E-mail marketing campaigns.

The ideal scenario when sending out emails to clients already in your database is collecting information from those who respond to the email as these could be considered warm leads. There are several methods to do this however each has its ups and downs regarding cost of implementation, software and expended hours. The following information explains some of the different methods that can be used to accomplish your online marketing requirements.

Before proceeding let me first say that I do not endorse spamming of any type. My assumption when writing this article is that your company already maintains a customer/lead database where you have permission to contact these people through email.

The most comprehensive method of tracking would require an email with a special link inside that is used to track each email response by indicating the person/email address that it has been sent to. When a recipient responds to the email the

ID is pulled from the link and stored in the database for review at a later time. This of course requires special software or greater development cost to implement.

The second method which arguably brings better results and is more cost effective would be to create a sign-up form where recipients can sign up** for a special promotion or guide them to a discounted product in your online store for this purpose only. Using this method you can track exactly who is responding to your email as well as collect additional key information that is pertinent to your marketing objectives.

A third way of tracking response is to look at at your web-site traffic reports. Although the information gathered isn't enough to find out exactly who responded, it serves as a way of analyzing trends in traffic and pages visited. For instance lets say a particular page was designated as a landing page for your email blast. You could observe that the "unique visitors" to that page and the times that the traffic occurred. Depending on the results you could get an idea as to whether or not the campaign was successful.

Your web host may already provide software or utilities to track activity on your site. If not, there is free to inexpensive web-tracking software available on the internet. You may even want to consider using this in conjuction with a sign-up form as described in the previous paragraph.

CMS Geeks Inc. provides development and guidance for implementing each of the above scenarios. Depending on your needs and budget we can find the solution that is best for you. Not only do we provide back-end development and tracking but we can also assist you with creating graphic based email messages. To contact us click here.

*In some locations it is illegal to contact someone by phone (If this is your planned method of follow-up) unless they specifically indicate that it is OK. If you already track this particular piece of information in your database then it should be no problem in determining who and how follow-up is done.

** Be careful when collecting a person's data to secure/encrypt the connection when information of a personal nature is sent. Not only does this protect your visitors but it gives the more wary ones the confidence that you are taking every step possible to secure their personal information.