A strategic email marketing campaign can benefit any type of business online. Email campaigns are the closest thing we have to direct mail marketing in the digital age, and a lot of the same principals that applied on paper also apply on screen. Clear headlines, easy to ready sales copy, highlighting benefits, direct calls to action – many of the things that worked for old-school direct marketers still rule today. Yes, some of these “rules” can be broken and still produce a successful email marketing campaign – but like most things, you should learn the rules before you go off script.
Crafting each element of your email campaigns to push list members to the next stage is key. Subject lines should encourage users to open the message. The headline should describe the images and copy that come below it. The copy should sell benefits and push the reader to react to the primary call to action. Assuming that is a click to your website, your landing page should confirm that the user is in the right place, and continue the sales process. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, but it does require some planning.
Well executed email marketing plans look beyond the individual message as well. Email allows companies to maintain communication with their most engaged audience year round, and capitalize on peak buying periods and sales cycles. Run a gym? You should probably send more emails in late December and early January. Rely on the annual holiday sale season? Better start hitting your email list before Black Friday to stay out ahead of competitors. But where did that email list come from?
The Most Important Part of Email Marketing
Collecting emails, building your list, and creating segments is more important than the messages you send. If you don’t spend time on website optimization for email collection, who will you be sending your messages to? Most people who visit your site aren’t going to enter their credit card information, call your business or fill out a form on their first visit. That’s Ok. If you can collect a percentage of their email addresses before they leave, then your site has done it’s job.
But not every email address should be treated the same. Segmenting your email list to customize messaging for leads vs. customers, by age, or interest – depending on your companies digital marketing goals is also important to running a successful email campaign. There are countless ways to segment your email list, and most email service providers offer solutions for you to customize based on your needs. You’ve grown your list, segmented by X, and now it’s time to start sending messages, right?
More than Subjects Lines & Messages
Most emails never get opened. That doesn’t mean they aren’t effective. Keeping your company name in front of recent customers in the “From” field or announcing a new product in a subject line can have an effect too. Companies with email campaigns that send messages regularly do better overall due to the inherent Brand Awareness that comes with showing up in someone’s inbox. Don’t give up on your leads or customers just because they don’t open a few emails. It’s a key element to most successful online campaigns, and email strategies are woven throughout the articles below.
