Mail Bonding: Loyal clients are just an e-mail away, says the maverick behind online campaigns for Intrawest and the Backstreet Boys
Stratagy Magazine
01/11/01

Every day you’re bombarded by 3,000 marketing messages, from product packaging, retail signage and billboards to print, radio and TV ads. As a consumer, you do your best to filter out all the messages you can. As an entrepreneur, however, you want your own message to cut through all that clutter. Fortunately, technology has given us a new tool. Where traditional marketing campaigns fail, e-mail marketing can shine through.

E-mail marketing allows you to speak one-to-one with your audience in a respectful, intelligent and creative way. It is extremely cost-effective, provides the foundation for future marketing initiatives, and delivers measurable results. Consider this: when my firm, N5R Inc., did an e-mail promotion for a major financial Web portal, 25% of recipients signed on as clients.

You won’t always get results like that, but you can improve your odds by following a few simple rules. Here are some tactics we’ve applied for some of the biggest brands in the world.

Find somebody to love
We’ve found that contests are most effective for developing a qualified mailing list. It’s simple: people visit your website and fill out an entry form for a chance to win a prize, whether it's a vintage Porsche or 25% off their next order. But beyond contact info, your entry form should probe for details that can aid subsequent marketing efforts. For instance, a trucking company might ask about the contestant’s product and shipping needs. Promoting your contest doesn’t have to cost a dime: you can mention your contest in your current marketing campaign, employees’ voice-mail greetings and e-mail signatures.

Tell a friend
When was the last time you didn’t open e-mail from a colleague? That’s why viral or "refer-a-friend" marketing is so effective. In viral marketing, people tell their friends about your promotion at no additional cost to you. Encourage viral marketing by giving "referrers" an additional chance to win. Ask each entrant for the names and e-mail addresses of a few contacts, and send those people an e-mail that makes the offer and states who made the referral. Our success rate with the refer-a friend option is astonishing — we attract up to half of our entrants this way.

Get permission
Building a database that can be segmented for future mailings is your goal. (For example, you could invite local prospects to visit your showroom, while e-mailing a virtual tour to the rest of the world.) But be warned: it’s unethical and will soon be illegal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail or "spam", so your entry form must request permission to send future e-mail. Sweeten the deal by giving an extra chance to win to anyone who agrees to receive your messages.

Make the pitch
Why would someone want to continue receiving your e-mails? Your database will help you understand each client’s wants and needs, enabling you to create personalized messages about new products, special offers and interesting events.

Keep your messages brief, fun and informative, and use catchy subject lines. ("John, what color Porsche do you prefer?" will get more responses than "Cars for sale.") Weave the recipient’s name into the copy, and sign off with the name of one of your senior executives.

Engage and evaluate
Hire a third-party to analyze, for instance, who opened your e-mail, when they visited your site and what pages they viewed. It’s great data that can help you pinpoint your best leads and what information, offers and visual design they respond to.

We’re still learning about what makes for successful e-mail campaigns, yet they’re already working for some of the biggest companies in the world. Just imagine what e-mail can do for your business.

Roman Bodnarchuk is president and CEO of Toronto-based N5R Inc., which produces online promotions for Fortune 500 companies.