Don't Be a Spammer

With today online tools like the amazing Mailchimp, my personal favourite, email campaigns are easy to set up and free to run for small businesses. For these very reasons, they have become very popular and unsolicited email became just as appetising as canned ham. So much so that legislation had to be passed to restrict its use –and abuse.

Know the rules

Whether you are already running email campaigns or planning to do so, it is essential that you know the rules that apply to you. Here are the main rules in New Zealand:

A commercial Purpose

The Act only applies to electronic communications of a commercial nature. . Note that sms and fax communications are included in the legislation. An email that does not pertain to marketing or promote goods or services does not qualify as spam.

Consent

You are not allowed to send email without the recipient's consent. Although verbal consent qualifies, the DIA recommends that you keep a record of consent (although they don't go as far as saying you should make voice recordings, which would be a bit weird). Someone giving you your business card qualifies in some conditions (i.e. the cards were exchanged as the parties intended to do business with each other, but not if the card was picked up from a stack or given for personal purposes)

Identification

Your business must be clearly identified and means of contact evident.

Unsubscribe

There should be a clear way to unsubscribe. It can be a link, a button or just an invitation to reply to the email with the 'unsubscribe' mention in the title. Additionally unsubscribing process must be easy (you're not allowed to make them jump through hoops to take them off your list).

Don't become an accidental spammer!

You are just as liable under the Act if your address is used for spamming purposes by a third party. In short: make sure all your passwords are secure so a hacker can't use your good name to sell controversial merchandise. It wouldn't look good to your customers either if they thought you had suddenly branched into penis enlargements.

Further Reading

Article: Snail Mail or Email?
Full text of the law
Useful Q&A from the Department of Internal affairs

Snail Mail or Email?

Sending letters, special offers and catalogues through the post used to be a marketing must -at least for companies who could afford it. With the advent of email campaigns, our letterboxes got less and less crowded with the colourful brochures, to the point that they have almost become a thing of the past. Meanwhile, our inboxes where filling up at an alarming rate. Promotional email became so annoying that, fortunately, laws were passed limiting the use of email for commercial purpose. Whether you are already running email campaigns or planning to do so, it is essential that you know the rules that apply to you (Don't be a Spammer).

Posting is the new emailing

People have become so used to (and oftentimes annoyed with) email marketing that snail mail is regaining popularity.

Using direct mail instead of email to reach customers makes sense for a few but excellent reasons. First of which is the lack of competition in the market: since almost no-one is doing it anymore, you are instantly more noticeable. Secondly, posting open the possibility of sending beautiful, original material as well as samples, which can make a very positive and long lasting impression. Think of how much more special, warmer a real book feels in your hands compared to reading on a tablet.

But email is still cool

Email marketing remains the preferred solution of many businesses for excellent reasons too: thanks to today's online tools, it is incredibly easy to set up and use. If you're a small business with a reasonable list, it's free to run. The results are directly measurable, since you'll know how many people have opened your email and will be able to track clicks –and that's just for starters.
Email campaigns can also be used to direct traffic to your website and/or social media page, which in turn opens the possibility of building upon itself.

Use both?

Like all good marketing tools, direct mail and email can be used in conjunction. What's right for you will depend on the specific circumstances of your business. Most importantly, you should go with whatever option agrees best with your brand, and as much as possible, that you enjoy too.

Marketing: Do You Tick all the Boxes?

You know that marketing is important but running your business already takes all of your time, and then some. You also vaguely know that there is much more to marketing than putting an ad in the paper, but what else you're supposed to do is a bit of a haze. Sounds right? Congratulations, you're a perfectly normal Kiwi business owner.

So what's that marketing stuff all about?

Marketing is such a rich and complicated subject that people spend years studying it. The good news is, by keeping a few rules in mind, you won't need to get a degree in order to give yourself a definite edge over the competition and ensure many years of good business.

Branding

Do you have a company name and a (good) logo? There are some very talented professionals in Hawkes Bay who can help you get the right look, that is, something that reflects what you do and who you are, be easily recognisable and remembered by your customers.
But a brand is not just a company name and a logo. Think of it as your company's personality, which must absolutely be attractive to your target customers. Is it humorous, professional, effective, fast, family oriented? Once you've done that corporate soul searching, branding means adopting a tone, image and voice that consistently projects that image. Use the same colours, stick with collateral and packaging that  reflects who you are.

