PDA

View Full Version : Email Marketing/Sales letter



JacobBergeron
09-30-2011, 10:01 PM
Hey Everyone,

I have a few questions regarding email marketing and sales letters. Lately I have been writing brief specific emails to potential clients and have heard nothing back from them. I am thinking this is because I am not selling myself or my promotional products well enough and that my emails introducing who I am and what I do are simply getting deleted. I am wondering if it would be wise to compose a semi-generic sales letter/email and just add specific information that would depend solely based on who I am sending the letter/email to. I am well aware there are many out there who write sales copy and I am also aware we have some within the forum community, however I am wondering if it is advisable to hire an individual for such a service and pay whatever the price may be, or if it would simply be smarter to generate one myself and critique it as time goes along.

Whereas I am not sending this email/letter to sell specific products but instead to inform small businesses about the need and benefits for promotion products in general I am not so sure what exactly to include within my content. I prefer sending these types of introduction/business summary emails and letters instead of making cold calls. I am focusing more on the approach of informing potential clients with the information I want them to have in a format that can be processed on their schedule and if they desire my products than they will contact me at a time that works for them. Is this approach hurting my sales? or do you think business owners will appreciate my subtle and polite business advertising and outreach practices and reward me for not being in their face while at the same time providing them with quality products.

As always any feedback, comments, concerns, and suggestions are greatly appreciated. And I hope everyone had a fairly decent week.

Spider
09-30-2011, 11:09 PM
You have made no mention that the recipients of your e-mails have requested you contact them. In fact, it sounds like they have noi invited your solicitation. Therefore, it is spam - and people do not like spam. I think it will be wise of you to cease this practice and find legitimate ways of meeting prospective customers -- like networking and referrals, for example.

Is this approach hurting my sales? or do you think business owners will appreciate my subtle and polite business advertising and outreach practices?

Yes, spam will hurt your sales. Spam is never subtle nor polite.

vangogh
10-01-2011, 12:20 AM
Please don't redefine spam like usual. The email Jacob is sending are little different than a cold call. They're not mass emails. He's sending individual emails to specific people that he thinks are potential clients. The only difference between what he's doing and cold calling is the method of delivery. It's no different than sending someone a flyer or leaving a business card on their windshield.

That said I doubt you'll have much luck sending out the emails Jacob. It doesn't sound like the people you're sending them to have a prior relationship with you and so the emails are likely being deleted unopened. You could work on writing better subject lines to get people to read the emails and then work on crafting better emails, but I think there are better strategies to build a client list.

Better would be to set up a website and attract people to it. You don't have to spend much or any money on the site. You can install WordPress on a low cost hosting account, pick a theme, and you have a site. Try giving something away in exchange for an email address. Take the information you have and create a short ebook. Then have people fill out a simple form (name and email or even just the email address) and send the ebook to the people who gave you their email address.

You'll build a list in the process of people who are showing an interest in your product/service and what you have to say. You can have a checkbox on the form asking people if they wish to receive future information from you or even make that a condition for receiving your ebook. Build a muilti-part email newsletter and send it out over a few weeks or months. Make it mainly free information and at the end you can add a sale pitch.

Odds are most of the people filling out the form aren't going to be later interested in hearing from you or buying from you, but more of them will than sending out the emails without them asking for the information at all. Some people will have the emails they send be nothing more than information with a pitch to subscribe to a blog at the end or perhaps sign up for another set of emails. Some will lead up to a sales pitch. There's plenty of info online or you can just subscribe to a few others and see what finds its way into your inbox for study.

Spider
10-01-2011, 09:36 AM
Jacob - The definition of spam that I know is "unsolicited commericial e-mail" - UCE. That can be one or it can be many. The definition in the CAN-SPAM Act defines legal spam from illegal spam - over a certain number at one time is illegal spam, below that nmber is legal spam. But, as long as it is unsolicited and commercial in nature, it is spam, be it legal or illegal.

A recipient cannot tell from the subject line whether an e-mail message is a single specific message or one of thousands, so the quantity is of no consequence to the recipient. They will delete the message unopened, most of the time. Thus, the exercise becomes a waste of time for the sender as well as an annoyance to potential clients.

And annoying one's prospects is never a good idea. That applies to cold calling, also.

JacobBergeron
10-01-2011, 10:23 AM
Spider,

I was unaware that my small business specific letters or emails could be considered spam. I would disagree with calling what I have been sending to relatively few local small businesses in my area spam. I myself have quite a bit of spam end up in my inbox, however if my small business was sent an email from another local small business explaining their services I would not call that spam regardless of if I am interested in their services or not. However I appreciate the time you took to respond and you provided me with a perspective that I am sure is not only held by yourself, and that can be of value to me.

