Resolve to e-mail in ’08

Start your new year off right by starting an e-mail marketing campaign for your business. Many businesses find that e-mail marketing helps in their continued success.

The recent holiday season was undoubtedly a busy time for e-mail marketing. Stores of all sizes promoted their products and provided special offers to their valued customers.

However, the strength of e-mail marketing is not limited to busy times of the year. Successful e-mail marketers are consistent and stay connected with their clients/customers throughout the year.

Sending e-mails to clients or customers on a consistent basis helps them feel as though they have a personal connection with your business and will help increase your overall sales throughout the year.

Email Media Group, Inc. (EMG) and Michigan Retailers Association provide you the ability to create those e-mail newsletters, manage your contacts, and send newsletters to your contacts. In addition, MRA members receive a 10-percent discount when they use EMG. Visit www.emailmediagroup.com and enter MRA under referral ID.

Using a service like EMG for your e-mail marketing also allows you to track the reporting for opens, click-thru rates and a lot more. It’s the most cost-effective way of advertising and marketing to your clients.

An example of a smart use of e-mail comes from one of our current clients, Churchill’s Ltd., a cigar and specialty gift shop with locations in Southfield and Birmingham. Churchill’s sends out monthly newsletters that include coupons and invitations to special cigar events that are hosted in its stores.

Churchill’s uses e-mail marketing during the holiday season and, more important, also throughout the year. For Churchill’s, the time period when e-mail marketing is most useful is during the slow season after the holidays.

E-mail marketing is a proactive approach that allows businesses to achieve their goals throughout the year.

Now that the holiday rush is over and it’s time to strategize and plan for 2008, make a commitment to start an e-mail marketing campaign or increase your use of this important tool.

This article was contributed by Ziad Gappy, owner of Email Media Group in Southfield.