Email marketing programs are expanding in popularity among both small and large businesses. After all, it is a cost effective way to achieve marketing goals. Some organization harness the power of email marketing to send out regular daily updates, while others send out a more traditional monthly newsletter. Regardless of the frequency of objective, the research clearly shows that email is a viable platform for spreading your message and communicating to your customers.
Whether you are a seasoned email marketing veteran or brand new to the email marketing software game, these three tips can assist you get off to a good start.
One important aspect to keep in mind about email marketing is that it is an on-going learning process. What works today for your target audience may not captivate them tomorrow. It is important that your email marketing program strategy remain adaptable, so you can quickly and easily change your approach to ensure you always get the best possible results.
Tip #1: Build a High Quality Mailing List
Your mailing list or contact list is the backbone of your email marketing initiative. A good mailing list can lead to incredible results and a bad mailing list can make you wonder if anyone is even reading your email at all. In a day and age where spam concerns are astronomically high, it is even more important that you have a high quality opt-in (preferably double opt-in) mailing list to ensure that people do not mark your message as spam. These days most ISPs assign the email marketer a reputation score. Even a few bad apples in your mailing list (people that call your message spam) can hurt your reputation.
A good mailing list is comprised of people who have requested to receive information from you and are eager to comply with the material you send. When you use your email marketing software to send out a campaign to a high quality list, you will see your open rates soar as people are drawn to your email. This will ultimately lead to higher conversion rates and make your email marketing program an even more effective tool for your organization.
Tip 2: Select a Good “Email Subject” and a Well Known “From Name”
When your email marketing campaign lands in someone’s inbox, they can often only see the name of the sender and the subject line. This makes those two pieces of the email marketing puzzle invaluable. These two items can be the ‘make it or break it’ factor for whether your campaign is a success or not. An appealing subject line can raise your subscriber’s interest so they are drawn to open your email and read your content. A lackluster subject line can make people skim over your message or delete it without even seeing your fist line of content.
It is also very important that you use a ‘from name’ that your recipients will recognize. If everyone knows your company name, but no one knows your personal name, then you should without a doubt use your company name. Research consistently shows that people are far more likely to open an email from a business or organization they recognize as opposed to one they don’t.
Tip #3: Content is King; Make Your Email Worth Reading
These days, people are more pressed for time than ever before. With only 24 hours in each day, asking people to take the time to read your email in its entirety may actually be asking a lot. But, if you are going to expect that from your subscribers then you better be prepared to deliver some compelling information. If your email is boring, dry, outdated or just plain useless, then your audience may not give you a second chance. Typically, emails with sub-par content see increased unsubscribe requests, while emails with compelling content experiences increased readership.
When you create your email withy our email marketing program, it is important that you think like the reader. What do they want to read? What topics are of interest to them? If you can answer those questions, then you can use your email marketing program to create quality content that will keep people coming back for more.
An added advantage of email marketing is that there is no long lead time. This means your content can be very fresh. If a big story breaks in your industry in the morning, there is no reason you can’t include that in your email marketing campaign that afternoon. Up to date content is often the most sought-after type of information, because it makes your email seem very cutting edge.
Overall, email marketing can be an incredible tool in your arsenal. When armed with the right email marketing program, a good plan, and some creativity, you can reach out and communicate with your customers in a meaningful and effective way. As an added result, email campaigns will strengthen the bond between you and your customers.
