What is email marketing?
Email marketing lands your content directly in the inbox of your target customer. It allows you to raise awareness of your brand, promote your products and services, share news, and tell a story – all with the aim of increasing sales and generating leads.
There are many forms of email marketing styles, from promotional emails to informational newsletters. This direct digital communication goes out to your email database; a list of people who have knowingly signed up to receive email communications from you.
It provides the sender with the ideal opportunity to influence action, encouraging recipients to click through to the website, or engage on social media platforms.
Getting started
There is a lot to consider when launching an email marketing campaign. Get it wrong and you could completely disengage your audience, and risk losing valuable contacts from your database.
Here we share our top tips for a successful campaign:
Set goals:
Setting goals at the start of your campaign will help you to create focused, engaging content. Consider what you want your activity to achieve. For example, do you want to increase sales, drive traffic to your website or add value to your customers? Once you have clearly defined ambitions, it will be easier to create the right tone for your email.
Understand your target audience:
Really getting under the skin of your audience, and knowing what makes them tick, is essential to the success of your campaign. If you have a good understanding of their interests and passions, you can create content that will really strike a chord with them. If you cannot demonstrate that you understand your customers, or send them content that is irrelevant, they are unlikely to read it, or worse, they may even hit the unsubscribe button.
Personalise emails:
People appreciate a personal touch so make sure you personalise your emails and address your customers by name. There is nothing worse than a ‘Dear sir/madam’ opening line. Not a great first impression!
You can also tailor the content to your readers by segmenting your list. By splitting your database into different categories based on interest, job title, or location, you can make sure you only send them content that will make them sit up and listen.
Keep it simple:
When drafting your materials, use clear and concise language, avoiding industry jargon. If you do need to use a technical term, give a short and simple explanation of what it means.
Always make sure that when you talk about your products and services, you do so in a way that makes them relevant to the customer. Focusing on the benefits, and how the particular product or service could improve their life, is far more useful to the reader.
Also try and keep the design simple and stylish. A crowded, busy email will just make people want to hit ‘delete’.
Include a clear call to action:
Always end with a clear call to action so people know what the next step is. From sharing links to more information on your website, to providing contact details encouraging them to get in touch. Signing off with an action helps convert readers to buyers.
Pitfalls to avoid
Most of us are inundated with marketing messages everyday and we very quickly learn which to read and which to cast aside. There are some common mistakes that quite simply turn people off before they’ve even read the first line. So here are a few common pitfalls to avoid when running an email marketing campaign:
Don’t buy lists:
It might seem like a quick way to create a database but all you’ll end up with is an irrelevant list of contacts that have little or no interest in your brand. If you are lucky enough for them to even open your email, they are likely to disengage immediately if they see the content has little relevance to them. And before you know it, that list you paid for is dwindling away with every ‘unsubscribe’ click. It is much better to grow a list organically, with people that are willing to engage with your business.
Don’t forget your subject line:
The subject line is the first thing people will see when your email pops into their inbox. If you forget to add one, it will likely end up straight in the bin. Make sure you add an exciting and engaging subject to your email to encourage people to open and have a read. Avoid misleading subject lines that could irritate readers. Keep it short, snappy and informative.
Don’t overdo it:
Nobody likes to feel harassed by a brand, especially if the content is irrelevant. Go for the quality over quantity approach when it comes to email marketing, with relevant, informative and useful content, spaced out over a reasonable timeframe.
Don’t forget to optimise content for different devices:
Currently, 46 percent of all email opens occur on mobile device, and this figure is likely to grow in 2021, surpassing desktop. With almost half of your database viewing your content via their smartphone, it is vital to ensure that your content is mobile-friendly and optimised for multiple devices.
Check, and check again:
Avoid any embarrassing mistakes by thoroughly checking your email before sending it out. Things to look out for include spelling and grammar errors and broken links. If you miss them before hitting send, it can seriously impact your reputation, leading to you not being taken seriously.
To find out how we can help you with your next email marketing campaign, get in touch with us today by calling Maggie Robinson on 07920 143 172 or email Maggie@smartthinkingconsultancy.co.uk