NOT using a custom-built email database? Well your business may flop sooner than you think.
Emailing customers is the way of the future.
And If you’re not using a custom-built email database to communicate with your customers, you are running behind, an e-marketing expert says.
Aussie Internet director Colin Cruickshank says collecting customers’ email addresses is a cheap and efficient way to tell them about your company’s new deals, new products and special events.
“You’re crazy if you don’t,” he says.
Since Australian legislation banned the commercial sale of email addresses, businesses have been forced to draw on their own resources to build email marketing lists.
And while the technology and programming “know-how” has existed for years, databases are now being compiled from businesses’ websites.
Mr Cruickshank said the trend started to gather momentum about 12 months ago.
If a person makes an inquiry, for example, purchases something from a website or downloads a brochure in situations where they must leave an email address, the system can harvest that address into a central database.
Once the systems are set up, employees can manually input existing email addresses and addresses they collect from clients face-to-face.
For example, email addresses printed on business cards that are tossed into a goldfish bowl at an event or trade show could be included in the database for e-marketing purposes, if a sign had been erected to outline their potential use.
And the experts say it is never too late to start collecting addresses.
Mr Cruickshank calls the new systems the biggest change in e-marketing and a great leveler for small business.
“It means 1000 emails can now be sent at the click of a button and a cost of about $50,” he said.
“Our clients say their customers are happy to be continuously receiving feedback and are inclined to deal with them more regularly.”
According to Australia’s anti-spam and media laws, a person’s email address can only be used for marketing purposes if prior consent, express or inferred, has been obtained from the owner.
Nicholas Campbell, corporate and regulatory affairs director for the Australian Direct Marketing Association – the largest peak body for marketers, said his organisation urged members to get express consent, using an opt-in clause.
“It is always better to ask the consumer what they want,” he said.
Given the harsh penalties that apply to the misuse of personal information, up to $1.1 million a day, it may also be a better option for a business’s bottom line.
Mr Campbell said marketers should also remember that email users can only be contacted within their reasonable expectations.
For example, a bank could send account holders information about credit card deals or new account options. But sending information about holidays or plasma screen TV deals would probably breach the law, he said.
Each message must also contain a functional unsubscribe option, which the recipient can click on to prevent further messages, and clearly indicate the sender.
“The industry has spent enormous time putting in processes to ensure people are asked what they want their personal information to be used for and are given an option to accept material or reject it,” Mr Campbell said.