BLOG 33 Every day we check our inbox religiously, maybe once, twice, three times, who knows, and what is it we’re waiting for exactly? An email from a friend, a lottery win, a speeding fine… no, it’s a new offer or discount code to our favourite retail outlet that’s going to make us spend our money, on that shiny new object that we don’t need but, of course, definitely want. That is the power of email marketing summed up right there – so do you know your CTR from your CTA? Read on to find out how to make the most of email marketing. YOUR CONTACT LIST Ensuring your email database is up to date means you can regularly monopolise on potential revenue opportunities. If information is incorrect then it’s a missed marketing lead, as is outdated information, so keeping the ‘unsubscribed’ lists updated, will additionally save time and resources - as well as adhering to GDPR. Reaching the target audience correctly due to accurate data will improve your ‘send score,’ which is influenced by email engagement. The better the score, the more likely it is you will avoid the receiver’s spam filters in the future. Tip: Don’t be tempted to ‘purchase’ lists of email addresses, due their lack of accuracy and out of date information, it will certainly work against the company in the long-run resulting in a company even being blacklisted. EMAIL CAMPAIGNS – HAVE A PLAN When planning an email campaign take the following steps to ensure a high engagement and success rate – the ultimate goal! 1IDENTIFY THE AUDIENCE The success of an email campaign will be on whether it’s reached the target audience, which can pre-determined through market research and data analysis. 2IDENTIFY THE KEY MESSAGE What is it the business is promoting? Current offers or discounts, a new product launch, a company award win? It should be clear and defined in the mailer. 3OUTLINE OBJECTIVES What is the desired outcome for sending a mail shot based on the business’s needs? Increased revenue; to sell out of a product line; to generate more website traffic? 4CONSTRUCT THE EMAIL The construction of the email should be to optimise each engagement element, from the subject line and preview text to the body and design of the email - it should engage and hold the audience’s attention. The correct ‘construction steps’ should be followed to avoid emails ending up in spam filters/junk folders. The email should be coded/formatted so that is displays correctly on various devices ie, tablet/mobile, and also in various email programmes ie: Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and so on. Take into considerations the email format • Having a noticeable subject line will attract the customer’s interest; being the first thing they see, it’s important to ‘reel them in’ instantly. • The content of the email in the main body needs to provide the information needed for the recipient to make an informed decision about what they’d like to do next. It should be brief, to keep the audiences’ attention. • The design of the email should be visually engaging, containing text as well as images/infographics/logo to spark interest from the viewer and motivate them to continue reading. HOW TO MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS RATE You can measure the success of an email campaign by analysing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This is the best way to understand the In the second part of her series, Gift Focus Managing Editor, Danielle Harvey, looks at how email marketing can generate financial reward – if it’s done right! YOU’VE GOT MAIL
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