Many small companies have limited resources and minimal staff. This often leaves only a few people to do the day to day running of the company (cashier, receptionist, salesperson), and one individual to take responsibility for the larger aspects such as marketing, PR, finance, brand development, etc. It is difficult for one person to excel in all of these areas, and usually they’re left to get by on what they know, with no time for exploration into the avenues that they don’t.
This short blog post is to offer companies a quick how-to guide to effective e-marketing – an area which has great potential to help smaller companies if used properly. As one of the fastest and most affordable marketing routes, email marketing can be a welcome alternative to more traditional methods. However, good results rely on a number of factors – the basics of which I have tried to cover below.
Check List.
An email campaign requires three vital things.
1. A well designed email with a clear message.
2. A method of broadcasting.
3. A responsive email list.
And one that you may wish to consider:
4. A landing page.
A. An Email Design.
• Should be consistent with the look and feel of your brand.
• Be designed as both an html and a text version for those recipients who can’t or won’t download images.
• Be tested in a variety of email providers to ensure it displays correctly in all of them.
• Be easy to read and communicate your message effectively.
• Include a clear call to action. (A form to fill in, a link to click or a phone number to call etc…)
And remember, ALWAYS include an unsubscribe link.
It is good practice to give your recipients the chance to opt out of your emails. Some people try to get around this by hiding their unsubscribe links or putting them in such a tiny font that anybody looking on anything smaller than a cinema screen has no chance of seeing it at all. This is pointless. If a person doesn’t want to be contacted by you, chances are they’re never going to be a customer, so why spend time or money communicating to them? If that’s not a good enough reason, remember that the harder you make it for someone to opt out, the more annoyed they will become – usually culminating in a jolly good ticking off for you, and a serious case of bad word of mouth for the company.
B. A Method Of Broadcasting
You really don’t want to spend time and effort putting together the perfect campaign, only to find that your emails never make it to the inbox. If you have your own broadcasting system in-house, great, if not a professional broadcaster can provide you with a clear route through to your selected recipients. A server’s reputation is fundamental in generating good delivery rates. A trustworthy broadcaster will have developed good relationships with the recipient ISP’s which will be reflected in the number of emails that hit the inbox. Don’t be tempted to send large mailings through Outlook. This is not what the system was intended for, and not only will it require a lot of effort, (you can only send a small number of emails at a time), it could significantly damage your delivery rate too.
Additionally, a professional email broadcasting system will usually track your emails and provide you with a post-campaign report, giving you valuable insight into your recipients’ behaviour. How many emails were opened? Who clicked on the links? Crucial information when it comes to creating future campaigns.
C. A Responsive Email List.
Whether this is your own customer list, or a list that you have bought from a reputable supplier, ensure that the emails you send are specifically tailored to them. The more you know about the people you are marketing to, the more you can tailor your campaign to their needs – making it less likely that they will unsubscribe, and more likely that they will buy.
D. A Landing Page.
Evidence shows that landing pages, on average, boost response rates. In order for them to drive maximum conversions, it is important to:
• Reflect the same tone, design and message in both the email and the landing page, to create a seamless transaction for your recipients and alert them immediately to the fact that they’ve ‘landed’ in the right place.
• Let your recipient know exactly what you want them to do next by giving a strong call to action. Your recipient has already clicked on a link to arrive here, now you want them to fulfil your main objective, to buy, sign up for a newsletter, etc.
• Unlike your generic webpages, the message or offer in your campaign is more pronounced. It is tailored specifically to pushing your offer and driving your recipient further along in the sales process.
Hopefully this will give a few of you out there a few pointers to get started. Of course, if it sounds like a lot of work, you can always let us do the work for you. Either way, I wish you all the success with your email marketing.
