With all of the advances in communication in recent years, you might consider email ancient technology. But that assumption is actually mistaken. Email is still alive and well, being used daily by billions of individuals to relay documents and information.
You can use this widespread familiarity with an email to your advantage. Email marketing campaigns don’t get talked about as often anymore, but there’s no reason they should be left on the back burner. Email campaigns can be just as successful today, if not more so than they have been in the past.
Of course, there is a right way and a wrong way to approach email marketing. Here we’ll outline some of the best strategies you can employ and what sorts of benefits you can expect.
1. Set Measurable Goals
As with any good marketing effort, you need to start off with your goals in mind. What do you want to accomplish with your email marketing campaign? Your answer to this question will determine the approach you ultimately take.
Let’s say your primary focus with email marketing is to upsell existing customers. Set a goal for how many sales you want to make or what sort of conversion rate you want to see. Then, focus your email marketing campaign on what will lead you to that goal.
Email is a critical component of and thus a big reason why email marketing may be right for you. You can send out coupon codes to loyal customers or messages congratulating them on birthdays and anniversaries. Email blasts are a great way to keep customers engaged and involved with your business.
2. Make Contact at the Right Time and in the Right Place
Reaching clients on their cell phones can be a bit tricky. They may ignore calls while at home and disregard the text messages they receive at inconvenient times. With email, you can get your message across at a time when the recipient is open to receiving it.
It may be true that personal email communication has taken a dip in recent years. However, commercial and professional email correspondence is still commonplace. If someone receives a marketing email at the office, they’re more likely to read it than a text they get while watching football.
Some employees may even regard checking their email as a welcome break from other daily tasks. In contrast, when you try to reach customers at home in real-time, you’ll be competing with their personal time. And that’s much more difficult to shake them from.
3. Vary Your Message Copy
If every email you send out reads exactly the same, you’ll be moved to the spam folder in no time. While it’s important to keep a consistent voice in a marketing campaign, you need enough variation to keep people interested. This is where your comes into play.
Start by considering your audience. Who is your primary demographic segment? If you’re trying to reach a younger audience, your choice of words will be different than if you’re focusing on an older generation. You’ll be more likely to use slang, texting acronyms, and pop culture references with a Gen Z audience than a Boomer one.
The more variance you have in your emails, the more sincere they will appear. Customers will feel like you’re actually trying to have a conversation with them or build a relationship. You’ll have a lot more success this way than if you stick to a rote, repetitive sales pitch.
4. Don’t Cut Corners on Design
The layout and design of your emails is just as important as your copy. This is how you catch the eyes of your readers so that they will linger and read the copy you’ve written. A bland, visually dull email will most likely be deleted before a single word is even read.
Start by adding a splash of color. This will grab attention for just long enough to draw the recipient into the message. If you prefer the look of black and white, use shapes and images to capture attention instead. Anything that pops will be better than a solid block of text by itself.
There is, of course, such a thing as going overboard on your design. Colors that are neon bright or clash can be even worse than a blank template. Design is a fine balance that may take some time to master, but the effort will definitely pay off.
5. Lean Into Automation
What makes email marketing so cost-effective is that it can be easily automated. You don’t need a team of employees hand-crafting each individual email and manually sending them to audience members’ inboxes. Once you’ve put together your copy and design, you can use automation to send out mass messages in record time.
Automation can also help you gather email addresses from contact forms and other lead-generating mechanisms to add to your list. You’ll be automatically reaching out to new potential consumers without any additional effort.
Automation can also be used to effortlessly remove people from your email lists upon their request. By periodically cleaning your lists, you’ll ensure you’re addressing your outreach to people who want to hear from you. This focused approach will lead to better conversion rates and improve ROI for your campaigns.
You won’t realize the enduring power of email marketing until you make it a priority. Track key metrics — open rate, clickthrough rate, etc. — to identify areas for improvement. With thoughtful preparation and continual adaptation, you can reap the benefits of this still-potent marketing method.