By Willona Sloan
Despite the popularity of social media, for businesses, email marketing is still #1.
Research shows that well written and well executed email campaigns prove most effective for informing current and potential customers and moving them towards action. Why? Because almost everyone uses email, and stats show that email can be nearly 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined when it comes to acquiring customers.
The Data
There are 4.3 billion email accounts in use and despite email having been around for decades, research shows that 91% of consumers check their email daily. That means you have a chance to reach them on a platform they are comfortable using on a regular basis. And, most important, 66% of consumers have made purchases online as a result of emails.
The ROI is strong with email marketing: for every $1 spent on email marketing the average return is $44, according to research by Active Network. That’s huge!
This infographic from Staples provides some great statistics on why email should be an integral part of your marketing strategy.
Effective Email Marketing
Email marketing works. Make the most of email marketing with these tips:
- Keep your emails short, simple, and direct. Engage your audience with messages that move them to Do you want people to make a purchase, sign up for an event, or some other type of action? Be clear and make it easy for the reader to execute.
- Consider segmenting your lists so that everyone doesn’t get the same email. You don’t necessarily want to send the same email to return customers as potential customers. That means you should think about who your audience is and then craft messages accordingly.
- Pay attention to appearances. Consider purchasing email templates to make your emails look more polished. With templates you can also integrate graphics and photos and make your emails look professional. Spend time checking your text formatting and making sure everything is properly aligned. These little details matter.
- Consider working with a third party platform, such as Real Magnet, to help you with all aspects of your email marketing. The time saved with their content editor and professional templates for all types of business messaging, as well as the knowledge gained from their detailed metrics and reports, can take your email marketing to the next level.
- Optimize for mobile. A significant percentage of your audience is likely going to read your email on a mobile device. Test your email messages and view them yourself on a mobile device. Make adjustments as necessary, such as resizing the images in your message, to deliver a clean looking message. Look for templates that use responsive design, so that adjustments for the mobile version are made seamlessly.
- Set an email schedule. This will ensure that you reach out on a regular basis with fresh content. When planning a marketing campaign, plan out the email messages you will need and write the messages as a set rather than piecemeal for a stronger, consistent, and persuasive campaign. Then figure out the intervals and audiences for each message.
- Check your hyperlinks. Always send a test and ask someone else to proofread the email before it goes live.
- Keep your records updated. Scrub your email lists and commit to weeding out bad addresses on a regular basis. Each time you send an email, check your bounce back rates and unsubscribe requests and make adjustments.
- Consider working with a partner, such as Clear Message Media, to help you create, write, format, and deliver your email messages. Our team of email specialists can help you every step along the way.
Study emails you receive that catch your attention, and integrate those techniques into your campaigns. Experiment, learn, and track your data. It’s worth the effort.
