How can I use email marketing effectively?

It is reported that more than 300 billion emails were sent and received daily in 2020. With this flurry of inbox notifications, one might think this form of digital marketing is saturated. However, that is not the case email marketing is one of the best ways for marketing for a business to reach their audience directly. In this article, we’re guiding you on how to do this effectively.

Emails between businesses and audiences generally follow three main types, namely:

Promotional: The informative newsletter, press releases and announcements
Transactional: The follow-ups and surveys
Operational: Updates to your business operations

Email Marketing - What you don’t want

The worst-case scenario is for your email to be ignored, sent to the spam folder, deleted or blocked. That is why the effective use of this technique is paramount. Successful email strategies are proven to be a source of increased ROI for businesses. It is no doubt that this is a ket part of your marketing strategy, but to further illustrate this point, consider these stats and facts:

Email Marketing - What the people want

People set aside time in their day to ‘check emails.’ It is routine admin activity, with an average of 50 seconds spent on per email opened. That kind of viewing time is unheard of in other forms of digital marketing, where a scrolling timeline can result in your content being seen for mere seconds. To support this, studies have proven that audiences prefer to receive email marketing as opposed to social media advertising.

The point of the email

Effective emails result in further action being taken by the receiver. This is dependent on the mail sent, but it is often a link which takes the user to a website. It is, therefore, a way of communicating with your audience directly, where you can connect with them, nurture your relationship with them and encourage them to make sales and become loyal brand advocates. In simple marketing terms: leads and conversions.

The technology to assist you

To achieve this, there needs to be a dedicated strategy in place to build your mailing lists, to ensure that they are optimised and to automate the process where possible. Your business should have a CRM software plugin or CRM such as HubSpot that manages this process for you, or an emailing marketing services such as MailChimp which stores and sends the mail. This not only saves you the time of manual emailing, but it can also provide you with the ability to segment your audiences, which is key to personal, relevant emails being sent. This plays a significant role in the success of your strategy.

When segmenting your audience, you can then supply each segment with content tailored to their needs. This naturally results in better results as it provides the customer with more satisfaction. Businesses who utilise these technological tools can adapt their content to ensure that they suit the preferences, interests and needs of each person they’re emailing. For instance, their location might make them eligible for a regional coupon code, or based on their specific activity on your website (starting with a welcome and leading up to cross-selling), or remind them to fulfil an abandoned cart.

So, how do you get people to subscribe to your emails?

Opt in’s can be single or double (where an email confirmation is sent for consent). You can have pop-up sign up forms on your website, ask for marketing consent from customers, or attract people with lead magnets. Lead magnets refer to content that people can access in exchange for their email address and the right to mail them. Popular forms of this include eBooks, PDF guides and competition entries.

Whichever methods you employ to build your subscriber list, you need to ensure that they have the following:

Simple processes that require minimal effort
The value provided in the immediately accessible exchange
Relevant methodology to appeal to your audience
Strategy in the long term to ensure sustained subscription to your mailing list

To measure the effectiveness of email marketing, these are the three primary figures to take note of:

Subscription rates
Open rates
Click-through rates

Effective emailing strategy

Consider the goals of your emails, and more importantly, the kinds of emails your business needs to be sending. Consider what each audience will need, depending on their journey along the sales funnel and develop emails based on a sequence that guides customers from the brand introduction until the post-purchase phase.

Top tips for your email marketing:

Actively work on building and segmenting your email database
Personalise all email interactions
Ensure your email address is inbox-friendly, so it doesn’t end up in the spam folder
Employ graphic designers who can develop your email designs, as well as content creators to populate the content with strong visuals
Include clear and relevant links and calls to action
Make unsubscribing an easy process
Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly
Conduct A/B testing for optimal results in the long term
Track the success of your strategy using the email rates previously mentioned
Quality copywriting is vital for the short and sweet text that is compelling, from subject line to the wording of the email
Consider timing and plan your email schedule accordingly, without needing to over-email
Ensure your content is valuable and has a purpose, whether its an offer, an exclusive or a campaign

With all of these tips and techniques in mind, your business will be able to develop and roll out an effective email marketing strategy. From reaching your audience to connect with them to engaging with them as they make sales, this digital marketing technique is one that is paramount to positive brand perceptions and can increase sales on your end and satisfaction on theirs.