Email marketing strategies commonly seek to achieve one or more of three primary objectives, to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness.
The 20th century ushered in new developments in technology.
One of the most useful and widely-used technologies it came with is the use of the internet.
The internet revolution gave rise to a much modern means of communications and paved the way for better communication such as email.
Email marketing is the practice of using email for marketing communications. It covers every email sent to a potential customer, an existing customer or a public venue.
Best practices includes:
- Sending direct promotional emails to try and acquire new customers or persuade existing customers to buy again.
- Sending emails designed to encourage customer loyalty and enhance the customer relationship.
- Placing your marketing messages or advertisements in emails sent by other people.
- It is also similar to sending mails, a newsletter or e-zine or placing advertisements on a magazine or newspaper.
But now a great question that strikes our mind is why do email marketing?
What is so good that email marketing has to offer?
Let us start with the answers of these questions.
Email marketing is in rage these days because of the following features:
- Sending email is much cheaper than most other forms of marketing communication.
- Unlike a website, where the people have to come to your message, Email marketing communication lets you deliver your message to the people
- With email marketing, you can customize your campaigns and create targeted content to every category of your customers.
- Through email Marketing campaign, you can Collect feedback and surveys from your customers
Email marketing has proven very successful for those who do it right .
Nonetheless, we cannot overlook the Benefits of mail marketing which are mentioned below:
- Email marketing allows deep targeting and it is data driven.
- Email marketing is used to build relationships, loyalty, trust and ultimately help drives direct sales.
- Email marketing also can be used to support sales through other channels.
- Email marketing is an extremely cost-effective marketing tool.
- When done properly, it increases your sales conversion and generates repeat sales.
- Email marketing is best for up-sell and cross-sell products and services.
- Email marketing help drives your web users to make offline purchases.
Today, email marketing services and solution providers support database integration, segmentation and various other tricks and techniques for improving the targeting of outgoing messages.
Such platforms includes:
- Sendpulse
- Mailchimp
- Madmimi
Things to note for email marketing Success
- Responsible email marketing is based on the idea of permission. Always keep a few things in mind while opting for the process.
- Make sure your emails reflect your brand, through your content, language, tone, imagery and colors.
- Your email campaign may also be an opportunity to manage and further enhance your relationships with your customers.
- Your content should always be demonstrative.
- Educate your customers or provide additional information.
- Learn to be consistent in timing and frequency
Email marketing when done well gives your brand an edge in a tough market. Daily, weekly, or even monthly emails will keep your brand in your target consumers mind. As more and more of the population begins to use email, email marketing will become a standard in the marketing industry for years to come.
If you run a conventional offline business you can use email marketing to drive foot traffic through your door. Finding another marketing method that comes close to all the benefits that email marketing offers is nearly impossible.
Targeted Email Marketing
Targeted email marketing is one of the most effective tools being used by internet marketers to get people to know more about their products, and ultimately to patronize their products.
As what its name denotes, targeted email marketing are emails sent to one’s target market.
An email marketer does this buy devising a way to build as many email addresses of his target market.
One of the most common strategies being used by email marketers is the sign-up box placed in their website.
Most often, the sign up box pops up in the website and asks the internet user if he wants to avail of certain products for free. These products can come in the form of newsletters, white papers, recipes, or just about anything to encourage the user to sign up and reveal his email address.
Once the user has signed up, he will be asked to check several boxes as to what products he would prefer to receive and on what topics.
Through the sign up process, the webmaster has the opportunity to get not only the user’s address but his preferences, hobbies, interests and other matters that would b e useful for internet marketing campaign.
The target markets or users that have signed up for newsletters or any free items would then receive the newsletters weekly, depending on the program being used by the webmaster.
Such newsletters will include topics that are of interest to the user.
If the internet marketer is selling health-related products then perhaps the newsletter will feature interesting topics on health, proper diet, even healthy recipes.
With the newsletters are especial offers about the products being sold.
Unknowingly, the user is being bombarded with information which would make him give in and realize that he has a need for the products being sold.
A good email marketer will use soft selling and not hard selling in advertising his products through the newsletters.
Having the right information about the target market will create the difference in successful email marketing.
The more you know about the interests and buying habits of your target market, the more chances of you giving him the necessary materials to encourage him to buy your products.
To be effective, targeted email marketing must make use of a strong headline.
The marketer must make a proposition to his target market, and make it easy for the target market to respond to such proposition by making a possible set of actions available to him in just one click.
No reader would give even a glance at a piece of material which does not have an interesting headline.
The first thing the reader will look at is the headline so it must be captivating and complete in itself.
Man is by nature egoistic so take advantage of this knowledge and condition and make your target market believe that the article was specifically written for him.
From the headline itself, make your readers feel that they are reading something that would make a difference in their lives.
Something that would enhance their beauty, body and mind.
The clincher here though, is that most readers would take a second d look at an article with the word sale in it.
You must believe in your product to make your sales pitch, which is in the guise of an article, more believable and more persuasive.
If you do not believe in your product then it will show with your words.
Words are magical and so powerful they can make or break your marketing campaign.
So if you are not an effective writer then you better hire one if only to make your article more punchy and persuasive.
Make the readers fell that they have a need for the product and you are giving them a favor by making such products available to them.
The magic word here is benefit; anything that would benefit your reader would persuade them to read and to make use of your product.
Everyone wants to improve his beauty, his physique and his mind.
Everyone wants to become a better person. Everyone wants to make money.
Take your cue from these and you will not go wrong with the articles you supply your target market.
However, do not give the readers everything in the email.
If your goal is to increase website traffic, then give them something to salivate on which will encourage them to click the lick to your website.
Give your reader a choice as to what you want him to do after reading your email.
Most emails have great articles that are persuasive.
However, they failed to include choices of what they want their readers to do after reading the articles.
And even if you presented choices of action to your readers, why should they do that?
What would be their benefits if they follow your proposition and call to action?
And while you have much information to reveal in your email, do not tire your readers.
Make the email short and concise. Your readers are busy people and they do not have all day top read your email.
And even if they do have the rest of the day, they would not spend it reading your email especially if you do not offer them something in return.