If you are new to e-mail marketing or are planning a campaign, you may need advice to ensure you avoid the pitfalls and traps that occur in e-mail marketing.

Developing an e-mail marketing plan is no different to planning any other marketing activity. Assuming you are active in other media, e-mail marketing is but one of your marketing activities - albeit a very important one.

The key elements of any campaign can be summarised in the following steps. You will need to ask yourself many questions related to each of them.

What are your objectives?
Who are you talking to?
How will you segment? Customers and technology?
How will you be positioning your communications in the mind of the customer?
Will you distribute internally or outsource your distribution?
When will you distribute your messages?
How will you manage responses and fullfilment?
What about testing?
What are your measurement criteria?
How will you track and analyse your results?
What are you prepared to invest to achieve your objectives?

As well, you will need to determine your publishing schedule and allocate responsibility for content, production and distribution. Not to mention how often you send your messages.

And don't delegate responsibility for your e-mail marketing to a junior executive. You are talking directly and personally with your customers - your most valuable asset. This must take a high priority within your marketing or management team.

At BuzzMail we can help you determine what's right for both you and your customers to ensure you get the best value from your investment and achieve your objectives. Here's what one client says about our consulting services:

"Think SMART, I did......a half day "marketing planning" consultancy with Malcolm Auld provided me with direction, inspiration, motivation and most importantly results! To say it was worthwhile is an understatement and the Lake Taupo region (New Zealand) is benefiting directly from his expertise. Thanks Malcolm!
Kate Lowry, Convention Bureau Manager, Destination Lake Taupo

For the right advice on how to suceed with your e-mail campaign, call us on 61 2 9976 0900 or click here to send us an e-mail.