Ten Effective Uses of E-mail Lists

E-mail is revolutionizing the art and science of direct marketing by bringing marketers new opportunities and challenges.

Try these attention-getting ideas to make the most of your e-mail marketing:

1. Sponsor a contest. Give away prizes in order to entice prospects. The gift doesn't have to be large or expensive, although trips and cash tend to draw the most attention.
   
2. Publish an online newsletter. Develop a newsletter about your business or a related topic that will interest the people with whom you want to do business.
   
3. Publicize special promotions or events. If you are promoting a new product, hold an open house or participate in a trade show or cobranded campaign. Use your mailing list to publicize it.
   
4. Drive traffic to your Web site. E-mail, direct mail, and advertising all have a stimulating effect on your company's Web site. Use your mailing lists to get the word out.
   
5. Make new product or personnel announcements and press releases. Got a hot new service? Product upgrade? Did you hire a new sales manager? Moving to a new location or changing your phone number? Mailing lists are the perfect way to distribute this type of information. Give your customers advance notice of what's coming, and let the trade press know what's happening.
   
6. Offer discounts. Everybody loves a bargain, and you can use your mailing list to alert customers and prospects to your latest deals. When the discount is offered exclusively to the mailing list, you communicate the feeling that your customers receive special privileges.
   
7. Solicit surveys. Mailing lists are an easy way to solicit participants for a survey and to communicate survey results. Send out the questions. Tally up the responses. Report back the results. Readers appreciate having their voices heard.
   
8. Care for customers. Stay in touch with clients, cheaply and quickly. Thank them for their business. Ask their opinions about your service, your products, your Web site. "What can we be doing better to ___________?" You may not like everything you hear, but creating a dialogue builds loyalty and trust.
   
9. Encourage participation in government, civic, and community projects. Publicize issues and meetings, and solicit public support at hearings before commissions and boards, city councils, and industry associations.
   
10. Tell a joke. The Internet is famous as a joke-sharing medium. Get a jump on the competition by sharing good, clean jokes with your clients. It may not make a sale today, but a good joke can help your name stick in a buyer's mind.

Be sure to read Developing E-Mail Marketing Lists if you're just getting started. Another good read is E-Mail Marketing Basics for Small Businesses.