By Gisele McAuliffe, The Ashkin Group

This month we are pleased to kick-off the first of an ongoing series of Green Selling Tips for utilizing public relations techniques to improve your sales, beginning with some great ideas for maximizing your e-mail response rates. But before we get started, it’s important to clarify the differences between public relations and marketing.

The PR & Marketing Mix
Marketing is commonly perceived as a “paid activity.” It typically focuses on product, place, price, and promotion and is more closely associated with activities such as paid media advertising, sales promotions and other traditional marketing outreach. Marketing deals with consumers, their demands, how you create the "need" for certain products and how you fulfill these demands. Marketing helps to create awareness for your company name/products and also helps in the positioning of the company.

In contrast to the “paid activity” perception of marketing, public relations is most usually associated with image building and management, “unpaid media” placements (new articles), publicity, making use of press releases, press conferences, and other such activities. It has grown in stature within the "marketing" promotional mix by dealing with customers and all of an organization’s stakeholders. What do I mean by “stakeholders?” I’m referring to customers, vendors, politicians, employees of your firm, investors—anyone and everyone who has an impact on your business.

Marketing Campaigns may use brand building exercises, advertising and public relations to carry out various sales efforts. In this sense, public relations is a facet of marketing that is focused on promoting beneficial relationships with your customers.

Add Value to Your E-mail
Public relations activities that utilize e-mail are cheap, easy to manage and instant. The possibilities for using e-mail are endless and can be as simple as sending out timely reminder prompts and remembering to say thanks! The results can include: improved customer relationships, better positioning yourself as an expert of Green Cleaning expert, added value for your customers and maximizing the responses customer replies to your messages.

Send Reminder Prompts
Are you using e-mail to prompt people back to you for repeat sales or services? Or to visit your website or premises?

Here are some examples:

The Power of Thank You
How often do you thank people for their time? We all know that we should be writing and sending thank you cards, but do you have the time? In marketing and public relations outreach, the “thank you” is very important, so consider using e-mail to do it quickly, easily and more often, for example:

Sales Boosters
If the majority of your current and potential customer e-mails focus on “buy, buy, buy” there is little added value. Add value by offering true “Internet Only” specials.

Here are some ideas:

Company News
What’s going on in your company? Are you letting customers and prospects know about it? If not, you are losing an opportunity to improve your image in the eyes of your customer. Company and individual actions, such as: philanthropic activities, quality improvements, service or product awards are great image boosters.

Here are a few ideas about public relations activities that can be shared with your customers via e-mail:

Tips

2. Put A Great Subject Line On The E-Mail To Get It Read
Using the award announcement again, make sure the subject line of your e-mail is engaging and communicates the key message about your accolade. A subject line that reads: “WXYZ Company Press Release” is likely to make the eyes of many of your customers glaze over. Alternatively, a subject line that reads: “WXYZ Company Receives Top Quality Award” is likely to garner much more attention.

3. Length & Style - Use Good E-mail Etiquette
When it comes to composing an e-mail message, too many people operate at either ends of the extreme. Their e-mails are either incredibly short and may not even include the common courtesy of saying hello at the beginning of the message and thank you at the end, or their e-mails are far too long—two or three computer screens of information that few recipients can be expected to read. The best rule of thumb when writing e-mail corresondence with your customers is to be polite, convey only one key idea and get right to it.

Good luck and good selling!

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About the Author:
Gisele McAuliffe directs communications for The Ashkin Group.  She has 27 years of communications experience in journalism, public relations and public advocacy at all levels – both in the United States and overseas.  She was a producer and reporter for CNN, United Press International Radio, Voice of Germany and Radio France International. In her public advocacy and public relations work, McAuliffe focuses on the issues of environmental protection, human rights and international development. Her past experience includes directing communications for the American Red Cross disaster services, The World Wildlife Fund’s international climate change campaign and The Wilderness Society.

In addition to her role as director of communications at The Ashkin Group, McAuliffe continues to preside over her own communications consultancy, Advocacy Communications International, Inc., providing strategic communications services exclusively to socially responsible organizations.