Is your website traffic lately non-existent? Are your emails going to spam? Are you losing subscribers or being completely ignored by them? Do potential clients send your emails to trash without even having a look first? If the answer to one or more of those questions is a “Yes”, keep reading…
For starters, let us define Email Marketing:
Email marketing is the practice of sending out commercial messages (emails) to potential customers or clients to promote business, sell products or establish relationships.
Different Purposes of Email Marketing:
Although Email marketing is strictly promotional, it also includes transactional and operational emails. Transactional emails are automated messages triggered by customer or subscriber activity. These include payment or registration confirmations, tracking of shipments, welcome aboard messages etc. This kind of mail is vital because people actually look forward to it – falling into the category of “Trusted Mail”.
Operational emails are equally significant and are used to inform people about any modification or interlude your business might be going through. For example, your website is under maintenance, the availability status of your services on a holiday, changes in policy and other related issues. This information may seem unnecessary to many, however a solid portion of your clients are likely to appreciate your concern.
Marketing Emails envelop a series of content such as business proposals, press releases/announcements, newsletters, advertising, follow-ups and other relative matters.
Wait, aren’t Emails obsolete already?
No way! Not at all!
Without a doubt Email has been around for decades, but that doesn’t label it as ‘out-of-style’. The younger generation leans more towards social apps like Whatsapp, Viber and WeChat because it allows them to keep things short and prompt. But let’s be honest, all these instant messengers are reserved for personal or casual interactions. When it comes to working environments or official matters, Email was and remains the preferred means of communication. Surveys prove that up to 90% of adults still regard Email as the most reliable form of exchanging information. It is safe to say that Email is here to stay for a long time.
Gr8 Tips for Executing a Successful Email Marketing Campaign:
#1. Determine your Audience
Before you decide to start sending out Marketing Emails, identify who is likely to make use of your products or services. Ask yourself if people of every age, gender, locality and profession can relate? If not, filter the odd ones out and get yourself a list of email addresses that fit your criteria. Within the right audience, keep your list growing exponentially for greater opportunities and growth.
#2. Dodge the Spam Folder
If your Emails are straightaway going to Junk, you will forever lurk in the shadows. The spam filters of different email service providers may vary; an email marked as spam by one might be acceptable to the other. Being frequently categorized as spam could cause you trouble in the long run; getting sued and becoming obliged to pay huge fines is a possibility. The foolproof option is to get your recipients to subscribe or add you to their mailing list. Apart from that, these pointers will help you bypass the spam folder:
- Provide genuine info – this includes your name, physical address and contact numbers.
- Make sure that your IP address does not have a history of spamming.
- Avoid excessive use of tags, capital letters, back-links, keywords, sloppy code and exclamation marks.
- Add a conspicuous button to “unsubscribe” in the Email
#3. Present Engaging Content
Your email content is the central deciding factor of your fate. If it can convince your recipient to sign up with you – mission accomplished. Remember to be precise: summarize your subject matter as much as possible. Your lines must be catchy, well written (good vocabulary & grammatical accuracy) and have a conversational tone. Make every person feel special – address them with their name instead of using common all-inclusive headers (this is possible with some code formatting). Add images or gifs to match the context – try to make the reader’s experience as fun as possible. You can initially offer ‘gifts’ to get their attention; this could be anything ranging from discounts to free membership.
#4. Customize Your Layout
Take note that your email should not look like it has been put together by a 5th grader. A professional demeanor speaks for itself – nobody wants to invest in amateurs. Do not use unnecessary illustrations or loud font, and overall it should not give the impression that there’s too much going on – keep it simple!
#5. Don’t Forget Mobile Users
Traditionally emails were designed for desktop computers, anyhow advances in technology have changed the game. Recent statistics suggest that over 60% of the respective population access their email inbox via smartphones. Cellular phones are portable and accompany us 24/7, so this is no surprise. Therefore, it is crucial that your marketing emails are mobile friendly in order to achieve greater recognition.
#6. Double-Check Everything
Every marketing email you assemble should be scanned for errors before reaching your target audience. The best way to do this is by first sending it to yourself and fellow colleagues. Let yourself and your peers analyse the content as a recipient. This really helps to pinpoint any microscopic flaws that were previously imperceptible.
#7. It Does Not End with a Well Crafted Email
So your email looks great and the receiver was intrigued enough to visit your web page, then what? You need to strategically place an opt-in and a lead magnet on your website. An opt-in is a request for subscription or a call for taking things further. An opt-in can occur as a pop-up box at a corner, float across the top or maybe appear at the end of a page or post. No matter where you position an opt-in, it shall not strike one as an annoyance. Ensure it does not continually interrupt the user in the middle of browsing your site; otherwise they might abandon.
A lead magnet is a given incentive that has the power to persuade the viewer to develop a relationship with you. For example, if you run an Ecommerce website, you can offer a freebie worth $10 to customers spending $100 or more. Similarly, a blog website could hand out a free Ebook or pdf booklet to keep readers coming back for more. First impression is everything – if you nail it, then the cat’s in the bag.
#8. Less is More
The last thing you want to do is provoke or upset a potential customer/client. Keep your follow-ups to a minimum as nobody will be grateful to you for flooding their mailbox everyday. Always stick to the point in all your messages and avert useless details. Weekly or fortnightly emails are usually sufficient to stay in touch.
Does Email Marketing Pay-off?
Creating innovate and attractive marketing emails takes hard work. Also, one requires patience persuading others and waiting to get acknowledged. Once you achieve a good number of subscribers or dedicated customers, you then need to maintain your imprint to keep them interested. Nonetheless, Email marketing has its advantages:
- It’s the cheapest way to advertise your company and rapidly build ‘Brand Awareness’
- It is applicable on a massive scale
- The outcome of Email Marketing allows you to identify your weaknesses and strengths; it sets the ground for improvement
- It looks professional
- Valuable for generating website traffic
- The possibilities are endless – you never know when you might hit the jackpot
- Easy to customize and make changes
- Accommodating for customers/clients (they can respond at their convenience)