Most marketers will tell you that the most valuable marketing tool is “The List”. A list is a database of people and information about those people; they could be customers, leads, or random people who tangentially might be interested in a product.

Traditionally, this database included mailing addresses, but today’s database also includes the prospects’ email addresses. However, if you’re just getting started with email marketing, you may not have a bulk email list ready and waiting for you to send your message to.

There are a few strategies to developing your bulk email list. First, gather information from your existing customers and people who have expressed interest in your product or service. In the chart below from Marketing Sherpa, some of the most effective ways of gathering email addresses are presented.

Source: Marketing Sherpa

Alternatively, you could purchase or rent targeted email lists from marketing companies based on specific demographics; i.e. people who are likely to be interested in your products and services based on age, gender, location, interest in other companies, etc.

However, recipients of unsolicited email are far more likely to ignore messages that they didn’t opt-in to, and may mark those messages as spam. Therefore, the email contacts that you can obtain voluntarily are much more valuable, and these prospects are much more likely to respond to your message.

While on this topic, remember that when you do send out an email to your list, make sure to use a reputable email program or use a marketing service that will ensure that your message isn’t flagged as spam by internet service providers (ISPs).

Many ISPs will automatically flag senders that send large numbers of emails in one group, and the last thing you want to do is get your valid messages blocked before the recipient gets the chance to see them.

There are all sorts of reasons to send an email message to your customers or prospects.  You could be alerting them to a new product or service, following up on a purchase, or responding to an inquiry. The chart below summarizes the types of email messages B2B and B2C companies sent in February 2011 based on a percentage of respondents.

Source: Multichannel Merchant

According to the survey, while traditional email messages, such as promotional and transactional, make up the bulk of those sent by companies, “a growing percentage are using trigger emails such as birthday messages or cart abandonment follow-ups, with just more than 20% indicating that this was a practice they’ve done more frequently in the past year.” 

What’s the benefit of sending these types of trigger emails when considering new email marketing strategies?  In the age of analytics, companies have much of this information available, so why not put it to use?  On the other side, companies are realizing that these types of trigger emails show the prospect that you are interested in them.  Everyone loves when someone remembers their birthday, or if you thank them for their continued patronage of your business. As a result, they are more likely to think of you when they need the product or service that you provide.

So what types of email messages can be categorized as “trigger emails”? Bronto Software’s Online Marketing Manager Sally Lowery defines a trigger email as, “a message generated based on a meaningful change or event in a customer behavior or profile.”  Examples can include a welcome message after a prospects opts-in to an offer, order emails, shipment confirmations, request for feedback or a product/service review, birthday emails, cart abandonment notifications, or a promotional email based on products or services the recipient recently showed interest in.

Trigger emails can be easily added to your overall email marketing strategy, and you’ll be adding another degree of personalization to your customer interactions.

For marketers with a limited budget, email marketing can look quite attractive. Email is inexpensive to produce, and specialized equipment is not required. However, you run the risk of not conveying the same level of professionalism that you express in your print media if you don’t have the necessary experience and expertise. It might be worth your while to hire an email marking specialist to ensure that your message is conveyed clearly and delivered properly to your prospects.

A big difference between print messages and email messages is how they are viewed. Print media is viewed however you print it, so you are in control of its appearance. On the other hand, email messages can be viewed on a computer monitor, a tablet computer, or on a smart phone, so the message can appear very different depending on the device that its being read on. An email marketing specialist can design the appearance of an email message to ensure that it is effective in any form.

A specialist can also assist you in developing a personalization strategy for your email marketing. Your email messages can contain specific graphics, information, and offers that are based on the demographics and other information associated with each customer. Recipients are more likely to open email from companies that they trust who provide them with value. Research from GI Insight shows that 53% of the British public feel that almost all the emails they receive from companies and organizations is not relevant to them.

Finally, an email marketing specialist can help you ensure that your email marketing campaign is delivered on time and reduce the probability that yours messages are marked as spam by Internet service providers. They can also help you keep your database accurate and clean by reporting non-deliverable email addresses and opt-outs.