Email reminders to past customer

[Sonny]

Here's the deal,

I want to contact all of my past clients about the upcoming football season. I know that some players have moved on to other leagues or are now playing for their schools.

My goal is to:

1. Remind most of the parents that we are available for the upcoming season.
2. Notify parents about our new website and blog.
3. Inform parents about special promotions and contests.
4. Hopefully attract more business other than football.
5. And in general push more traffic to our website.

What would be the best way to go about this without seeming like spam?

Thanks,
-Sonny

[toverman]

I'll chime in, partially because I'd like to hear what others have to say.

To be unspamlike, the more you personalize your messages, I'd think the better. That may mean sending them out in batches, thanking them for their previous business and saying how you enjoyed working with them when they played for the XXXXX. Once you get their attention, plug your new features, give them examples of what you can do for them this season and invite them to share your links with their friends!

Hope that helps.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by toverman

I'll chime in, partially because I'd like to hear what others have to say.

To be unspamlike, the more you personalize your messages, I'd think the better. That may mean sending them out in batches, thanking them for their previous business and saying how you enjoyed working with them when they played for the XXXXX. Once you get their attention, plug your new features, give them examples of what you can do for them this season and invite them to share your links with their friends!

Hope that helps.

Thank you Todd for your response.

I'd love to hear more ideas or alternative solutions.

Thanks,
-Sonny

[my3peas]

Send a newsletter, have a special included, something to pique their interest. I use Constant Contact to send emails, the templates are easy and it meets the FDC regulations :) They can always opt out of the email notifications and you can track who opens it or doesn't.

IMO, I wouldn't worry too much about spam. If they've ordered from you before and you have a relationship with them, they'll want to know what new things you're offering :)

[andyz]

If you are planning on emailing this, technically you have to worry about the CAN SPAM rules when sending commercial electronic mail messages. There are certain requirements you have to follow to conform to the law. It isn't hard, just a pain.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by andyz

If you are planning on emailing this, technically you have to worry about the CAN SPAM rules when sending commercial electronic mail messages. There are certain requirements you have to follow to conform to the law. It isn't hard, just a pain.

Interesting Andy. Can you elaborate more on "Can Spam" and conforming to commercial electronic mail messages?

Thanks,
-Sonny

[andyz]

Header information can't be false or misleading.
Subject headings can't be misleading or deceptive.
Email advertisements must have an opt-out mechanism that is clear and conspicuous.
The senders postal address must be identified.
The message must be identified somewhere as an advertisement.

(If someone opts- out, you have 10 days to get that done. Not an issue if this is a one-time mailing, but if it is successful and you do a follow-up, you need to have removed those opting-out.)

If you want to dig into this more, look at Controlling the Assault of Non-
Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN SPAM) 16 CFR 316 and the FTC website.

[LanceHaynie]

Originally Posted by toverman

I'll chime in, partially because I'd like to hear what others have to say.

To be unspamlike, the more you personalize your messages, I'd think the better. That may mean sending them out in batches, thanking them for their previous business and saying how you enjoyed working with them when they played for the XXXXX. Once you get their attention, plug your new features, give them examples of what you can do for them this season and invite them to share your links with their friends!

Hope that helps.

Yes!

We did an email campaign for a financial company and had really great results, like a 30% conversion (email conversion is like stupid low). Though we didnt do it in batches. We took a database of their info (Name, services bought, and so on) and sent out a bulk email but personalized it automagicly

To the customer each email was sent only to them, and was for them and only them.

[Aric C. Hoek]

We use Constant Contact for our emails. Plus, everyone on our list signed up themselves. This makes our list a permission based asset.