Three Tips to Build Trust in Email Marketing

Jeannine Clontz — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:22:28 +0000

While using Email is an accepted form of Internet marketing, it’s still important that you build trust and show contacts that you respect them in how you collect email addresses and what you do with them. When a prospect shares their email address it greatly affects your ability to build on that trust. Here are three tips to help you build solid relationships with current and potential subscribers.

1. Set High Permission Standards

Never try to trick people into opting in for something. Get clear permission to send out everything you want to through your email marketing campaign. This means that you should never pre-check the opt-in box or trick subscribers with intentionally misleading text (i.e. "Do not select this option if you do not want to receive…"). It’s also important to provide clear information on what they’re signing up for and what they’ll be receiving; even how often they should expect them. Taking the extra step of requesting they confirm their opt-in status in a separate confirmation email, is a great way to communicate your intention.

2. Be Transparent About Your Privacy Policies

Don’t be like some email marketers and intentionally publish privacy policies in long legal speak, small print, or make it difficult to find, knowing that subscribers are unlikely to read them. Make it simple for them to discover and understand what exactly you intend to use their data for. Writing your privacy policies in simple language and making it easily accessible is a great way to show that you’re trustworthy and have nothing to hide.

3. Respect Permission to the Highest Degree

To keep prospect expectations high, never rent your list out to third parties even if you believe it won’t be tracked back to you. Don’t even use your list to promote other parts of your business, or other things they did not explicitly sign up for. Give your subscribers exactly what you told them to expect and they will recognize you as trustworthy.

When utilizing email as a part of your marketing plan show subscribers exactly why they should trust you; and respect their privacy at all costs. Never trick them into opting in for anything they don’t expect or fully understand and value the trust they show for you as they give you their email addresses.

How are you building trust with prospects and clients with your Email Marketing strategies? Please share your comments below.

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and VA Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?”, a 2-month trial in her Insider group coachingprogram, or 1-month trial of her coaching club visit: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Three Tips to Build Trust in Email Marketing is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Social Media Marketing Benefits

Jeannine Clontz — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:29:44 +0000

Social Media Marketing sure is HOT! I help my clients with their Social Media Marketing and I’m always asked, ‘What are the benefits?’

While most clients want to be assured that closing new business is a part of the benefit, and it is; it is probably the least in overall importance to your total marketing efforts within this platform.

As a generally ‘free’ form of marketing, social media can generate incredible exposure for your business. With proper use of your profile areas, and links, you can create lots of exposure to your offerings.

Not only will this increase traffic to your web presence, but you can increase your subscribers/database by making sure that you have something to offer people, with little to no cost, when they first connect to your home page.

These tools can also connect you to new business opportunities and joint ventures. By searching for groups that connect to your target market, you will soon find others well suited to your niche. These connections can lead to some pretty incredible relationships with like-minded entrepreneurs.

All this activity, back and forth between your social media also helps to increase your search engine optimization. Sort of a nice bonus – you’ll be much more visible when people are looking for your products and services.

Participation in multiple social marketing communities and groups can also help to generate a more qualified lead. Connections can be made through mutual friends, testimonials and recommendations, all which help to establish you as a trusted expert. In many cases, the lead has already decided to do business with you before they ever make a connection.

And while I will say that these social media sites have certainly helped me to close sales with new prospects, many in areas of the world I might never have reached otherwise, I believe the most important benefit I’ve found to social media marketing is the overall reduction of my marketing expenses.

By adjusting my marketing plan and being consistent with social networking, I have been able to reach more prospective clients, build stronger relationships with current clients, peers, and colleagues, for little to no cost. How bad could that be?

So take the plunge. Get involved with Social Media…and enjoy the ride!

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and Virtual Assistance Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?” or a 2-month trial in her group coaching program visit: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Social Media Marketing Benefits is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

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Three Tips to Build Trust in Email Marketing

Social Media Marketing Benefits