Internet marketing campaigns utilizing tools such as email marketing and e-newsletters offer a great return on investment.
We have been asked several times in the past few weeks about email marketing and e-newsletters and how they can be used to benefit our clients' business. In this rough economy every small business can benefit from increased profit, so everyone seems to be looking at ways to help their bottom line. We will be putting together a 4-part series on Internet marketing that will help any business get an edge up on their competition.
Why should I use Internet Marketing?
That is an easy question. If performed properly you can get returns of roughly $50 for every $1 spent. I would bet that most people you know have email. So internet marketing is a viable solution and relatively inexpensive. The cost for sending out 2500 emails is roughly $25. That equates to a return on investment of roughly $1250!
Most businesses are interested in Internet marketing, but feel that doing so has to be technical, expensive or have heard of the SPAM laws and the consequences of violating the law. While at one time these were valid concerns, the technology has advanced to make it much easier to create your own Internet marketing campaign. Since there are so many businesses performing this service it has decreased the cost of sending out this type of marketing. Finally using a service to send the Internet marketing medium will allow you to be compliant with the laws. Keep in mind you should research the company you use to make sure they are complying with the laws otherwise it could hurt your business. There are certain requirements to look for and we will go into those a little later.
I know a very successful heating and air conditioning business owner who had 90% customer retention. This is extremely high in that industry, so I asked him his approach and he told me he always put the customer first. When asked to elaborate on this he said when he sent someone on-site to look at a system, within an hour after the tech leaving he had someone call to make sure everything was working satisfactory. If not, then the tech went back. If so, then that day he would send out a Thank You card. After 5 days he sent the invoice. I asked how he came up with this process. His response was he wanted his customers to realize their relationship was more important to him than their money. He explained that if they were happy then he would continue to gain their business, and keeping a customer is 5-7 times more cost effective than going after a new client.
This seems to be common sense business, but do you realize that 68% of people move to another company not because of price but due to not feeling "loved" anymore?
The cost of direct marketing (either snail mail or email) to new gain new clients will yield between 0.5 and 2.5% new business. So for every 1000 emails you send out you will gain between 5 and 25 new purchases. Compare that to letting your current customers know about new products and services. Updating your current clients will return between 6 and 12% new business. To put this in the same example above, for each 1000 emails you send you should gain between 60 and 120 new purchases.
How is this possible? It is simple - relationships. Your current clients know you and feel comfortable with you so it is easier for them to contact you for their needs than your competitor. Also if you communicate with your clients on a regular basis then it is more difficult for your competition steal them away. Internet marketing gives businesses a simple and affordable way to do this.
In the next part of our series we will go into different types of campaigns and what to send out.
