Email Marketing

An ongoing challenge for any online business is gaining the trust of new clients. Even well-known brands struggle with those who haven't used their service previously or very often.

When considering generating trust I think it's worth examining a simple purchase like buying an ice cream in your local park. If you've never had an ice cream from the person before that probably wouldn't stop you giving it a try. That is of course provided you think the van and seller is clean and hygienic and the ice creams look appetising. If all that seems OK then there are issues such as is it fairly priced and whether it tastes good to consider – product quality.

If it passes the taste test and cost analysis then the next time you're in the park you won't dismiss the idea of buying another one. In other words trust is established.

So what this shows is there are a set of stages leading up to trust which in this case results in a satisfied customer, repeat business and possible referral.

For a website, repeat business or referral is achieved by those running the site doing a good job from beginning to end. Although this is a fairly obvious statement it is easily forgotten. Along with quality of product and service, trust can be established in other ways and one of the most important is by building familiarity. If you have an online presence that someone will use from time to time rather than daily, weekly or monthly then staying in touch with clients is very important to remind them that you are there and what you offer.

It is of course very easy to contact someone too much. The other day I signed up for an investment newsletter and I was literally getting four emails a day from the company concerned. This is clearly ridiculous and I unsubscribed.

Examining the other side of the coin, surveys have shown that customers very often feel businesses don't contact them anywhere near enough and take this as a sign of indifference or worse still, neglect.

Taking the time to provide a monthly email that's informative, provides offers, useful tips or anything of real value to your clients will always upset the occasional "Angry of Tunbridge Wells"; most people will not object. Of course I wouldn't expect a large number of your clients to read every one or even just one of the emails, what's important here is to apply the 80:20 rule and don't worry about those who just let it slip down the Outlook window without a read. The trick is to gain trust by becoming part of the furniture...and of course to make sure you deliver so the trust is maintained.