Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: How to Use Email As a Viral Marketing Tool

  1. #1
    Email problem derekjay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Johannesburg
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked 46 Times in 28 Posts

    Lightbulb How to Use Email As a Viral Marketing Tool

    Hi Guys

    Here's a little article I wrote on email marketing - hope you enjoy!

    How To Use Email As A Viral Marketing Tool

    The use of email as a marketing tool has been long used and abused by internet marketers around the globe. This has become such a problem that development of spam blockers and similar applications has become an industry itself. But how can you, as a legitimate (and considerate) marketer harness the power of email marketing in their business?

    First things first - build up an opt-in email list and send a weekly, biweekly or monthly newsletter with useful content. The keyword here is "useful content" - no-one is interested in reading about which employees had their birthday this month, or that you've just bought new office stationery..

    Use your newsletter to provide informative and useful information, such as "How to XYZ" or "What to do when XYZ happens". If the reader finds this information useful, there's a good chance they will forward it on to other prospects, who will then also visit your site and join your mailing list. Your email list of prospects then grows virally with little effort on your part.

    Freebies, competitions and giveaways are always popular newsletter tactics. Always design your newsletters with the reader in mind - think along the lines of "why should they bother reading my email when they have a million other things to do". This will get you into the mind-set of the email marketer...

    Please note that, by law, every email sent to your list needs to have an "unsubscribe" link or method by which the user can unsubscribe from the list. It is illegal to send any sort of bulk email without this feature.

    There are two ways two create and manage an effective email list or database:

    • Offline - This means using your email program (Outlook, etc) to email your list. This is however very inefficient and unreliable. You will also use a lot of internet bandwidth in the process and end up getting blacklisted as a spammer in most cases (due to the difficulty of unsubscribing).
    • Online - This entails using an online bulk emailing service. These companies will host your database, manage unsubscribes (as required by law), and send your email newsletters on time, every time. I highly recommend going this route as it is the only viable option in the long run.

    Two bulk email service providers that have proven to be very reliable are:

    •Aweber - The leader's in bulk emailing, with pricing options from $1 USD per month. They are very user-friendly and offer a wide range of email templates to get you started.
    •TouchBasePro - A South African based emailing company. Good for starting out from about R100 per month, but not a lot of customizability or email templates.


    If you remember to always consider your email content from the reader's point of view, and dedicate your campaigns towards useful content, you can be assured of great success using email marketing as a viral tool.

  2. Thank given for this post:

    Dave A (03-Jun-10), wynn (21-May-10)

  3. #2
    Email problem
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    West Coast
    Posts
    47
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    very true.

    just one ting - the $1 option at aweber is a 30 day trial.

    very interesting about touchbase - it's the first affordable local AR company...

    lastly, it beats me why no business website seems to be collecting email addresses....

    after all, it is the cheapest and most effective way of keeping in touch with customers...

    but i guess nobody ever told the great web designers that.....

    sorry...just had to get that one out.

    creating a viral email can be as simple as getting a great joke, adding your sig file to it, and passing it on to all your friends....

    and then simply ask the readers to pass it along to their friends.

    easy. simple. sometimes effective. but then again, any kind of viral marketing is hit and miss...

    peter

  4. #3
    Email problem derekjay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Johannesburg
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked 46 Times in 28 Posts
    @Peter - You're on the money there. And yes, Aweber's $1 offer is for 30 days.

    Email marketing is one of the most under-rated marketing tools in this country. The new PPI Bill, as well as the existing ECA bill is tightening up how you can go about email marketing though - but its a good thing. The less spam people get, the more attention they will pay to "legitimate" email from a sender they know.

  5. #4
    Suspended
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    calabar
    Posts
    3
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    nice sir thanks but i prefer facebook marketing tecgniqu

  6. #5
    Email problem
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Vanderbijlpark
    Posts
    19
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Princeton View Post
    very true.

    lastly, it beats me why no business website seems to be collecting email addresses....


    peter
    Peter I think a lot of business websites are lately using "Opt Ins" to build their lists. However this means that you have to give away a "valuable freebie" in order for visitors to want to "opt in".

  7. #6
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    I never read newsletter and stuff. There is simply too much of it. If I wanted to read jokes I would find a site full of jokes. The problem is that marketers think that we actually care about what they have to say. I really don't have the inclination to wade through pages of waffle from each of the companies I deal with. I scan the page and toss it. I've set up rules to dump stuff sent to me from certain companies, i.e. Homechoice (I don't care what new linen they've got), anything related to training, insurance, banking, IT, and many other topics. If I wanted this information I would look for it myself. I am yet ti receive an offer in a newsletter or unsolicited email that was worth anything. No I'm not negative, I feel that it is like having my post box overfilled with junkmail, I didn't ask for it and I don't want it. I don't want to opt-out opt-in or hear about it - I just want the marketers and advertisers to stay out of my life.

  8. #7
    Full Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    45
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Princeton View Post
    Lastly, it beats me why no business website seems to be collecting email addresses...
    Here's a business opportunity, then. ZA law requires that spammers be able to tell victims where they got their mail addresses, and most web sites collecting e-mail addresses don't keep track of this information. With a little scare tactics and a good brief you could convince a number of business web sites to plug a service into their sites that collect e-mail addresses while ensuring legal compliance.

    creating a viral email can be as simple as getting a great joke, adding your sig file to it, and passing it on to all your friends...
    Do you read sig files? I certainly don't. What am I missing?

  9. #8
    Email problem derekjay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Johannesburg
    Posts
    110
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked 46 Times in 28 Posts
    It's important to remember that all of the above mentioned is simply to be used in conjunction with your existing marketing strategy. Unless you broadcast to an incredibly large audience, you're not going to produce mega results with email. It is however a great complementary tool to add to your arsenal, considering how little it costs in time and money vs more traditional marketing methods.

  10. #9
    Platinum Member SilverNodashi's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Johannesburg, South Africa
    Posts
    1,197
    Thanks
    12
    Thanked 188 Times in 136 Posts
    I do want to add something to this

    We see a lot of small / new companies using email marketing to try and reach new potential clients. And one of the biggest mistakes they make is to simply send out a bulk email using their desktop email client, and putting every recipient in the CC:, or BCC: fields. Then 3 days later they wonder why they got listed as spammers, they're ISP got blacklisted and often times they then label the ISP as a bad ISP.

    Don't do this. If you want to spam, then at least learn todo it properly. You'll reach more people and get more ROI.
    Get superfast South African Hosting at WebHostingZone

Similar Threads

  1. [Article] Your website is a waste of money!
    By Chatmaster in forum Marketing Forum
    Replies: 37
    Last Post: 28-Nov-10, 03:00 PM
  2. [Article] Viral Marketing
    By Chatmaster in forum Marketing Forum
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 02-Sep-10, 10:12 AM
  3. Is Internet marketing more than just SEO
    By Chatmaster in forum Marketing Forum
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 12-Mar-08, 12:45 PM

Tags for this Thread

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •