A cluttered email inbox is a stressful part of life for most people. Businesses often shy away from email marketing, fearing their communication will go unnoticed and unopened. However over 4 billion people worldwide currently use email. When employed as part of a marketing strategy, email has an astounding ROI of $42 for every $1 spent. The key to tapping into this resource is cutting through the noise to reach an engaged audience.
Here are a few successful email marketing tactics to incorporate into your strategy.
Determine Who You Want to Reach (And Build a Solid Subscriber List)
The goal of your marketing strategy is to reach the people who are most interested in your products or services. Taking the time to figure out precisely who populates your audience lets you customize your messaging to resonate with them.
When you know who you are trying to reach, you can figure out how to find them. Go there and focus on building a subscriber base. The greater that list, the more lives you can touch. Segment your email list according to demographics and individual positions along the customer journey. That will help you figure out the best timing to reach your customers too. You want them to receive your message when they’re ready to see it.
Segmenting your subscriber list helps you with targeting your emails, as well as retargeting past and prospective customers. You can follow up with special offers to make lifetime customers or give people the push they need to buy from you. Working with a media partner will further allow you to use their station email databases to reach new customers using their already segment information.
Their existing databases segment audiences by age, income, and location, as well as by their housing situations, like whether they rent or own, or if they have children. It also makes it simple to track your email performance. Their email analytics will tell you when emails were sent with each subject line, then breaks down the number of emails, how many were opened, and the total clickthrough rate. On average, you can expect a 10% to 18% open rate with a 1.5% to 2% clickthrough rate.
Put a Human Stamp On It
Humans are social creatures. Craft your emails conversationally to make your audience more receptive to your messaging. Personalized emails help subscribers feel special because it feels like you are speaking directly to them. When addressing an individual by name, your emails have a better chance of engaging your audience. It’s also a great time to take advantage of your segmented list to reach multiple targets without creating separate emails.
Your media partner will also be able to assist you in constructing engaging, personalized email correspondence.
Plan Your Emails For The Long-Term
Email marketing is an excellent way to maintain a long-term relationship with your customers. Sending newsletters on a regular schedule keeps your customers in the loop about sales and all the latest developments. As you do that, you can educate your customers about what your brand stands for while building a relationship with them.
By providing value without trying to sell on a long-term basis, engagement with customers increases loyalty.
Send Your Emails at the Right Time
An email marketing campaign depends on the audience. The best time to send email to the group you are trying to reach depends on when they are most likely to see it. Millennials reportedly check their email every few hours while involved in some other task like eating, working out, or watching TV.
The average open rate for email users in North America currently stands at 19%. Most people check their email first thing in the morning, as well as when the workday starts. People tend to be distracted with work for the remainder of the day. However, office workers, recurringly check their email around 2 pm, after they’ve had a lunch break and are looking forward to finishing the workday. The 7 to 10 pm period also sees a higher open rate as this is likely personal time.
Consider the lifestyles your customers lead and try to time your emails when they will most likely see them and engage with them. You can test out different times to see which gets the better results. When you find what works, keep sending your emails at those times.
Test Your Results
The best email marketing strategy is one that reaches your audience. Testing your results helps you realize the best way to reach those receptive to your message.
Using A/B Testing reveals what content resonates with your audience and what methods spark their interest. It lets you scientifically measure your email marketing’s effectiveness by split testing two versions to determine which performs better. You can then tweak the best emails by adjusting the content and tone and sending different emails at different times to generate more opens, clicks, and conversions.
Getting that information helps you expand your marketing knowledge and craft successful emails in the future.
Everyone uses email, so it remains one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience. Knowing who you want to reach helps you get the highest ROI possible, as you take the time to develop a solid subscriber list. Sending well-planned personalized emails and testing your results helps you identify what works and what doesn't with customer engagement. Working with a media consultant can help you maximize the success of your email marketing plan.
