commonly used phrases. Some common abbreviations are:
• BTW By the way
• IMHO In my humble opinion
• IMO In my opinion
• IOW In other words
• JFYI Just for your information
• NBD No big deal
• NOYB None of your business
• TIA Thanks in advance
• PMFJI Pardon me for jumping in
• OIC Oh, I see . . .
• OTL Out to lunch
• OTOH On the other hand
• LOL Laughing out loud
• LMHO Laughing my head off
• ROFL Rolling on the floor laughing
• BFN Bye for now
• CYA See ya!
• FWIW For what it’s worth
• IAE In any event
• BBL Be back later
• BRB Be right back
• RS Real soon
• WYSIWYG What you see is what you get
•
Because e-mail shorthand is most commonly used in newsgroups
and chat rooms, you will be most successful when using these acronyms
with others who are familiar with them.
E-mail Marketing Tips
Be prepared. You will receive a number of e-mails requesting information
on your company, your products, your locations, and so on, from
people who have seen your e-mail address on letterhead, ads, business
cards, and sig files. Don’t wait for the first inquiry before you begin to
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develop your company materials. Here are some tips. Following them
will make you more prepared to respond.
Include a Brochure and Personal Note
Have an electronic brochure or corporate information available that
you can easily access and send via e-mail. Try to send a personal note in
your e-mail along with any material requested.
Gather a Library of Responses
Different people will ask a number of the same questions, and over time
you should develop a library of responses to these frequently asked questions.
When responding to an e-mail, ask yourself if you are likely to get
the question again. If your answer is “yes,” then consider developing a
document in your word processor called “Frequently Asked Questions,”
or “FAQs.” In the future, when you get a question that you have answered
before, simply cut and paste your response from your FAQs file
into your e-mail message. Always make sure to appropriately edit and
personalize your responses.
Following Formalities with E-mail Netiquette
When writing e-mails, remember these points:
• Be courteous. Remember your pleases and thank-yous.
• Reply promptly—within 24 hours.
• Be brief.
• Use lowercase characters. Capitals indicate SHOUTING!
• Use emoticons where appropriate.
• Check your grammar and spelling.
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• Use attachments sparingly.
• Do not send unsolicited bulk e-mail.
Reply Promptly
People expect an answer the same day or the next day at the latest.
E-mail communication is like voice mail. If you do not respond within
24 hours, you send a very clear message to your clients, potential clients,
and colleagues: “Your communication is not important to me.”
Respond within 24 hours, even if the message is only, “Sorry, I can’t get
to this immediately. I’ll try to have a reply for you by the end of the
week.” This might be a response you will want to save in a readily
available file, from which you can copy and paste it into an e-mail message.
A prompt reply, even if it says you can’t respond immediately, is
better than a delayed full response. The people writing you for information
will appreciate the fact that you felt their message was important
enough to respond to immediately.
Internet Resources for Chapter 10
I have included a few resources for you to check out when using e-mail.
For additional resources on a variety of topics, visit the Resources section
of my Web site at http://www.susansweeney.com/resources.html.
There you can find additional tips, tools, techniques, and resources.
A Beginner’s Guide to Effective E-mail
http://www.Webfoot.com/advice/e-mail.top.html
Help in writing the e-mail you need. Formats and why you need e-mail
are all explained in detail.
E-mailAddresses.com
http://www.e-mailaddresses.com
A directory of numerous free e-mail services including POP accounts,
e-mail forwarding, newsletters, and so on.
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E-mail—The Mining Company
http://e-mail.miningco.com/internet/e-mail
Updated weekly, this site consists of articles and links to e-mail resources
on many topics: beginning e-mail, finding people, free e-mail, greeting
cards, privacy, and much more.
I Will Follow.com E-mail Tips
http://www.iwillfollow.com/e-mail.htm
This site offers advice to beginners on all aspects of using e-mail.
Smith Family Internet Marketing Support
http://www.smithfam.com/news/ap12.html
“The Secrets of E-mail Marketing Success,” an article by Lesley Anne Lowe.
Windweaver
http://www.windweaver.com/emoticon.htm
Recommended emoticons for e-mail communication.
