Tips on planning for 2003
As we quickly approach the end of 2002, we look forward to the
beginning of a brand new year filled with promise and
opportunity. This brief lull between holidays is a great time
for setting goals and planning your email marketing strategy
for 2003.
A good way to get started is to first take a look back and
learn from your successes and failures in 2002. Which of your
campaigns were most successful and why? And how can you avoid
making any mistakes you may have made - twice? Your experience
is invaluable, so be sure you draw from it when creating your
plan for 2003.
Set your goals
Keep your eye on the prize. Goal setting is important as it
will ensure that you remain focused and on track. Here are
some possibilities for goals that you may want to achieve
this year:
- Building
your email list
- Acquiring
new customers
-
Increasing customer retention
-
Strengthening customer relationships
- Building
your brand
- Driving
repeat sales
-
Increasing your average sale with cross-selling and
up-selling
-
Decreasing communication costs
A good brainstorming session, including all individuals
involved in your email marketing efforts, will help you
refine your goals and prepare you for the next steps.
What to communicate and when?
Take a look at your 2003 calendar to decide what kinds of
communications you want to send this year and when. Consider
seasons (e.g. tax season, sports seasons or back to school),
holidays and events as opportunities to reach out to
customers and prospects in a meaningful way. Here are some
types of email communications to consider:
-
Newsletters
- Coupons
- New
product or service announcements
- Press
releases
- Event
Invitations
- Company
updates
- Product
or service promotions
- Sale or
preferred customer announcements
Remember that newsletters should always be sent on a
predetermined interval, but other communications can be sent
on a more flexible schedule to suit your business
objectives. Creating a communications plan will give you a
strong foundation to work from and build upon. It will also
help you keep track of how often you are communicating with
a given audience. Don't forget that communicating too
infrequently can be just as unwise as communicating too
often.
Boost the effectiveness of your other marketing
activities
You may be planning a direct mail campaign, a newsletter
sponsorship, search engine placement, a newspaper ad or a
flyer or coupon distribution that could be complimented by
an email, or a series of emails. So, take a look at your
other marketing activities and coordinate online and offline
efforts to maximize your time, and your dollars.
Thank you for allowing me to provide you with email
marketing advice. I appreciate your readership and look
forward to contributing to your success in 2003. Until then,
don't forget about the
Email Marketing Hints & Tips archive where you can find
over 40 other articles on a wide range of topics from subject
lines to testing.
Happy New Year!
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