The Pitfalls of Email Marketing

by Patrick Valtin

Email marketing gets a bad rap. The controversy about email marketing is a quagmire that leaves many business owners in confusion in its wake.

According to a new study by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing delivers the highest return on investment of all media available to marketers. The study also projects that email driven sales in the United States will show a compound annual growth rate of 14.9% between 2006 and 2011. But, statistics like that only bring about real understanding when the outcome of email marketing impacting long term customer-relationship-based revenue streams is fully known.

Patrick Valtin, sales & marketing expert, President of M2-TEC USA, INC. and founder of one of the largest consulting company in Europe called U-MAN BELGIUM claims email marketing is highly profitable if done correctly. The main mistake is trying to convert a prospect when embarking on email marketing, he says. The direction one should take is instead is trying to attract a qualified prospect.

Attract first, don't try to convert. It's actually common sense if you think about it. What if some one came up to you and said BUY THIS with no enticement as to what it was and what it could do for you? Would you buy (convert)? Probably not. However, say a girl scout comes to your door with a tray of cookies for you to pick one to sample. Did she entice you and attract your attention first? Yep, mostly likely, and how many boxes did you buy? How many will you buy year after year after year on a regular basis?

Those emails that do attract your attention and entice you by putting that cookie in front of you to nibble on - those are the successful approaches.

That begs the question if they already are opt-in prospects, do you still have to attract? Aren't they already qualified prospects if they are in your database?

Not always, according to Patrick. Patrick points out the best ROI approach to email marketing is to promote to inactive prospects and sleeping customers in your data base with the purpose to get them active and to turn them into (entice them to be) regular, loyal customers. Sleeping customers are prospects. Old, inactive prospects were curious enough to inquire into your company to begin with. That is the crucial point as Valtin explains. "The biggest false data out there is the saying 'they were just curious' as to the reason a prospect didn't close. Look up curious in the dictionary - it is interest." So curiosity IS interest. It is up to you to entice them even further so they become "sold". Sold equates to being a repeat customer.

Valtin goes on to say that the ways to first attract prospects are done with classical marketing techniques before email marketing comes into the picture: pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization with your website, direct mail marketing - the "more traditional" forms are the channels used to attract. Then once you get a prospect or even a first-time customer you can start email marketing to them.

Once your prospects are on your opt-in list, you have to entice. Just on a different level. You have their interest - now hook them.

Three common mistakes in email marketing are:

• Trying to sell through the marketing email. You have to cut the gradient to attract and then convert. The question is: what will motivate them to join your list?
• Making the subject line too ambiguous; using trite phrases that are actually considered SPAM. What you have to watch, Valtin also warns, is "too hot or too juicy is looked upon as SPAM by search engine spiders."
• Not being consistent with "From" address line. From very beginning, the "From" line should be consistent. Even here there is a need to have instant recognition.

With customers receiving an average 400 emails per week and checking their email an average of 4 times per day, it is no wonder that email marketing has taken off. But don't fall in the trap of using it incorrectly. According to Valtin, when you screw up on email marketing lines with prospects or customers, you are cut off and most likely don't get another chance. It's too easy to junk your email address and be shut off from further communication.

Three Valtin tips for being successful in email marketing are:

• Make the subject line personalized. "How would you like a free weekend in Acapulco" compared with "Dear Jane, how would you...." increases by 200-300% your chances it will be opened. (Note: opened not converted ...but attracted.)
• Make one-time customers into repeat customers. Offer an exclusive newsletter only for customers with highly valuable content.
• Have an option for people who subscribe to your newsletter to systematically send it to a friend, which acts as a referral and consequently per Valtin, makes it viral. SPAM legislation still requires those friends to opt-in before you can start emailing to them, but the referral raises your credibility and will give you more bang for your buck!

