Email Marketing solutions

Email Marketing and Clean Windows

Terri exits her vehicle on the way to her favorite stores in the mall. Once inside she meets Carley and they stopped for one of those hot pretzels with dipping sauce while they catch up on old times. It starts to rain so the two spent more time in the mall while they waited for the storm to pass.

Once the sun broke through the clouds Terri draped her bags over her arms and ventured back to her SUV. She got in the driver’s seat, and that’s when she noticed it.

The front window was multi-colored as sales flyer and handbills oozed color onto her windshield. She used her windshield wipers to clear off the debris, but it simply smeared the mess over the entire surface of the window.

“Why would someone do this to me?” she said as she slapped her fish against the steering wheel.

To be fair, the individuals placing the flyers in the windows probably didn’t know rain was coming and there certainly was more flyers than Terri was used to seeing, but the end result was a potential consumer who would never think of purchasing a product from whoever made a mess of her SUV.

This story is a bit like unwanted email marketing. People who are new to the Internet typically think of their email box as an extension of their mailbox. The hope is that the mail received would be beneficial and personal. Yet time after time emails come from people and businesses they don’t know selling products they either don’t want or would never use and the email recipient becomes a very unhappy camper.

It’s as if the colorful email marketing is smeared across their computer screen and they wonder, “Why would someone do this to me?”

There is the underlying feeling that their privacy has been compromised. Some may even shake their heads wondering how anyone even found their email address.

This scenario explains the implementation of opt out methods for email marketing, but it still has the feel of junk mail, telemarketers or colorful flyers stuck on the windshield after a rainstorm – an undesirable nuisance.

Many businesses are using site registration as the means of capturing email addresses. When a customer receives email marketing from these businesses they should already know about the business and their products or services.

This type of email marketing is much better received and carries with it both goodwill and a measure of trust. You may start with a smaller list, but the recipients tend to like you better.