Increasing value from your email marketing campaigns
Email marketing is a highly effective and successful marketing method. Through providing business and consumer email marketing services for many years, we have helped many clients grow their business and increase their sales. We have learned a lot in this time, through working in a number of different industries for companies of a variety of sizes.
In this post, we give you some helpful tips and advice on what you can do to increase the value of your email marketing campaigns. Your emails do not only need to grab the attention of your target audience. It is also imperative that they bring value to the reader. As a result, this keeps them interested in your emails, thus less likely to opt-out and more likely to become a customer when the need arises.
Introduce your Company
When you first undertake an email campaign, it is vital that the first few emails introduce your company. You are going to be a new email sitting in the inboxes of your audience. You may be completely unknown. Therefore, introductory emails are key to building trust and a relationship. Going all guns blazing at the first opportunity will not necessarily work. An individual needs to trust and have confidence in your business before they purchase.
Through undertaking email marketing campaigns for both clients and ourselves, we have experienced this first hand. Our email marketing service includes full tracking. This allows us to see where and which specific links people are clicking on the HTML email. The majority of clicks on the first email broadcast are on the company logo. Regardless of the content in the email, the audience wants to have a look at the company overall in the first instance and establish who you are, what you do and how relevant it is to them.
Create Content Down the Line
Content is one of the most effective ways to generate and maintain somebody’s interest in your business. Well written and relevant content provides valuable information to the reader. Furthermore, it is written in a way that is engaging and leaves the reader wanting more. If you regularly write a blog for your business, consider making one or two of your articles the main focus in your emails. Doing this on a regular basis will keep your audience engaged over time and allows you to be seen as thought leaders within your industry. They will not feel pressured to buy and will enjoy reading through your material. When they are ready to purchase, they will feel that they know your business well and most importantly, trust will have been built over time which will make them more confident about purchasing from you.
Personalisation and an Effective Subject Line
Personalisation is a topic we cover in greater depth in our post about improving your subject lines. It is a practice of using your audience’s names in the subject lines of their emails. Personalised subject lines consistently perform at a higher rate than non-personalised subject lines. Addressing a person by their name grabs their attention. This makes them more likely to both open the email and engage with it (either by clicking on links or by getting in touch).
The wording of your subject line is also key. The aim is to structure the wording so that it makes an individual want to open your email. A good subject line is never too long. A long subject line may not fully display in an inbox. Asking a question is also an effective method. The recipient will automatically answer the question in their head. They are already showing a higher level of engagement than other, statement like subject lines. When combined with personalisation, these perform at a much higher rate than other styles of subject line.
Calls to Action
One of the primary goals of an email campaign is to drive traffic to your website and generate enquiries/sales. This can be for special offers, new products, new services etc. The most effective method of achieving this are calls to action. This includes phrases such as ‘Buy now’, ‘Find out More’ and ‘Get in Touch’ to name a few examples.
Without calls to action, there is no sense of urgency in an email. While they may have high open rates, click rates will not necessarily be high. Calls to action encourage further interaction without pushing people. Creating a sense of urgency is a highly effective marketing tool as someone feels they will miss out on a lower price/sale if they do not act quickly. For example, when sharing some of your blogs, a simple CTA such as ‘Read More’ beneath a brief overview of the content will get individuals on your website to hear the blog content. More often than not, these individuals will visit a few more pages before navigating away.
A Consistent and Effective Broadcasting Schedule
One of the big mistakes a company can make when undertaking email marketing is inconsistency. When you receive a newsletter from a company you subscribe to, it is usually on the same day each week/month. When it comes to that day, in your head you know that you will be receiving an email from that particular company. If you undertake email marketing, it is important to apply the same principle.
This way, your marketing messages are consistent. Your audience know when to expect them which creates familiarity and builds brand strength. Consistent broadcasting combined with new content each time means your audience are provided value with each email they receive. However, different industries have different peak opening times. Some days are more responsive than others. When undertaking an email marketing campaign, the marketing company will use their experience of what has worked well in the past in your industry and current trends to schedule the best times and days for your campaign.
Responsive Email Designs
Mobile and tablet use is becoming increasingly popular in many aspects of our everyday lives. This is especially true with viewing emails. Viewing emails on your phone is quick and easy and becoming increasingly common. Mobile provides more flexibility than desktop. You can view your emails on the go or whilst commuting. You don’t need to be sat at a desk. Therefore, it is vital that your email designs are ‘responsive’. This ensures that they are displayed properly on a smaller phone or tablet screen.
Have you ever received an email and viewed it on your phone and the design was all over the place? Or where the email requires you to scroll left and/or right to view it? This happens when an email is designed purely to be viewed on a desktop computer. A skilled email designer ensures all the coding in your email is responsive so that it resizes based on screen size.
Targeted, Accurate Data
Perhaps the most important component in any marketing campaign is the data. For any email marketing campaign to be successful, it must go to the right people. Data allows you to specifically target individuals or companies based on criteria you set. If you are targeting certain affluence, age, industries etc, this is possible. However, it must be accurate, up to date and opted-in. This is achieved through regular data cleansing which we cover in depth in another post.
When an email campaign is targeted, it performs at a much higher rate. It is only broadcast to those who are more likely to be interested in the products/services you provide. This leads to higher opens, clicks and ultimately, sales for your business.
Summary
Email marketing is still one of the most effective direct marketing methods available today. Companies should not view email marketing as a one-off activity. People need to be confident in your business before purchasing. This is a process called lead nurturing. Creating and providing content over time increases confidence. People feel they know your company. However, the most responsive time to broadcast varies across industries. It is important to put an effective plan in place that will get the highest results.
Impact Marketing have been providing business and consumer email marketing services for our clients for many years. If you are interested in finding out more, get in touch today to speak to a member of our specialist team.