Keeping in touch with customers is essential. Not only are you more likely to convert a sale with existing customers than with new ones, but e-marketing gives you the opportunity to let them know of other products and services they may find of interest.
For email marketing to work effectively, it should be planned alongside the rest of your marketing. We recommend all our clients work to a sustainable marketing plan that considers all forms of media; email marketing being one of them.
To make your campaign as successful as possible, we have put a few tips together to get you started:
1. Collate your database. Think about your target audience. Will all your contacts want to read the same information or will they have different interests? Can all your contacts be collated into one list or would they benefit from being segregated? For example, if you are a clothing retailer, do you sell clothes for male, female and children? It is important to get your database up to date and keep it up to date. If you haven’t already got a newsletter sign up on your website, it is worth including one.
2. Set out a sustainable plan. Be consistent with when you send out your campaigns, for example every other week or once a month. We work with our clients to create effective, yet achievable marketing plans. Consider the time of year you are sending out your campaigns, if you are a travel company or hotel, think about incorporating themes into your campaigns such as Valentine’s breaks or children’s holidays.
If your plan has been prepared professionally and accurately, then it is much easier to adhere to and have greater results.
3. Content. We advise our clients on the type of content to include ensuring maximum attention from your audience. Don’t overload your readers with content, get straight to the point and be visually interesting. We help our clients with the copywriting and imagery, so the impression your readers receive is always a professional one.
4. Update external links. This is an important stage to consider as the more links you have, the more detailed the results will be. It will also give a wider picture as to the movements of your readers and what articles they find most interesting. Link articles to your social media accounts and back to your main website.
5. Unsubscribe – it is a legal requirement to include the option for your readers to unsubscribe, so make sure this is included.
6. Test in all browsers – as viewers will be opening your newsletter through different browsers, so it is important that each reader sees the campaign correctly.
7. Review – it is important to assess the statistics of each campaign. This will give you a clearer indication as to the movements of your readers, allowing you to review which articles are of most interest. This information can then be used so you can tailor the content for future campaigns to suit the demands of your readers.