Love it or hate it, email marketing isn’t going anywhere, at least not in the near future. Email is still evolving despite continuing claims that the channel is dead or dying.
The email channel is thriving, as you can see in these two statistics:
- 67 percent of customers give their email addresses to companies to receive discounts and promotions.
- 57 percent of customers say they are more apt to buy a product in a store after receiving an email. (Digital Strategy Consulting).
Emails have the ability to inspire, engage, or excite your prospects or customers, but creating an effective email marketing campaign can often be complex as there are so many moving parts. As audiences become more sophisticated with “opt out” and “opt in” emails, the days of “batch and blast” and “send an email and they will buy” are over. Despite this, you can create a solid email marketing campaign, but it will require some planning, thinking, creativity and tracking on your part.
If you’re considering implementing an email marketing program or are currently emailing, but experiencing underperformance, here are a few tips I recommend to help you increase your email marketing results.
Plan it
Email campaigns may have been identified in your marketing strategy, but make sure your email campaigns have consistent messaging, clear direction and end goals in mind. Email campaigns should always be written for your target audience. Adapt your message to meet the needs of your customer segment. E.g. you need to have a slightly different message for a decision maker vs. and existing customer.
Engage them
Most recipients are not going to read your entire email. They will scan it for relevant points, so be as concise as you can, using keywords and bullets with useful and interesting information, and bold your most important points.
Use links
The purpose of your email is to drive traffic to your landing page, product/services page or website. Offer some sort of call to action such as a specific and relevant offer, or a link to some useful information. Use several links in your email; a good rule of thumb is to have one link per paragraph.
Reduce images
Images are powerful when they are used to convey a message, but with emails and firewalls, images do not automatically “load” into a person’s inbox and therefore the image and its message can be lost. Use images sparingly and instead rely on html to enhance the look of your email. Do not rely on an image to convey a critical or important message in your email.
Send it on time
Statistically, to achieve maximum open and click rates you should aim for early morning (8 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and late afternoon (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.).
Track Results
Start tracking behavioral traits, such as open rates, clicks-thrus, opts outs, and conversion rates. Use these to help tweak follow-up email messaging and also possibly segment your list.
Even with these tips in mind, not every email campaign will be successful. However, if you’re good about analyzing results, admitting shortcomings and making changes, you’re well on your way to increasing results from this powerful marketing tool.
Are you considering using email marketing at your company? What challenges are you having in executing a successful campaign? I look forward to hearing from you in the comments below.
CreativeWorks Marketing 