JacobBergeron
10-01-2011, 10:31 AM
Van,
I really appreciate your advise and I will certainly act on what you have said. That method may not be the "fix all" but as you hinted at it certainly would be better than my current hit or miss method which I have mainly been missing on anyway. Your method of attracting customers to a site and having them subscribe is more professional and in my opinion has much more potential for providing a pool of potential clients who are generally interested in my promotional products.

vangogh
10-01-2011, 12:00 PM
Glad to help Jacob. I replied to your PM.

Don't worry, your emails aren't spam. Frederick has his own definition for spam, which is anything he doesn't want to receive, even when he's previously agreed to receive it. He conveniently neglects to include the word "bulk" which is part of the definition. The emails you're sending probably aren't going to result in new clients, but they aren't considered spam.

Frederick if you want to start a thread about what is and isn't spam go ahead, but please don't make this thread about it. This is Jacob's thread asking us for some help and it's not a debate about the definition of spam. It's ok to offer reasons why his emails probably won't have a great return, but the word spam doesn't need to enter into it.

Spider
10-01-2011, 02:46 PM
... Whereas I am not sending this email/letter to sell specific products but instead to inform small businesses about the need and benefits for promotion products in general I am not so sure what exactly to include within my content. I prefer sending these types of introduction/business summary emails and letters instead of making cold calls. I am focusing more on the approach of informing potential clients with the information I want them to have in a format that can be processed on their schedule and if they desire my products than they will contact me at a time that works for them. Is this approach hurting my sales? or do you think business owners will appreciate my subtle and polite business advertising and outreach practices and reward me for not being in their face while at the same time providing them with quality products...Really, the definition of spam, in this context, is relevant regarding how recipients of Jacob's messages perceive them. The question Jacob asked was, "Is this approach hurting my sales?"

I believe the messages will be perceived as spam (whether they are spam or not) and thus will hurt sales. In fact, by Jacob's own description, they seem to be hurting sales already.


...my current hit or miss method which I have mainly been missing on anyway...

Certainly the permission-based marketing of the sort being contemplated is likely to be a better choice.

vangogh
10-01-2011, 03:38 PM
I agree with you that the method won't work. I'm only asking that you not call what he's doing spam or direct this thread to become yet another where we debate what is and isn't spam. If you want to have that conversation start a new thread. In this one keep the focus on Jacob's question. You don't need to mention the word spam to do that.

DanWilliams
10-16-2011, 02:02 PM
Our variation on the suggestion by vangogh is that our initial contact is to simply generate further interest. I do have a filtered list based on demographic data I'm targeting to start with so that helps. Pick out the benefits of your product that are most likely to generate interest and write your copy to touch the surface of these topics. Show that you've cured pain for others(brief testimonials) and hint at providing the solution to those who opt in.

JacobBergeron
10-16-2011, 08:46 PM
Thank you for your tips Dan, I appreciate them.

kerrylinux
10-17-2011, 08:19 AM
Our variation on the suggestion by vangogh is that our initial contact is to simply generate further interest.

Yes, and the interesting question is why exactly is it impossible to generate further interest by sending a well crafted email to a business owner?

If the email is relevant to the recipient's business the reason cannot be that it is perceived as spam, because that would make the whole exercise of sending email obsolete. Email by its nature is a means to initiate contact between people who have never heard of each other before. A business owner publishes his business email address in order to be contacted, that's its purpose.

So why does the method fail to work ? Can anyone explain the real cause?

I totally agree that having an opt-in offer on the website is a far better way to build a list, but, in Jacob's case, while building a website may be a quick solution to get the opt-in out, it'll be much harder to attract the traffic necessary to collect a reasonable number of opt-ins. That certainly will not work overnight. So it's very well possible that after a year the website earned you three opt-ins. Is it really impossible to get the same results with a number of well thought-out, individual email contacts? Why not?

Spider
10-17-2011, 09:03 AM
... So why does the method fail to work ? Can anyone explain the real cause? ... Excellent question, Ralph, and I believe I know the answer.

Most business owners who display their e-mail address (and phone number) publicly do so for the purpose of making it easy for prospective customers or clients to contact them. That is the reason for having and paying for these services in the first place. They do not pay for them and display them to benefit other businesses, as an invitation for other businesses to use their facilities to sell *their* products or services. This principle also applies to fax machines, and sending unsolicited fax messages is commonly regarded as counter-productive. For some reason, people seem to recognize that one should not use someone else's fax machine to sell your products to them, but are all too willing to use someone else's e-mail or telephone for that purpose.

Everytime you call a business on the telephone to sell your product, you take that telephone out of service for the purpose for which it was intended and paid for. In exactly the same way, everytime a business owner has to read an unsolicited e-mail, you are taking his attention off his business and in so doing, reducing his profit potential.

