We believe there’s more to email marketing than meets the eye, and the fact that everyone does it nowadays doesn’t mean that all email marketing campaigns are successful.
What Is Email Marketing?
The answer may seem obvious, but is it, truly?
We believe there’s more to email marketing than meets the eye, and the fact that everyone does it nowadays doesn’t mean that all email marketing campaigns are successful.
Quite the opposite, as it were.
Now, in the simplest sense of the word, email marketing implies sending emails to promote a business, services and products. However, “promotion” just might not cut it.
In order for a brand to be successful, it needs to establish itself as reliable and trustworthy and preferably as the expert in the field.
This is done by adding quality content to the website and promoting it accordingly. Cross-promoting would be the right term, as the more channels you use for promotion, the greater the visibility of your business will become.
Even special offers sent via email render the best results when they are also shared on social media channels, on related forums, and so on.
Reliability and Customer Relations
The best-performing brands have a base of loyal customers. To get to that point, lots of hard work is needed, primarily in the scope of building fruitful relationships with customers.
Successful email marketing campaigns establish relationships with customers, while at the same time keeping them informed about the offers and special deals continuously.
“Continuously,” however, doesn’t mean that emails should be overbearing, nor indeed too persistent. It is important to mind the frequency and the quality of the messages. Even the finest of offers will fall on deaf ears if you tend to spam your customers.
Albeit there’s no general rule as to the recommended frequency, some general guidelines would be to send newsletters either weekly, bi-monthly or monthly. The choice depends on the offer and your marketing plan.
It is also recommended to mind the time zones, especially if you run an international business. The best time for emails to arrive is when they are likely to be spotted immediately, as opposed to, e.g., arriving when people are asleep.
Note that many of your customers will also be interested in competitors’ newsletters, which means that your campaign must stand out.
In terms of email marketing, that means that your subject lines should be absolutely spotless. Namely, it is the subject line that decides the fate of your email. Will it be opened and read or deleted or flagged as spam? Depends on what your subject line announces and, more importantly, how it announces it. If it fails to grab the recipient’s attention, your message won’t be read.
It is crucial to remember that email marketing strategies should rely on the relationship with your customers. Always reward loyalty and ask people for their feedback.
Email Marketing Can’t Go Wrong: True or False?
Email marketing is the most popular form of advertising, followed by media ads and Google ads. Unlike the latter two, email marketing has a greater visibility, provided that you have chosen a trustworthy email service provider. Did you know that Facebook ads are seen by only 2% of the page’s followers?
By contrast, email marketing campaigns from trusted brands reach recipients’ inboxes at least 25 times more often, according to various statistics.
And, unlike paid ads, email campaigns are wanted. Remember that every subscriber your business gets subscribes because they are interested in the offer. With Facebook and Google ads, people don’t have a choice in the matter.
How to Plan an Email Marketing Campaign
Letting aside the fact that, in order for an email campaign to be successful, the content of the message should be written professionally and concisely, the success of an email marketing campaign actually depends on proper planning.
No matter how great the content, if the message doesn’t get read, it won’t make any difference in the end.
Obviously, you will first want to know who to send the offer to as well. Subscribers are the first choice, but don’t trick people into subscribing by forcing them to provide their email addresses to access content on your site. The strategy is known to annoy people rather than intrigue them, which brings us back to the topic of quality content.
To attract people to your brand, you should clearly explain the benefits of subscription. After all, with the range of spam messages these days, people are naturally doubtful when it comes to subscriptions.
If you need more email addresses for your list, you may run a contest (via your Facebook page, for example). The prize doesn’t have to be expensive. It may be any kind of benefit, such as a free e-book or special discount on the next order.
As for the campaigns themselves, remember that automation is your friend. It’s a no-brainer, as no one is expected to write myriads of messages for every recipient. There are numerous useful tools that will help you with sending emails keeping track of the open rates, CRTs, bounce rates, conversions and interactions.
Everything considered, email marketing is a handy (not to mention - lucrative) tool to attract new customers, keep in touch with loyal buyers and implement innovation based on people’s feedback. It’s value can hardly be exaggerated, as it keeps communication alive and helps your brand present itself as a household name. Simply mind your manners, ask for feedback and answer customers’ queries for best results.
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