Opt-in email is when you voluntarily give your email address to a website
in order to receive a promotion, free report, a newsletter or other helpful
information. When you request this information, you also agree to periodically
receive additional helpful information that usually includes special promotions
and advertising.
When you receive an "opt-in" email it is usually targeted and often personalized
and carries information about specific topics, products or promotions that you
may have an interest in or learning about.
For example, we have a website devoted to a rare tropical Asian fruit (Lychee)
and related products and helpful information. Regularly, we send out emails to
those hundreds of people who have subscribed to our Lycheesonline.com website
notifying them of the status of the current crop so they can place their fruit
orders in advance of the picking.
People want us to notify them, because they can't be expected to watch their
calendars and know the best time to place their order. We also actively
develop new products based on this fruit and we notify our list when new
items become available. Our site provides lots of helpful information as
well as articles about the fruit and we will email our list with links to
articles and other topical information.
You can take advantage of opt-in email to market your business:
Once you have an Opt-in list it can become an extremely valuable business
marketing tool. Remember, these are people who have given you permission to
contact them and you can take full advantage of it in a number of ways. For
instance you can use the list to:
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Notify people of special offers or new products
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Send out helpful information such as interesting articles
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Links to information on your website that may be newsworthy or of
current interest to those on y our list
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Send out your newsletter or e-zine
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Special information that is unique to your business
You should actively use your opt-in list to stay in front of your prospects
and customers. Whether you are sending out 100 or 100,000 emails the cost per
email is low and possibly even free if the list is your own and you handle the
mailing of it from your own servers.
You can purchase an opt-in list from one of the numerous list providers or
you can develop your own list. One of the best methods of building a first
class opt-in list directly tied to your own prospects and customers is through
an "opt-in" offer. Such an offer often involves giving away a free idea kit,
newsletter, e-book or article in return for your prospect's e-mail address and
permission to contact them via email. Since your prospect has voluntarily
"opted-in" to the promotion you now have the right to send them email that
is technically not "spam".
There is now a variation on the "opt-in" strategy called "double opt-in" in
contrast to "single opt-in". Under the "single opt-in" scenario some action
was taken to sign up for the email. Since it is possible for someone other
than the email recipient to sign up for a mailing list it (some third party
could sign you up for something that you had no interest in or had ever heard of)
there is no guarantee that the actual recipient had requested the information.
To overcome this problem and fulfill the true definition of "opt-in" we now
have "double opt-in". Under a double opt-in system your subscriber is not
automatically added to a list. They are sent a confirming email that they must
respond to in order to be added to the list. This accomplishes two things.
It screens out invalid or bogus email addresses and it prevents people from
subscribing others to a list unbeknown to them.
The disadvantage is that it requires a secondary step, sometimes not very obvious,
that a potential subscriber must take. This may have the unpleasant result of
deterring people from subscribing.
.Spam on the other hand is unsolicited email that has been sent out to recipients
regardless of whether they have requested the information or not.
To comply with anti-spam laws you must, you must always include a link for people
on your email list to "opt out" or remove themselves from your list. Additionally,
you must clearly indicate in your email that the recipient has voluntarily requested
to be a part of the list. Spam is a huge issue today, with legal and economic
implications to your business and it must be avoided at all cost.
Opt-in email marketing is essential to maximizing your marketing ROI, whether
you have an internet based or local business. Opt-in email is the prime
delivery vehicle for your "magnets" and "attractors" that will consistently
bring unlimited prospects and customers to your business.
To learn more about how you can use Opt-in email with your website visit us
at http://www.magneticwebsites.com.
