What you need to know about email marketing and how it can benefit your business – Implementing an email marketing campaign is a good way to reach your customers, but there are things you should consider before starting one for your business.
Various types of email marketing campaigns achieve different goals, so you’ll want to determine exactly what goal you’re striving for.
Since your customer base is varied, you can’t send the same email out to every customer (unless it is your newsletter, in which case it can be sent to all of your customers).
There are three main types of email marketing that can be used for most businesses.
Three main types of email marketing
1. Customer generation
The goal of a customer generation email is to reach out to potential customers who perhaps made an inquiry on your website or left your website just before checkout.
This type of email could alert someone that they have items in their shopping basket that were not purchased or could offer a coupon or discount to entice customers to complete the purchase.
2. Customer loyalty and retention
The goal of this type of email is to reward repeat customers with coupons and discounts and notify them of any sales or events you have coming up.
This email can also include a thank you for a recent purchase or any other sort of customer appreciation initiative that fits well with your business model.
Your objective is to make these customers feel appreciated and to keep them coming to you.
3. Newsletters and press releases
This type of email is focused on informing your customers of current industry trends, company announcements, and other topics that may be of interest.
The purpose of the newsletter and/or press release is to keep your subscribers engaged by sharing information that gets them thinking.
For example, if your business is a hair salon, you may want to send a newsletter highlighting new haircut trends. This can entice a subscriber to book an appointment for an updated, trendy haircut.
The Good of email marketing
One of the biggest advantages of email marketing is that it is an inexpensive way to reach a vast amount of customers.
In fact, a recent study from E-DIALOG showed that 80% of global consumers prefer to receive ads via e-mail. Monthly rates with major email marketing providers such as Constant Contact, iContact, and GoDaddy start at only $9.99 to $15.00 per month.
Another positive aspect of email marketing versus print is the ability to incorporate interactive information.
By including links to your website and various coupons that can be used immediately, it enables your customers to buy now, and you can even embed videos and animations to engage your customer.
The Bad of email marketing
The responsiveness from email marketing has actually been on the decline, with speculation that too much usage of email marketing causes many individuals to delete the email without even opening it.
In fact, the Response Rate Report published by the Direct Marketing Association indicates that the response rate for direct mail is at an average of 3.40%, while the response rate for email marketing is only at an average of 0.12%.
How can you use it to your advantage?
It is imperative that your email marketing campaign be strategic so that your customers are more likely to open the email when they see it in their inbox.
Create a brief, focused subject line. If your business is furniture and your email is promoting a 25% off bedroom set, state that in your subject line.
Your customers who aren’t interested in purchasing a bedroom set right now most likely won’t open the email, but they will probably appreciate that you didn’t write a generic “25% off sale” that they did open only to find it didn’t pertain to them.
In turn, they’ll be less likely to delete your future emails without considering them.
Email marketing can be a cost-effective and powerful tool when used appropriately to gauge the interest of your customers. However, over-usage can have the opposite effect if customers feel bombarded by emails that contain irrelevant information.
