As a small business owner, you know what it means to have to fight for your share of the market. Competition is everywhere and you only have a few chances to set yourself apart to show that you are the company that deserves attention.

So what sets you apart from the next guy? I would say that the two things a business should be judged on are it’s  products, of course, and it’s level of customer service.  That’s always important!

But take a step back and think, what do you get when you combine those two elements? What do your consumers really consider before they choose who to do their business with?

Reputation. That’s what it all boils down to.

If your company has a good reputation, any number of small sins can be forgiven, and you can be sure that you’re in good standing with most, if not all, of your customers. On the same hand, if your company has a rep that’s the equivalent to an Atlantic City loan shark, well, odds are, you aren’t going to be in business very much longer.

So, what does this have to do with email marketing?

Well, people can tell a lot about a company by how they market themselves, and with email marketing being one of the most effective options for small businesses these days, it’s important for you as a small business owner to make sure your email marketing campaign isn’t hurting you when it should be helping.

Here are a few examples of what NOT to do.  Avoid these hazardous practices, and you’ll be on your way to not only a successful marketing campaign, but a successful business.

Start Fresh

An email marketing campaign needs one thing to get off the ground – emails. Now, gathering emails can be a tricky business, and, of course, while everyone wants to get their marketing campaign up and running as soon as possible, buying a pre-gathered email list is pretty much not allowed.

Think of it this way: you will be sending emails to people who never asked for them. I’m sure part of that sounds great, I mean, who wouldn’t want a crack at roping in new customers, but what it looks like on the customers’ side of the street, is SPAM, and nobody trusts a SPAMmer.

Double Opt-In

I hate to sound like a broken record, but this helpful little hint is very closely related to the last one, and will go a long way when it comes to separating you from the SPAMmers out there.

Always use the double opt-in method when gathering email addresses. Basically, all the double opt-in method entails is sending everyone who subscribes to your mailing list a confirmation email, making sure that they signed up on purpose. If you don’t use double opt-in, you are opening yourself up to SPAM complaints which, like I mentioned above, are one of the quickest ways to lose your customers trust and ruin your rep.

If You Love Them, Set Them Free

People get antsy when they don’t have options. Just because someone signed up for your email a year ago, doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to keep getting it this year. Make sure that each and every email that you send has an easy to see “opt-out” link (usually at the top or bottom of the email).  Again, if you don’t give your subscribers this option, you are treading dangerously close to SPAM territory.

Tell The Truth

Another way to ruin your business’s rep is to go back on promises that you’ve made to your subscribers. Anything that you tell your readers, from the length of a warranty to a product description to the amount of times they will be receiving an email from you, is a form of promise. Once you start breaking those promises, you may as well say goodbye to whatever reputation you had.

Keep It Fresh

The very first thing you learn when you enter the world of email marketing is: Content is King.

Everyone knows it. Some version of that phrase is in pretty much in every email marketing guide and article that has ever been written.

Why?

Because it’s true. The minute you start sending out sub par content is the minute your readers begin to lose interest in you, and your business will become stagnant, stale, and out of date. If you want to keep your reputation strong, deliver the fresh content every time.

 

 

 

About the Author: Daniel Cassady is an experienced freelancer, guest blogger, and frequent contributor to a blog hosted by Benchmark Email, one of theworld’s global email marketing company.