Email Marketing has been around since the 1970's and it's not going away anytime soon. It still proves to be an effective means for business to build relationships by sharing authentic branding content that serves their clientele's needs. Since there are over 3 billion email users today it is the best way to gain an audience and generate business. According to Hubspot, on average, email generates $38 for every dollar spent, which is a 3,800% return on investment. Some strategies to consider when using email are to build relationships, increase brand awareness, share useful content, promote products, generate leads and nurture prospects.
The following determinations and actions need to be made to assist in creating a successful email marketing campaign:
1. APPEAL: Determine your audience's interests and buying habits. Do research for your industry to see what email recipients typically respond to.
2. GOAL: Design your campaign that will be centered around your audience's interests. Choose a strategy above that will best facilitate this.
4. CONTENT APPROACH: Create a type of campaign such as a blog, product announcement or send a weekly newsletter
5. CTA: Have a clear call to action that instructs your audience how to take the next step. This could be as simple as creating a form for people to sign up.
6. GENERATE LEADS: Build your list of subscribers by providing useful of information that your audience will find value in. Some examples that may attract an audience to subscribe to your list is an ebook, webinar, course, newsletter, product promotion or other tool that can provide the kind of knowledge they are seeking.
7. ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE: It is important to be in front of your audience on a consistent basis so they don't lose sight of you. Decide how often you plan to contact your followers and stick to your timeline. Keep them in the know so that you eventually earn their trust. This will enable you to build and maintain a loyal list of subscribers.
6. MEASURE YOUR RESULTS:
Use your KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) to determine if you need to make changes to your campaign in order to improve results. They are Deliverability rate; percentage of emails reaching the recipient's inbox, Open rate; the percentage of people who open your email; Clickthrough rate; the percentage of people that click on your CTAs, and Unsubscribes which measures the number of people who opt out of your email list. The next guideline should help you yield positive results and avoid pitfalls.
7. BE COMPLIANT: It is important to follow email regulations in order to protect your subscribers’ right to only receive emails that they’ve requested. Follow these guidelines to avoid your emails ending up in a spam filter. Failure to heed the rules are likely to blacklist you and destroy any credibility and trust you have with your audience.
● Include your company name and address in every email.
● Use a reliable email service provider with an email associated to your business.
● Make sure subscribers have consented to be on your email list.
● Place visible unsubscribe links within your emails.
● Remove bounced or inactive members from your list.
● Provide a double opt-in to make sure your subscriber is still interested in receiving your emails.
● Securely store contact data and use only for business purposes ● Make sure your emails continue to provide value without empty promises ● CTA should be clear and actionable ● Choose attractive images that are optimized for all devices ● Subject line should be enticing but not salesy and avoid ALL CAPS ● Best time to send an email is Tuesday at 11 AM ● Personalize your email as if sending to a friend
● Segment your emails-- send specific information to specific groups depending on interests and the level of marketing. In other words, you wouldn't send the same message to a recipient who is just being introduced to your brand that you would send to someone you are looking to further engage and nurture for conversion.
● Use KPI's, as mentioned before, to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and revise your content accordingly to assure compliance and audience reach.
See further details on crafting effective email campaigns and get some tips to writing compelling emails