Email marketing is a fast-growing marketing and communications method that has revolutionised the realm of digital marketing. Since the introduction, businesses have been able to easily send tailored and targeted messages to their customers.
Technology is rapidly advancing and marketeers are getting smarter, more efficient and more precise with their efforts. This means that the more traditional methods of marketing like direct mail began to lose their popularity. That being said, traditional methods are still important, but we’ll get into that more later.
The need for email marketing came from businesses looking to find a way to connect with their audiences on a large scale. Yet in marketing, it is crucial to have the personalised touch that builds brand loyalty. Thankfully, email marketing is seen to help bridge the gap between some of un-personalised mass marketing methods and calling every customer individually.
That all sounds great, right? For the most part yes, but like with all good things, there are some challenges. Let’s take a look…
If you are thinking of adopting email into your marketing tool belt, there are a few things you might want to take into consideration. It’s important to remember, that while we live in a world of constant technological advancement, not everyone will have easy, consistent access to the internet or email. To get around this, research your target market and see whether there’s a large enough of a percentage to justify your time and efforts.
While you may be tempted to frequently send your customers new updates, deals and information via email, balance is crucial. Due to the heavily saturated market, your customers will likely receive multiple sales email every day. The last thing you want is to cross the barrier into ‘spam’ territory.
You’ve taken the challenges into consideration and now you’re ready to try your hand at email marketing. Where do you begin? Before you can send any content, you’ve got to build an audience. The best way to quickly build an audience is by using your existing customer base. It’s also a great idea to leave a signup section throughout your website and social media profiles. It’s crucial that you comply with GDPR, and to do so, make sure you have a clear opt-in or opt-out section at the bottom of all emails. It’s also important to have a detailed Terms & Conditions attached to any place people can signup to your mailing list.
In today’s world, there are tools and online platforms to help streamline nearly every aspect of business. Email marketing is no different. There are a plethora of platforms that will allow you to create, track and analyse your email marketing data. Here are some of our recommendations:
Once you’ve figured out a platform that suits your needs, it’s time to get cracking on the content. The content that goes into these emails needs to be enticing, succinct and genuinely interesting. Think about it, if you open an email and it’s bland and lacking substance, you’re highly likely to actually read it. So, make sure your content is creative and eye-grabbing while still getting the message across.
One of the most important pieces of content to master is what you put in the email’s subject line. This information is what will either make the recipient click or toss your hard work into the spam folder. Click-baiting is something that should be avoided. Your customers may still click through, but they will catch on to the over-exaggeration overtime. Subject lines should be sharp, witty and engaging.
Remember to include multiple CTA’s, but not so many that it distracts the reader. For example, if you’re trying to drive traffic to a recent blog post, you may include a snippet in the main content as well as a related CTA. This button may read something like, ‘Want to read more? Click here.’ Imagery and videos are also a great way to catch the readers eye as they click onto the email.
Content Examples:
So now you’ve been seemingly killing the email marketing game, or at least you think you are. If you’re not actively analysing the data from each campaign, you can’t truly say what’s working and what isn’t. You can get all sorts of information such as open rate, click-through rate, and the different links that are actively being clicked. This information can be used to make sure your content improves with every campaign. For example, if you have a low open rate, you might want to make your subject line more engaging. Whereas if you have a low CTR, you will probably want to switch up the actual content.
All in all, email marketing is an instrumental marketing tool that can have great effects on your brand reputation and customer loyalty. If you’d like to have a chat about how we can help, don’t hesitate to get in touch.