Should I Still Use Email Marketing?
Compared to some marketing methods, email marketing might feel a bit like a dinosaur tactic.
After all, it has been around for a LONG time.
So, with that in mind, should you still use it as part of your marketing strategy?
The answer to that question is a big resounding YES!
Regardless of its age, email marketing is still a really effective marketing technique that is proven to convert.
So, let’s look at the reasons why you should use email marketing and how you can maximise its effectiveness in your business.
Should I Still Use Email Marketing?
Why Email Marketing?
Proven Technique
These days, people are very aware of being sold to. With so many methods of advertising, we are being encouraged to buy something everywhere we look. As more and more people become savvy about this fact, many of these methods are tuned out.
But, people expect to receive email communication from the businesses they love. And if you send them interesting content, they will go out of their way to read your emails. It is a marketing technique that people are comfortable with, so continues to be effective.
Cost Effective
Compared to other marketing methods, email is a really cost effective way to reach your target audience. You don't have to pay for clicks or to get in front of people. You simply pay one set fee to your email provider each month.
Direct and Targeted Communication
Email allows you to communicate directly with your customers, appearing in their inboxes. You can personalise your messages based on their preferences, behaviours, and purchase history. This can create a more tailored and engaging experience with your business.
You can then make your email campaigns even more effective by utilising segmentation and targeting options within your database. This allows you to send specific messages to specific groups of your list, increasing the relevance of your communication and the effectiveness.
Engagement and Sales
Being able to send a regular email or newsletter keeps people engaged with your brand. It’s an opportunity to remind them of who you are and what you do by sharing valuable content, exclusive promotions, updates and news. This consistent contact helps to foster a sense of loyalty and connection with your business.
Once you have that connection and relationship with your current, past and potential customers, you can use it to drive sales. Your emails provide an opportunity to promote your products and services, offer special discounts or run exclusive promotions. Well crafted emails can encourage your list to make purchases, boosting your sales.
More Effective Campaigns
Your email marketing platform will have an analytics section that you can study. The platform will track open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, plus it will show you a click map of what interests your customers in each email. This data gives you insight into how effective each campaign is and can help you to refine your email strategy over time.
Automation
The ability to automate email campaigns lets your marketing operate 24/7. You can set up drip campaigns, welcome sequences and other automated workflows to automatically send based on set triggers. Not only does this encourage sales or engagement on autopilot, but it does it while saving you time and keeps your communications consistent.
Email Marketing Best Practices
Right, so now we know why email is so powerful, how can you maximise this tool effectively? These are some of the email marketing best practices you can use to get the most return on your time and financial investment:
Choose A Good Provider
There are a bunch of email marketing providers that you can choose from. But, you want to select one that you are comfortable working with and one that has all the capabilities you are going to require. We suggest Mailchimp as a great option as it is a trusted platform that allows you to set up templates, automations and segments.
And, if you aren’t sure how to get set up with all these elements, reach out to our team today.
Follow The Rules
In order to add people to your email database, you need to have the permission to do so. You can gain this by a database signup form or offering an opt-in where you give a valuable free resource in exchange for their email address. This opt in process ensures that you comply with global privacy regulations. You also need to ensure there’s a way for people to unsubscribe from your content too.
Use Segmentation
As we mentioned above, dividing your lists into certain groups or tagging them based on demographics, purchase history, account action, behaviours or interests can be powerful. It allows you to send people content they are interested in and that is relevant to them.
Personalisation
Similar to segmentation, personalisation allows you to make the email reading process a more intimate experience for your list as they will feel like the content is just for them. Using their name and personalising your content based on their preferences creates a more engaging and relevant experience, increasing the likelihood of interaction or purchasing.
Calls To Action
Every email you send should have a clear call to action. This triggers people to take action and encourages those who are ready to take the next step with your business. Your call to action can be anything from directing people to check out a blog post or to download a resource, through to getting them to make a purchase. Just make sure your CTA is easy, direct and logical.
Give Before You Get
People are much more likely to purchase from someone they know, like and trust. So fill your emails with valuable content so that you can be useful, informative and relevant to your audience. Remember that people will join your list at any time, so any of your emails could be one of the first interactions someone has with your business. That’s why it’s important to fill each email with a good balance of value and opportunities to purchase.
Consistency
Consistency is key when it comes to email marketing. That goes for your sending schedule and adhering to your brand guidelines. Sending your emails on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly schedule helps to maintain engagement and creates anticipation for your readers. And, maintaining consistent visual branding and written tone will help to reinforce brand recognition.
Strategy
It’s easy to fall into the trap of sending “something” because you have to stick to a posting schedule. But, to get the most return from email marketing, you want to have a strategy in place so that each email builds on itself and helps you work towards your overall marketing objectives.
If you aren’t sure how to put that overall strategy together, it can help to sit down with an email marketing expert. Our team can help you if you are feeling stuck on strategy.
Professionalism
While you want to remain personable and connect with your audience authentically, your emails need to remain professional in appearance and content. Before any email goes out, do all the basic checks like having an engaging subject line, checking for spelling and grammar mistakes, and cutting out the swears and jargon.
Making It Email Marketing Easy
While effective, email marketing can be time consuming. So, why not save yourself the stress and time investment, and get an expert to do it for you?
The team here at Creative Web Designs know their stuff when it comes to email marketing. Not only can we take on the job of sending slick, professional emails that convert, but we can help you devise the marketing strategy to back them up.
Check out our email marketing packages here.