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11
Autoresponders
Autoresponders act much like fax-on-demand systems. With fax-ondemand
systems you call from your fax machine, dial the specified code,
and you’ll get back the requested document on your fax
machine. The autoresponder works much the same
way—you send an e-mail to an autoresponder e-mail
address and you’ll get back the requested information
via e-mail. In this chapter, you will learn:
• What autoresponders are
• Why you should use autoresponders
• What types of information to send via autoresponders
• Autoresponder features
• Tips on successful marketing through autoresponders.
What Are Autoresponders?
An autoresponder is a program located on a mail server that is set up to
automatically send a preprogrammed reply to the e-mail address that sent
Autoresponder
A computer program
that automatically
returns a prewritten
message to anyone
who submits e-mail to
a particular Internet
address.
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Autoresponders 201
mail to it. The reply can be a single message or a series of preprogrammed
messages. They are known by many names, such as infobots, responders,
mailbots, autobots, automailers or e-mail-on-demand.
Why Use Autoresponders?
One of the major benefits of using an autoresponder is the immediate
response—24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, providing
immediate gratification for the recipient.
Autoresponders are a real time saver, eliminating the need for manual
responses for many mundane and routine requests. They also enable
you to track responses to various offers to assist you in your ongoing
marketing efforts.
One big advantage with today’s autoresponders is the ability to schedule
multiple messages at predetermined intervals. The first response can
go immediately, with a second message timed to go two days after the
first, a third message to go five days after the second, and so on. Market
research shows that a prospect needs to be exposed to your message
multiple times to become a motivated buyer.
Today’s autoresponders are getting even more sophisticated in terms
of mail list administration. These programs gather the e-mail addresses
of people requesting information, and store them in a database. The
program adds new names to the database and eliminates e-mail addresses
that no longer work. Today’s autoresponder programs also provide
reports about site visitors requesting information. This technology
is very cost effective when compared to manual responses by a human,
not to mention the associated telephone and fax costs.
Personalization is a standard feature of today’s autoresponder programs.
Autoresponders are used to send all kinds of information:
• Price lists
• Welcome letters
• Thank you letters
• Out-of-office advice
• Order confirmations
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• Sales letters
• Catalogs
• News releases
• Brochures
• Job lists
• Spec sheets
• Assembly instructions.
You can provide a copy of your newsletter so people can read a
copy before subscribing, or anything else in which your target market
might be interested.
Why use an autoresponder when you could just provide the information
on your Web site? There are many reasons. With the autoresponder
you have the interested party’s name and e-mail address; you don’t get
that from a visitor to your site. The autoresponder also provides you with
the opportunity to send multiple messages to your potential customer.
Types of Autoresponders
There are three different types of autoresponders:
• Free
• Web host
• Other autoresponder providers.
There are many free or minimal-fee autoresponders available that
come with an ad on your responder page. Some Web hosting companies
provide autoresponders in their Web hosting packages. There also
are many autoresponder service providers that offer packages for a fee
if you don’t want to have ads placed on your responder page.
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Autoresponders 203
The important thing is to get the autoresponder that has the features
you are looking for.
Autoresponder Features
When you are looking for an autoresponder, you want to make sure it
has all the features to enable you to make the most of this marketing
activity. Today’s autoresponders keep getting better—new features are
being added all the time. Some of the things you want to look for are
discussed below.
Personalization
Today’s autoresponders capture the requester’s name as well as e-mail
address, allowing personalized responses.
Multiple Responses
Studies have shown that a potential customer has to be exposed to your
message multiple times before he or she is ready to buy. Many autoresponders
allow multiple messages on a scheduled time line.
Size of Message
Some autoresponders have a limit on the size of the message that can be
sent. Ensure that your autoresponder can handle any message you would
want to send to prospective customers.
Tracking
You must have access to tracking reports that provide you with
information to enable you to track the results of your marketing
efforts. You need to be able to determine what is working and what
is not.
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HTML Messaging
Choose an autoresponder that can handle HTML and plain text e-mails.
Studies have shown that HTML marketing e-mails get a higher clickthrough
rate.
Autoresponders are constantly being enhanced. Stay current.
