Email marketing was one of the first digital forms of marketing that many companies tried. It was a natural extension of the traditional direct mailing format. The beauty was that it was so measurable. You could see the delivery rates, the clicks, the open rates. But at the end of the day many did not realise that as a piece of direct marketing a response rate of 3%-5% was a good benchmark. Continuously over-analysing many of the other metrics was just not of benefit. And that was down to understanding what the activity was doing and what the objective of it was.
Types of Email Marketing
Regular E-Newsletter
Designed to keep your customers (or potential customers) up to date on the company news and offers, this is very much a brand building and visibility device. A newsletter should be sent on a regular and consistent basis. There are no hard and fast rules on how frequently but make sure whatever you decide you stick to and have fresh content for.
Ad hoc E-Mails
Designed to highlight specific offers or incentives to your database or important company announcements. This is very much to encourage sales or repeat sales and should be sent at an appropriate time e.g. a 10% discount when items are left in a shopping trolley, an announcement about a new product to those who have bought similar products previously. This approach requires careful segmentation of your database.
3 Rules for More Effective Email Marketing
Now having said all that, regardless of the approach or objective to your emailings, there are 3 simple rules to stick to for the best results.
Rule 1 – Know your audience
Who are you targeting? This is the simple most important thing to consider and get right. Then you should ensure that names and emails are formatted and spelt correctly. And critically that you have permission to email these people. Here’s a quick guide. https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/organisations/rules-electronic-and-direct-marketing
Rule 2 – Be error free
Read, re-read and read again. Then ask someone else to proof it too. There is nothing worse than receiving an email that is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Also watch out for any formatting errors and test all links.
Rule 3 – Create suitable content
You’ve selected your audience so now make sure the content is relevant to them. Include a mix of content – articles, checklists, videos – and allow some of it to link back to your website. Most importantly make sure it is engaging and consistent.
Next Steps
Email marketing can form an essential part of any marketing strategy. It is a simple yet effective way to keep in touch with existing customers and build relationships with prospective ones. But in summary, to run an effective email marketing you must pay careful attention to your audience and your message. If you’d like some help developing an email marketing strategy just get in touch.