Email marketing is one of those things that everyone does but few people do well. I remember starting out in digital marketing – I’d send a bulk email now and then and hope for the best. Some people have mastered the art of email, however, and had great results. Email is cheap to send, easy to create, and very efficient at reaching customers on both desktop computers and mobile devices. Here are 5 steps to better email marketing that can help you improve…
1. Build quality opt-in lists – Nothing is more important in email marketing than the power of permission. Getting email addresses isn’t hard – just put something on your page that people want (a newsletter, an entry into a promotion, a coupon, etc.) and require an email address to get it. Never send to someone without permission or you’ll be marked as spam.
2. Be personal – Imagine sending an email to a friend telling him or her about a great deal you found. It’d be a pretty persuasive email, with plenty of personal touches throughout. Now imagine sending emails like that at scale. That’s what you want to strive for with email marketing.
3. Send from a real email address – noreply@example.com is a horrible email. Why? Because it doesn’t have your name on it AND it doesn’t allow any interaction on the part of your readers. Pick a bulk email application and send from a real address – yourname@example.com. Encourage replies. So what if you have to go through them now and then to reply to a few? Shouldn’t this be a sign that you have engaged users?
4. Segment and test – Most unlimited email marketing software allows you to segment your lists into groups by shared traits – e.g. gender, age, etc. You’d send different emails to these types of people, so come up with unique emails for these groups and watch how they perform. Test your results and make changes as necessary.
5. Offer something – This may seem obvious, but nobody wants a daily email telling them about how you have the same sale you had yesterday. Each email should offer something unique and be useful. If it’s not, don’t send it.