How do I send an E-shot?

[ChrisKerr]

Hey

Can anyone help me, I have to create and send an E-shot for my company, but I have never done one before! I have created an email template with all the images and information etc all done including hyperlinks.

However I don't know how to send it all our large database of clients at once, without them all seeing eachothers emails. Do I have to do it though a marketing company or is there anyway can I do it myself? without doing it individually.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[TurricanII]

D you use Outlook for email? You could try sending an email to your own email address and putting all the recipients in the BCC box (blind carbon copy). This means they can not see each others' addresses. I| would only use this method for a couple of hundred contacts though.

I have previously set up the free and paid versions of 'eNewsletter manager' software but they have been working on v3 for ages:

I would suggest you look for a similar program, which you can set up with it's own mailbox. It should keep process 'subscribe' and 'unsubscribe' emails automatically.

I would advise that you upload your newsletter to your website, so that (1) all the links in your html email refer to the images on your website and (2) you can put a link to the newsletter on your site, e.g. 'click here to display this newsletter in a browser'.

There are some online mailing services but I have not used them.

Finally, you should be sure that you have the buy-in of your contacts before sending them emails. Not only can unsolicited email annoy them, there may be some relevent legal considerations (nicely listed online, google for '10 Things Webmasters Should Know About ... Email Marketing'). It may be wise to work with an online pro mailing company as they will be aware of the requirements.

 

[wecandobiz]

I'd suggest you use an emal marketing product, which you can do online. Thse not only merge your address book with the template but ensure that it is sent personally to each recipient, enabling you to address them by name in the content itself. They are sent one to one so people need not know it hasn't been aimed at only them. It obviously prevents them from seeing who else got it.

But such systems also enable you to track opens and cicks, so you can see how efective a campaign has been and also follow up through other means (eg. phone) those who open and click the most because they are most interested.

We have a CRM system with integrated email marketing on our site. To send a max of 5,000 emals it would cost you £23. You can buy additional credits to send more easily.

PM me if you get stuck.

 

[IANL]

Constant Contact

Graphic Mail

Swiftpage

To name but a few.

 

[fisicx]

And you need to remember that a good percentage of the recipients won't even be able to see your carefully crafted template as a lot of email clients block images and/or HTML so you need a multipart message with a text and an HTML version.

 

[ChrisKerr]

Thank you for everyone's feedback

What is Swiftpage?

 

[IANL]

Thank you for everyone's feedback

What is Swiftpage?

http://www.swiftpage.com/

Swiftpage integrates with ACT! database CRM and a couple of other Sage products

 

[Office Cleaning]

This is supposed to be good, and gets recommended quite often and integrates well with most software and its free up to 2000 subscribers per month http://mailchimp.com/