Email DM marketing

It's pretty cool what you can do with todays email in regards to commerce.

I will do a DM campaign in a couple of days that will make it possible for the email reader to see a nice looking picture of my product, read a well written sales copy and then order directly in the email (through a Paypal button).

You no longer need any website to make cash online. Isn't that beautiful? Talk about saving money (hosting a website with all of those updates etc etc aren't that cheap after all. My own experience).

The only problem is: those who can't view HTML coded emails. But that will soon be fixed so it should be better the further ahead we get in internet developments. Tomorrow, everyone will be able to see HTML coded emails (or not, depending on preference).

A salute to email commerce.

Have you tried an email campaign before? If so, how was the quality of the leads?

I have tried email lists before. We have a company in Sweden called infodatadirect.se. The most reliable list company in Sweden. If you go with high quality suppliers you usually get high quality.

People make the mistake of buying lists from obscure places, then the quality can't be expected to be high either.

I'm not sure about the laws in Sweden, but in the US don't email recipients have to "opt-in" before you send them an actual invitation to buy something like that? Just a technical question, maybe this is a good workaround for that rule?

Yes, Sweden has such rules. When you buy from obscure places then "opt-in" is probably not "opt-in". If you buy from well recommended sources, then you usually get "opt-in" lists.

Infodatadirect actually has responsibility for the SPAR register (govermental list). So they are a well trusted source.

Very interesting. I guess there would need to be a lot of consideration of credibility behind an email campaign like this. For example, if I got such an email, I'd be inclined to research the company before buying. I'm sure a lot of otherwise good leads would drop out because it might not seem credible.

Sorry I'm in a rush and I can't post more, but I'm sure you see where I'm going.

I see where your going, but a DM campaign is not high converting as far as I have come to experience it. You have to expect a very low converting rate and calculate the numbers from that.

Some people do buy based on impulse and it is mainly those you capture in an email campaign like this. Those who need to think about it, does not buy on one email alone, that is absolutly correct. But you can make them more comfortable in you by giving them contact information for further enquiry.

The last numbers I know about from the Direct Marketing association put actual sales at 0.05 -3% of the total direct mail effort.

It's a numbers game...

Obviously the better the copy the better chance, but nowadays the hardest thing is getting people to actually open the message. The subject line is obviously crucial!

The facts here are:

1) The converting number is very low. Always. 3% is a very high number. 5% on a list that you have never marketed against before is a great converting percentage number.
2) You always need to invest some money in getting the subject line to work. Use the help of a successful copywriter. Never do that yourself. Why? Because you are investing a lot of many, that's why. Most of the time you are investing $5000+ on each campaign. You cannot afford to experiment at those levels unless you are already rich and have a couple of millions to play with.

Use professional help and you will win this game. All games are won by smart people. This game is no different.

I wonder how the conversion numbers compare from a regular campaign against what you suggest in the opener.

If someone has to be funneled to a website to buy they might turn away due to the complexity.

But, if there's a button to buy directly in the email they could get suspicious.

And we're assuming that people open the emails anyway.

What do you think? Have you done any A/B testing in this regard (or will you)?

I would personally never buy a product from an email. Without a website link, contact information, return policy, it just seems scammy to me. But people will do anything online. People are more aware of hidden links that take people to false websites in emails nowadays.

I would like to see your results though, should be interesting.

Not everyone are the same. Many would. You'd be surprised.