Email Marketing

Introduction To Email Marketing

Email Marketing has been the subject of scrutiny over the past few years and has changed significantly with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). In the past, well-meaning businesses would send unsoliced messages to potential customers via email. As email grew to become the preferred method of communication inboxes became inundated with irrelevant or inappropriate messages. This became known as SPAM. Canada’s definition of spam includes any electronic marketing communications to which the reciever has NOT consented to recieve. Businesses now have to earn the right to market to their current or potential customer-base via email. To do this they must obtain consent, either express or implied, from each reciever.

Express consent is the easiest to define and should be the end goal for businesses and brands. A person must “opt-in” by acknowledging that they give you permission to contact them with electronic marketing materials at their specified email address. This is most commonly obtained using a check-box field as part of a form submission. The only catch is that the box must be unchecked by default until users click to opt-in. With express consent you can continue to send promotional materials until the reciever unsubsribes.

Implied consent exists if there is an existing busines relationship (as defined in the act) or if the recipient has made a recent inquiry. In cases where you have entered into a written contract with the email recipient you are able to send messages up to two years after the contract expires. When the recipient makes a business inquiry or application you are able to send messages within six months of their initial inquiry. Remember that implied consent can still be withdrawn upon request of the recipient. CASL requires all businesses to include an easy, one-click “unsubscribe” link on all communications.

Email Marketing In Calgary

An express-consent email list is a highly valued tool for service providers and markers. Many businesses understand the importance of building a subscriber list, but don’t actually utilize their list. A subscription form is almost a standard feature on any company or product page. In the cases of small and medium sized businesses it is often a matter of limited ressources. They have a list, but they don’t have anyone to write emails or newsletters. If you are an owner/operator you probably feel like you have no time to write emails. Even with the ressources, there is a question of strategy. Companies that have only dabbled with email marketing will often report no effect. There is great potential, however, to boost your lead generation campaigns and provide additional value for your customer-base. Serious companies in Calgary have applied some strategy to their email marketing and have seen the results. With the amount of third-party applications and easy integrations it is actually easier than ever to launch a campaign. Many businesses have automated workflows with multiple triggers to help guide their customers through a posative experience.

Our Approach To Email Marketing

If you are not already building an email subscriber list, this will be our starting point. If you are focused on lead generation we will help you build a list of qualified leads that have given express consent to be contacted by email. The next step would be to identify different segments and establish campaigns with a clear purpose in mind. We want potential customers to have the information they need to make a decision AND we want them to have a posative experience with your company when they are ready to decide on a provider. We want to make sure that new customers feel supported by your company after their purchase and that they keep you in mind for future business. Lastly, we want them to share their posative experience with others and give you referrals of anyone they know who could potentially use your services or products. Each of these goals can have seperate streams of automated progression. Talk to us today about effectively managing your subscriber lists and strategic email marketing!