Email marketing is one of the most cost effective, targeted, and measurable digital marketing campaign tactics. It's a form of direct marketing, which is a highly personalized form of communication that is delivered directly to your customers, rather than through ads or billboards.
At its core, email marketing is a tool for customer relationship management (CRM). Your email marketing plan is not just about building a large subscriber list. It should maximize the retention and value of your customers, ultimately leading to a greater return on investment.
Types of Emails in Your Marketing Plan
- Promotional emails will usually have an immediate goal: download a PDF or leave a review
- Newsletters have longer-term goals that are usually aimed to create and retaining a long-term relationship with the reader.
- Transactional emails are generally automated emails that inform customers of payments, subscriptions, or changes to their account.
What are your ultimate business goals? Email and mobile marketing are tools to help you achieve your website goals and should be considered in line with your overall business strategy.
Creating an Email Marketing Strategy
Evaluate Your Current Email Marketing Performance- How many users are reading on mobile? What types of devices do your users use? Cheaper smartphones are becoming more popular, which impacts penetration into lower-income areas.
Segment Your Database- Segmenting a database can allow for customization across demographics or purchase history. For example, you may choose to divide your database according to gender or age. A pet store may find it useful to segment their list according breed.
Verify Your Forms & Opt-in Processes - Update your forms to ensure that you are collecting enough information about your customers in order to improve their experience with your company. Your email service provider (ESP) is a key part of the data capture and helps to protect you against spam complaints and potential legal action. Read their documentation.
Put the sign-up form where it can be seen, above the fold and on every page. Create gated content in your email-opt in process, for example, a white paper, gift voucher, or music track. Add a newsletter subscribe box to the checkout process of your retail site.
Outline ways to attract prospects into your database. Add the newsletter sign-up form to your company blog and email signatures. Are there PowerPoint presentations you deliver? Add a link. What other offline marketing channels (such as flyers or brochures or displays) can push to your newsletter? Try a contest or giveaway, but make sure the subscribers you find that match your ideal target market. Use interactions at trade shows to ask for email addresses and possibly phone numbers. State your anti-spam stance explicitly, and be clear that you value subscribers’ privacy. Clearly state what the subscriber’s information will be used for and how often you’ll send. Assigning a testing team to periodically check the form on each channel.
Identify & Measure Your Key Performance Indicators
Create A Schedule- Design, test, and schedule your transactional emails. A consistent schedule and complete plan will ultimately foster trust and fulfill customer expectations.
When Should You Deploy Your Emails?
Generally speaking, the best days of the week to send emails are between Tuesday and Thursday. General marketing messages should be sent between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m or 2:30-3:30 p.m. Appointment reminders should be sent 24 hours and/or directly after the appointment is made. Weekend sales and special events reminders should be sent on Thursdays or on the morning of the event.
