It’s no surprise that email marketing is an amazing tool. Marketers across all industries are utilising this type of communication, but that’s not to say it comes without its challenges. Keep reading to find out more…
There are so many different email marketing platforms available that it can be daunting trying to find the right fit for your business. Luckily there are a lot of different great options:
Each of these offers different services and integrations. When choosing a platform for your business, the best way to start is by defining what you need it to achieve. Mail Chimp and Zoho Campaigns are basic and easy to use with great functionality. They allow you to import mailing lists and customise your emails. They even allow for automation within campaigns.
If you’re looking for a more high-level campaign platform, you may choose to look at using Salesforce and Pardot. Pardot is the marketing automation platform located within Salesforce and is often used by larger companies to automate their workflow.
Once you’ve decided on an email marketing platform, the next step is understanding the type of content you want to use. There are no rules as to what your emails should include, how often you send them nor how it should be laid out. That being said, we have some suggestions that might make it a bit easier.
When it comes to content, you want it to be engaging, informative and to the point. While you can put paragraph after paragraph in your emails, you’d be better off giving a sneak peek. This allows you to link back to a page on your website or social media if they want to learn more.
The layout of the email needs to be clear and easy to navigate. Within the first 2 seconds, the recipient should know what the email is about, even if it’s just recognising that it’s highlighting a product spotlight or newsletter.
The title of each email should be snappy, eye-grabbing and something that makes the reader want to open it. For example, say you’re a restaurant selling unique combinations at great prices. The title of your email could be: ‘A delicious deal you DON’T want to miss out on…’
Similar to the title, you want the email subject to engage the reader and make them wonder what might be waiting for them in the email. Continuing with the example above, you could hint at some popular menu items. “Combination Offer includes X, Y and Z for a great price of …”
In recent years, marketing automation has revolutionised the way companies use email campaigns. This marketing technique aims to automate the flow between different marketing activities, such as emails. For example, you may set different emails to go out depending on whether the recipient has opened the previous. For more information on marketing automation and its impact on email marketing, check out this link.
The problem some people run into with marketing automation is understanding how to use it efficiently. You don’t want to send too many emails and overwhelm the consumer, but you also don’t want to wait too long between emails and have them lose interest. Typically, three to four days between emails will be a great starting point, until you have your own data to make different timing decisions.
Great, you’ve got the email squared away. Now it’s time to build a mailing list so that your amazing email gets seen! There are many ways to do this. You may consider putting a customised CTA at the end of blogs and social media posts enticing consumers to join your mailing list. Alternatively, you can place a timed survey to pop up on your website and capture some emails that way.
As amazing as email marketing can be, it doesn’t come without its issues. One of the main issues being that a lot of other companies have the same idea. This leads to consumers being bombarded with hundreds of emails each day, which means you may end up in the spam folder. In order to make sure that doesn’t happen, you’ve got to make sure your content is punchy, memorable and most importantly, not annoying. Email marketing is a process, your first emails will definitely need some improvement. That being said, as time goes on, you will become a pro!
While it’s possible to set up a killer email marketing campaign on your own, you may consider outsourcing the work. Marketing specialists are great at pulling together strong and effective email marketing campaigns that will align specifically to your goals. At Design JD, we’re confident that we will provide you with a campaign that perfectly addresses your audience.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. We’re always happy to help.