With an inbox as full as a teenager’s closet, maybe you think email marketing has fallen by the wayside. Who has time to read all the emails they get in a day?
By the same logic, though, if your competitors are communicating with your audience by email, shouldn’t you?
Suffice to say, don’t give up on email marketing. Use it as one of several marketing digital marketing strategies. Here’s a collection on our email ‘whys’ and how to do it right.
HAVE A THOUGHT
Everybody loves an email with a fun promotion, but don’t overdo it. Become a thought leader in your industry, too. Talk about emerging trends and newsworthy buzz. If you are introducing a new product related to a trend, by all means, mention it, but be subtle rather than using every single one of your emails as a sales pitch.
ROI
Email marketing’s Return on Investment (ROI) is still mind blowing. The Data & Marketing Association reports that for every dollar spent on email marketing, the ROI is $42. And while slicker more savvy channels exist, the advances in email marketing are significant. A user can go directly from your email to interact with your site. You can instantly interact with that customer in real time and provide immediate responses.
GET MOBILE FRIENDLY
With so many heads peering down at their phones, it’s no wonder that the majority of users open email on their phone, so it’s important to make sure your emails are mobile friendly. Also, understand that dark mode is the one of choice these days, so choose your colors based on that.
BE PERSONAL
Creating an emotional connection via email can be done easily. You can personalize your emails today; who doesn’t like to see a coupon on their birthday gifting their inbox? Today’s personalization features allow you to recommend products to users and offer special discount codes to loyal customers.
GET TO THE POINT
Always put the meat of the message up high. Attention spans have never been shorter than today. Start with a compelling subject line — nothing longer than four to six words. Be innovative. Use emojis, humor or urgency — a time-sensitive offer, for example — to improve click rate.
IF IT COUNTS, COUNT IT
Rely on your Google Analytics to segment your email list. Knowing and understanding your audience and its interest are critical rather than inundating inboxes with email that is trashed before it’s read. Better yet, ask your audience to self-segment when signing up for email. If you’re a sporting goods store, your customer might only want emails related to golf and tennis. The more information you have on the customer, the better you can personalize your emails. Be proactive in asking your engaged audience what it’s interested in that you’re not providing in terms of products and services.
MAILCHIMP
We love Mailchimp for a couple of reasons. The price is right (free for a lot of users depending on how many emails you send and the number of contacts in your database). It’s easy to personalize a template with a plethora of options available. You will also get analytics that are valuable to understanding who’s reading what.
HAVE FUN
Be fun and creative with your emails. Make sure they’re easily shareable. Graphics and videos are a lot more pleasing than a block of text. Mix it up. See what works. But whatever you do, don’t give up on email marketing.