Despite the rise of social media marketing and other forms of unique marketing content, email marketing is far from dead. 92% of adult internet users still maintain an email account, and most have access to that account all day via PC’s and mobile devices. Most of us send a bulk email now and then, but how do you structure your campaigns so as to bring in new customers? Here are a few tips:
1. Be Educational – Consumers are growing more savvy towards sales pitches, and a constant onslaught of sales-focused emails can turn off potential customers. I like the idea of “how-to” guides, informational articles, or links to your blog posts or infographics that can boost your click-through rate and draw customers to your website.
2. Segment Your Audience – It’s pretty obvious to a consumer when an email is meant for a mass audience. Use your sender software to break your email list into segments, then send emails tailored to each of those groups. Test different email styles with different groups to see which kinds of emails work best.
3. Link to Social Media – The great thing about email lists is that (as long as you aren’t a spammer), everyone on your list has opted into receiving your emails. But not everyone on your list is receiving your social media updates, and these two marketing segments shouldn’t be kept separate. Include social content in your emails with links to your media accounts in order to get more information out to your customers.
4. Permissions are Valuable – As I stated before, email is a particularly great marketing tool in that each user has already given his or her permission to receive marketing content. Don’t blow it – sending an autoresponder message too frequently is an easy way to lose that permission. Give your users the ability to change how frequently they receive your emails instead of an all-or-nothing plan, and send emails with different frequencies to different groups. You’ll see results in no time.