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The Definitive Guide to Electronic Direct Mail

Updated: March 18, 2023

This is the definitive guide you need to electronic direct mail.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover:

  • What is Electronic Direct Mail?
  • Building my Mailing List
  • Benefits of using Electronic Direct Mail
  • Tools and Softwares to Collect and Send Emails
  • And More!


Let’s get started!

What is Electronic Direct Mail?

Electronic Direct Mail, or EDM for short, is a part of online digital marketing that revolves around building a list of potential leads and prospects. This list is a database comprising useful information about your subscribers such as their names, email addresses, gender, and preferences. With this acquired information, companies and businesses can connect with their audiences by sending out engaging and effective emails.

EDMs allow you to engage directly with your existing customers, build new customer relationships, retain brand loyalty, and drive conversions to your business. EDMs are also great for:

  • New product launches and services
  • Announcements of the latest company news and events
  • ales and exclusive offers
  • Daily or weekly newsletters
  • Collecting feedback and opinions

How to Build Up a List of Potential Leads and Customers?

With a better understanding of what Electronic Direct Mail is, the next burning question on everyone’s mind would be how to start collecting your customers’ information for future communications.

In many countries, including Singapore, it’s against the law to send unsolicited commercial communications by electronic mail, text, and multimedia messaging. As a sender, you’re required to get consent and permission from your contacts before you can send them marketing emails.

So, how do we, as a business, go about building our list without breaking the law? You provide an online sign-up form in which your audience can opt-in to subscribe and receive emails from you.

A sign-up form varies with the industry you’re in and may include the following:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Gender
  • Birthday
  • Preferences


Here are five top tips on how you can build and maintain an effective and quality list of subscribers.

1. Provide An Incentive to Opt-In

One of the biggest hurdles to any Electronic Direct Mail campaign is getting your prospects to opt-in to your email list. One of the best ways to overcome this predicament is to provide them with something of value that they can receive immediately after signing up.

For example, in the eCommerce industry, you can offer an online coupon in the follow-up email after they’ve signed up for your list. With the coupon, they can use it to offset their next purchase, providing immediate value for your subscribers.

If you’re in the design and printing industry, you can also offer the download of a custom greeting card that they can use during festive occasions and holiday seasons.

Providing a free and valuable incentive upfront is a great way to break the ice and get your visitors to sign up for your list.

2. Outreach to Existing Contacts and Network

There’s no better or easier way to build your subscriber list than by reaching out to your existing contacts and networks. Chances are, if you’ve been in business for some time, you’ve collected some form of information from your customers, such as names and email addresses.

The question is, “Can you add them directly to your email list?”

No.

As mentioned previously, you need explicit consent to send them marketing communication emails. Instead, you can reach out to them through personalized emails and direct them to your website where they can sign up for your list.

3. Making the Most Out of Your Business Marketing Funnel and Channels

No one understands your business and company better than you. Analyze and think through the various touchpoints with your customers, and make sure to utilize these opportunities to get them to sign up for your email list.

For example, if email is your primary communication mode to connect with your customers, integrating a link in your email signature can help turn them into a subscriber in your Electronic Direct Email campaign list.

If you provide your services from your premises, you can also place a container in your checkout area where your customers can leave their business cards to allow you to connect with them through follow-up marketing emails.

For businesses with membership and loyalty programs, providing an option for them to sign up for your mailing list is a nice addition to have.

4. Double Opt-in Method

A double opt-in method is a great way to build and maintain a quality email list.

A double opt-in method is a two-step process that a subscriber must go through during sign-up. In contrast, a single opt-in method is a one-step process in which users only have to enter the required fields for sign-up. No further action is required, and subscribers are added directly to the email list.

With a double opt-in method, users receive an email to verify their email address upon sign-up, and a second email to confirm their subscription. This additional verification process improves the quality of your email lists and ensures that the email address used during sign-up is valid and active. In a single opt-in method, there is no guaranteed way to know if the sign-up is from an actual person or a bot.

A double opt-in method is also useful in situations where an email address is entered incorrectly during sign-up, as a subscriber is only added to the email list after confirming their email address.

In certain countries, it’s mandatory for businesses and companies to use a double opt-in method to build their email lists.

5. Email List Segmentation

Email list segmentation is the process of separating an email list into smaller segments to improve the success of your email marketing campaigns. This is extremely useful as it allows you to create tailored content for each segment to improve your open rates, increase engagement levels, and improve conversions.

