20 Jan The Email Blast – Quick, Cheap, Easy, Effective PR
We hear it time and time again…a business needs a quick, cheap, easy, effective way to reach out to customers. One solution is doing an email blast, or eblast, which is an email message that is sent to a mass recipient list. An eblast can be sent once-in-a-while or regularly, such as a monthly e-newsletter. We recommend doing eblasts via online email marketing companies, such as Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, or Vertical Response. These companies allow you to upload and maintain your contact list on their websites, and their programs have the ability to send your email to hundreds or thousands of people safely and effectively. In some cases, if an individual sent an email to a lengthy list of recipients from their own email account, their recipients email servers could automatically block the message as spam, or junk mail. With Constant Contact or Vertical Response, you can rest assured that all the hard work that you put in your email message was worth it and your email will get to your customer. Let’s delve more into the reasons that eblasts are quick, cheap, easy and effective.
1. Quick – An email is instant. Almost as soon as you press send, your recipients will receive your message in their inbox. With the ever increasing use of smartphones, tablets, etc., people are constantly retrieving email from anywhere, not just when they are seated at their computer. Your email will most likely be read by most recipients within minutes of when you sent it. Eblasts are also a fast way to communicate with your publics in the event of an emergency.
2. Cheap – Email blasts coordinated through email marketing companies such as Constant Contact or Vertical Response provide very inexpensive options for emailing your contacts. How cheap is it? We just sent an blast to 600 recipients and paid a mere $9 for it. When you compare this to the price of purchasing an ad, it is a small investment. These companies also have monthly payment options for those who want to send more frequent emails.
3. Easy – One of the best parts of marketing with an email blast is that you can do it yourself. You don’t need to hire a graphic designer, html programmer, or other vendor to send an eblast. Of course, you can if you want to, which will ensure the utmost professionalism and maximize all aspects of the piece. However, if you don’t have the financial resources to do so, it is not necessary. Email marketing websites like the ones we mentioned above are user friendly, for those who have general computer skills, and also provide phone assistance should you need help. They also offer many free professional email templates that you can insert your information into and send. As with any new program, taking the time to read instructional blogs and tips helps to make creating the eblasts easier and allows you to take advantage of all of the features.
4. Effective – If you were to purchase a print ad, you would choose a publication that you presume your target public reads. Then, you have to hope that your target public actually reads the publication and your ad attracts their attention. With an email, you can be assured that your message will go directly to your recipient’s inbox, which has a higher likelihood of catching their attention versus the ad. Also, these email programs provide very detailed measurement. You are able to generate reports that tell you who opened the email, clicked on a link, forwarded to a friend, etc. With an ad, there’s no way to know exactly how many people saw it and acted in it, unless they mention it to you.
In business and public relations, results often take some time to yield. But, if you want to do something right now that you have total control of and that can influence your customer to act now (click on a link, print out a coupon, visit your website or social media account, make an order, etc.), we recommend sending an email blast.
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