Submitted by: denise cox on Tue, 05/06/2007 - 09:39

“Currently 80% of web users visit a search engine website every day, actively looking for products, services or information. Within the B2B world, 93.2% of customers use the Internet to research a purchase. In fact, it’s listed as the “first resource” by 63.9% of respondents.” (Source: Base one Search)

How an email newsletter can take advantage of this:

1. Because people are now quite comfortable with turning to the internet to find anything, anywhere in the world cheaper and faster, it’s often the company’s reputation and ongoing customer care that gets and keeps customers. Quality email newsletters excel at providing a platform to do this. This retention element is not as easy to measure as immediate sales, but certainly is a highly effective conversion influencer.

2. An email newsletter residing online is a micro website that can be found by these searchers. Because the newsletter is relevant, the visitor will be a qualified, interested acquisition if they sign up for your newsletter. (You do have your newsletters online, and you do have a sign up box, right?!). This is an excellent opportunity to begin the relationship and enter into their decision making process.

“Selling now takes more time and resources then ever before. The sales cycle has become 22% longer as buyers are taking longer to consider their decisions. Plus, buying is being managed more professionally.” (Source: Sirius Decisions)

How an email newsletter can take advantage of this: A quality, well-timed email newsletter keeps a company’s products or services front-of-mind during the subscriber’s decision making and purchasing cycle.