I just want to send HTML Email Newsletters, what do I do?

Template Kit "Most Often Asked" Question of the Month...

"How do I send my HTML Email and other Marketing pieces..?"

Hands down, the number one question we get here in the office is:

"How do I get my HTML into my email?"

Well... that is a good question since most people's experience seems to end with programs such as Outlook, Eudora or Netscape Communicator.

Unfortunately, these email clients do not make it very easy to actually enter in your HTML in to the body of your email. Further, they also do nothing to help you be able to detect whether your recipient can open & read the HTML Email you are trying to send.

There is no better way to make your customer hit "unsubscribe" than to send them a long string of junk HTML. Best intentions notwithstanding.

You know I am a big believer in "letting the software do the work for you." Whatever I can do to automate things is first on my list. Don't have your day taken up by daily chores -- let the software do it for you!

Now, I say this not because I am lazy (well, maybe just a little), but because the key issue here is that you want to spend your time doing the important stuff such as marketing, promoting, testing ads, etc. (things which make you money and grow your business)!

Don't take this lightly; think about it. What makes your business grow? Taking care of tedious daily tasks like processing orders, filling requests, importing information into your database, etc... OR promoting your business to generate sales and growth, as well as to earn more money?

That being said, here are a few email clients we've tested in-house and endorse wholeheartedly. Note! Some of these client excell at certain aspects of email marketing and offer different levels of functionality. Be sure to compare your business needs with what they offer so you can be sure to get the most out of your hard earned money.


  Keep in touch with your visitors and customers...
  with Constant Contact
 

Service Announcement Example

Constant Contact
Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing

• Build and manage your permission-based email lists
• Create great looking HTML newsletters and promotions
• Track your results with extensive reporting features

Affordable - starts at just $10 per month
Start using it today - No obligation FREE trial
Take a tour
How it works
Free trial


Mailloop - Automated Text Email Marketing

I want software to automatically turn itself on in the morning before I get to work, check my e-mail, and automatically process any information requests, subscribe and unsubscribe people to my newsletter, import my customers' order forms into my customer database, as well as any survey forms into my database, process any autoresponder and e-mail forwarding requests, etc.

It just leaves me with personal e-mail to take care of when I get to my computer in the morning. If I want to e-mail my customers or potential clients (from ads I have run), I want software that, with a push of a button, will automatically mail merge my entire customer database information into mass personalized e-mail (like "Hi John, thanks for your inquiry on May 20th, 2002"... etc.).

If you have Corey Rudl's Internet Marketing course, you know the importance of "follow-up" offers and why it is critically important to stay in touch with your customers continually.

Software that can do this will make my business (and your business) VERY profitable. As you may already know, more than 50% of your net profits will come from follow-up offers, if you do it right.

How about software that will post my ad to 15 newsgroups every week (without getting cancelled by the cancel-bots)? And the list just goes on.

Well, there is software which will do everything just mentioned (and much more). It is called "Mailloop" and I highly recommend that you click here now to learn more about it (you will be pleasantly surprised).


Broadc@st - Desktop Bulk Email Solution

MailWorkZ has taken Email Marketing to new heights with its powerful relationship Marketing Tool, Broadc@st HTML. Using the power of advanced design tools, easy-to-use interface and campaign management features, you can send your bulk e-mail campaigns, newsletters, weekly specials, support tips or marketing messages in an effective and efficient manner - providing each of your customers with the personalized attention they expect and the support they deserve.

We want to show you how easy it is to create and send your own e-mail marketing campaign. Download your full featured copy of Broadc@st HTML for a Free 10 day trial - complete with technical support.

Broadc@st has thought of everything, send your messages in text, html email or AOL formats, plus extensive list management tools, campaign management and an easy to follow wizard. Click Here for More Info!

WorldMerge - Personalization Tool for Text & HTML eMessaging

ColoradoSoft's WorldMerge is a great little program which allows you to attached a spreadsheet or database to a mailing and insert merge codes wherever you wish to personalize.

