How Branded Email Drives Success

First impressions matter – whether you're applying for a job, making a bid on a contract, or trying to attract new customers to your business.

Since so many companies today use e-mail marketing to woo potential customers, a prospect's first impression of your business may be whatever lands in their inbox.

Consider what market research firm, eMarketer reported in August 2006: "The ubiquity of e-mail, among marketers and Internet users, has created a take-it-for-granted attitude that detracts from its actual power. But with a 90% penetration rate among Internet users—over 55% of all Americans—e-mail represents an audience with critical mass, and it is the primary delivery vehicle for word-of-mouth marketing."

So what can your small business do to take full advantage of the power of e-mail? How can you improve the odds your messages make a positive first impression and don't become a casualty of the delete key?

Start with your e-mail address.

If you are still using an e-mail address provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), you are probably losing points on the credibility scale. Think about it: If you get mail from someone trying to sell you services and the mail comes from example555@hotmail.com, what's your first impression? Does this address say "serious business" to you? Probably not.

Alternatively, e-mail branded with a company name simply looks more legitimate and more professional. If you receive a message from tim.litton@northwindtraders.com, for instance, your first impression is going to be a much more positive one. At first blush Northwind Traders appears to be a going concern.

In reality, Northwind Traders may be a two-person shop. But you can't tell from his e-mail address whether Tim Litton and his wife are running a business out of their basement – or if Tim is CEO of a company that employs 300 people in a Manhattan high-rise.

Your goal, of course, isn't to mislead potential customers or pretend to be something you aren't. But you also don't want them to dismiss you as a serious business simply because your e-mail address looks unprofessional. Once they get past the address, you have an opportunity to influence their decision whether to do business with you based on the merits of your offer.