Email marketing is a great way to convert leads into sales, but it can be a hit-and-miss affair. Companies often have rich customer databases full of potential but fail to make the most of their resources. Even worse, poorly conceived email marketing campaigns can alienate loyal customers and drive them to other businesses.
If you're responsible for your company's email marketing budget, it cannot be easy to decide how to spend it. However, here at Flowbird, we think these ideas should help you get the most bang for your buck.
Spend time and resources to make sure your messages are highly targeted. Use the information in your sales databases to find out what customers have purchased in the past. Then, offer them products they are likely to need in the future.
Think about age as well. For example, linking your email content to Instagram or Snapchat accounts might work for 25-year-olds, but they won’t make much impression on someone in their 50s.
Many firms also like to create tiers of customers based on how likely they are to make a repeat purchase. People who come back every month to buy from you will probably appreciate weekly updates. If they shop once a year at Christmas, they may respond better to occasional promotions.
By targeting your emails, you can save money and make each message as engaging and powerful as possible.
It's worth spending some time and money on getting your content right.
Keep things as simple as possible, with accessible language and a clear structure. Use contents, sub-headings and plenty of links to help readers navigate the text.
In addition, include images and video, but don’t clutter your messages with unnecessary visual elements. If you're running a slick content creation strategy, use links to direct readers towards your recent blogs or YouTube posts.
Use humour, but don’t be too informal. Try to balance maintaining a polite, professional tone and projecting a warm, human personality. Stick to any brand guidelines for logos and use company language, but don’t be too obvious with your branding.
Invest some time and money to create emails that will have a real impact on their recipients.
This is fundamental. Around 80% of marketing emails go unopened and pass straight into the junk pile. That’s a complete waste of your time and money. With the right title and subject lines, your marketing emails will stand a much better chance of engaging customers.
Timing them intelligently also makes a difference. For example, welcome emails for new subscribers or emails which coincide with seasonal sales or life events achieve much higher click-through rates. You could also send emails after customers interact with your firm on Twitter or Facebook or when they leave comments on your blog.
The important thing is to grab the attention of customers and reach them at times when they are at their most receptive. Email marketing remains a powerful tool for online businesses.
At Flowbird, we are experts in devising marketing strategies that get through to customers. Get in touch and we can make sure your email marketing strategy is as profitable and effective as possible.