Email marketing - recommended frequency and other tips

If you are about to use the email marketing method that send all kinds of emails to people you do not know, you might as well do it right! We all suffer under the flood of information (mostly not requested) that flows into our email and social network walls. If you are a marketer and want to use these tools to expose your product, the least you can do is try not to annoy your potential customers.

A marketing colleague of mine says he does not mind annoying his customers with emails. The way he sees it, if someone does not think that the emails they are receiving is giving them value and if they are annoyed by it, they can unsubscribe. My colleague is big on mass emails on a daily basis, claiming that the high quantity is actually a mechanism to filter out readers who are not interested in his offer. He claims that people who are annoyed with his emails unsubscribe and those that stick to it are the people who will also eventually purchase from him. So by flooding the in-boxes of his potential customers (and annoying them in the process) he claims that he filters the true;y interested parties.

All marketers know that its all about exposure. the more people see your message, the more who will eventually buy into you products. So if a marketer keeps the rate of emailing low, the potential customers will not be seeing the product he or she is selling at all.

So what's the right thing to do? marketers annoy their  potential customers if they email them to much, but it they refrain from doing so, they may be missed entirely. I believe the answer is somewhere in the middle. One should create a graduated funnel to market a product, offering free information along the way and distributing that info with automatic emailing software, but one should not overdo it. As long as you are offering your potential client value, they will stick it out, even if they are a bit annoyed on the way by your emails. so its not only about frequency or about value - its about a good  and balanced combination of both. The golden rule of balancing value and frequency will ensure that you annoy less people, but you also get the clients you want to work with, and who think that they receive the most value from you.

So how can that be done? 10 tips to consider:

1. Know who your preferred clients are: What is your value proposition and how much you want them to pay for it. Transcend these issues in focused messages in your emails, and those who are not good clients for you will be sorted out once they understand that your value proposition is not what they are looking for.
2. Strategy and planning: Email marketing is a great and effective marketing tool. But if you want to use it successfully, you need a marketing strategy from day one and a plan that will drive the right customers to your contact lists. Over aggressive marketing can even damage your brand reputation, so make sure you are sending targeted valuable messages to people who are interested in them and who feel that getting your info is making a difference to them. Do not be spontaneous, plan it all out and then work the marketing plan step by step.
3. Do not email for the sake of emailing: Your messages have to contain value to your readers, or else they will opt out of your list and feel annoyed. Flooding in-boxes for the sake of creating as many emails as possible is not the way to go. You can get great exposure using an emailing tool, but use its ability to give you focused and values exposure rather than a flood of irrelevancy.
4. Develop a consistent marketing funnel: Offer you client additional value in each additional message. Each message is also targeted to filter out people who are not interested in or unwilling to pay what we will charge for our services. The further along a client is in the funnel, the more suitable that client is for us, but the more suitable we are form them as well. 
5. Keep your messages focused and interesting: Make it easy for people to understand what value you are offering and how they can get it. Make your emailing an easy read. The message should not be too long before you get to the point. Write with humor, make your massages fun. Keep the spirit of the messages positive.
6. Timing is everything: Do not send too many emails. Daily messages is not the way to go. Think about the value you are offering and what would be a reasonable and valuable time span to receive it in.
7. Keep is clear and simple: If your grandma can understand what you are writing about and what she needs to do, your message is probably clear and simple. clients will find it easy to get their value from it.
8. Give before you take: Provide your client with additional value an free information before you ask them to pay money for additional services. If they receive from you, they will find it easier to give back. The value you give them along the marketing funnel should create their loyalty and trust. Generosity is reciprocated. Clients will then feel more comfortable purchasing from you at your desired price.
9. Call to action: Create a clear style to your message with an obvious heading and a conspicuous call to action , so that people can find it easily and act on it. Its not about being pushy or aggressive, its about providing clear instructions as to the next step. Keep it simple. If people know what to so, they will do it!
10. Good followup and learning: Use the statistic tool of the emailing programs to see who opened your messages and what they clicked on. what they liked and where are they seeing the value. You can then refine your future messages according to what you learned and improve your marketing even more, to the growing benefit of you and your clients.