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HTML Are We On The Same Page? Are We On The Same Page? Author: Jeev TrikaThere are famous quotes written about climbing into the other person’s shoes to see if standing in their place hurts. These quotes are applicable to anything and anyone really, but looking at it through a marketing perspective throws new light onto it. Good marketers constantly strive towards speaking directly to their customers. Marketers realized very early on that it is through personalization of services that they can maintain a long-term relationship with their customers. Long-term relationships mean customer loyalty, which in turn leads to repeated purchases. Repeat purchase, of course, means increased profits in the long run. Online marketing has come a long way from its earlier stages and the technology involved here ensures that a marketer can personalize services to a much greater degree than before. That is where the success of email marketing lies. When email entered the picture, marketers sat up and took notice. Here was a tool of communication that is quick and cost-effective. And as far as marketers are concerned, anyone who can afford to buy their products most probably would have an email account also. In every way, email was a marketer’s dream. Of course, the real story of email marketing is not as flowery. That is not, of course, saying that email marketing does not work. It certainly does, but there are plenty of issues that surround email marketing. And it is only by dodging these setbacks that marketers can make the most of email marketing. Spam is probably the biggest enemy of email marketing. It interferes with genuine information and makes customers more wary. There are a number of ways email marketers can try to get around the problem even though completely eradicating spam seems unlikely for the time being. This is where the concept of permission comes in. If your customers have given you permission to send them your newsletters then that is legitimate mailing. But despite the permission, are newsletters really welcome? Marketers need to wake up to the fact that there is an “other side of the story” also. And that is where the idea of standing in the customer’s shoes comes in. As a marketer, are you sure your customer really cares for your newsletters? It is probably going to be next to impossible to measure how interested your customers are in your newsletters without actually asking them straight out. The point is that you need to give your newsletter recipients some kind of a reason for subscribing to your newsletters. And the reason has to be a concrete one that makes them feel like they are getting something beneficial out of it. Look at is this way: would you spend your time reading something that you do not know for sure is going to be of help to you? We are, of course, assuming here that everyone is busy and is in that sense “on the run”. But that is a safe assumption for a marketer to take. On the other hand, however, the unsafe assumption to make is that customers are interested in your newsletters just because they opted in at some earlier point in time. You need to realize that sending them the email is not the endpoint; customers need to read them too! Less and less people are subscribing to newsletters now because they feel that they are not really getting much out of it. There are a section of customers who feel that when they feel that they want to buy something they can look up promotions at that time and they can find it themselves. Additionally, are you adding things on your newsletter that is different from the information on your website? Is there really an advantage to subscribing to your newsletters? At the end of the day, marketers need to be aware of the flip side of the story. Having access to email is one thing. Getting permission to send them newsletters is another. But the real challenge is to get your recipients to read your newsletters and that cannot happen unless you are enticing them in some way. The fact is that customers’ interests in newsletters have dropped because nothing new is happening there. As a result, marketers have to take that into consideration when they plan their newsletters. Make it in such a way that those on your mailing list get some kind of exclusivity. Show your customers that they are getting something out of the ordinary by being part of your mailing list. Giving them information is not good enough when everyone is already doing just that. Give them something more concrete to feel good about. Everyone likes to be treated specially and that is what you have to keep in mind when dealing with your customers. Give them something special so that they are on the same page as you on your newsletters. Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_196235_3.html Text Are We On The Same Page? Author: Jeev Trika There are famous quotes written about climbing into the other person’s shoes to see if standing in their place hurts. These quotes are applicable to anything and anyone really, but looking at it through a marketing perspective throws new light onto it. Good marketers constantly strive towards speaking directly to their customers. Marketers realized very early on that it is through personalization of services that they can maintain a long-term relationship with their customers. Long-term relationships mean customer loyalty, which in turn leads to repeated purchases. Repeat purchase, of course, means increased profits in the long run. Online marketing has come a long way from its earlier stages and the technology involved here ensures that a marketer can personalize services to a much greater degree than before. That is where the success of email marketing lies. When email entered the picture, marketers sat up and took notice. Here was a tool of communication that is quick and cost-effective. And as far as marketers are concerned, anyone who can afford to buy their products most probably would have an email account also. In every way, email was a marketer’s dream. Of course, the real story of email marketing is not as flowery. That is not, of course, saying that email marketing does not work. It certainly does, but there are plenty of issues that surround email marketing. And it is only by dodging these setbacks that marketers can make the most of email marketing. Spam is probably the biggest enemy of email marketing. It interferes with genuine information and makes customers more wary. There are a number of ways email marketers can try to get around the problem even though completely eradicating spam seems unlikely for the time being. This is where the concept of permission comes in. If your customers have given you permission to send them your newsletters then that is legitimate mailing. But despite the permission, are newsletters really welcome? Marketers need to wake up to the fact that there is an “other side of the story” also. And that is where the idea of standing in the customer’s shoes comes in. As a marketer, are you sure your customer really cares for your newsletters? It is probably going to be next to impossible to measure how interested your customers are in your newsletters without actually asking them straight out. The