Email Marketing; A timeless form of marketing
Based on the original article in Greek by Andreas Frangou
Translated by Dafni Manti
The promotion and advertisement of a company’s products and services via email has been proven to be effective. Although there are other ways for a company to expand its customer base, email marketing has been used as the main strategy for most sales departments, especially for exports.
Email Marketing; How & Why
In Sales, human presence matters a great deal since salespeople are required to provide the public with information about the features of the product being sold, negotiate the price with them, offer technical support to them and provide them with updates on changes or new features. Technology has played a huge part in the sales industry for many decades now, especially in wholesale retail, where 90% of the promotion is done via email and 10% via trade fairs or business trips. Particularly in international markets, the presentation of the product to a client or company is based primarily on communication via email, followed by phone conferences using familiar communication tools (skype, zoom, teams, etc.).
Promo-emails & website
There are multiple benefits to a successful sales promotion campaign via email. It is the only way to go as far as market research goes, especially if it is export-oriented. A promotional email or promo-email is the easiest and cheapest way to introduce a product to a market and to gain trading partners. It is essential to personalize each email according to the recipient-company based on its characteristics, such as its area of expertise, its operation order, and other products in its assortment, the projects it handles and its general philosophy. Since the corporate website is promoted through electronic communication, translation into several languages, relevant and interesting photos, advertising brochures, user manuals and a portfolio of the most important projects carried out by the company are required.
Marketing policy
Proper integration of new markets and the acquisition of new customers require close collaboration with the marketing department. A thorough presentation, identification and emphasis on strengths, competition analysis, and illustration of commercial advantages, politeness, courtesy and humour are essential. The company’s strategy must be clear and promising in order to gain the trust of new partners and loyal clients.
Feedback & marketing tools
Emailing is one of the many marketing tools. It is highly important for companies to keep track of their quantitative and qualitative results, which should be thoroughly discussed during company meetings. Complaints, requests, ideas and comments are the basis of gaining more customers and progress in general. Furthermore, honesty, credibility and professional ethics are what keep clients around.
Email Marketing; Networking
A strong network of customers and partners, apart from careful planning, requires the type of feedback that only email marketing can provide. It goes without saying that it should be combined with other modern tools, especially online programs that create polls, questionnaires and other statistical data analysis. Former and new customers, suppliers, occasional stakeholders, permanent and external partners and even competing companies are all part of the company’s database.
Social media
The power and potential of social media is absolutely worth mentioning. An email campaign would be more successful if it were accompanied by a strong social media presence. Combined, they make the best marketing plan. Pretty brochures or clever emails are not enough. Being organized and effectively connected with the most current platforms has become absolutely necessary.
Play around with Email Marketing
It is a good idea for entrepreneurs to take an interest in e-business and put a lot of emphasis on email marketing. It will take hours of work, countless promotional plans and thorough analysis of the results. Hard-working and skilled partners will be vital allies, time will remain the most permanent competitor. Nevertheless, the global market is an inexhaustible source of new opportunities for this timeless method of marketing.