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MARKETING Can Email Marketing Really Work For Voice Actors? Yes! Five Tips ... March 7, 2019  By Dan HurstVoice Actor One
of the challenges of voice-over work is finding new customers. Most
voice talents are in business for themselves and have to do it all:
production, administration, marketing, even housekeeping. Hmmm… sounds
like any other small business! There are a number of ways that
many of us voice talents seek new business. For instance, through agents,
production houses, referrals, Pay-to-Play sites, free listing sites,
networking, phone soliciting, social media connections, direct mail, web
banners, text ads, magazine ads, Ebay, Craigslist… oh, and email. A
lot has been written about emailing as a marketing strategy. Entire companies built up around those efforts. Does it work? DONE RIGHT, YES ... Well,
yes … and no. It's pretty much like any other marketing strategy. Done
right, yes it works. Done wrong it can work against you! But
it must work to an extent, right? I mean, look at all those emails you
get in your inbox! Obviously it's working or they wouldn't be doing it. It's gotta be a law of percentages thing - send out enough emails and
you're bound to get some work, yes? WON'T READ MASS MAILING Well, maybe you've guessed by now that I am
not a fan of mass emailing. Generally, if I get an email that is not
addressed directly to me, I don't read it (unless the subject matter is
so compelling that I can't help myself, or it contains the words "naked"
and "jello"). I don't use email lists for marketing. Ever. I don't even save a list of email addresses that I send out. Every
email is individually researched, targeted and sent. That's just me. I
know some people buy lists and send mass emails, and I don't
think they're wrong for doing so. But I prefer to research a little
about a potential client before I send them my info, so I tie the two
efforts together. Now, sometimes the only email address I can
find on a potential client's website is Info@… or I have to leave a
message on a contact form, but that hardly qualifies as having put them
on a list. IS IT SPAM? For the purposes of our marketing discussion I
would say that any time you put multiple email addresses in your "To:"
box, that's spam. And everyone is irritably sensitive to spam. The
truth is, if you get an email that you didn't want, don't you sort of
think of it as spam? It's just the nature of the beast, I guess. But I
disagree with the concept that just because something is unsolicited
it's spam. Especially if it's a business seeking a business opportunity
with another business! That's called marketing. And that also is the
nature of the beast. The way I look at it, an email inquiring
about a business opportunity is no more illegitimate than a door-to-door
salesman (although even that's illegal in some communities). My point
is that there is nothing wrong with a legitimate email offering your services
anymore than there is anything wrong with legitimate snail mail making a
legitimate offering. But HOW you make the offer is
critical. FIVE EMAIL MARKETING TIPS So, here are five things to keep in mind when you use email as
part of your marketing strategy: 1. Send an initial inquiry to
see if the company accepts voice-over demos (or whatever you are
offering), and to whom such information should be sent. I always include
a line in that email that introduces me as a bilingual voice talent,
fluent in English and Spanish. The reason I do that is so that if there
is a need for what I have to offer, it may get the right person's
attention right away. 2. If the general rule of thumb
applies, you are going to get only about a 2 or 3% response. I have
gotten as much as 10% response in certain business categories that I've
marketed. But that open door to those who have responded essentially
pre-qualifies your reason for following up with the right person. 3.
Never send an attachment by email unless you've been given permission
to do so. Don't do it. It makes you look like you don't care that
you've clogged up someone's inbox. And it may well be intercepted and
deleted by the recipient's server, meaning they'll never even see your
email! I suggest that if you are using the email to refer them to
a demo, put a link in the email, or something they can copy and paste
to access the demo. I do both. Some servers will kill links, so go
ahead and add the link address as a precaution. 4. Keep your
email message simple, informative, and short. Just tell them who you are, what
you do, a quick reason for why they may be interested in you, and how
they can follow up with you or learn more about you. That's it. Ron
Green was the most successful salesman I ever knew. He could sell
anything. And pretty much did. I asked him once why he was such a good
salesman. He laughed and explained that he was trained to keep selling
until the customer said yes or no. But then he learned to stop selling when
the customer said "More, please." 5. Connect with the customer. I
have a guy who trims my trees. I met him because he came around once a
year, dropped off a flyer to let people know that he would be in the
neighborhood the following month if they needed him. It was a very well
done flyer that explained what he did, how to get in touch with him,
and of course, in that flyer an offer for a free estimate the following
week ("Please call right away to let me know what time would be best for
me to drop by"). He's one of the busiest tree trimmers around. I
asked him one day how he came up with his little marketing strategy. He said, "Well, everyone else uses flyers to get business. I use 'em to
get appointments for free estimates. I figure no one buys off a flyer. They buy from a person." The fact is, I rarely have a client
hire me right from a marketing piece I've sent out. The marketing piece
is just a door bell. If they open the door, then I can connect with
the client, start building a relationship, figure out if I really am
able to help them, and determine how I should continue with that
opportunity. In some cases they want to hear from me every two or three
months. For some, once a year is enough. Some call me when they need
me, whether it's weekly, monthly or annually. RESPECT THEIR SPACE And one more
point about connecting with your client: Just because you've
corresponded with someone by email, doesn't give you the right to invade
their space. I can't tell you how many people I know who seem to
think that because we've exchanged a few emails, I'm
interested in their mail-outs. I mean, I guess they're still sending
mail-outs. I blocked them a long time ago. Emails. I love
'em (but not mass emails). I use 'em all the time to go after new
business. But the game is constantly changing, and if you're not on top
of how your clients use email, and know what will get them to notice you
in a positive light, you're wasting your time…and theirs. ------------------ ABOUT DAN Dan (Daniel Eduardo) Hurst is an experienced bilingual (English and Spanish) voice talent operating out of the Kansas City area. His business extends internationally, with clients including Maserati, Boehringer Ingelheim, British Petroleum, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald's, Volkswagen, Telemundo International, Shell, Hallmark, TransCanada, and many more, along with his national work for numerous infomercials, ESPN, MLB, and the Golf Channel, among others. When he's not working, he spends time cheering for losing sports teams, getting kicked off of golf courses, and cursing his boat motor. Email: DanHurst@DanHurst.com Web: www.DanHurst.com SEE MORE VALUABLE VOICE-OVER MARKETING ARTICLES |
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Another thing that I like about emails is that I often get emails or calls from people months later about the email - they keep it in a file, I guess, and refer to it when they need a voice. A cold call can't really do that (unless you follow up with an email - but if they aren't interested at the time, you might not be able to get their contact info).