Have you heard of the concept of email marketing before? What does it really mean? To put it bluntly, we could say that it means the use of emails in order to promote your services or products. But it’s far more complex than that. And the core use of it might mean keeping a healthy relationship with your customers or potential clients.
We have all heard about the term of spam email as well. This is the unfortunate little brother of email marketing, or better said email marketing at its worst. These basically happen when someone gets his hands on a database of email addresses and starts sending impersonal sells emails, which mostly just urge you to buy this or that. And usually end up in spam.
Don’t be impersonal
It’s quite essential to be able to send unique, original emails that have been written by you, not randomly “borrowed” from the internet. People will always appreciate effort. Try to address your target audience by their name, at least once at the beginning of the email. Try to talk about yourself as a company, about your services and your products but mostly what good does this do to the person that ends up reading the email?
Also, better try developing the email database from your own contacts rather than just taking a random one and sending emails to people you never had contact with or people who never reached out. Keep in mind the fact that people might open your email from other devices as well, not just their computer. So have in view the optimization of emails for mobile versions.
What are the good sides of email marketing?
First of all, obviously the economical part. It’s far cheaper to reach out to people this way. It’s probably the cheapest way you could create publicity around your company and products. At the same time it’s most likely the easiest way you could reach out. Once you have an email database you can reach out to, you have to create a perfect email that will not end up in spam and then you can track and trace the success of your campaign.
Think of its relevance
Although social media has been gaining field lately, think about the fact that not everyone is on some sort of social media platform. Whereas everyone certainly uses email, be it a personal email address or a work one. Chances are you can reach out to more people this way.
Also, you can keep track of the emails you sent, you can analyze your email marketing campaign. See the email opening rate, the bounce back rate, the unsubscribe rate, the click through rates and many more analytics.
Best tips for a better email marketing campaign
- Personalize
As I already mentioned above, it’s essential to treat your clients in a personal manner. Address them by their name. Instead of just writing an email and sending it to the whole list, try to customize it a little.
- Keep the communication open
Try to encourage your clients, your readers to reply. Try to keep their interest alive throughout the whole email. Once they opened your email is, indeed a huge step, however, it doesn’t mean they will actually go on reading it. Target your message.
- Keep out of the Spam
Nobody wants their emails to end up in spam. And nobody will read emails containing flashy subject lines such as “buy now” or “read me now” or blunt calls to action that make us think of spam without even having to open the actual email.
- Invest time in creating the email
The subject line is essential because it depends on it whether the email will be opened or not. But the actual content of the email is what keeps the reader’s attention alive or not. Try to be efficient. Don’t offer a great deal of information because the more time you try to steal from your reader, the smaller chances are he is going to offer it. Try to offer relevant information that might be of interest to him. Try using lists or bullet points since they are easier to follow.
- Keep the unsubscribe option visible
It is important to offer your reader the possibility to unsubscribe, should he wish. Plus it is his legal right, so better make it visible and easy for him rather than having an angry client coming back to you because of this.
- Test
You can try some A/B testing that allows you to analyze which version of your email works best, before sending it out to the majority of your list. You should also test different days of the week and various hours, to see when you have the highest opening rate.
- Track and notice
Never underestimate an email marketing campaign. Maybe you did not have the results you expected but take it as a great possibility to learn something. Track the email opening rates, the click rates, unsubscribe and subscribe rates and learn something. Notice what might have gone wrong and be more prepared for the next round!
Now that we’ve covered the essentials of what an email marketing campaign should look like, why it is good for you and what benefits it has, we will further go on talking about some of the most essential aspects regarding the tracking.
Learn more about the opening rates, the unsubscribe rates and the bounce back rates from our next article and let’s continue the path towards a successful email marketing campaign together!