The advantages of email marketing are now well known. However, the techniques that worked yesterday don’t necessarily work today. As internet behaviour evolves, so the email marketing landscape shifts.
As with all forms of marketing, your company’s email newsletter shouldn’t stand still. If it’s time for you to take a look at your email practices, then read this two-part summary on the latest techniques to better maximise your marketing channels and increase conversions.
Making Sure Your Email Marketing is Still Effective
Regular check-ups on the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts will ensure that you catch any potential problems before they hinder your marketing plan. The following five tips are designed to help you keep your finger on the email pulse.
1. It’s Good To Talk
Whilst auto-responders and do-not-reply mail addresses have their place, as a marketing tool they are extremely ineffective. Communication is a two-way street after all, and if your clients feel you are uninterested in what they have to say (or even in receiving a response), they are likely to be uninterested in what you have to say.
Foster a sound relationship from the outset by engaging your audience. Encourage them to respond with thoughts and feedback – you never know, they might just have something useful to say.
2. Set Your Own Targets
Generic benchmarks often bear little relevance to a particular product, service or demographic. Rather than worrying about broad terms such as average open rates and click-throughs, consider defining your own set of parameters based on more relevant data such as demographic and past successes or failures. This will give you a much better idea of how effective your own particular strategies are.
3. Social Media
Nowadays it’s rare to receive an email or marketing letter without an RSS feed, Twitter or Facebook link. Social Media has changed the way we do business forever – ushering in a new age in marketing. The opportunities are limitless, with the power to reach more people than ever before.
Think beyond providing a simple link however – give your readers a reason to spread the word by providing compelling, engaging content (video content is a fantastic tool for this). Experiment with different types of content and placement, and include regular offers as an incentive for your readers to engage.
4. Less is More
Consider the last marketing email you opened (if you even opened it). How much time did you spend reading it? How much text was included on the page? Did anything in particular grab your attention? The accepted rule of thumb is 7 seconds – that’s 7 second to grab their attention before they either click delete or decide to carry on reading.
Draw the recipient in by making your headline engaging, succinct and brief. If you’re sending a promotional email, make your point in no more than a few lines. Not only are they far more likely to read the email, but this represents a great opportunity to leave them wanting more.
For marketing messages, arrange your content in the most visually engaging way possible, and test different approaches to find the ideal layout.
5. Keep It Relevant
Lazy marketers may rely on the draw of multimedia and social platforms alone, but unless there is substance beneath the flashy exterior, the audience is likely to lose interest and fast.
Sending the right message to push the right buttons at the right time – it may all sound like a game of chance, but there’s no luck involved. From direct marketing, email and B2B campaigns down to your company website, it’s all about the words. No matter how aesthetically pleasing your approach may be, pretty pictures alone are unlikely to reach out to your audience. Understand what they need, why they need it and when.
