Email List Management: How To Maximise Sales From Your Email database

Email is an important aspect of marketing online. But a single email is NEVER enough and in fact can be more costly down the road. Here's why...

Like standard advertising, it takes repetition in order to get people to first absorb the message, understand it and then ultimately take action.

Naturally, some people will immediately respond while others need to see the message more than once before they even think about responding.

The reason is that each individual has a specific buying behavior. For example, the marketplace is divided into several, graduated segments that are based on such behaviors. They are:

• Innovators (2.5%),
• Early adopters (13.5%),
• Early majority (34%),
• Late majority (34%) and
• laggards (16%).

Innovators are risk-takers and venturesome. They usually respond to new offers immediately and quickly, without giving them much thought.

Early adopters are impulsive, too, and respond to new ideas early taking action soon after the innovators do, albeit a little more carefully.

The bulk of the market consist of the "middle majority" (68%), consisting of the early and late majorities. It's the biggest "piece of the pie."

The first half, or early majority, typically respond to new ideas fairly quickly but are a little more cautious and conservative than early adopters.

The late majority, however, are more skeptical, careful and slow. They take their time, usually shop around and need to see offers more than a few times before giving them any consideration.

The final segment, or laggards, are the slowest to respond. They take action only after time has elapsed, usually once everyone else has done so.

So, what does it all mean to you?

Ultimately, the important thing to note here is that a marketer's goal is to effectively reach, persuade and incite the largest segment...

The middle majority (68% of your market).

But doing so is difficult to do with a mere, single mailing. Repeating your marketing message more than once is essential with this group.

Email marketing is much like blacksmithing. To mold the metal, you must hit the iron:
1) while it's hot,
2) in the right way and
3) many times.

Similarly, since the bulk of most sales occur in the follow-up process, you need to follow up in a timely, consistent and compelling manner.