You may have heard of lean manufacturing, the management philosophy that grew from the Toyota production system used in the 1940s through the 1970s. But did you know that lean concepts also apply to inbound marketing and can provide you with the perfect platform for a highly effective email content program?
The primary goal of lean production is systematically eliminating waste. When you take a lean approach to your email inbound strategy, you’ll incorporate only what adds value for your customers as you eliminate the extraneous. What are some practical ways you can put lean concepts to work for a greater return on your email efforts? Let's talk about it.
Applying Lean Principles to Your Email Marketing
1. Move Fast
Sending your customers and prospective customers an eNewsletter gets your message out much faster than using traditional media like a print newsletter. In many cases, putting together an eNewsletter can take at most a couple of hours, whereas a traditional newsletter takes weeks or even months for layout and design, printing and mailing. As a result of sending your helpful and informative content via email, your customers call you or visit your website much sooner, and your sales pipeline advances at a quicker pace.
2. Length Makes a Difference
When you know you’re providing content your customers will value, brevity can be a challenge. But to use email marketing as an effective inbound strategy, it’s critical not to get too wordy or write too much. Remember, every email you send should have two primary purposes: (1) providing customers with valuable information and (2) persuading them to respond to your call to action.
3. Email Is Forever
With online storage at bargain basement rates these days, most people keep their emails forever. Smart marketers also keep an archive of emails they’ve sent. You’ll need to refer back to them in the future to ensure that you’re not duplicating content and to build on information you’ve provided previously.
In addition, a recipient of your emails could forward them to friends, coworkers or family members at any time; make sure to sufficiently brand your emails with your logo and contact information. And if someone unsubscribes? Don’t worry! They likely weren’t the right recipient for your message.
4. Measure, Measure, Measure
Today’s email marketers have a leg up over those of yesteryear, with any number of handy software packages and websites available for sending your email campaigns. Make use of the built-in measurement features to analyze your data, including best times to send and the most effective subject lines. You can even tell how many times your email was opened, by whom, and exactly what they clicked on.
To fill your sales pipeline, get have to get lean.
Want to give your inbound marketing program a boost? Incorporate lean principles as you send emails that build trust with your prospects by focusing on relevant, useful content. To learn more, give Marketing Essentials a call today at 419.629.0080.
