An Unexploited Market: Striking Gold Without Searching for El Dorado

Companies have been focused on using the Internet to market goods and services to the consumer. Many see this as the major revenue stream on the net. But there is an undiscovered El Dorado, a goldmine of opportunity that very few have begun to mine.

Traditionally, companies have tried to capitalize on the Internet by establishing a Web page where consumers can research and buy products or services on-line. These Web sites are elaborate brochures touting the company's many qualities and competencies. A few companies, like Amazon.com, and retail giant L.L. Bean, have turned these online retail brochures into huge success stories. Many companies have tried to replicate this success, with uneven results, stumbling because of a few inherent problems with the Web page.

Web pages are static. They require a potential customer to find them, and once found, to bookmark the page and forget about it.

Some have managed to mitigate these problems with direct email offers. For instance, I periodically logged on to Amazon.com to look at the latest fiction releases. Some time last year, emails from Amazon began arriving in my inbox. These emails announced new releases of fiction, and in some cases offered a discount. Links took me directly to the Web page. In some cases, I have bought books that I might never have bought, or might have bought from elsewhere. I am not alone.

The Motivation to Go Online

More than half of American adults are online. They use the Internet for two primary purposes, email and product research. Almost half of Americans now use email and more than one-third use the Internet to search for product and service information before making online purchases.

Not surprisingly, marketers have been quick to try to capitalize on this effective sales channel. Opt-In News, published by Keaton Communications, recently reported that 54.2 percent of advertisers used emails to promote their products at the end of 2001, making direct email marketing the most used retail channel on the Internet. Almost 60 percent of email marketing campaigns in 2001 were focused on retail.

The report also revealed where the undiscovered gold I previously mentioned will be found. Amazingly, only 20 percent of these companies used email newsletters, and so capitalized on the first use, but failed to make use of the second reason people log online. Email newsletters fuse the two main purposes for which people go, email and research, and it's more effective than simple email offers, which often come across as "SPAM."

But there is an even larger undiscovered mother lode. Consumers are only a portion, and a minority portion at that, of the users surfing the Internet. Nearly 80 percent of the managers and professionals in the nation use the Internet at work. 70 percent of sales, marketing, technical support and administrative workers use the Internet in their jobs. Again, the two biggest uses were email first, and research second.

Leading the Reader to Read the Newsletter

Given this, it might seem astonishing that the marketers haven't begun mining the B2B gold with email newsletters. The reason is that most marketers use the form poorly.

The average businessperson now gets over 50 emails a day. When they open their in-box they have three thoughts in mind ? which do I read, which I save to read later, and which do I delete without opening?

Therefore, the first rule is to only send your newsletter to people who want it. Encourage people in your database to opt-in to receiving your newsletter. This brings us to the second cardinal rule, the newsletter must provide value if they are to continue receiving it, opening it, reading it, and most importantly, acting on it.

Most marketers simply want to beat the company drum, talk about new products or services, tout recent awards, new hires, or promising mergers. But the better strategy is to focus the content of the newsletter on the reader. It is better to pull than to push with your content, better to provide articles that explore issues, engage dialogue, solve problems common to your readers than it is to simply blow your own horn. Americans are so snowed under with advertising that we have effective filters. Anything smacking of a pitch will be screened, the message lost.

Marketers can keep their newsletter in the 'read and saved column' by making sure their content meets the following criteria:

Relevant ? the content speaks to the customer's interests and not your own.

Anticipated ? Distribute on a regular basis so people expect your newsletter to arrive on a certain day, but don't publish so often they become fatigues with you.

Monitored ? One of the best benefits provided by online marketing channels is the reporting. Monitor how readers are looking at your newsletter and alter it to conform to their interests.

Email newsletters with timely, interesting articles are more apt to get forwarded, increasing the number of readers with time. Everyone who reads the newsletter and decides to opt-in to a company's list is a qualified lead. B2B newsletters are the latest undiscovered gold in the virtual world.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl's notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn't wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

---

Sucking in Readers: Proven Ways to Increase Reader Interaction

You've probably heard this educational philosophy:Tell me, and I'll forget.Show... Read More

How Autoresponders Boost Sales By Up To 400%

Imagine going to bed and waking up in the morning... Read More

Using Mirror Pages Effectively

Thought I would share with you a very effective technique... Read More

Successful Advertising

Most folks starting out on the Internet have tried free... Read More

Dont Attach That!

The topic of sending attachments by e-mail is not one... Read More

Get Viral

Hey, using eBooks, eReports and eCourses is a fantastic way... Read More

An Unexploited Market: Striking Gold Without Searching for El Dorado

Companies have been focused on using the Internet to market... Read More

20 Ways To Increase Your Traffic And Sales Using Free Follow-Up Autoresponder Courses

An autoresponder course is a group of articles or information... Read More

Creative and Profitable Ways to Use Autoreponders

An interested visitor who has been strolling through your site... Read More

How to Start A Money Making Newsletter

Writing and publishing a successful newsletter is perhaps the most... Read More

9 Tips To Help You Write More Powerful Emails

1. Make the effort to learn about the etiquette (these... Read More

The Power of a Referral Script

The key to the success of e-commerce is in the... Read More

15 Ways to Manage Your E-Mail More Effectively

? Are you tired of searching for e-mail messages you... Read More

Does Punctuation Really Matter in Email?

So much depends on choosing the correct mark of punctuation... Read More

How to Laser Your Email Messages

If you're in business and use email, you've likely learned... Read More

Use the ?Reply All? Function in Email Judiciously

Type "email etiquette" into the search bar of any popular... Read More

Free Mailing Lists: Good Or Bad?

Advantages of the free mailing listsThe free newsletters are a... Read More

Email: When You Dont Get a Response

The lack of an email response is an issue I... Read More

Could This Be The End of Sp^am?

The war on sp^am has so far been waged on... Read More

How To Get People To Constantly Open Your e-Mail Promotions Or Your Newsletter

In this article I'm going to talk strictly from a... Read More

Are Your Subscribers Receiving Your Newsletter?

In my e-mail one day, I received the following message:... Read More

Plain Jane Email Equals Flat Results

Years ago, when email was just emerging as the incredible... Read More

Viral Marketing - Your Key to Gaining New Clients

Email newsletters are an excellent means of promoting the products... Read More

Do You Ponder the Automatic Responder?

* The Automatic Responder is generally referred to as an... Read More

Email Marketing Losing Its Effectiveness? The Alternative Is Desktop Marketing!

You've heard of email marketing, but it isn't what it... Read More

An Aspirin or an Autoresponder!

Tired of silly old email enquiries? Say hello to autoresponders!If... Read More

Attract New Subscribers With Magnetic Ads

One of the most effective methods of advertising your e-zine... Read More

Get More Targeted Traffic, List Subscribers and Customers; Without Paying a Cent!

No doubt one of the overriding concerns you have is... Read More

Are Your Emails Being Heard

Yes, the headline is spelled right. What if you had... Read More

A Review on Email Go Getter System (EGGS)

A Review on Email Go Getter System (EGGS) by Martin... Read More

Creating Effective Opt-in E-Mail Campaigns

It's been said before, but important to re-emphasize, e-mail is... Read More

Building The Best Opt In Email List

The #1 Thing You *MUST* Have Before Even Thinking About... Read More

Guidelines For A New Sending Paradigm - Part 1 of 5 - Treat Email as a True Risk and Cost Center

Sustainable email sending programs in an inherently hostile environment now... Read More