Let's get one thing straight: legitimate e-mail marketing is not spam. When done properly, e-mail marketing is an acceptable Internet marketing format that's used by some of the world's biggest brands. There's better news, too: e-mail marketing campaigns can work for small businesses just as effectively as large ones.
A good e-mail marketing campaign involves sending e-mails to your clients on a routine basis (usually monthly). Recipients of your e-mail blasts can get information on your special offers, discounts and other news. You can include any information you want; the point is to connect with your audience and keep your business on their mind throughout the year.
What sets good e-mail marketing apart from bad is sticking to the rules. These rules are outlined by CAN-SPAM, a policy act of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that was made official in 2003. CAN-SPAM is the #1 authority on best practices for e-mail marketing. It defines spam, prohibits spam and provides clear guidelines to help businesses avoid sending spam in their e-mails.
CAN-SPAM E-mail Marketing Guidelines
No one likes getting spam, so it's critical to abide by the CAN-SPAM guidelines. Doing this ensures that your e-mail marketing messages are real promotional tools - not nuisances that turn off your audience. CAN-SPAM guidelines include:
- Only send to those who have voluntarily provided their e-mail address (on your online contact form or other opt-in format)
- Avoid using false or misleading header information
- Avoid deceptive subject lines (i.e., "You're a winner!" or "official government notice")
- Make it clear that the e-mail is for marketing your business
- Disclose your business location
- Provide an opt-out for recipients to remove themselves from the list
- Honor all opt-out requests immediately and with no questions asked
How our E-Mail Marketing is Better
At Crest Media, we pride ourselves on staying in CAN-SPAM compliance to protect our clients and their audiences. Reckless guerilla marketing providers may indiscriminately e-mail to purchased addressed from a list, but we never, ever do that. Everything we do in e-mail marketing is real - no fake names, fake addresses or fakeanything.
Our e-mail marketing strategy is as follows:
- Determine your target market and audience
- Compile your list of opt-in e-mail addresses
- Design your e-mails, including key messaging and graphics
- Design a landing page (that leads to your website) for recipients to click through
Finally, we send out your first e-mail blast, and follow up with you as we watch what it does.
What is an E-mail Blast?
E-mail blasts are the term used for e-mail marketing messages. They can be customer letters, newsletters, promotional offers, "insider" information or industry news. They can, and in fact should, contain graphics and industry-specific colors to make them stand out and reflect your business.
Crest Media's e-mail marketing team can personalize your e-mail blasts to grab the attention of your recipients, hold it and improve the chance of that translating to sales. We offer polished, time-tested e-mail marketing that reflects your integrity and professionalism. To discuss your e-mail marketing needs, contact Crest Media today. We look forward to showing you more.
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