Email marketing has been used by businesses of all shapes and sizes for decades. Since the advent of the Internet in the 1990s, email has empowered marketers with a quick, easy and direct way to reach customers.
Can it make you a millionaire? Not necessarily. But is email marketing still worth it? Absolutely.
When done right, email marketing is an effective way for businesses to communicate with customers, generate leads and boost return on investment (ROI). Although email marketing plays an integral role in any digital marketing strategy, it doesn’t guarantee the success of your business by itself. A well-rounded digital marketing strategy that includes email marketing, however, will certainly help increase your business’ ROI.
According to Statista, four billion people around the world use email on a daily basis.
For some, their Gmail inbox is one of the first things they check every day as they sip their morning coffee. For others, it’s where they hoard hundreds of unopened emails from things they signed up for and forgot about. The point is, most people have an email account. This means that just like social media and mobile marketing, email is a valuable medium of communication for savvy marketers.
Research by Campaign Monitor reveals that 64 per cent of small businesses use email marketing to reach their target audience. Nowadays, email marketing requires customers to opt-in, mitigating the problems and frustrations associated with being sent unsolicited messages.
By sending customers and subscribers relevant and targeted information via email, you can reach your audience where they are, on any device they use. In this way, email marketing empowers businesses to reach their audience directly with valuable content, news and offers to help cultivate strong customer relationships, boost sales and improve customer retention.
A report by Litmus found that on average email marketing drives an ROI of $36 (£27.24) for every dollar spent. That’s higher than any other channel. But email marketing ROI is powered by various factors, including the company (whether it’s a B2B or B2C brand), email program, testing, content and analytics. So to ensure your email marketing strategy is delivering the results you want, you’ll need to fully understand why you want to implement it and how to do so.
One of the main reasons people get frustrated when companies send them emails is that they’re too “spammy”. If you want to leverage the full potential of your email marketing campaigns, it’s important to avoid some common pitfalls that might be holding you back.
To avoid getting sent straight to their spam folder or – worse – unsubscribed from, here are some actionable tips to optimise your email marketing campaigns:
Before you click send, it’s a good idea to segment customers and subscribers in your email list based on factors like their stage in the customer journey, demographics and user behaviour. This’ll allow you to more effectively organise and personalise your email marketing strategy to cater to the needs of particular audience segments.
The subject line of your email is going to be your customer’s first impression of what you have to say. If it’s boring or too spammy (think: too many exclamation points or the whole subject line in capital letters), you can be sure that email is going straight to the bin.
Whatever you decide to write or include in your email marketing campaigns, make sure it’s valuable and relevant. Let your audience know about special deals, new products or upcoming events. You might also send a regular newsletter to keep your audience in the loop and foster a sense of community around your brand.
Be sure to include a compelling CTA in your email body to provide readers with the next step, whether it’s to take advantage of a discount, download a piece of content or get in touch. Including CTAs that encourage recipients to click and go straight to the purchasing stage of the sales funnel can directly boost conversions.
When it comes to email marketing, there’s nothing worse than bombarding your audience with emails left, right and centre, then going very quiet. Create a schedule and stick to it. Whether you send emails to customers daily, weekly or monthly – remember to be consistent.
We’re living in a mobile-first world. Today, mobile accounts for almost 50 per cent of email opens – so ensuring your email campaigns are optimised for mobile is crucial.
Use short paragraphs when formatting body text, avoid using oversized images and leverage responsive email templates to guarantee a great mobile user experience.
Developing a successful email marketing campaign can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. By following the simple steps outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to executing an effective email marketing campaign to nurture your customers and increase your overall sales.
Remember, the digital world is fast-evolving, which is why the best email marketing strategies are adaptive and innovative, meeting the needs of both the business and the customer.
There’s a lot to be gained from implementing an effective email marketing strategy. Here at Axonn, we support our clients across the entire email marketing process. From producing great content right down to including the most impactful CTAs, we can help you to leverage the full potential of email marketing to increase your sales and improve customer retention and satisfaction.
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