Just last week, we saw how you must use the eBay newsletter feature effectively to garner more signups. In this week’s post, we will see how you must go about engaging your customers once they are on board.

Let’s say you have a well designed, navigable eBay store? That’s great! But your job is not done!

Equal effort must be put in to make sure that you get more visibility to your eBay store. What is the point of having a great inventory of products if no one knows about it?! You need a well constructed email marketing campaign.

But how do you go about it? Push too hard and you will be labeled a spammer! Push too little and you could lose out on segments of potential customers. How much is too much?

Let’s find out…

What’s the difference between spamming and email marketing?

Being labeled a spammer can disconnect you from potential business opportunities. You must take care to make sure your email marketing campaigns are relevant and meaningful.

Remember that a legitimate email marketing campaign has a list of interested parties as well as existing customers. Send them targeted emails with relevant offerings that they will be interested in. If unsolicited email is sent everyday targeting no particular audience, it is treated as spam as it doesn’t help most of the receivers of the emails.

The effectiveness of the email campaign can be seen in the results. If you are spamming your potential and existing buyers, it will not make any difference to your sales. If you have a targeted & interesting email marketing campaign, it definitely will!

Frequency of emails:

Timing can make a difference between you being considered a spammer or dedicated seller! Frequently emailing regular customers and brand loyalists is a good way to keep them informed about your offers and to keep them coming back to you. But if you overdo it, it will have the opposite effect!

If you keep inundating their inboxes with emails, your customers will be annoyed and start paying less attention to your messages. When you have something of real value to offer, it will go unnoticed.

Keep email marketing messages to no more than once a month. Keep the content relevant and meaningful to your target audience.

Create an HTML email

When you create your email marketing campaign, design your email messages to fit the same theme of your eBay store.

Use your eBay store colours in your emails, along with your store logo. This can be created using HTML. If you have no knowledge of HTML a design firm will be able to create an HTML mail for you.

On receipt of your e-mail, customers instantly recognise the source and will be encouraged to read your email. This will also ensure that your brand is instantly recognised and over time you will create a recognisable brand presence through your marketing campaign.

In your email marketing messages, you must include…

1. Special sales and product offerings. Use your email campaign to introduce new products, or offer products that are complementary to what a customer has purchased in the past.

2. Informative articles relevant to your product line. Provide your customer with occasional articles that are useful and relevant to their interests. If you sell scrapbook supplies for example, an article every now and then about scrapbooking techniques is often fun, and appreciated by your audience.

3. Personalise it! – Email messages shouldn’t be generic. Don’t be afraid to sound “personal” here—talk directly to your customer as if they’re an old friend. Use your name when you sign off, and incorporate an actual signature. Include a picture if you can. This creates a bond with your customers and that makes you a more trusted seller.

Creating an email marketing campaign for your eBay store can be great way to drive traffic to your store.  Get a customized, unique eBay store presence, with a theme that can be replicated on all of your e-mail marketing messages.

Happy emailing!