Most marketing organizations spend most of their time getting prospects and potential partners to their Web site and encouraging them to opt-in to their mailing list. But once you have their email address, do you have a plan?

Unfortunately, if you send email to your entire mailing list in the form of irregularly scheduled, non-related, email blasts about an event or a press release, you are wasting your time and theirs. To make the most effective use of your list, you need a communications strategy. Develop a plan on what you want to say, to whom you want to say it, and what is in it for them. Understand what you are trying to achieve and develop an integrated, multi-month campaign that provides information that is useful to your varying audiences – prospects, partners or current customers.

Why a Strategy?

The primary benefits of a well-crafted email campaign is that it serves to capture information from people who may not be ready to buy today, but who may be potential customers in the future. These people may not even perceive a need as yet, but nonetheless they face the challenges or issues that your product or service can help solve. By providing useful information to them on a regular basis, without the hard sell, you will attract people who have a need, and are most likely to convert into a customer.

A strategy also helps you lay out a series of correspondence that is well integrated and progressive. Each message builds on the previous in some way. It may be more on a particular topic, or it may be a new topic that is tangential to the last one that was sent. Regular, consistent interaction with your prospects and partners keeps you in the forefront of their minds.

Reach Out and Touch Someone

Advertising executives will tell you it takes at least seven impressions to get people to notice your ad, and many more impressions to convince people to act. Everyday, your prospects are sent hundreds of email messages, and although you’ve received permission to send them your information, you still need to cut through the noise. Your immediate goal is to deepen the level of trust they have in your products and services. The most effective way to do this is to communicate with them on a regular basis, each time providing them with valuable information.

A good way to enhance their trust is to educate them. Most software products live in a complex world created by a combination of technology, process, and industry specific issues. Create and distribute a multi-part email “info-mercial” to teach prospects about the benefits of your product or service in a neutral manner. Resist the temptation to prematurely attempt to close the sale. Instead, educate prospects about the landscape within which the product exists. The goal is to gradually increase trust in your company to a point where prospects will eagerly await future emails from your company.

Refining the Target

With every email, plan to acquire a better understanding of your prospects. This is best accomplished with simple and straightforward surveys delivered with each email. Depending on your product or service, surveys may include questions about the current state of your prospects’ buying habits, their decision-making ability within the company, past purchase decisions, planned purchases, issues they are facing, and other useful information. Potential partners can also provide valuable information about themselves and their customers’ needs. As the trust level increases, your prospects will answer more detailed and more personal questions.

Track and record all information about your prospects in your CRM system so that everyone in your company knows as much about a prospect as possible. Segment your opt-in list based on the information you have gathered. The more you know, the better you can service them through various communications.

Initially, all prospects in your list will receive the same email. But by tracking the responses to the surveys, after about 6 months, you will have collected enough information to start segmenting your list, and more precisely satisfying your subscriber’s requirements for information. The more targeted your emails, the more useful they will be to their recipients. The more useful they are, the greater the likelihood that prospects will become customers, partners will become more loyal, and customers will become customers for life.

Secrets of Success

To ensure success, build a six to twelve month plan that appeals to prospects, customers, and partners. In addition, keep the following in mind:

• Provide relevant, timely information. Not coincidentally, this is where most email campaigns fail. A monthly news capsule of your company’s press releases, product updates, and trade show schedule alone won’t attract many subscribers.
• Have a content strategy. Naturally, original content takes work. If you don’t have the resources in-house, think about sourcing third parties like trade publications, consultants and other business partners, freelance writers, or content providers that can provide expert opinions and interesting commentary on your product and service area. Getting the information out consistently on-time and with quality is crucial.
• Promote your campaign prominently. Promote on your Website and elsewhere. On the registration page, prepare for the possibility that people may want more information before they sign up. Include a link to past communications or a “Tell Me More” page that sells the campaign in strong, benefit-oriented language.
• Encourage sharing. An email marketing campaign done well is the perfect viral marketing tool, so be sure to incorporate “Forward to a Friend” functionality that reminds the recipient to share the information with a colleague.

By continually pulling prospects back to your Website for useful information, and placing your company at the forefront of their minds as experts and thought-leaders, email marketing can work to create a long-term, lasting relationship with your prospects, partners and customers.