The importance of email list segmentation cannot be overstated. So, how do you go about segmenting your email list?

You can create an additional field in your sign-up form in which your subscribers will have to enter their gender. By segmenting your email list, you can then send targeted emails to specific segments of your list.

Every customer has different problems and needs, and they are added to your email list at different stages. For example, if you have collected email addresses at a trade show, it will only be appropriate to send them information related to the event itself.

Over time, you will build trust and credibility with your customers, and the next time they open an email from you, they will know that it is something of use and value to them.

Benefits of Electronic Direct Mails for Small Businesses and Corporate Companies

1. New Products and Services Launch

What would you normally do when you have a new product or service coming up in the next few months?

Do you sit and wait until the launch date?

Or would you rather deploy strategies to drum up interest and start your marketing promotions?

There are a few strategies you can use to ensure your new launches are a huge success. You can build a landing page on your website where you can showcase your products and services and integrate a sign-up form where visitors can subscribe to receive more information.

Leading up to the official launch day, you can get your potential customers excited by sending them relevant and targeted information about your offerings. Your emails should focus on how your new products and services can help solve their problems or bring value to their lives.

Your customers buy from you mainly because you offer a solution to their problems; they don’t just buy because of the features you have.

2. Cost-Effective and Time Saving

EDMs, or email marketing, is one of the most cost-effective forms of online digital marketing that you can utilize for your business. They allow you to reach out to your customers with lower costs, and email campaigns can be deployed according to the sender’s schedule.

Designing an effective email campaign can be achieved by utilizing your in-house designers to draft out layouts and designs. With traditional marketing campaigns, the cost of designing, printing, and delivering is significantly higher.

More time is also saved as everything can be executed and deployed in-house. Unlike traditional direct mail campaigns, EDMs are proven to be cost-effective and time-saving.

3. Increase Conversions and Sales

One of the great benefits of Electronic Direct Marketing is that the audience you are connecting with has given you direct permission to do so. During sign-ups, your leads have made their intentions clear to receive any future email communications from you, unless they have unsubscribed to be removed from your email list.

These are potential customers who are genuinely interested in knowing more about the products and services you are offering. They are also the ones most likely to engage with you and your business.

Build up trust and relationships with your subscribers through timely and engaging emails, and they will turn into paying customers in no time.

Electronic Direct Mail Online Tools and Softwares​​

1. GetResponse

Electronic Direct Mail: GetResponse

Get Response is easy to use and a cost-effective way to create email marketing campaigns. They are also fully integrated with popular apps such as WordPress, Magento, Facebook, PayPal and many more.

Besides offering a suite of paid plans, Get Response also provides a 30 days trial plan which you can try for free.

2. Sendinblue

Electronic Direct Mail: Sendinblue

Sendinblue is another email marketing tool that enables companies and businesses to build unique connections with their customers through Electronic Direct Mail. Their free plan allows you to send up to 300 emails per day and manage unlimited contacts.

In addition, the tool offers real-time reporting that allows you to track the results of your campaigns in real-time.

3. Aweber

Electronic Direct Mail: Aweber

Aweber is another leading email marketing solutions provider for small businesses. With up to 100 features to boost, creating email campaigns is both simple and efficient.

One notable feature is the Smart Designer, which allows you to enter your website URL, and it will be able to generate email template designs within seconds. They offer a 30-day free trial and paid plans starting from $19 per month.

4. Mailchimp

Electronic Direct Mail: Mailchimp

Mailchimp is an all‑in‑one email marketing platform. For businesses that are just getting started, Mailchimp offers a free plan to add up to 2000 subscribers and monthly emails send of up to 10,000.

For companies that require more features and insights into their email marketing campaigns, they have paid plans to cater for different growing needs.

Do you Need Help Deploying an Electronic Direct Mail Tool or Campaign?​​

We hope this article has helped you learn how EDMs can boost engagement with your audience and help your business. Email marketing is a powerful tool when used correctly as it allows you to gain a direct line to your customers.

Best of all, these are the very people who have given you permission to reach out to them.

If you’re interested in creating a custom website with us, you can check out our web design packages prices and services.

Call +65-9824-5850 or contact us online to see how you can use EDMs as part of your online digital marketing strategies to drive revenue for your business.

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