Valtin says there are many more principles to learn about email marketing. Having studied marketing and sales trends for the last 35 years, he packs a lot of lore under his Belgian skull. Understanding the outcome of email marketing impacting long term customer-relationship-based revenue streams is his forte. He teaches email marketing at marketing boot camps organized by Joy Gendusa, CEO of PostcardMania, and Marsha Friedman, CEO of Event Management Services, Inc. to business professionals nationwide.

"Permission-based email communications can solidify existing relationships, initiate new ones and convert one-time clients into long-term customers," Valtin advises. "Relationship-building emails leverage the investment you are making in all other forms of marketing, allowing you to grow your business more efficiently."

First Response Is Key

Hi Jane,

Thanks for stopping by my site at http://www.thephilife.com.
You will find the information you requested attached for your review.

In the meantime, I realize that you are currently in the information gathering stage, and may not be ready to "open up" about who you are, or what your needs are at this time. Be assured this is perfectly okay, and that my staff and I will completely respect your online privacy.

Also, keep in mind that my ability to help you is dependent upon understanding your particular needs and wants with respect to finding a home. So when you are ready to explore your real estate needs further, I will be happy to assist you.

Have a great day, and I look forward to hearing from you.

(examples of "opt-out" campaigns)

Philip
PS: As a way of saying "Thanks!" I've given you a complementary
subscription to my information-packed monthly newsletter, ”Welcome to the Philife”. Each issue packed with valuable information about buying your first home. You may stop receiving it at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of any issue.

(or, use the alternative for a targeted campaign)

PS: As a first time buyer you probably could appreciate any additional information that will help you make the right choices. With this in mind I have given you a complementary subscription to my e-Course: 15 Secrets to Getting The Home of Your Dreams (and avoiding the nightmares!)These valuable tips will come to you periodically via e-mail. You may stop receiving them at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of any message.

Sample "First Response" E-mail Message With Phone Number

Hi Jane,

Thanks for stopping by my site at http://www.thephilife.com.
You will find the information you requested attached for your review.

In the meantime, I realize that you may currently be in the information gathering stage. Be assured this is perfectly okay, and that my staff and I will completely respect your online privacy.

Since you have provided a phone number in your original message, it appears that you are ready to discuss your home buying needs. If this is not the case, please let me know via a reply e-mail. Otherwise we can discuss your needs in detail over the phone.

Have a great day --looking forward to speaking with you soon.

Philip
PS: subscribe to my information-packed free monthly newsletter,

“Welcome to the Philife”by sending a blank e-mail to…

Your Very Own Pond of Prospects

You may know what you’re supposed to be doing to convert online leads into new business, but are you actually doing it? Get pointers on streamlining your conversion process.

BY MICHAEL RUSSER

In the pre-Internet days, it used to be hard work to get good leads. It would sometimes require months of door knocking, cold-calling, and cultivating stay-in-touch programs. And, if the general market slowed down, like it recently has done in many parts of the country, your flow of leads would tend to slow down, too.

The Internet, however, never slows down and it never gets tired. It continues to deliver qualified leads regardless of current market conditions. This makes it the most prolific and reliable source of new business in the industry — period. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. As long as you know how to speak the language of your online leads, and you know what to do with them until they’re really ready to buy or sell, you’ll never have a shortage of clients.

Third-Party Lead Generation

There are two primary sources of Internet leads: your own Web site and third-party services. Generating leads from your Web site is a topic I have covered extensively in this column, so for now I’m going to focus on third-party lead generation. The following are several different categories of these kinds of services:

• Franchise-Based. Examples include RE/MAX’s LeadStreet, Coldwell Banker’s LeadRouter, and Prudential’s affiliation with Yahoo! These are programs that franchise real estate brokerages offer for the benefit of affiliated agents.
• Fee-Based. This includes HomeGain, Reply!, HouseValues.com, and many more. These companies spend a great deal of money to capture online real estate consumers and then sell them back to you as leads.
• Free Services. This is a relatively new hybrid lead generation model in which the lead generation company makes money on advertising and provides leads free to agents. The most recent of these is Zillow's Home Q&A feature. This allows any agent to answer consumer questions about any property (even if another agent has it listed) and therefore become the area “expert.” This service costs nothing to the consumer or participating agents.

