Email is a brilliant marketing tool. Useful for product and service oriented businesses alike, email marketing is “green”, cost-effective, and easy to implement. In addition, email is the primary form of business communication (as opposed to social media). Email marketing is also very effective, netting almost $45 ROI per every dollar spent.
However, it is also very easy to get wrong. The average consumer receives 110 marketing emails per week in his inbox (so, not counting spam or messages that end up in the spam folder). Out of those emails, the average consumer will only open approximately 33 of them and will only actually “click-through” on three offers.
In order to make your email marketing stand out and up to the challenge, keep these seven simple tricks in mind.
- Service
Email marketing is not expensive and it does require many resources to implement. As such, use it to add valuable services rather than push a sale. A good example of this is when banks send balance alerts or when travel websites send fare alerts to consumers.
- Customize
Customize your content as much as possible to the recipient. Spend time looking at research on your demographic and studying trends and preferences. Different programs even offer the ability to isolate specific recipients on the basis of their IP location – allowing a national or international company to send messages tailored to locations, such as making sure that the email ad that announces 20% off sub-zero coats only reaches those consumers that live in areas that experience that type of weather.
- Control
As much as possible, let the recipient have the reigns on what he receives. When consumers can customize their own content, you can be sure that they will receive information that appeals to them, that information will be read, and you can gain valuable insight on what your consumers are looking for.
- Value
Email marketing can add value and it needs to if you want your message to stand out and be effective. For instance, consider offering tips on how a product can be used instead of simply including a button to “click for more information”.
- Transparency
Never try to conceal or disguise your identity or your purpose. Email recipients are twice as likely to open an email from a name they recognize than from one they do not. Regarding your purpose, the important part is to be specific. You should never have an subject line that reads “refinance today”; instead, it should read “interest rates are now under 4% for qualified buyers”.
- Brevity
Keep it short and sweet. Your email ad should be smaller than 55k and viewable on a small screen in its entirety. The ad should have value and substance, not your whole product line. Offer links but keep it brief.
- Engage
By using “click here” buttons or including surveys and other interactive elements, you have the opportunity to engage your consumer dynamically. This makes it more convenient for the customer to act on your message. If you neglect to include this, you force your customer to enter your website address or perform a search, which could lead them to a competitor.
