Results 1 to 17 of 17
  1. #1

    Emailing Customers Newsletters?

    Hi,

    I'm starting to think about using a service such as mailchimp to keep my customers informed of server upgrades / maintenance or new features and was wondering what is the best practice?

    For example by using MailChimp customers will be able to opt out of the emails, which could be a problem when I need to contact customers about server upgrades.

    For example last night I upgraded our servers mail server to the latest version of smartermail I used my internal mailing system to make users aware of this change, and when it was completed. I am now at the stage where I want to send customers a more detailed email with the benefits of the new system and also try and sell some extra mail features, this is where MailChimp would be good as I can track how many read the email or clicked any links.

    Going forward I would also like to email customers a newletter monthly and include topics of new things / uptime states / offers.

    Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    3,531
    We use the built in mail function that whmcs has.
    Clients shouldn't be able to opt out of important service emails.
    I don't really see why you need to monitor who reads the email, sounds a bit big brother like to me....
    BotWars.io - Code the AI of your Battle Bot!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Location
    London
    Posts
    672
    Quote Originally Posted by ZanyHost View Post
    I don't really see why you need to monitor who reads the email, sounds a bit big brother like to me....
    It's not big brother, if you're announcing promotions or new products, it's sensible marketing. You need to be able to measure the impact of your message to see what's working and what isn't.

    It's not so essential for service/maintenance announcements though, although it would be interesting to know how many people actually read them... which could lead to working out a better practice in the future if you found the number to be too low.

    I would keep service affecting announcements to plain text though, just to make sure its read by as many people as possible. So many people pick emails up on their mobile devices now you need to give it in a format that is easily read.
    Jo Stonehouse - Kualowww.kualo.com
    Shared Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud VPS & Dedicated Servers
    UK: 0800 138 3235 ❘ USA: 1-800-995-8256

  4. #4
    Thanks for the replies, I think you are right I should keep service emails to WHMCS which does a fine job.

    ZanyHost the main reason for measure link clicks is just as KualoJo describes I mainly want to measure how succesfull my newsletters are.

    I think going forward I will email customers information about upgrades / maintenance via whmcs and then state within the email that more information will be available in the next newsletter.

    And for the newsletter customers can opt out etc if they wish.

    If anyone has any hosting newsletter writing tips that would be much appreciated.

    Thanks

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    3,531
    Yeh just not the kind of thing I would do really, suppose everyone is different.
    Like when gmail shows ads based on private email content, it just seams wrong...
    BotWars.io - Code the AI of your Battle Bot!

  6. #6
    It's not really about big brother it's just like Google Analytics for your email, by measuring the results you can see where your newsletter is failing or how terrible it is.

    I'm not into target advertising or offers just measure the success of an email newsletter.

    My newsletters will mainly be informational i.e. how to get the best out of what customers currently have, i.e. a lot of my customers at the moment don't realise that we now have MS Exchange like email features.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    450
    Keeping your customers informed is never a bad thing, as long as you can quickly accommodate those who don't want your messages. Many years ago ServInt even had a PRINT newsletter that we physically mailed to all our clients! I can't imagine doing that today, but it was actually quite popular.

    There is a certain segment of your clientele that will always love to hear about your ongoing achievements. There will also be those who don't - and as long as you can accommodate both you should go for it!
    Christian Dawson Exectuive Director and Co-Founder, i2Coalition
    The i2Coalition is comprised of small to medium cloud providers, data centers, registrars, registries and other foundational Internet enterprises. Join today!
    Follow us on Twitter @i2coalition or checkout our forum!

  8. #8
    As long as you provide an opt-out facility I think a newsletter is a great idea when you're keeping your clients informed

  9. #9
    To give some advice from the point of view of a customer, personally I usually opt out of newsletters. I am of the viewpoint that I know what I want and if I was interested in a new service or something I'd look it up myself when it's needed. A newsletter containing information about products and services I don't want or need is unlikely to be read by myself.

    What I don't mind are emails informing me of upgrades and updates to existing services that I use. Nor do I mind a product or service being suggested to me if it is relevant, such as if I contact support about an issue and you have some product or service that would help with my problem or is related to it in some way, even if it is an optional extra.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    450
    That's an excellent and valid perspective, and for a lot of people that's going to be the case. It is a very bad move to not know that ahead of time and be ready to be opted out or just deleted a good portion of the time.

    There are some clients who are going to think it's cool to see what you're doing and what else you may have to offer, but do whatever you can to satisfy those who do not as well.
    Christian Dawson Exectuive Director and Co-Founder, i2Coalition
    The i2Coalition is comprised of small to medium cloud providers, data centers, registrars, registries and other foundational Internet enterprises. Join today!
    Follow us on Twitter @i2coalition or checkout our forum!

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by blueskimonkey View Post
    Hi,

    I'm starting to think about using a service such as mailchimp to keep my customers informed of server upgrades / maintenance or new features and was wondering what is the best practice?

    For example by using MailChimp customers will be able to opt out of the emails, which could be a problem when I need to contact customers about server upgrades.

    For example last night I upgraded our servers mail server to the latest version of smartermail I used my internal mailing system to make users aware of this change, and when it was completed. I am now at the stage where I want to send customers a more detailed email with the benefits of the new system and also try and sell some extra mail features, this is where MailChimp would be good as I can track how many read the email or clicked any links.

    Going forward I would also like to email customers a newletter monthly and include topics of new things / uptime states / offers.

    Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

    Thanks
    There is this free software called PHPList - works pretty well however the only problem is your mail servers tend to get blocked so you will get a reduced read rate. I like to use getresponse for my email marketing.

    That said, the best way to do this is setup two different mailing lists:

    Mailing list one: Freebie

    The goal of this list is to get people to opt in by offering them something free(but it has to be good) - for example a free ebook or something of that nature. In return for the ebook, you require them to opt into your mailing list. If you are confused about this, take a look at my website to see what I mean.

    Once they opt in, you provide them with valuable content in the form of a newsletter that is sent out every few days. At the end of each email, you will want to promote your hosting service. This will increase your sales ten fold once you get some experience with email marketing.

    Whatever you do, do not send your list junk. Too many junk emails and people will stop reading your emails and most will unsubscribe. This is the key to keeping your subscribers on your list.

    Mailing list two: for your paying customers.
    This is your gold mine. Once someone buys from you, move them to your special mailing list reserved only for paying customers. These guys will be the ones that will buy everything from you you have to offer.

    Like before, send them some nicely written articles on something web hosting related - anything from HowTos, new features they can use, top industry news, etc.

    From there, you will want to find affiliate products you can sell to them - it doesn't always have to be web hosting related, but you will definitely want to keep it related to website development or computers. Software like website building software, virus scanners, registry fixers, stuff like that will convert.

    You will want to send them only one offer per week - anything more and they will start to pick up on the fact that you are just trying to sell them stuff. However, I have seen really good marketers disguise their offers as valuable content. Once you figure this out, you can practically send offers every day without losing your older subscribers.

    Best of luck - remember this is like a martial art here. You need to practice, practice, practice.
    Download my eBook + Videos: Starting your own successful web hosting company.
    Learn from a web host with 7 years of experience.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    64
    So, for the opt-out side of things...that is required as per the Can-Spam act. Any communications have to have an opt-out feature, but as for updates, and I think everyone here probably agrees....you can't let them opt-out of that. Can Mail-Chimp disable the opt-out feature for a 2nd list? For instance...1 list is marketing communications, and people opt-out at will of that one, and the 2nd list is for important updates, which they can't opt out of.
    www.kuzasneu.com
    Internet|Technology|Intellectual Property
    No comments, postings, or exchanges on this forum are intended to be nor shall they be viewed as constituting legal advice, nor does it establish a client attorney relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact your attorney.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by legallink View Post
    So, for the opt-out side of things...that is required as per the Can-Spam act. Any communications have to have an opt-out feature, but as for updates, and I think everyone here probably agrees....you can't let them opt-out of that. Can Mail-Chimp disable the opt-out feature for a 2nd list? For instance...1 list is marketing communications, and people opt-out at will of that one, and the 2nd list is for important updates, which they can't opt out of.
    Can't you simply remove the unsubscribe line from the email template when you are sending it out to your 2nd list? I have never used mailchimp before, but most email software/services allow you to control all your templates.
    Download my eBook + Videos: Starting your own successful web hosting company.
    Learn from a web host with 7 years of experience.

  14. #14
    MailChimp has to display the opt, I think what I will certainly do is inform by customers by existing methods of updates / maintenance and also email them monthly a newsletter via mailchimp with the option to opt out.

    doihaveto mentioned customers won't be interested in this as they should have read up about the services before signing up but I think I would have to disagree, my hosting company is built purely from word of mouth, I personally know that a lot of customers have signed up for a website and email services and still either use hotmail to communicate to users or even pay a 3rd party company for exchange hosting.

    We have recently just upgraded from smartermail Enterprise v5 to v6 and a lot of customers still use the classic POP3 method to connect to their email even though from last year when we did the V5 upgrade they could have setup IMAP Connections, wireless syncs and outlook syncs including calendars etc.

    So my newsletters will be mainly about how customers can make the most of what they have, and save money in particular those that pay for Exchange hosting which costs per mailbox.

    There will be a selling aspect of our newletters but hopefully we can do this in a way that it does not appear to be a hard sell.

  15. #15
    It looks good. It is quite a good idea to keep hosting customers informed of server upgrades / maintenance or new features. Many hosts act in such a way. Customer care is always highly appreciated. I think that you will benefit from this.

  16. #16
    When keeping customers informed of maitenance/upgrades that is considered a transactional email and unsubscribe links are not required by the CAN-SPAM act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPA...#Applicability. You only need to add them to newsletters.
    Increase email deliverability and know who clicked and opened your emails.

    SendGrid, reliable SMTP service.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    1,140
    I think it is always a good thing to send out regular news letters. It stops your clients from forgetting about you. It could be good to add some offers in there.

    It is very useful info to know who is reading the mail or not!
    Hydro Host – Affordable UK Web Hosting - cPanel
    Shared Hosting – Reseller Hosting – Domain Name Registration - Affiliate Program
    www.hydro-host.net

Similar Threads

  1. Sending HTML newsletters to customers
    By 1Host in forum Running a Web Hosting Business
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 02-20-2007, 05:53 PM
  2. Looking for new host for emailing newsletters
    By marklbishop in forum Web Hosting
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 06-01-2005, 05:18 PM
  3. Emailing all customers script or something?
    By Cole in forum Running a Web Hosting Business
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 09-21-2003, 04:25 AM
  4. Emailing all my customers at once?
    By bullony13 in forum Reseller Hosting
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 05-24-2003, 07:04 PM
  5. Emailing your customers...
    By Justin S in forum Running a Web Hosting Business
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 11-03-2001, 11:00 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •