(WKBN Staff) — Are you concerned that too many links to your website, social media accounts, and e-mail addresses are coming from the wrong sources? Are you receiving a lot of unsolicited junk mail from email marketing senders you don’t know or have never heard of?

From companies that look like they’re operating from your home, office, bar, or gym, your email marketing and social media accounts could easily become overtaken by malicious code.

Most legitimate businesses don’t require their customers to give their email address. Your first line of defense is to have one in writing, and make sure that the use of a customer’s email address is properly outlined in your contract.

Also, when deciding if you want to use a company’s “Follow” option for customer evangelism, or through Facebook or other networks, make sure it is clearly spelled out that you, not the customer, sign up for the company’s content. In many cases, social media handles simply redirect users to your home page. It should also be mentioned that every successful business will have a dedicated Facebook page. Do not sign up for anything you do not want others to see.

How you do it:

A good spam filter will eliminate any unwanted spam from your inbox (along with any viruses). But a good e-mail marketing piece (e.g., an inbound piece of content) is much harder to detect and block. The first point is to focus on generating your own traffic, and the best way to do that is to ask for an “inbound email marketing come-on” in some way. Once you’ve received an “inbound” e-mail marketing offer, you can then rank it higher in your marketing tool-based email lists, which will promote it higher up in the algorithmic (brushed-through-your-household) filtering of your social media accounts, email accounts, and contacts.

Inbound Marketing tools:

“Inbound” campaigns are typically built around one of four key words in your company’s name. If your name’s not really one of these four, don’t use it. Avoid using social media handles, however, that make you or your customers sound spammy. In addition, many top inbound marketers have established call-to-action buttons that allow recipients to share your content, subscribe to your product or service, or sponsor your campaign.

Remember that cold call to your customers or prospective customers – whether you’re part of a marketing campaign or going rogue – you need to follow best practices for getting through to their attention. First, identify what they might want to know about your product or service (if there’s a gap in knowledge, find the facts), and then focus on why they need your product or service. If you’re posting your message on social media, make sure your text is easy to read; if it’s not, you may be missing potential customer eyes (and clicks).

The News Channel 28 team will continue to provide a wealth of email marketing and e-commerce news, and offer tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your marketing campaigns.

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