In the past, Enable has dealt with the issue of e-mail as a business and marketing tool. E-mail is truly the "killer application" of the Internet and your goal in using it should not just be for basic communications or simple convenience. Rather, you must use e-mail as a marketing tool to create and build lasting relationships with current and potential customers. To do, you must provide them with something that is personalized, appropriate and that adds value. The best way to do so is to integrate your e-mail into as many of your business processes as possible. Today's Enable shows you how.
Your Web Site
Most companies have already integrated e-mail into their web sites - typically as a means for providing additional information. Most sites have links to "info@yoursite.com" or "webmaster@ yoursite.com". However, e-mail should also be used to extend the reach of your site and deal with issues left uncovered by the site. E-mail can play whatever role you can come up with, including:
- Automatic Response Try to link e-mail tools to customer needs like service and support. Use it to provide 24 - 7 service by connecting your customers to web-based resources. Link to your FAQs, or your support policies. Time is everything. Use this tool to provide customers with information - now.
- Sequenced Mailings Use e-mail to initiate "conversations" with potential customers. E-mail can be an interactive dialogue between you and your customers - delivering information based on their preferences - not your needs. Sophisticated tools enable you to initiate sequenced mailings which send one or more e-mails to a contact based on customer behavior. More advanced tools can actually monitor the status of the contact. If you have product downloads on your site, use e-mail to communicate technical notes, special pricing, etc. Use e-mail to make announcements, generate interest, and build your brand. But remember no spam.
- Push Programs Push started out with great promise (remember PointCast?), but feel from grace when it proved intrusive and memory-intensive. Now, Push has made a comeback, especially via e-mail newsletters. If your newsletter is integrated, it will first send an e-mail to let users know new content is available and provide a brief "teaser". If interested, the e-mail recipients can then access your site. This is a great way to provide targeted information to a now pre-qualified group. Always make sure that it is very easily to unsubscribe to any push type information you send out.
Your Company Manual
Hopefully, you have a company manual that you use to help new employees familiarize themselves with your company quickly and efficiently. Typically, the manual is given out on the employees first day along with other administrative materials. Why not be more productive and send the manual to the employee via e-mail. You save on paper and it is harder to lose an electronic file than a booklet. More importantly, any changes can be instantly send to all employees - regardless of their location.
Support
To date, support is probably the system that has benefited the most from e-mail integration. Integrating e-mail into the process can take certain boring and redundant tasks out of human hands and into systems. This includes presorting of incoming messages, commonly asked questions, distribution of registration information, standardization of customer questions and problems, technical bulletins and upgrade information.
Transaction Systems
Any transaction system that you use must increase the speed of exchange and make the transaction more reliable. Try to use transaction systems for seminar registrations, reservation systems, information access and logins, and for registries.
In sum, e-mail is an excellent low-cost business and marketing tool. Most companies use it for all purpose mailings that are chock full of multiple messages including sales, support, branding etc. The new trend is to use e-mail for multi-step messaging - first as a basic introduction, and then more detailed and customized information. You must strive to use your e-mail to deliver the right information to the right audience, at the right time. Always remember that with e-mail - especially in the initial phase - less is more.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on February 29, 2000.