Internet Marketing Email:
Electronic Written Connections!

Internet marketing email is important for communicating valuable information to your customers.

"When people start visiting offer them something free...the only thing you want in return is their e-mail address."
Michael Mink, "Make The Internet Click For Your Firm", Investor's Business Daily, Tuesday, April 1, 2008, page A3

The best way to use email is to set up an internet marketing email system. Here are some things to consider:

Publication-->Never publish your email address on your web site. Publishing your email address allows spammers to abuse your email address. Your email address will be sent to interested customers who fill out an online form.

Confirmation-->This is where a human records their email address on your site then records again that it is ok to email them. The confirmation can come from an email sent to them that they respond to. This is called a double opt-in. Confirmation can also come when they fill in a field from a box on their screen. The important thing is that the person requesting information verifies that they want the information. This allows you to minimize spam.

Email Addresses

Your email address-->At least one email address must be set up which establishes you for your web site. Something easy for your customers to recognize.

Your Customer's email address-->When customers complete forms you want to be notified that they completed the form. This will allow you to store their responses in a contact manager software. Think of all the phases of a customer who visits your web site. Based on these phases create your email addresses. Examples could include the following:

-Visitor@Your-Web-Site.com
-Interested_Person@Your-Web-Site.com
-Customer@Your-Web-Site.com
-Business_Manager@Your-Web-Site.com
-Business_Partner@Your-Web-Site.com

You may not ask a lot of information of a visitor to your web site. The two of you may need to develop a relationship first. You will probably ask a lot more information of a customer to your site. You both trust each other in a win/win situation. Someone who starts as a visitor could eventually become a business partner. Relationships are so crucial when developing good connections with your customers.

Subjects and Categories

Think about the subject line of your internet marketing email notification address. The subject line should tell you what the visitor was doing when they filled out a form. Sujects can be broken down by various categories which includes the following:

-Web page the visitor was viewing
-What the visitor would like to achieve
-What actions you would like to take

Subjects and categories should be easy to organize into your contact management software system.

Notification Email Content

This email should contain the fields of information that were filled out on the small business form. This is the type of information you will collect:

-Information to improve your business or web site
-Visitor contact information

Collecting contact information allows you to contact the visitor in the future. The business/web information allows you to improve what you are doing. Communications and improvement build your credibility with your visitor.

Thank You Internet Marketing Email

Anytime a visitor takes an action you want to express your sincere and genuine apprecation for that action. Whether it is purchasing a product/service or just filling out a form tell the visitor "Thanks". A thank you email or thank you web page is a start. The visitor took action which will help you. If you can provide a free gift then also provide it to the visitor. The visitor's action made a big difference for your business! Personalize the email as much as you can. An internet email marketing system can be set up to send this personalized thank you.

Completed Form Email

When someone completes a small business form your email could look like the following:

1. Thank You Email-->A personalized email is sent to the visitor. You thank them for the action that they took. If possible you give them the opportunity to receive free information. You want the visitor to reconnect with you and your business.

2. Notification Email-->Your web site sends an email to you. The email has a specific from address, subject, and content. Here's an example:

--------------------------------------------------------
From:Visitor@Your-Web-Site.com
To: Your email address
Subj:Completed Customer Survey at Your Home Page

I just visited your web site and filled out a customer satisfaction survey. Here's what I think:

Comments: Could you add a blog?
First Name: Sam
Email Addr: Sam@email_address.com
--------------------------------------------------------

3. Email Flow-->The notification email could follow the following path:

-Email sent to You@Your-Web-Site.com

-Email forwarded from You@Your-Web-Site.com to a pop3 email account like Gmail.

-Email goes to Gmail and your smart phone-->A smart phone email notifies you immediately when the email was sent. You can respond to it much faster.

-You log into Outlook on your computer. You connect to the internet. Your access your gmail and receive the email message from Sam. Outlook organizes the email into a specific folder and category that you set up. You take action based on the folder that the message goes to.

-You transmit the contents of your email marketing information to a contact management sofware like ACT. A software package like Address Grabber helps you to transmit the email into the ACT contact database. Now you have a contact who you can connect with in the future.

Ready to organize your internet marketing email information system?

2. Record all the potential subjects (categories) of your notification emails

3. Set up your internet marketing email system