Sending regular email marketing campaigns is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to get your customers engaging with your brand. But many businesses still don’t use email marketing to its full advantage. Here’s our top 3 do’s and dont’s of email marketing to help you.
1. DO consider the customer
Before you sit down to plan the strategy for the next six months of your email marketing campaigns, spend some time thinking about your customer. What do they do for a living? What does their average day look like? When are they most likely to read their emails? What problems can you help them solve with your newsletters? When it comes to shaping your content – rather than sharing what’s important to you or your brand – make sure to focus on your customers’ needs instead.
2. DO include images and videos
According to Animoto, people are almost 50% more likely to read newsletters that include a link to a video. And 4 times as many consumers prefer to watch a video about a product rather than read about it. This shows how important visuals have become, so make sure you include some images, graphics or videos in your email marketing campaigns.
However, be aware that images may not always load, or the content may be blocked by your subscriber’s email account. So don’t base your content on the visuals – make sure that your core message and call-to-action are clear and compelling even without the images.
Which brings us to the next point…
3. DO consider how the email will read on a mobile device
You don’t need to consult statistics to know how much your customers use their phones on a daily basis – just reflect on your own smartphone habits. How many emails did you open today on your mobile device, compared to your laptop? Latest 2017 research by Litmus shows that 51% of all email is opened on a mobile device first.
So while it’s important to include images and video link, you need to always consider how your email will read on a mobile device. People read on the go, and the last thing you want to create is a ‘buffer face’ – an annoyed look that people express when an image is rolling down the page trying to load.
Use simple, easy-to-read fonts and resize any images or attachments, so they don’t use up all of your customer’s browsing data and don’t result in a ‘buffer face’ (we recommend 800px per image).
1. DON’T use boring headlines
Before your customer even gets to your content, they need to open the newsletter first. And it’s up to your headline to convince them that the email is worth their while. According to Copyblogger, only 2 out of 10 people will continue reading your content after reading the headline. To boost your open rates, Mailchimp advises to include personalisation (i.e. your client’s first name) in the email subject and create a sense of urgency. For more tips on how to write a killer deadline, have a look at our previous blog post.
2. DON’T send the same message to everyone
This next tip depends on your budget, but if you can, consider email automation and segment your subscriber list, sending tailored, niche messages to different subscribers. Why? Even if people sign up to your mailing list, they come from different backgrounds and have different needs and schedules. Effective marketing is about delivering the right message at the right time. In order to do that, you need to know what segments make up your subscriber list, then tailor the content to suit their individual needs. As a final touch, schedule the messages to drop into your customers’ mailbox at a time when they may be looking at their email.
3. Whatever you do, DON’T ignore the statistics!
While putting your email marketing campaign together sounds like hard work, it doesn’t end there. The real insight that you can gain from email marketing campaigns is in the statistics and your ROI rate. You may think that a message you sent out was brilliant, but unfortunately, your customers may disagree. Measuring ROI can also help you clear your subscriber list of any dead emails and segment the client list by honing in on specific messages that people are more likely to click on.
Good luck creating! But if you want to hand the reigns of your email marketing strategy over to a professional brand marketing agency, then look no further and contact us today.