc. It is one of the easiest tools and your staff does not need much training to learn it. However, you should be able to understand how email marketing is effective in best ways.

We collect data through seminars, tradeshows, conferences, business meetings, workshops, etc. When you get email addresses or contacts it does not mean that they would like to receive your mails frequently. The first mail you send them should have a link which will ask their permission for future email marketing with them. This can be also considered as Opt-In Emails.

Once your customer permits for emails from your service, you can send their offers, tips on businesses, etc. Opt-in Emails which are sent will not be considered as Spam and your services will be intact.

Email Marketing can do wonders for your business. You can send bulk email campaigns at one time. But make sure you sending your email to right customers who wish to receive it. Otherwise, your emails will be marked as Spam and there will be a huge loss to the company. If you believe in multi-channel marketing, don't forget to ask their preferred channel. People who like direct mail won't respond to your emails and vice versa.

Notice, well-furnished email marketing can help build healthy relationship with customers for longer time.