Small Business Website Content Marketing Blog

…for attracting new customers……is the end of that sentence.  Give me a break, I’m shooting for an attention grabbing headline!

I guess I’ve been in the industry too long.  This seems like common sense to me, however, every month or so, I have to explain to someone that email marketing is an absolutely horrible solution for attracting new customers.

Let’s start with a definition of “New Customer,” shall we?  I consider a new customer to be a complete stranger who visits a website, and then takes an action in order to fulfill a website’s goal.

A website’s goal is different for each site; getting a website visitor to fill out an online lead form, sign up for a newsletter, create a free trial, or initiate an online purchase are common examples of website goals.

Basically, email marketing involves sending out an email to a large list of recipients (aka, and email blast) who have agreed that they’d like to receive communications from your company.  If you already have their permission to email them, they’re not a stranger, and therefore, they’re not a new customer.  If they’ve provided you with their email address, then they’re no longer a new customer, I consider them to be a prospect.

I suppose you could just go out and buy a list of email addresses.  But buying a list is probably one of the worst things you can do to promote your business.  Though not illegal under the CAN-SPAM Act, it is a terrible business practice.  How do you treat unsolicited emails that find their way into your inbox?  Personally, I mark them as a spam, and I make a mental note to avoid the nefarious business that spammed me.  If a significant number of people admit that they won’t shop with a company that sends them too many emails, think about how they treat companies that send unsolicited emails.

My conclusion, use email marketing to retain customers and convert prospects.