Email marketing campaigns can bring a host of potential benefits to businesses. In fact, email is continually applauded by marketers all over the world for delivering the highest return on investment (ROI) of all marketing channels. One survey even revealed email achieves a median ROI of 122% – more than four times higher than social media (28%). And it’s not hard to understand why.
Email marketing in the form of newsletters, campaigns and competitions can be a quick, easy and cost-effective was to connect with customers. What’s more, email marketing campaigns can be specifically targeted to newsletter subscribers which can help to maximise conversion rates, and makes them highly shareable on social media channels.
While there’s a compelling case for making email campaigns a permanent fixture in your business’ marketing strategy, successfully realising the benefits is not a given in an environment where consumers are bombarded with emails every day. According to THE RADICATI GROUP Email Statistics Report, the total number of business and consumer emails sent and received in 2017 was estimated at 269 billion globally – and this is expected to increase to 320 billion by 2021. To put that in perspective, the report estimates the number of email users in 2017 was only 3.7 billion. Indeed, this is a crowded space.
So, here are some top tips that could help business marketers cut through the noise and achieve results from their email marketing efforts.
Have a conversation with your audience
Dumping information on your email subscribers won’t set you apart in a crowded marketplace saturated with digital media. Today, consumers are looking to feel inspired and entertained by the content they engage with.
Marketers should ensure they understand exactly who their target audience is right from the start. Useful insights about your target audience can help you to craft content that could make them feel personally involved with the subject matter – rather than presented to or pitched to. These insights could include anything from the audience persona, interests and demographic to potential emotional triggers.
For example, consider ditching the informative voice for one that both entertains and represents who they are. Or, consider asking questions or inviting opinions on subjects likely to be of interest or arouse emotion – to help make them feel part of your brand identity and values.
Personalise the content
Email recipients are likely to be more responsive to emails that have the personal touch – rather than looking like they’re made for the masses. Studies have shown personalisation in marketing communications can have a positive impact on ROI.
Emails could be easily personalised by using tools which enable emails to address individual subscribers by name. Sending your emails from a real name, such as the CEO or Co-Founder’s name, could also resonate well with contacts who are likely to be put off by that brash “donotreply” email address. What’s more, increased personalisation could be achieved by segmenting emails to specific sections of your audience. By sending out different versions of an email, you’ll be free to craft more targeted, creative and eye-catching subject lines alongside information that’s more relevant to each audience type.
Don’t underestimate the power of a compelling subject line
Subject lines need to do a lot of work in a tight space because they could easily make or break your entire email. Subjects need to quickly grab the audience’s attention and give just enough away about the content to leave them hankering to find out more. But be careful, while your inner wordsmith should dig deep for words that’ll pique curiosity and encourage action, wording that’s too strong could deter your audience from clicking through altogether. It really is a fine balance.
Include a clear call-to-action
With so many emails being received by consumers every day, it’s important to make it easy for your audience to determine what they’re expected to do in a few short seconds – before they hit delete. Once you’ve decided what you want to achieve from your campaign, use appealing visual cues and clear, persuasive text to lead your audience to an appropriate course of action. Of course, what’s appropriate may depend on your business but it’s possible to increase the chances of success by offering a range of ways to interact. These could include linking through to a website, downloading information, calling or inviting a reply.
Make your email mobile friendly
With mobile now said to be the preferred platform for reading emails, it’s vital to use tools and software that’ll help ensure your content displays correctly while offering mobile viewers the same eye-catching and engaging qualities as your desktop version. Failing at this hurdle could result in unclear emails that run the risk of either never being opening or quickly deleted by your mobile savvy subscribers.
To this end, it could be beneficial to keep the content simple and succinct to make for easy scanning on those small mobile screens. This might be achieved by using images over text or by inserting bullet points to cover key points. But whatever you do, never send an email before you’ve tested how it’ll look across multiple devices first.
What’s the best time of day to fire away?
Believe it or not, the time you send your emails could make a real difference to the click-through-rate you achieve. So, think about your target demographic and when they might be most likely to read their emails. For example, while evenings and weekends could be the best time for working professionals, students and some shift workers might be more engaged by their personal inboxes throughout the weekdays. And perhaps it’s wise to avoid emailing anyone in the hospitality industry during evenings and weekends. It’s all food for thought!
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