So you’ve probably heard us say something about the importance of email marketing—and we promise it’s not dead! Email marketing is actually one of the quickest and cheapest ways to provoke online purchasing. In fact, when customers were asked what factors lead to mobile purchases, 56% said email. Not to mention, there are three times more email accounts than Facebook and Twitter accounts combined. Some of you might be thinking “okay we get it, but what now?” Whether you’re a pro or starting from square one, here are some guidelines that will help you come up with killer campaigns!
- Look into a mass marketing tool. Seriously, it helps. Some of you have tens of thousands of contacts and no easy way to reach them. That’s where mass marketing tools like SaffireMail or Constant Contact come in handy. They allow you to market to your audience in a creative, efficient way while also allowing you to track the results of your campaigns. While we’re on the subject, tracking results is HUGELY important because it lets you know what’s working and with whom. Your customers’ behavior is telling you something–make sure you’re listening!
- Come up with a plan. “Email marketing plan” might sound intimidating, but it actually has some very simple steps that can fuel your online success.
- Step 1: Define your purpose. Do you want to increase attendance at a concert? Cool! Do you want to make sure everyone’s aware of a date change? That’s cool too! Whatever your purpose may be, go into your email marketing with clear goals in mind so that you can minimize confusion and maximize results.
- Step 2: Define your readers. Come up with a target audience–a group that you really want to reach out to. This might change depending on the type of event or the time of year, but by targeting your content to a certain audience, you increase your chances of engagement.
- Step 3: Determine your content. Think about what you want your readers to get out of what they’re reading and the action you want them to take because of your email. Focus on making sure that your content stays on track with provoking that action. Business Consultant, Faith Popcorn, said it best when she said “consumers crave recognition of their individuality.” Your content needs to speak to the individual in order to increase your chances of getting results, so do your best to make each person in that audience feel as though the message was tailor-made for them.
- Step 4: Determine your frequency. This is another thing that might change depending on the nature of your event or the time of year. For example, some fairs or rodeos have one major event for the entire year. Their email marketing frequency would obviously increase as their event date approaches, we would even go so far as to recommend a Daily Highlights Email. The important thing to remember here is that you have to be aware of what works best for you and your audience by paying attention to results. And remember, NEVER sacrifice quality for quantity.
- Treat your readers like VIPs. There’s a reason that we put an email sign up option on every page of our sites, because we want to entice those visitors who are willing to trust us with their email address. Don’t break that trust by spamming them with non-stop promo emails or irrelevant information. You want to make your readers feel like they’re benefiting from being a subscriber. This means providing them with exclusive new deals or info, things that will keep them happy and loyal.
When it comes to email marketing, keep yourself in mind. What do you hate seeing in your own inbox? What entices you enough to make you click? Chances are that if you hate something, so will your audience. So in order to break through all of the marketing and ad clutter that consumers are bombarded with everyday, you need to show them that you understand them as a consumer and as a fan. Your audience wants to hear from you, so give them something worth reading!
