The Benefits of Email Marketing

Author: George Huckle

Every business needs good marketing in order to promote products and increase client portfolio. With the ever changing strategies companies use to keep ahead of the competition, putting your products on yellow pages and print ads are not good enough anymore. Utilising the Internet is the key to reach more prospective clients and get into the international arena.

A good way of promoting your products and connecting with your clients is launching an email marketing campaign.

Below are the top 5 reasons why you should launch one:

Increase Sales Conversion

No matter how good your products or services are, most visitors that go to your site do not automatically purchase goods on their first visit. As a matter of fact, studies show that an average shopper doesn’t purchase goods until their ninth visit. Therefore, an effective sales process requires an element of repetition.

It’s like those times that you buy a certain product in the supermarket after seeing it over and over again on TV or when you finally tried that restaurant you regularly see on your way to work.

That is repetition at its best. But unlike brick and mortar businesses where they have the opportunity to convince doubtful clients, once visitors leave your web page, chances are, they’re gone forever.

Aside from this, there are countless distractions site visitors encounter while surfing the web which decrease your opportunity to sell your product to them. But when you’ve got their email address, you get to have a second shot of promoting your product by sending them your company’s monthly newsletter, or introducing new products and services.

In short, getting your web visitor’s email address gives you a safety net and enables you to contact them even if they have already left your website.

Generate Repeat Sales

Acquiring new customers is hard and expensive at same time. As a matter of fact, it is ten times more expensive to convince new customers than to sell to the existing ones. You have to take into consideration the cost of advertising, educating and the actual selling part.

Although we can’t deny the fact that acquiring new customers is good for the business, we can’t overstate the value of loyal clients. More often than not, companies tend to concentrate all their energy and resources in attracting new customers and not exert effort in keeping the old ones.

Regular communication via email to your customers enables you to generate repeat sales which could be four times more profitable than the initial purchase.

Up-sell and Cross-sell Products and Services

Would you like to upgrade your fries and drinks?

McDonalds makes billions of dollars each year just by up selling alone. The right kind of email marketing can help you up sell and cross sell your products and services.

For example, if you run a website that sells golf shoes, the customer might also need a new golf outfit or a set of golf balls and other golfing accessories. Some email marketing software can help you create series of email messages called Auto-Responders which will automatically follow up emails on golf balls, golf gloves and the likes to purchasers of golf shoes. This fundamental strategy can help you increase your profit by up to 30% and it is being utilised by almost all major online stores.

Get Valuable Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is an indispensable tool for any business because it helps the company to determine:

• How to improve their products and services
• The target market
• And the amount of money the market is willing to shell out

Unlike face-to-face interaction wherein your customers tend to be shy and conscious, email feedbacks allow your customers to give an honest and direct to the point comments and suggestions. This can greatly improve your business processes.

Encourage Web Users to make Offline Purchase

Unexpectedly, email marketing is often a vehicle for web users to make offline purchases. According to surveys, 59% of email users admitted on making offline purchases after receiving an email promotion. This happens because customers can’t wait for delivery or may be due to the fact that other items like clothes and shoes which people prefer to try on before purchasing.

Therefore, conventional stores can also use email marketing to increase traffic at their doorstep.

The advent of online communication made the world smaller and gave business the opportunity to widen its horizons and create more room for growth. Email is still the online communication tool of choice and has stood the test of time.

About the Author:

George Huckle is a freelance author who has the vast knowledge in email marketing and email marketing companies. For more information on email marketing he suggests you to visit: http://www.graphicmail.co.uk/

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The benefits of email marketing