That is why - even at a subconscious level - unsolicited e-mails, and cold calling on the telephone or in person, and fax blasting, are not only unproductive but counter-productive. It is NEVER a good idea to annoy people in your target market. Even if they don't want to buy now, if they are truly in your target market, they will buy someday, if not from you, from someone else. By annoying them now, you are guaranteeing they will buy from someone else in the future.

I hope that answers your question, Ralph.


ADDED: Ralph, you said, "Email by its nature is a means to initiate contact between people who have never heard of each other before." I contend that is not the purpose - the purpose is to enable people who know each other to contact each other.

kerrylinux
10-17-2011, 10:07 AM
It is NEVER a good idea to annoy people in your target market.


Thank you Frederick for your comprehensive and convincing answer. I agree that the the most important aspect is the annoyance factor, no matter what we do and how we call it.

So, based on your analysis of the problem is it possible to contact a business owner without annoying him using email?

vangogh
10-17-2011, 10:46 AM
Ralph the best way is to get them to first come to you. Give them something they want in exchange for an email address and permission to contact them in the future. People who accept are saying it's ok to contact them. At that point you can send them an email or even a series of emails. Your followup email(s) can't just be a pitch to buy something. You want to continue giving people good information on the same topic as whatever it was you gave them for free. At the end of the series or here and there throughout you can make a pitch. You don't even have to make a sales pitch at all. The whole purpose of the emails could simply be further contact and interaction with people who have shown an interest in you.

Most people still aren't going to buy something because you sent them an email, but since you're only sending it to people who originally showed interest and agreed to get the email more of them will than if you sent the email to random people.

kerrylinux
10-17-2011, 12:34 PM
Ralph the best way is to get them to first come to you. Give them something they want in exchange for an email address and permission to contact them in the future.

I certainly know that this is the ideal solution, and I am aware of the benefits of your recipient's consent. On the other hand I'm still not convinced that this is the only way to go.

If there is no way to make initial contact to a business via email without annoying the recipient, simply because we do not contact him with the intention to buy his service, then we have very limited resources to demonstrate how buying our services could substantially improve our prospected recipient's own business. We might fail on a large scale to help improve what is in the best interest of the business owner, and what shouldn't be an annoyance for him at all.

Doing it the wrong way is certainly unforgivable, but is there really no way to do it right? I doubt that.

vangogh
10-18-2011, 01:03 AM
I don't think contacting someone automatically annoys them. Different things annoy different people. I wouldn't necessarily get annoyed if you called me, but I guarantee the conversation wouldn't last long and you wouldn't sell me anything. Most people aren't going to want to listen to you try to sell them something while working, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to get through to them.

I think you'll have low response rate with email unless you have a prior relationship with the person. That relationship doesn't need to be much. It could be nothing more than them having visited your website, but if it's an email from someone you don't know it's probably going straight to the junk folder. What you're seeing as relevant and in the best interest of the business owner is coming from your perspective, not the business owner's. From the business owner's perspective you're just one more person trying to sell him something he doesn't need.

We're all inundated with marketing and sales messages all day long that most of us ignore them or distrust them from the start. What you're looking to do is called interruption marketing. You're interrupting someone from doing whatever it was they were doing in order to sell them something. That generally works best when you have a lot of money to throw at the marketing, because the rate of conversion is very low. Better is to get the potential customers permission to contact them first. By getting that initial permission you increase the conversion rate.

The time you'll spend writing and sending emails and building the email list could just as easily be spent writing a 20 page PDF file with tips to help people keep their computers more secure. Show people where to get a firewall and how to use it. Review some Av software. Contact the owners of websites who talk about anything tech or security related and have them give the PDF to away to their readers. Start the PDF with some info about you to show you're an expert in security and provide contact information through.

You could even make your PDF the first chapter or two of a longer PDF only accessible after filling out a contact form through your site.

You can try to interrupt people if you want, but that's mainly going to put people's defenses up. Or you can give them something for free and make them want to get in touch with your for more.

LFinkle
10-18-2011, 07:42 AM
Wow lots of conversation here on the definition of spam. I spent 25 years making cold calls almost every day. I can tell you from experience that cold calling works as I was personally generating over $750K a year in revenues. After a while I made less cold calls but I was always looking for new business so I made cold calls till the day I sold that business. While sending emails may not work as well as cold calling as you don't even know if the email got through I don't really consider this much different than cold calling. You need to try mulitple methods to reach people as one size does not fit all in selling.

I don't think we annoy prospects by sharing our story, they may indeed need what we have to offer. It's how we approach them and what we say. Your sales presentation needs to be benefit oriented, the benefits to them. It needs to address their concerns, issues or challenges and how what you have to offer can solve one of those. If it's product oriented or about you then you are likely to turn them off before you get a chance to have them open their door.

So try different methods to reach them...emails, postcards, phone calls, contests, networking events, newsletters driving them to your website etc. etc.