Confessions Followup Marketing

With every website you own, naturally, you are going to need a corresponding e-mail account so customers can contact you. When you sign on with a website design company for development, it is important to check for a user-friendly, Web accessible e-mail package. Whether you need just one e-mail address or one hundred for your employees, the ability to create the online mailboxes you need to do business. Keeping up with customers via e-mail newsletters and alerts is one of the best ways to strengthen your customer base, but following up is the key to keeping your online presence strong.

Attractive HTML templates, for one, allow for effective e-mail newsletters and opt-in advertising to turn first-time visitors into regular customers. It is important to recognize the need to keep consumers informed about new trends and products and activities involving your business.

Why is Following Up with Website Visitors Important?

It’s a common fact of business: out of sight, out of mind. If your business is not in the forefront of consumer memory, chances are you won’t get much business at all. To build a customer base, and to maintain that customer base, your voice must be heard. Build your brand awareness and maintain visibility, and you will build credibility and trust.

Most website visitors don’t order on the first visit. Not unlike a trip to the mall, consumers like to comparison shop online. You may find you have good traffic but low sales after your site’s launch; more than likely people are checking out your prices before moving onto competing sites for comparison. Here presents a good opportunity to capture visitors on site with an alert to sign up for e-mail discounts and sales. Keeping in touch with new visitors can turn them into repeat visitors.

Visitors won’t know enough about your offer to order during the first visit. Despite all assurances of security and protection from fraud and identity theft, online shoppers may still exhibit some skittishness when dealing with a new retailer. Companies like Amazon.com do well in e-commerce, yes, because they are established brands that have built trusting relationships with customers over the years. Of course, Amazon.com started small, like any other business, but managed to rise to prominence as an e-commerce force, eventually gaining partners in established companies like Toys ‘R Us.

E-mail marketing helps establish the trust you need to secure business. Create a professional news alert or regular newsletter to highlight your expertise and knowledge. Opt-in advertising means the consumer wants to know what you have to say, so wow them with an eye-catching campaign.

The bottom line is: if you don’t ask your website visitors to opt-in to e-mail alerts when they visit, and if you don’t follow up with them or send a newsletter, you are losing a significant volume of sales. Experts have shown that it often takes seven or more marketing exposures before prospective customers purchase.

Kathryn Lively works for CINIVA Systems, a Virginia Beach website design company.