Do you include graphics or only send text? What sort of layout is most effective? How the heck do I build an opt-in list? There are so many items to consider when you create an email marketing campaign that it can be hard to know where to start. Use the tips in this article and you’ll be up and running in no time.
Minimize traditional email marketing activities during the holidays. Customers are preoccupied with family and friends, and are less likely to be paying attention to business email. Your odds of ending up in the spam box are considerably higher, which could have longer term implications for your bottom line. The major exception to this would be a business directly related to the holiday activities. Otherwise, give yourself a break and enjoy some downtime yourself. Business will be back on track in a day or two.
Try following up an email to your customers with a notice that tells them not to procrastinate. Insert a suggestion that tells them to purchase now onto the reply. The ending could tell them not to miss this incredible opportunity by waiting. Instead, they should act now to reap the full benefits.
Even though it should be obvious, it is important enough to state over and over: Never send unsolicited emails. You should have explicit permission from everyone you send marketing emails to. This is about more than trying not to upset them; a recipient who considers your email spam can cause trouble for you with your service provider.
Data mine your email list and bucket your audience into various segments based off of any profiling data you have. This will allow you to be more strategic with your messaging and effectively increase your chances of higher open and click through rates. Even if you don’t have profiling, look to geo-targeting. Various regions respond differently to different types of messaging.
Don’t include the use of newsletters in your email marketing campaign. You can send the people on your opt-in list relevant emails about particular topics instead. You will attract more people when they know that they will only be receiving information that they are interested in, and that they will not have to sift through an entire newsletter to get it.
Try engaging the customer using the subject line of the email. Your email must grab your reader’s attention the minute it lands inside of their inbox, otherwise it may go into their trash. If you have a weak or uninteresting subject line, that is exactly what will happen. So try spicing up your subject line with some creativity.
Remember that the purpose of email marketing is ultimately to sell your products. Every email should be a way to get clients to make a purchase. Do so by building emails that provide information on new products or that offer special deals and promotions.
Find out who your competitors are and sign up to their emails. You will be able to see what content, they are sending to their subscribers and figure out what aspects to use and which to stay away from. Just be sure not to steal their content, as this could constitute plagiarism.
Avoid adding someone’s email to your list without their permission. If you pad your list using subscribers who haven’t specifically requested to receive your emails, you run the risk of alienating the email address owners, as well as your potential customers. It may be the case that your service provider also takes action against you, even removing you from the service, for violating spam regulations.
Always add a link where your email recipients can easily unsubscribe or opt out, if they choose to do so. Email messages do cost money, even if barely anything. If you are seen as a spammer, it can have many negative consequences for you and your business’s reputation.
You will have found the answer to many of your questions here, so take what you’ve learned and implement it into a successful email marketing campaign. If you have further questions, you can continue learning by reading articles, blogs and forums, never stop searching out knowledge. Your rewards will be worth it in the end!
Terrific Email Marketing Ideas To Jumpstart Your Business