Clearly, with these types of services (and, of course, a targeted Web site), online lead generation is not a problem. Instead, a much bigger problem — some would even call it a headache — is knowing what to do with the leads once you have them.

Can You Speak the Langauge?

Have you ever been trained to work with the Internet Empowered Consumer (IEC)? Many agents haven’t been, which puts them at a big disadvantage when it comes to turning those often-anonymous e-mails from online consumers into real business. Here's what you need to know.

To successfully convert these leads requires an understanding of human behavior within the online context. Here are some of the fundamental principles of that behavior:

• IECs want control, so give it to them. Because of their anonymity, the online consumer is in control and likes it that way. The more you try to take control (as you might do in a typical sales situation), the more you will push them away.
• IECs value their privacy. Take every opportunity to reassure your online prospects that their privacy will be absolutely protected by you and your staff.
• Few are ready to buy or sell. I estimate that 19 out of 20 online leads are from consumers in the information-gathering stage, and are not ready to explicitly declare their needs. These folks are easily converted to transactions, but only if you know how to nurture them to the point at which they are ready to move.

First Response Is Key

How you first respond to an online inquiry, regardless of its source, can make or break your chances of ever converting that lead into new business. Frankly, this is where most agents typically blow it. To provide some guidance, I created two e-mail scripts that I call “critical first response” e-mails. These are designed to be totally consistent with the wants, needs, and behavior of the IEC. There are two versions of this script, one for instances in which no phone number is provided in the inquiry, the other if there is a phone number provided. Below I’ve provided some excerpts, but you can click on the links if you have time to read the full e-mail script.

• Phone Number Isn’t Provided: “I realize that you’re in the information gathering stage, and may not be ready to open up about who you are or what your needs are at this time. When you are ready to explore your real estate needs further, I will be happy to assist you. PS: As a way of saying 'Thanks!' I've given you a complementary subscription to my information-packed monthly newsletter, FIRST HOME News." Read full script>
• Phone Number Is Provided. “Since you provided a phone number in your original message, it appears that you are ready to discuss your home buying needs. If this is not the case, please let me know via a reply e-mail. Otherwise, we can discuss your needs in detail over the phone." Read full script>

These scripts can do wonders, but they’re really just the first step. That’s because most of your online leads are not ready to do something now — they’re 3, 6, maybe even 12 months away from being ready to take action. Here’s how to make sure you don’t lose them between now and then.

Your Private Pond of Prospects

If you’ve ever done any fishing you know that unless the fish you caught is at least a certain minimum size, it must be thrown back into the water. Now think about your chances of ever catching that same fish again once it has grown to legal size. Not very good odds is it?

Yet, that is what the vast majority of agents do when they get an online lead that isn’t ready to move. They simply throw it back — or worse, ignore it. Now imagine that you have your very own private fish pond. And every time you caught a fish that was not quite ready, instead of throwing it back, you put it in your special pond. There, you have someone tending to the fish all the time, feeding and nurturing them until they were ready. This would mean you are practically guaranteed to convert all the “fish” you catch into business, at some time or other.

The most effective way to accomplish this is to hire an assistant or a virtual assistant who is adept at managing online leads. They will continue to “feed” your leads with appropriate drip e-mail until they are ready to be taken over by you. This strategy allows you to focus on listing, selling, and negotiating, yet guarantees a high online-lead conversion rate. In essence, you get to enjoy the best of both worlds, without being stuck in front of a computer.

Invaluable Skills

Online leads are a dime a dozen. Lead management and conversion skills are far more valuable. If you can learn to be a great online-lead farmer, you’ll reap more business than you ever thought possible — no matter what is happening to the general market.