point is that you need to give your newsletter recipients some kind of a reason for subscribing to your newsletters. And the reason has to be a concrete one that makes them feel like they are getting something beneficial out of it. Look at is this way: would you spend your time reading something that you do not know for sure is going to be of help to you? We are, of course, assuming here that everyone is busy and is in that sense “on the run”. But that is a safe assumption for a marketer to take. On the other hand, however, the unsafe assumption to make is that customers are interested in your newsletters just because they opted in at some earlier point in time. You need to realize that sending them the email is not the endpoint; customers need to read them too! Less and less people are subscribing to newsletters now because they feel that they are not really getting much out of it. There are a section of customers who feel that when they feel that they want to buy something they can look up promotions at that time and they can find it themselves. Additionally, are you adding things on your newsletter that is different from the information on your website? Is there really an advantage to subscribing to your newsletters? At the end of the day, marketers need to be aware of the flip side of the story. Having access to email is one thing. Getting permission to send them newsletters is another. But the real challenge is to get your recipients to read your newsletters and that cannot happen unless you are enticing them in some way. The fact is that customers’ interests in newsletters have dropped because nothing new is happening there. As a result, marketers have to take that into consideration when they plan their newsletters. Make it in such a way that those on your mailing list get some kind of exclusivity. Show your customers that they are getting something out of the ordinary by being part of your mailing list. Giving them information is not good enough when everyone is already doing just that. Give them something more concrete to feel good about. Everyone likes to be treated specially and that is what you have to keep in mind when dealing with your customers. Give them something special so that they are on the same page as you on your newsletters. Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_196235_3.html About the Author: Article Title: Article Keywords: return to article
Text Are We On The Same Page? Author: Jeev Trika There are famous quotes written about climbing into the other person’s shoes to see if standing in their place hurts. These quotes are applicable to anything and anyone really, but looking at it through a marketing perspective throws new light onto it. Good marketers constantly strive towards speaking directly to their customers. Marketers realized very early on that it is through personalization of services that they can maintain a long-term relationship with their customers. Long-term relationships mean customer loyalty, which in turn leads to repeated purchases. Repeat purchase, of course, means increased profits in the long run. Online marketing has come a long way from its earlier stages and the technology involved here ensures that a marketer can personalize services to a much greater degree than before. That is where the success of email marketing lies. When email entered the picture, marketers sat up and took notice. Here was a tool of communication that is quick and cost-effective. And as far as marketers are concerned, anyone who can afford to buy their products most probably would have an email account also. In every way, email was a marketer’s dream. Of course, the real story of email marketing is not as flowery. That is not, of course, saying that email marketing does not work. It certainly does, but there are plenty of issues that surround email marketing. And it is only by dodging these setbacks that marketers can make the most of email marketing. Spam is probably the biggest enemy of email marketing. It interferes with genuine information and makes customers more wary. There are a number of ways email marketers can try to get around the problem even though completely eradicating spam seems unlikely for the time being. This is where the concept of permission comes in. If your customers have given you permission to send them your newsletters then that is legitimate mailing. But despite the permission, are newsletters really welcome? Marketers need to wake up to the fact that there is an “other side of the story” also. And that is where the idea of standing in the customer’s shoes comes in. As a marketer, are you sure your customer really cares for your newsletters? It is probably going to be next to impossible to measure how interested your customers are in your newsletters without actually asking them straight out. The point is that you need to give your newsletter recipients some kind of a reason for subscribing to your newsletters. And the reason has to be a concrete one that makes them feel like they are getting something beneficial out of it. Look at is this way: would you spend your time reading something that you do not know for sure is going to be of help to you? We are, of course, assuming here that everyone is busy and is in that sense “on the run”. But that is a safe assumption for a marketer to take. On the other hand, however, the unsafe assumption to make is that customers are interested in your newsletters just because they opted in at some earlier point in time. You need to realize that sending them the email is not the endpoint; customers need to read them too! Less and less people are subscribing to newsletters now because they feel that they are not really getting much out of it. There are a section of customers who feel that when they feel that they want to buy something they can look up promotions at that time and they can find it themselves. Additionally, are you adding things on your newsletter that is different from the information on your website? Is there really an advantage to subscribing to your newsletters? At the end of the day, marketers need to be aware of the flip side of the story. Having access to email is one thing. Getting permission to send them newsletters is another. But the real challenge is to get your recipients to read your newsletters and that cannot happen unless you are enticing them in some way. The fact is that customers’ interests in newsletters have dropped because nothing new is happening there. As a result, marketers have to take that into consideration when they plan their newsletters. Make it in such a way that those on your mailing list get some kind of exclusivity. Show your customers that they are getting something out of the ordinary by being part of your mailing list. Giving them information is not good enough when everyone is already doing just that. Give them something more concrete to feel good about. Everyone likes to be treated specially and that is what you have to keep in mind when dealing with your customers. Give them something special so that they are on the same page as you on your newsletters. Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_196235_3.html About the Author:
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