Email marketing is a versatile way of reaching out to old leads, informing existing customers about new services or sparking up a conversation with new leads, but companies can often suffer from ‘email marketing block’ ; the desire to do email marketing but never getting round to it. Reasons can range from a perceived lack of content, time limitations or just not knowing where to start.
Luckily, we’re here to provide you with a whistle stop tour of top tips when it comes to email marketing. So, grab a cuppa and get accustomed to email marketing…
Keep it Simple and Include Key Details
Your email campaign should act as a bridge; engaging and connecting customers to your brand and website. Don’t overwhelm the user with content; choose a number of key articles and stick with them. The most successful email campaigns centre around 3 / 4 key articles.
As a rule, divide your content into the following:
Article One: Recent company news (this could be a new client, a case study, a new product range, new offices).
Article Two / Three: Industry news that your readers will find interesting and that reaffirms your services. For example, we could run a piece about a recent report detailing the growth of eCommerce amongst SMEs and how we help these types of businesses achieve an effective online presence. You could also use this section to inform readers about a sale or special offer – anything that your readers will find interesting and engaging.
Luckily, there are many companies who provide up-to-date information about different markets, so research is quite easy. All you have to do it write this key information in your own words, explain how you can help provide said services and add in some call to actions.
You could also include some bullet points; snippets of information that users will find interesting but do not necessarily warrant a whole article. Tweets are perfect for this as they provide information in only 140 characters, focusing on the point being made.
The key to a successful email campaign is finding a format that works for you. The above layout is merely a suggestion, you can modify it to fit in with your style of marketing. For example, you may only want to include one article with 5 additional points of information. Don’t be scared to play around a little with your format to see what works best. Tweak headers to capture reader’s attention, add images, send out on a different day or at a different time to compare click through rates, numbers of opens etc.
Think About the Wording in your Email Campaigns
You have limited time to grab your audience’s attention, so write content that grabs and excites them in seconds. All content in your email should be aimed at getting the user to connect further with your brand. This applies to titles, blurbs and even hyperlinks.
For example:
“Local Gym Breaks a Sweat Online Thanks to Skills On Toast”
Bristol based gym, Absolute Health, have seen additional numbers of new memberships and increased interaction from their online community thanks to their new website. See how we achieved these results… [READ MORE]
Optimise Your Website and Email for Mobile
Due to their mobile (!) nature, smartphones offer consumers the ability to interact with brands whenever and wherever they are. Therefore it’s important that this shift in consumer behaviour is matched by providers across marketing channels and this includes emails. Think about the user journey: the user opens your email on their device expecting it to work first time and fit onto their device screen.
This is all well and good if you have optimised your content for mobile devices; the issues come when you haven’t.
As with websites, users do not want to scroll across their screens or zoom in (or out) in order to read your content. A successful email campaign will drive traffic to your website where users will further their relationship with your brand, so make this interaction as easy as possible. People won’t click through to the website via a mobile device if they find navigating the email difficult. They will certainly not return if this difficulty extends to the mobile web version of your site.
Remember:
- 23% of users read email via a mobile device
- 85% of users access the internet on the go
- 84% of users seek online information about local businesses or services
So there we have it! A whistle stop tour of email marketing. Of course, there are more tips and tricks for producing an effective email campaign; give us a call today on 0117 230 3322 to find out more!
