Cyber Law

Email marketing, leveraging on today well-connected system of sending and receiving messages over a computer network, it is probably the easiest way for companies to keep in touch with their customers while at the same time be on the right side anti-spamming law. If done correctly, Email marketing can be an inexpensive and quick way of reaching a very large audience.

However when it is inexpensive, easy and quick way to reach your audience, it is also the same for spammer to clogs up inboxes and most company people are quick to delete the deluge of mail without even reading it. So it has become increasingly more difficult to promote a business using email marketing.

The key is to get the right people wanting to receive your mailings and staying on the right side of anti-spamming law. To do this, you need to do opt-in mailing, which having people either sign up on your company website or provide their email addresses when they make a purchase.

Email marketing even with opt-in leads can still become redundant and the recipient will likely opt-out from the company mailing list unless your mailings have that "X" factor such as:

• Offer new discounted products or services regularly
• Niche targeted mailings
• Offer some content - even two or three sentences can provide a reason to read your marketing newsletter - such as five steps for a healthy heart from a healthcare company are ways to keep your audience reading your email messages
• A catchy headline in the "Subject" box
• A recognizable company name in the "From" box
• A simple one-click manner in which they can get more information for a specific products or services and ease of reaching the company customer services
• Focus your marketing effort on benefits to the customer

The "Top Fold" of your mailing is very "critically important" when open and when you got them reading your email, you can put as much as you'd like about your company farther down the page.

Readers should be able to get more information by clicking on various places on the initial email marketing newsletter and be brought to a targeted Landing Page of your website. Don't send them to a company home page and make them go "round the bush" to search for the specific information that brought them there.

Rules of thumb for Email marketing:

• Make sure everyone on the list has agreed to be there - voluntarily opt-in
• Reassure readers that their company or individual information will not be shared - have a privacy statement
• Give readers an opportunity to opt-out from your email list - a must under anti-spamming law
• Keep information concise, to the point and focused on their needs so that they want to read further or motivated to take action
• Don't go on a cyber blitz - emailing more than once a week can be annoying
• Provide a choice of HTML or text version

Email marketing newsletters are a great way to drive customers to your website. Sending a monthly or quarterly Newsletter is the easiest way to stay in touch with your customers and to keep your clients informed of your latest developments in your business, new product offerings and seasonal deals. Your marketing "Newsletter-only" specials or coupons are a great way to increase your company subscriber list and drum up sales. Other pointers for newsletter are:

• Identify your audience - take your cue from magazine publishers. They know exactly who their target audience is, what motivates these companies or individual to buy and then tailor your marketing newsletter around their needs.
• Research your competitor product or service and how you can do better.
• What is your email or newsletter purpose and what you want to achieve - help them to make purchasing decisions and you must first show them how it can make them smarter, healthier, wealthier and more successful.
• Creating content - your newsletter will need to be more than just marketing material for your products. Including informative articles, interviews or other company information will entice your email subscribers to actually open and read your e-newsletter.

With your objectives defined your content and design of your newsletter ready. All you need now is to launch your marketing material to your customers. For this you need a mailing list and begin with your own in-house list.

You may want to outsource email marketing campaign to an auto-responder service provider to free up your staff to concentrate on your company core business. This type of Service provider Opt-In box pasted on your website to capture visitor details, builds up permission-based mailing list, deliver your newsletter, and track your sales and results. They are generally on the right side of the anti-spamming law.

Whichever way you choose to build your list, the new anti-spamming law requires every email marketing newsletter to include an opt-out provision and a valid company or individual physical address.

A double opt-in policy will ensure that your marketing materials are both welcome and legal. It requires users to confirm twice to their subscription request: once when they sign up, again to confirm the subscription and their valid email address.