With the increased use of spam filters and the introduction of mandatory double opt in on several of the autoresponder providers, how can you still use email marketing effectively?

If you are using the Internet and email to reach your customers and prospects there is one simple answer. You have to be more creative!

Personally, I welcome email marketing becoming harder because the more effort that has to be put in will make those ’lazy’ or wannabes simply drop out. Into that gap the inventive professional approach to email marketing will thrive.

I want to show you the impact of the new rules and how to deal with them and let’s start with the double opt in.

If you use any of the major shopping cart providers like 1shoppingcart (ISC), they now have, mandatory double opt in and they did this because of being blacklisted by SPAMHaus organisation. This was caused by one selfish, unethical person using ISC’s ‘Tell a Friend’ script to send out thousands of Spam messages. The consequence was that email sent via 1SC servers was being classified as Spam by many ISP’s.  To overcome this 1SC agreed to make all email sign ups double opt in.

What does this mean to you?

Double opt in means that anyone joining your list is sent an email asking them to confirm that it really was them that signed up and they want to join.

This method produces a better and more responsive list BUT reduces the numbers.  Several reasons for this, including forgetting to confirm, changing their mind, or not really understanding what they are being asked to do.

What can you do?

I am a firm believer in telling your customers and prospects EXACTLY what to do. This is something I do in all my exchanges with clients and potential customers or prospects using different techniques.  One successful method is to use a video to explain in a simple step by step process to actually show them what to do, and how to do it.  You can put a link on your web page that will show them the exact email they’ll receive and how to click on the link.  This is simple…but very powerful and on the sites I have used it on it has found achieved a confirmation rate of over 90% - and that’s virtually unheard of.

5 key tactics to use now

Your aim is to get your email through and read by your customers and prospects. Yes it may be getting harder, but these tactics will help you win out over your competitors:

1) Brand your emails so they stand out from the crowd

Give your emails a brand name or title so as soon as people see that name they know who it’s from and what to expect.

If you want to target Dads who want to teach their kids football, for instance, you could create a newsletter called ‘Soccer for Kids’ but that is not really specific enough if your target market is about teaching their kids how to be successful at football.  For that you would have more impact if you called it something more like Inside Tactics for Junior Soccer.  To quote a well known ad, it does exactly what it says on the box and your prospects will readily identify with it.

2) Send out a reminder for all of your emails.

Your first email is your regular email and you must follow up with another one that briefly reminds them of what you have just sent or to direct them to read a copy online or on your Blog.

That second email must give them a REASON to go and find/read your earlier email. How? Give them a teaser of the information your newsletter contained, maybe a free gift or how it can help them…use the biggest benefit.

3) Always, always, run your messages through a SPAM checker  

It’s essential because it will tell you if your email is likely to be classified as spam or not. If it is spam, then you will know which words you need to change.

4) Keep in regular ‘constant’ contact with your subscribers.

I receive better responses to my promotions when I am regularly emailing people in that niche. Coincidence? No, because more contact with your list means you are building a relationship with them, and so they are much more likely to buy from you.

5) Build smaller targeted lists

Smaller, targeted, lists are by far more responsive to you and your offers. I would rather have 250 highly focused names on a specific topic than 5000 names on a generic one. I want people who are positively interested in my specific niche.

Your first sub list should be of buyers, people who have already bought from you, and then people who have bought from you more than once. After that you want to build sub lists of topics within your particular niche.

For example; if you had a football newsletter you might ask subscribers to email for more information about a specific topic such as under 7’s or girls football. Then you would create a sub list with its own autoresponder series that you add these people to. This enables you to then target these prospects with specific offers relating to their enquiry.

Use these 5 tips to help you make your email marketing more effective, and to ensure it gets through to your customers and prospects.

Neil Stafford and his business partner, Neil Travers, are the UKs leading Information Marketers who have not only helped thousands of people start their online businesses they are also sort out by many of today’s top experts as well for their help and guidance. Claim your free and comprehensive 40 page online business building report today from here:
http://www.internetmarketingreview.com/freereport