Sales

Do you sell door-to-door, through telemarketing, in person or through representatives? Do you wait for people to get in touch or walk in the door?
Deciding how you sell is very important to working strategies. Once you've chosen one or several avenues of generating business, the doing will get more natural –you won't even notice.

Direct Mail

Letters, catalogues, pamphlets and email campaigns all fall under the direct mail category. They can be a way of keeping in touch with your existing customers as well as finding new ones. It only takes a few weeks for your faithful customers to start looking towards the competition if you don't remind them of why they loved ou so much in the first place. And while you're not out there getting new clients, you can be sure that your competitors are.

Collateral

Business cards, leaflets, branded pens, pdf presentations or explanatory videos are just a few of the many ways that you can use to present your business and leave a little bit of your company in people's mind (or wallet).
These must of course be absolutely consistent with your brand. Don't hand out plastic business cards if you're all about sustainable products, for example.

Advertising

Once upon a time, newspapers and posters were the only ways that businesses could advertise themselves. Nowadays advertising takes hundreds of forms: from a full colour display add in the yellow pages or local newspaper to radio, TV but also Google AdSense (see below under digital marketing), electronic billboards, TV screens in our supermarkets...
Putting an ad in the paper still works to some extend, for some businesses. Same goes with the radio. Yellow pages? –Why not. It all depends on your target: ask yourself where they are looking. If you're trying to sell to a young audience, they're more likely to see your message on their social media feed than next to the bereavement column.
One excellent way to advertise is vehicle branding. Think of it as carrying your billboard everywhere you go. Just like with logos, this type of advertising is best left to a professional, who should ensure that it is consistent with your branding.

PR

How about getting the media to talk about you without having to pay for an add? There are professionals who can help with public relations but it doesn't mean that you can't do it yourself. Let's say your company is hosting an event for a local charity: make sure your local papers know. Even better, send them an article and a picture to go with it. You may get lucky.

Digital Marketing

As soon as we stepped into the digital era, marketing got really exciting. Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Blogger, Instagram, Yahoo, Finda, Pinterest, LinkedIn... You know and use at least one of these on a regular basis if not several times a day. But do you make them work for you?
Every one of these sites (and many more besides) is an opportunity to deliver your message to the world. The best news is that most are free to use.
The best place to start is where you are. Are you an avid Facebook user? Make a page for your business and start posting. It's a good idea to get a bit of help to get you started. A professional will be able to help you with suitable content, frequency, which platforms to use (and those to avoid) whether you should pay to promote your efforts, etc. Once you've got the hang of it (and as long as you enjoy doing it) there is no reason not to continue on your own or with your staff.

Website

Websites really fall under digital marketing but are so very-very essential that they deserves a category all on their own.
The proportion of people who check a company's website before making a purchase decision has been polled to up to 92%. Not having a website nowadays is like having your shop window painted black. How many walk-ins are you likely to get? The same goes with shabby websites, of course.
As with every other marketing effort, your website must absolutely be consistent with your brand. Although professional help is advisable, it is not absolutely necessary. There are enough excellent platforms nowadays that let the layman put together very good websites (as long as you don't need advanced features). Websites used to be very expensive and still can be, but it is true that nowadays there is a good website for every budget.
Once you're online, make sure that your SEO is taken care of so that web engines like Google can actually find you. Here again, help is available if you're not sure how to go about it. I'll soon be posting about that too.

Did you tick all the boxes?

If yes, well done (liar). If not, don't despair: it's okay to tackle them one by one and ask for help on the way. Furthermore, you may decide to use all or only some of those techniques, as long as you don't make the mistake of using only one –or worse: none of them. Remember, not doing any marketing is as good as sending blank cheques to your competitors.

Resources in the writing

I am currently working on a series of short articles on various aspects of business solutions, covering topics as varied as free vs paying software, social media marketing, branding for success, digital campaigns, online tools for accounting, etc.

Please come back later or give me a call to ask your questions. Always happy to share!

Dee