No matter how many times other people say that email is dead, you can always prove them wrong. Email remains of the most reliable ways to communicate – and to market your products or services. Not everyone owns a social media account, but everyone who’s on social media owns an email. After all, they need an email address to register for an account! Most teams, when organizing a marketing campaign, include emails in their mix.
Email marketing is a powerful type of digital marketing. It also increases the effectiveness of other marketing efforts.
Here are some tips to make sure you are making the most out of your email marketing campaigns.
Understand your target market
These are among the most important tips you need to know. If you don’t understand your target audience, then all your efforts for the campaign will be useless – that’s why we’re starting with this important step!
Your product or service may cater to a wide range of ages, races, or personalities, but do your best to narrow down your ideal audience. This way, you would know what to write about and how to write your emails. Are you trying to target millennials? Then use jargon they can relate to. Are you targeting a specific kind of industry – say the medical industry? Then write your emails containing terms relevant to them.
Imagine sending an email with acronyms for Gen Z such as ICYMI, LOL, BRB, and the like – but your target market is those above 50 years of age. Do you think your message will get through to them? Always make sure to research the language, jargon, and interests of your intended audience.
Familiarize yourself with the different email types
Email marketing isn’t just about sending your subscribers regular coupons or updating them on your current promotional offers. If you want them to stay on your list, you need to build a relationship with them by sending emails with value. Here are some of the main types of emails you should send to keep your subscribers from leaving.
First off, there are transactional emails that include the sign-up confirmation and welcome messages, order confirmations, or notice of changes to a subscriber’s account. The moment they subscribe to your mailing list, make them feel welcome through a greeting and letting them know what to expect. Will you be emailing daily, weekly, or monthly? What kinds of emails should they expect from you?
Then there are the promotional emails that let your subscribers know of your current promotions or sales. If you have a new product that’s about to launch or if you’re offering discounts for a certain amount of time, your subscribers should be among the first to know about them. Knowing about special offers and discounts is most likely among the top reasons they subscribed, so give them what they want!
There are also relational emails. You can easily push subscribers away if all you do is sell, sell, sell! Give them a reason to stay on your mailing list by providing relevant information that would be helpful to them. Whether it’s a product or service you’re offering, provide some nuggets of wisdom that can be related to what you offer every now and then.
Make sure your emails can easily be viewed through a smartphone
Let’s face it, mobile phones are everybody’s best friend nowadays. People view texts, websites, social media – and yes, even email! – through a smartphone. If your emails are heavy on graphics and take their sweet time loading on a smartphone, don’t expect your reader to reach for his or her laptop just to view your message. It’s either going to be deleted or just simply forgotten!
In fact, don’t be afraid to send just plain text emails. Sure, images may seem more attractive, but they take more time to load and not everyone has the patience to bother waiting. Plus, some email service providers tend to block images which means your readers don’t get the chance to see them. A recent study even shows that plain text emails are preferred by most readers today.
Write with personality
Don’t go all formal with your subscribers just for the sake of it. This isn’t a business email and there’s no need to be stiff with your writing style. Be fun and flexible and address your subscribers like friends or acquaintances. This way, they’ll have a lighter feeling when reading your emails instead of feeling like they’re reading a work email.
Don’t be afraid to share some personal experiences and anecdotes as well – as long as it’s relevant to your product or service or if you think it would be valuable to your readers. Remember, you’re trying to build a casual relationship with them and make them trust you. This is so that when they begin to need a product or service you offer, they come to you instead of your competitors.
Go for catchy subject lines
The subject line is the first thing your subscribers are going to see when you send an email. Make sure to create a subject line that’s sure to catch their attention and get them curious enough to open your email. Don’t be deceitful, though! Don’t write a subject line that has absolutely no relevance to the body of your email. At least, give them a real idea of what could be expected from the email body.
Email marketing is one of the best and most cost-effective marketing methods there is today. Done correctly and you’ll be building relationships with people all over the world who may one day be your customer.
Indeed, the goal of email marketing is to sell, but remember that not everyone may be ready or be able to afford your current offer at the moment. But when you build a lasting relationship with people, you’ll be the first person they come to when they’re ready for what you have to give. So email marketing isn’t just marketing for the short term – it’s an effective method to keep prospects in the long haul.
And since email marketing is building a relationship with prospects, you also have to make sure your emails actually reach someone. It’s important to clean your list and check if the email addresses you’re sending to are valid. You can use verification tools such as Email List Verify to clean up your list and make sure each email you send is sent to someone’s inbox.
Interesting related article 1: “What is Online Marketing?“
Interesting article 2: “What is E-mail Marketing?“