Email Marketing Programs Shouldn't Overwhelm Inboxes

The final part of this three-part article provides jan/san distributors with some tips to fine-tune their e-marketing programs.

At Lawton Brothers Distributors, email marketing software is used to send emails to current clients only, and the distributor’s sales department handles prospecting.

“I put myself in my customer’s position. I get over 300 emails a day and (at least) 200 are completely junk,” says Larry Lawton, vice president of the Orlando, Florida-based distribution company. “I hit delete as fast as I humanly can, and I think most people do the same thing.” 

Lawton Brothers sends two or three email blasts a month to clients. The company sends three types of email, always with “Lawton Brothers” in the subject line, that consist of news about the industry, company event announcements or a new product that is being offered by the company with links to the product page.

The company’s deliberate, exclusive email strategy that does not fill junk or spam folders is a powerful way to reach and engage current clients. With in-house technology, Lawton has learned that 9 to 11 percent of his company’s email is opened and about 10 percent of those click through to the site.

“It’s a really good rate, but I am only worried about customers,” says Lawton. “These are people that we actively doing business with.” 

Distributors should set email marketing targets based on sales that they want to obtain, since that should be the ultimate goal. In addition, email marketing should be viewed as a part of wider marketing effort that includes other methods to reach the market, such as postcards, says DeStefano.

When getting started with email marketing, or trying out new campaigns, its best to start small, with pilot programs.

“It doesn’t have to be a large undertaking or a big investment to get started. … Figure out what works and then once you know what works, put more resources towards it,” says DeStefano. 

Brendan O’Brien is a freelance writer based in Greenfield, Wisconsin. He is a frequent contributor to Sanitary Maintenance.