ATTN: SMALL BIZ OWNERS. Email Marketing

Is Low Cost, Targeted, Measurable, Effective.

E-Marketing blog: http://helpamericaspeople.com/EWP/

The mission of this blog, started by the Founders of www.helpamericaspeople.com, is to raise awareness of the most cost-effective marketing tool for Small Business owners like you   >>>  EMAIL MARKETING

Writing an Email Marketing Plan:  Situation Analysis

Once you’ve set your email marketing objectives for the next year (click here to read March 2 post) http://helpamericaspeople.com/EWP/, you’ll need to take a step back in order to conduct vital and invaluable research. Only when you’ve done due diligence in three significant areas can you develop relevant, effective and actionable email marketing strategies that will achieve your objectives — both qualitative and quantitiative.

Analyzing the Current Situation

1.  What is the state of your industry?  Is it growing, declining or are sales flat?  Are companies in your industry using email marketing techniques?

2.  Learn as much as you can about what your 3 or 4 major competitors are doing to generate awareness and sell their products and services using online marketing techniques (web site, enewsletters, etc).  If they have a website, review it carefully and frequently.  Get on their mailing lists for promotional emails and/or an email newsletters.  Use a unique email address to ensure your anonymity.

3.  Who are your target customers?  Whether your target audience is consumers or businesses, or both, your success depends on how well you know your customers’ needs (problems).  Then you can convince them that your business has the solution. 

But, knowing your customers’ needs is only half the journey.  You need to build and maintain an ongoing relationship (dialogue) with them. Your company’s visibility with your customer base, as well as your prospects, is paramount.  They need to hear from you at least twice a month to keep your business name at a high level of awareness. And there’s no more cost-effective method for staying in touch than ongoing email marketing campaigns.

Where do you start?  First, a lot of information is in your head.  Put it down on paper using the 7- step outline from this blog. Click here to view March 2 post:  http://helpamericaspeople.com/EWP  Then complete the outline using primary and secondary research.

Talking to your customers and prospects is called primary research.  Send them a short survey via email and give them a gift for completing the survey (discount on their next purchase, white paper, etc.) Find out what they like and dislike about your product or service and how you can make improvements.  Knowing your customers’ needs and opinions is the single most vital marketing information you’ll ever have. 

Secondary research consists of learning from other published sources.  We’re all fortunate to have a major library’s wealth of information and resources at the click of a mouse.  Begin by typing ”Email Marketing for Small Businesses” at www.google.com.

Next post: Developing Email Marketing Strategies