E-mail

Source:  The CPA Technology Advisor

Bob Lewis, founder of marketing consulting firm Visionary Marketing, says that marketing by e-mail can be inexpensive and effective.  Once you have developed a database of e-mail addresses and written a good two-or-three paragraph message, the rest is easy.

Many people react negatively to the idea because they believe most people delete all the messages from senders they do not know.  But Lewis says many business people prefer e-mail communications and check them regularly.

Lewis describes a company that wanted to send a message about an emerging trend, but was faced with a cost of nearly $50,000 to reach 40,000 prospects. Instead, they sent an e-mail message to a group of 7,000 over a several day period. Within a week they got three clients representing about $100,000 in current new revenue and a forecast of an ongoing $250,000 annually. And there were another 12 good leads. They had to defer contacting the other 33,000 prospects. 

The response rate was less than one-half percent, but the company determined that if the same experience held for the rest of the mailing, they could anticipate over $1 million in new business.

The essential elements of their success were the quality of the database and the message.  It took some research to create the database, but once done it would serve the company for a long time. The marginal costs of communicating with the database were almost nil. 

There are some anti-spam rules and some conventions to follow:

• The e-mails should contain your address.  Otherwise you may not be perceived to be trustworthy.
• The prospects should be given the option to discontinue receiving e-mails from you, and it should be easy for them to do.
• The content should not be misleading.
• You must be sure to remove anyone who opts out.

There will always be some objections to your campaign. Concentrate your attention on the prospects who do not object, and keep in touch with them frequently. 

For more, see CPA Technology Advisor, December 2004, p. 42, or

 http://www.cpatechadvisor.com/articles/2004/dec/mhs1204.shtm