When e-mail marketing emerged ten years ago with the popularization of online communication, it was a vastly different entity. Back then, mass emails were the way to go, but were easily sequestered to the spam folder. Send the message to as many people as possible and surely someone will respond, right? Well, no. After ten years of trial and error message-based marketing has become more efficient. Potential customers are now more likely to respond and do so in a thoughtful way. Email marketing has become a valuable means of reaching consumers.
Wendy Roth shares some valuable insights on changes in the email marketing industry. Read her full article here and follow these ten tips based on lessons learned from the past ten years and see big results.
1. Measure success by how active your mailing list is instead of worrying about number of subscribers. Consider how productive, not how long, your list is.
2. Messages should be personal. Recipients respond to personal messages, so use targeted e-mails to encourage further action. Invite feedback, then act on that feedback to create a conversation with your clients.
3. Respect the wishes of internet service providers. Be responsible with your e-mailing: honor recipient requests, act on complaints, obtain addresses fairly. If you do these things, ISP are more likely to cooperate with your email marketing campaigns.
4. Consider that there are many different ways of viewing email…different users have different browsers, each with personalized settings. Some don’t allow graphics, some use preview panes, some disable HTML. Keep this in mind when designing and delivering a message.
5. Many people have taken advantage of Smartphones and now are able to check their e-mail from virtually anywhere. Remember that mobile phones download and display messages different from computers. Design e-mails accordingly.
6. Before sending a message, think about what you are trying to achieve. What is the purpose of the message? Show subscribers the value of belonging to the mailing list.
7. Target your customers! Gather data on e-mail recipients then tailor messages to fit their preferences.
8. Measure success not by how many people have read your message, but by how they react after reading. Do they simply delete the message, or do they click over to the website? Engaging recipients is key.
9. Engage in social media? You should...but to be productive give your followers some incentive. What is their reason for following on Twitter or becoming a fan on Facebook? Give discounts, coupons, special offers or breaking news to those who show their loyalty through social media.
10. Make sure that all marketing channels are cooperating. The best marketing departments are well-oiled machines with all e-mail, web, print and broadcast marketers working together. Coordination leads to capitalization!