Successful Marketing through Autoresponders
The technology itself is only one piece of this marketing technique. The
content of the messages sent out by the autoresponder is the determining
factor in converting recipients of your message to customers. The
following tips will help you produce effective messages:
• Personalize. Personalize your messages using the recipient’s name
throughout the message and in the subject line.
• Tone. Selling is all about relationships. Give your messages a
tone that builds relationships.
• Focus on the reader’s needs, and how your product or service
provides the solution. Focus on the benefits.
• Subject line. Have a catchy subject line, but don’t use ad copy.
Ad copy in a subject line is a sure way to get your message deleted
before it is read.
• Include a call to action. It is amazing how often people do what
they are told to do.
• Use correct spelling, upper- and lowercase letters, grammar, and
punctuation. This correspondence is business correspondence
and is a reflection of everything related to how you do business.
• Get to the point quickly. Online readers have little patience with
verbose messages.
• Write for scannability. Have a maximum of six or seven lines
per paragraph.
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Internet Resources for Chapter 11
I have included a few resources for you to check out regarding autoresponders.
For additional resources on a variety of topics, visit the Resources
section of my Web site at http://www.susansweeney.com/
resources.html. There you can find additional tips, tools, techniques,
and resources.
Autoresponder Marketing by iBoost Journal
http://www.iboost.com/promote/marketing/autoresponders
Some interesting articles on autoresponders and how they can assist
you in your online marketing.
Care & Feeding of the Press
http://www.netpress.org/careandfeeding.html
Journalists’ manifesto for how PR people should work with the media.
GetResponse.com
http://www.getresponse.com
An autoresponder system that allows you to send multiple responses
without unwanted advertising, and best of all it is free; also includes the
ability to send HTML e-mails.
Responders.com
http://www.responders.com
This site offers free request-form processing, online form builder, and
autoresponder e-mails. Allows for easy integration into your Web site,
and provides a live demo.
Send Free—The Original Autoresponder Ad Exchange
http://www.sendfree.com
A free service that allows you to have autoresponders running from
your Web site, but also allows you to advertise your business in the
e-mail body of other targeted sites’ autoresponders, and vice versa.
SmartAutoResponder.com
http://smartautoresponder.com/index.htm
An autoresponder service that charges a fee of US$15.99 per month.
Allows you to customize your autoresponder to your specifications.
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12
Effective Promotional
Use of Newsgroups
People participate in newsgroups by “posting” or e-mailing comments,
questions, or answers to other participants’ questions, thus taking part
in a conversation or thread. Using proper netiquette is important. To do
this, read the FAQ files and rules, “lurk” first, and stay on topic. In this
chapter, we cover:
• The benefits of using newsgroups in your marketing plan
• Newsgroup netiquette
• Reading the FAQ files, abiding by the rules, and lurking
• How to advertise if advertising is not allowed
• Developing your Usenet marketing strategy
• Identifying your target newsgroups
• Participating in this online community
• How to respond correctly to messages
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Effective Promotional Use of Newsgroups 207
• Cross-posting and spamming
• Using signature files.
Newsgroups—What Are They?
Every day, people from all over the globe enter a virtual community
with others who are interested in the same topic. These people are
brought together by their common interest in the topic of discussion.
While they are in this virtual community, only that specific topic is discussed.
There are many communities discussing different topics. You
can visit and participate in as many of them as
you wish. These virtual communities are called
newsgroups.
Newsgroups are hierarchical and are arranged
by subject. Each newsgroup is dedicated
to a discussion of a particular topic, such as antique
cars, home schooling, travel, artificial intelligence,
or the latest hot band.
Visitors to these virtual communities can “post” messages. These
messages might be questions or comments or responses to other participants.
Everyone who visits the newsgroup has the opportunity to view
these “postings.” Often, many visitors participate in these discussions,
and every side of the issue is presented.
There are three types of newsgroup visitors:
• People asking questions or advice
• People providing answers or advice
• People who read the discussion without taking part.
The Changing Face of Newsgroups
Back in the early days, Usenet newsgroups started out as places where
academics conducted discussions on research. They quickly expanded
to include newsgroups on every topic imaginable, with participants hav-
Newsgroup
A discussion group on
the Internet that focuses
on a specific subject.
