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Becky Livingston

And how to prove they work.

by Becky Livingston
Royal Apple Marketing

It’s a new day and you’re starting your marketing strategy with a welcome message to new clients. You want to engage them from the start, yet, know they might not remember how you got their name in the first place.

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To help get you started, here are a few staples to include in your welcome message:

1. Personalization: “Dear Friend” is not as personal as “Dear Ed.” Even using language that speaks to your brand is important since this may be the first email message people are getting from you. For example, “Hi [firstname], We met at the [insert event name] over the holidays” might be the way to go. No matter what you choose, keep it personalized.
2. Remind Me Again: Remind new members how you got their name in the first place, was it from completing a contact us form on your web site, or possibly through a networking event, or maybe they downloaded a white paper.
3. Make Me an Offer: Giving potential clients a reason to visit your website, download a whitepaper, buy a product, or share a discount with a friend is an important way for them to get their foot in the door and to leveraging your brand. Make them an offer that makes them engage with your brand.
4. Tell My Friends: While you’re at it, give people an easy way to tell their friends about the great deal, promotion, information, whitepaper, etc. that you just sent to them. A one-click option, with social media connections is the way to go.
5. Keep Them Coming Back: Offer instructions on how to put your contact information on the “safe sender” list. For their piece of mind, also provide them an opt-out feature. It sounds counter-productive, but this step is very important and often builds trust with the recipient. Finally, let them know you will continue to offer value-added advice that is important in their lives.

In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of these tips, conduct a split test. Try an email with no personalization versus one with personalization and see how it does. Or consider one with an offer and one without. Avoid completely different messages because that will confuse the results, and you won’t know the one thing that made the difference. For full effectiveness, swap one item from the list in your test.

Becky Livingston is the President of Royal Apple Marketing, a social and digital marketing firm specialized in working with small business owners, non-profit leaders, and CPAs.

Posted January 14, 2012
Related Topics: digital, marketing