May 20, 2010

Make the Sale: Find the Right Email Tool for the Job

By:

Hostway Team

By Jen Brister

When you own a small business, one of the most profitable and cost effective forms of marketing that you can engage in is email marketing. Email marketing allows you to send out letters to clients who already have a reputation of buying. You can send out these notes with the click of a button and you may get hundreds of dollars in sales in return.

Many businesses use email marketing to promote special seasonal items to their regular clientele. Email marketing is also used to send out special discount coupons to good customers, let customers know of new arrivals and announce changes to your company or any special events which may be taking place.

In order to effectively send out emails to your clients, you will need an email marketing provider. Unless you are well versed in the marketing arena and plan to do this yourself, you will need to find a reputable provider who can make the most of your money and get the most value out of each and every email sent.

Defining your Goals

Before you begin searching for a good email marketing provider, you will need clear expectation of what you wish to do with your marketing campaign. Make a list of goals that you can present to each email marketer and find out what they have to say about each one. Goals should be specific, such as, "I plan to increase my email marketing list by 50 percent by the end of the year," or "Each email should result in at least $100 in sales for my retail business."

Evaluating Providers

Once you have defined your goals, you can begin to evaluate email marketing providers. Tell them about your goals and ask them how they would help you plan to achieve them. Ask to witness a run through example of their software to make sure that you and your employees can have a good grasp on how to use it effectively. You and each of your employees should be able to send out an email to all or some clients with ease.

Another good way to evaluate the kind of service that you will receive is to call their call and support center at different times of the day and ask both technical and simple questions. Once you have an idea of how good their customer support is, you will be able to better decide if they are the email marketing provider for you.

Determining Cost

Finally, you should look at cost when you are determining which provider you will hire. If your costs outweigh the benefits from the goals you have set, you should begin to look at different providers. Your marketer should be able to work with you on cost and let you know if what you wish to achieve is possible within your budget. Be honest when talking about money with your marketing provider. He or she will be able to better help you and find a system that will suit the needs of your company. Keep an open mind and know what you want and you should be able to find an email marking provider that's right for you.

About the Author

Jen Brister has been a writer, researcher and Internet marketer for three years. She makes her living writing full time, publishing videos and creating Web sites.

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