Most suited for the Small Business of Department who manages their own data & customer lists. WorldMerge also has a great preview function which allows you to quickly scroll through every email you are about to send, AND let's you view the merged data - A+ program!


  Keep in touch with your visitors and customers...
  with Constant Contact
 

Service Announcement Example

Constant Contact
Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing

• Build and manage your permission-based email lists
• Create great looking HTML newsletters and promotions
• Track your results with extensive reporting features

Affordable - starts at just $10 per month
Start using it today - No obligation FREE trial
Take a tour
How it works
Free trial


   

eMerge, by Galleon software is a nice application for Macintosh users who want to send Bulk Email.

eMerge is a stand-alone Macintosh application that lets you create an e-mail form letter, customize it automatically for everyone on your mailing list, and send it directly to their Internet mail servers.

   
AWeber - Powerful Automated Autoresponders!
  • An instant autoresponder and six personalized follow up messages
  • Unlimited number of leads and message length
  • Broadcast and selective broadcast capability
  • Name, date, and more personalization features
  • Control over undeliverable lead addresses
  • Graphical account statistics & automated ad tracking features
  • Mailing list capability
  • Complete 24/7 control over your own account, via an online control panel & FREE customer support!

Try a FREE Test Drive of AWeber Today


 


More HTML Email Tips

It pays to sniff out your recipient's HTML Email ability.

Many products currently out on the market use what is commonly called "HTML Verify" to determine a client's HTML Email compatibility and deliver the appropriatly formatted messaged to them based on this detection.

You should always include a link to a copy of your HTML newsletter online.

Not only are you giving the user sometihng they can click on in case sometihng with your formatting comes out wrong, you are also creating more content for your webpage, more opportunities for links, more opportunities for being indexed...see where I'm going?

The personal touch.

For those of you who still think that personalizing your email to your recipient
(such as "Dear John",) through the use of merge codes & filters is too
formulamatic or "cheesy" 1 then you should consider two schools of thought.

1) Collect Personal Information. Personalize and you run the risk of sending imformation that they put in their as a joke. Such as "Dear jhgsdyt", or something a bit more raunchy. You may think that someone who would put such info in your "required" fields would never be a customer. Think again.

2) Do not Personalize. Anonymous does not mean "first time user". Read Jack Aaronson's article on exactly this topic here: http://www.clickz.com/crm/crm_strat/article.php/1377341

Collect data now.

You do not need to buy a list. You do not need to have a large budget or task a massive amount of resources to building up a relational database. What you need to do is starting building a database immediately using an opt-in sign-up form which will allow users to sign up for your future communications, offers, etc.

Start small. Your chances for getting bad data ("filler") or people abandoning your sign up will increase dramatically the more questions you ask or mark as "required". You can see our examples of a quick little signup survey here, which we feel gives us everything we need to send a personalized email communication to a geographically target list of customers and interested parties.

Sign up your existing customers at your own peril!

If you are starting a newsletter or a mailing list, and you happen to have a number of email addresses, customer lists, Outlook contacts, whatever... lying around, do not make the mistake of assuming that they will want to automatically be added to your list. You could get in big trouble with existing customers.

Automate the unsubscribes.

No matter what you use to send your HTML Email you should always have a method for unsubscribing at the beginning or the end of the email. If you can automate the process, you'll be a lot happier. (see how we do it below). You will also be able to give your recipient's an easy way to drop off of your list and receive a verification that they have been removed. You do not want to have to edit your database/customer list everytime someone emails you a request. You especially do not want to accidently email that same person once they've made such a request -- something you will not have to worry about if you provide an automated way to unsubscribe!

Although a common reaction, you should not always think of unsubscribes as an unhappy customer. There can be many reasons for an unsubscribe:

  1. They are an unhappy customer (ok, well..you had to expect this to be high on the list)
  2. They are changing email address, or do not want your newsletter coming to a work or some other address.
  3. You sent them an improperly formatted, excessively large, or some other dangerous script.
  4. They forgot that they opt-in or signed up for your newsletter in the first place.

1. "Cheesy" is not really a word...

 

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