Creating An Effective Email Marketing Campaign
Email marketing is a form of communication done online, where selected contacts receive newsletters, emails and updates on marketing information for the prospects of influencing them to do business with you. Consider the following critical elements of the campaign.
Do It Right or Be Prepared to Have Your Domain Blacklisted and Even Criminally Charged!
The big secret to creating an efficient email campaign is knowing how to leverage lead generation, which will require you to develop a list of authorised contacts, also called a whitelist. Other than that, you also need to understand what email marketing is so that you can implement it and see notable ROIs.
DMS is a reputable digital agency, based in Surbiton, SY, offering effective email marketing services and utilising best practice strategies.
3 Top Tips for A Successful Strategy
Should you engage an external company to advise on or deliver your email campaigns, check that they’re able to clearly define what it is and that they employ recommended design best practices.
Email marketing, if and when done wrong, can lead to you being criminally charged for spamming (sending unsolicited emails). Spamming or sending unwanted emails is one of the biggest issues that can dent the image of a company’s marketing strategy. Luckily, laws are in place to prohibit such activities on the internet but this doesn’t mean that it’s a place for the unwary – ignorance is not bliss! When done correctly it is a marketing strategy that can be an exciting and adventurous way to maintain your relationship with your hard-earned contacts and at the same time, generate new ones. To be successful, the following are some of the elements that must be in place.
Always strive to create a lasting first impression when doing any marketing; your introductory letter should be spot on – brief and highlighting your business’ key features and benefits. The message should focus on a target audience that is most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. You can fish for such an audience in the yellow pages or by scouting your neighbourhood or location. The first step, therefore, is to identify your target audience, but then you also need to get their permission to email them.
With that being said, creating an effective campaign will need you to consider the following four core pillars of email marketing.
• The Sender
Always establish credibility when running your marketing campaign by using the contact details of those who have agreed to receive your communications. This access is accomplished in one of two ways, by the use of what is known as a “Single” or “Double” opt in. The benefit is two-fold, firstly, you are marketing to a receptive audience and secondly, you’re protecting yourself and your business from being accused of spamming and the ramifications it carries. It will also help to develop trust with your business with your contracts or target audience.
• Content
What you communicate should be different from your ordinary emails. It should have specificity, unique to the target audience and ideally, it must be a captivating and informative piece, even if it is a newsletter.
• Action
There is a balance between emails that are pure sales focus. If all your emails are seeking to sell your products / services, it is likely that they will be ignored or you’ll receive “unsubscribe” me emails. Try for a balance between those emails that seek to make a sale and those that provide useful and valuable content to your market. An example of the latter is a review of new products or services in your market. For sales related emails, ensure that there is a clear call to action, tell the reader what to do, eg, click this link, which then to a sales page, discount, or offer.
• Opt-In Features
Recognise and build into your customer engagement model, that some clients will lose interest in your business or what you are offering within a short period. As such, do not force them to stay engaged, have an exit option in place for them to stay or exit at their discretion.
Your list must be comprised only of authorised recipients – see the earlier point about “single” and “double” binds. Don’t be tempted to buy email lists supposedly with already pre-approved contact details, not least because you’ve no real idea as to how and when the list was put together. To create your list correctly and legally, you need to seek permission from each person that they agree to receive your marketing campaign(s) and ideally, you want this to go into the autoresponder tool that you have already set up to receive and manage your bulk email campaigns. It is also good practice to include an “unsubscribe” option in the emails that you subsequently send out. Set up several different files based on what you have to offer and to which particular audience as this will make managing various campaigns simpler.
If some contacts do not give your permission, do not lose heart. Keep trying to get in touch with them to discuss the prospects of doing business together. Also, do your best to reduce the number of unsubscribed contacts. Do not resort to spamming because you risk having your email account or domain blocked or terminated.
3. Auto-Responders And Feedback
The use of auto-responders is a smart way of ensuring that your contacts receive time-sensitive and important material that you want to share with your network, on an automated basis. Autoresponders are a marketing tool, that operate in a way that enable you to follow up with existing and potential clients – you create a series of messages in advance and schedule them to be issued at a time or action of your choosing. Once set up, these emails will be delivered in accordance with the business rules you’ve established. Have signup forms embedded on your business’ website and have a link back to the autoresponder.
Expect some feedback which may be good or bad as you have these in place so that you can effectively reach your audience. What counts is that your email marketing campaign has worked because you received feedback. Nevertheless, use that information as necessary to fine tune the existing material, any hiccups in the process, to make your content marketing campaign more efficient.
We can help you set up and manage your email campaigns that are aligned with recognised industry best practice. Click on the image below, fill in the simple form and one of the team will be in touch with you in 2 working days.
