Stop Signs, High Springs

Image by adobemac via Flickr

Do your e-mail marketing, newsletter and update e-mails arrive in your customers’ inboxes from an anonymous “noreply” e-mail address?

I get these all the time, and it always astonishes me that, in an era of consumer interaction and engagement, brands continue with this bizarre practice. Essentially you’ve just put up the equivalent of a big red stop sign that discourages your prospects and customers from getting in touch with you directly.

I don’t know about you… but to me that sounds like a bad idea.

Make it easy for your customers to contact you

As a business trying to connect and communicate online (and if you’re sending out a marketing e-mail or newsletters that’s exactly what you’re doing), the last thing you should be doing is putting up barriers between you and the people you want to do business with.

If you’re building an opt-in mailing list and sending e-mail to your customers / prospects (and you really should be) here are a few basic tips to bear in mind

  • ALWAYS use a real e-mail address… one that somebody monitors and responds to.
  • Manage your mailing list properly so that you’re only sending mail to people who want to receive it. Professional e-mail services like Benchmark Email, AWeber or Newsweaver are affordable and scalable, and make it incredibly easy to automate your list management and organise your e-mail marketing.
  • Always add value for your audience even if… no especially if… you’re trying to sell them something. Offer helpful information, link to useful online resource, or an entertaining piece of content… your goal every time should be to make your readers glad they opened your e-mail.
  • And… whatever you do… don’t instruct your customers NOT to reply to your e-mail!
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]