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ing wonderful conversations relevant to the topic. Usenet newsgroups
had to be accessed using your newsgroup reader. Today newsgroups
can be accessed through the Web.
Then commercialization saturated the Web, and today there are many
newsgroups overrun with advertisements with very little topical discussion
taking place. However, there are still many newsgroups that have
vibrant discussions with loyal participants that provide a great opportunity
for communicating with your target market.
Every visitor to a newsgroup made an effort to get there. He or she
chose the specific newsgroup for a reason, usually an interest in the
topic being discussed. If your business’s products or services are related
to that topic, you have found a group of your target market (they have
pre-qualified themselves) in one place interested in discussing what you
have to offer.
The Benefits of Newsgroups
There are many ways online marketers can benefit from participating in
newsgroups:
• Reaching prospective customers. You can immediately reach thousands
of your targeted potential customers with a single message.
• Communicating with existing customers. You can provide your
loyal customers with valuable information.
• Market research. You can use newsgroups to find out the latest
trends, customer needs, what people are looking for, and what
they are talking about. These newsgroups can be beehives of
information where you can check out your competition and
gather invaluable data on your market.
• Reputation building. By answering people’s questions and helping
to solve their problems, you build your reputation as an
expert in the field.
• Increased traffic. You can direct people to your commercial Web
site if you do it in an informative way.
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Thousands of Newsgroup Categories
Newsgroups are organized into different types of discussions or categories.
Each of the major categories has lots of individual newsgroups in
which you can participate. Major newsgroup categories include:
• alt—Discussions on alternative topics.
• biz—Discussions on business topics. You might find groups that
allow advertising here.
• comp—Discussions on computer hardware- and software-related
topics.
• humanities—Discussions on fine arts, literature, and philosophy
topics.
• misc—Discussions of miscellaneous topics that don’t have their
own categories such as employment, health, and other issues.
• news—Discussions on Usenet news and administration.
• rec—Discussions on recreation topics such as games, hobbies,
and sports.
• sci—Discussions on science.
• soc—Discussions on social issues.
• talk—Making conversation.
Each of the major categories has a number of subgroups, and each
of the subgroups has a number of sub-subgroups. For example, under
the rec major group you can find a subgroup rec.sports. Here the discussion
revolves around all kinds of sports. Under the subgroup rec.sports
you can find sub-subgroups and sub-sub-subgroups, for example:
• rec.sports
• rec.sports.hockey
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• rec.sports.hockey.NHL
• rec.sports.hockey.NHL.BostonBruins.
As you can see, the longer the name, the narrower is the discussion
that is taking place.
Target Appropriate Newsgroups
With the large number of Usenet newsgroups that currently exist and
additional groups being introduced every day, it is a formidable task to
identify appropriate newsgroups for your company’s Internet marketing
activities. First, you need to determine which newsgroups your prospective
customers frequent.
Look for a close fit between a newsgroup and the product or service
you are offering. For example, if your company sells software that aids
genealogical work, then one fruitful newsgroup for your business might
be soc.genealogy.methods. Try finding newsgroups that your target
market would enjoy reading, or ask your clients or customers which
newsgroups they participate in or find interesting.
There are many ways to find appropriate Usenet newsgroup listings.
You can do a search using the newsgroup functions of the two
leading browsers, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer,
and most newsreader programs have a search capability.
Search the newsgroups for keywords that relate to your target market,
your product, or your service to identify possible newsgroups for
your marketing effort. A good place to start is Google Groups (http://
groups.google.com), or you can go to http://www.google.com and select
“Groups” from the four tabs (Web, Images, Groups, or Directories).
Here you can conduct a keyword search of the Usenet newsgroups
by typing your keywords into the search box and clicking “Google
Search.” The search results are displayed in chronological order, with
the results at the top being the most recently used. You should choose
keywords right for your target customer or client. These methods can
identify a fairly large list of potential newsgroups to be considered for
your marketing activities.
If your company specializes in providing exotic vacations to Mexico,
search for keywords like Mexico, vacation, travel, tropical, resorts, beaches,
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