Consider the following scenario: You connect online with the manager of an exclusive wedding venue and then quickly add her to your shop mailing list. Within a few days, she’s receiving emails from your shop — and you feel on your way to having that coveted foot in the door. Success, right?
Maybe not, writes John Nemo, author of “LinkedIn Riches,” a book about leveraging the social media site. Nemo argues that, when trying to create real sales opportunities from online connections, many business owners forget an important etiquette rule: First, ask permission.
“This is the huge mistake far too many professionals continue to make: adding someone to our email list without his or her permission and without any context,” he wrote recently in Inc. magazine. “We wrongly believe that everyone — especially people we think are good sales prospects — would love to hear our incredible e-wisdom via the blast messages we send out promoting ourselves and our business.”
What should business owners do instead? Nemo has two tips:
Be generous. Rather than automatically adding someone to your email list, “entice” them to join. “You must offer people something specific, something tangible, and something of immediate value in exchange for his or her email address,” said Nemo, who himself offers free books, training videos or training sessions. “And the bigger the free gift you can offer someone, the more likely it is that he or she will sign up for your email list and engage with your content.” Remember, Nemo cautions, the carrot must be tangible. Simply “offering free tips or updates doesn’t work anymore in today’s marketplace,” he said.
Be courteous. With any new connection, resist the impulse to go into sales mode right away. Instead, try to establish a more personal relationship. “When I do make a new connection… I first send him or her a personal message, and in the context of that communication I might offer up one of my free resources based on what I think that person might be interested in,” Nemo said. “The key is this: I leave the decision about whether or not to sign up for my marketing emails to the other person.”
Looking to inject new life into your email marketing campaigns? Last September, Floral Management took an in-depth look at best practices. Read more.
