There has been a debate among marketers and businesses as to whether or not email marketing still works when trying to connect with customers. There are many challenges that exist for email marketers; but even with all of the roadblocks and challenges, email marketing is still working for many companies large and small. How can your company succeed with email marketing? The answer is personalisation, segmentation, and understanding your customers. Do not let your email subscribers feel like they are just another number receiving the same email that everyone else does. By following the email marketing tips outlined here, you will be able to reach your customers using email.
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- Your email design must be responsive for mobile devices so that it can be easily read on any size screen. Even with other marketing channels, email marketing is still reaching customers more now than ever. The infiltration of smartphones means that people are receiving their email all the time, at any given moment, not only when sitting in front of their computer. “93% of US online consumers are email subscribers. Although today’s consumers are multi-channel, 77% prefer email over other marketing communications and contact.”– Exact Target. It gives email more of an advantage of being ever present, but it also presents a design challenge. If your email is not readable and presented well on a mobile device, it will likely be deleted rather than saved to be seen at another time when they are in front of their computer.
- The margin of error for marketers is paper thin. Not only is responsive design of the email important, but the landing page for the email must be accurate, relevant, and it must load fast. “74% of website visitors will leave a site if a page does not load in 5 seconds.”– Extreme Networks. The information on the landing page should accurately reflect what the email said.
- Build a database to segment emails according to customer preferences. Brands that care enough about delivering customised messages to their clients will take the time and make the effort to create databases. This will enable them to send emails with personalised offers and messaging targeted to them. Besides being more relevant with a better chance of converting, it shows your customers that you are paying attention and know what they want. Do not send the same email to all your customers. An Exact Target case study revealed that of Best Buy’s 30 million email subscribers, over 20 million different email variations are sent during each mailing.
- Use analytics to determine details about your customers including where they are in the purchasing cycle and information about their demographics. Part of connecting with customers comes from knowing where they are in the purchase cycle. This is achieved through data analysis and keeping up with analytics. The ability to analyse the big data picture will give your company the advantage over your competitors. Including as much personalised information and loyalty program details in each email makes it more personalised and leads to more successful results.
- Integrate email with other marketing efforts. In order to have a successful email campaign, the other marketing departments, IT department, design team, and the sales force must all work together in solidarity. Making sure that your customers receive a consistent experience throughout their entire purchasing process with integrated processes across all their actions will help guide them to the goal you have in mind. This includes working with social channels. Your email should be shareable on social media. “74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide their purchase decision.”– Sprout Social. Since social media and word of mouth marketing have such an impact on consumers, make sure that your social channels and online reviews positively reflect your brand.
- Pay close attention to email engagement rates. Pictures can be worth a thousand words. How do your subscribers respond to pictures vs. text? Constantly test out different email options to see what works best for you. Combat email fatigue by closely monitoring engagement and making sure to deliver relevant emails.
5 Factors for Effective Email:
Combine the following 5 factors for effective email techniques below with the details above. Think about how you can integrate these ideas into your own campaign in the future. Keep in mind that there are several different email companies that can help you with email delivery, segmentation, and data collection that can lead to the personalised email campaigns that you need to succeed.
- Engagement through relevant content
- Deliverability
- Health of your subscriber list
- How well your email campaign integrates with social media
- Implement measures for constant improvement
