So you’ve decided to invest in an email program, or you’re at least seriously considering it. But how do you get started? What route do you take in order to make sure your email marketing is actually EFFECTIVE? Below we outline 5 tips that will help you get started in developing out-of-this-world emails to boost your lead nurturing and returns!
5 Tips to Nail Your Email Campaign
- Develop personas. Get to know your audience--and I mean REALLY get to know them. Do your research. Find out what their favorite things are to do in their down time are, what makes them tick, what makes them get out of bed each morning (even Monday mornings!) and go to work. Studies show that using targeted email marketing by personas increases click through rates by 16%. Get to know your audience and you will quickly attract more leads than you ever thought possible. Yeah!
- Grow your list (organically) and segment. Never buy a list. It is bad practice and can provide you with inaccurate data. As your list continues to grow, you will quickly learn that you have some customers that LOVE getting your emails about discounts and sales offers. And when I say love, I mean they will sit and wait for those emails to pop up in their inbox. Yet, the other half of your customers couldn’t care less about your promotions, but instead are more concerned about the quality information you are pushing out through your blog content (and then sending to them in an eNewsletter on a regular basis). Therefore, you must learn to segment your emails in order to provide the right type of content to the right audience.
- Be consistent. If you are doing email campaigns or monthly eNewsletters, you want the overall look of your emails to be consistent. The last thing you want is your potential leads marking you as spam because they don’t recognize your brand in the emails you are sending out. Create a simple template with your branded colors and logos in your ESP (Email Service Provider) of choice and save it so that you can access it easily each month, saving yourself the hassle of recreating it every time you want to send an email.
- A/B test. Take the time to test everything (but not all at once!) with your eNewsletter. This includes items such as subject line, send out date/time, CTA button colors and much more. For example, there is no set “best time” to send out your email campaigns. Yes, there are some suggested “industry” best times, but truthfully, you don’t know how accurate those are or if they truly apply to your audience unless you see for yourself. Yes, it takes a little bit more work on your end, but fortunately, ESPs such as MailChimp provide quick and easy forms for A/B testing.
- Analyze your results. After you send your campaign, your ESP will generate a report for you which states who has opened and clicked on various links within your email. The report also shows you the time each viewer opened the email, etc, which can also help you determine the best send out time. Analyzing the results will aid in making knowledgeable and beneficial changes in the future.
And remember, no email strategy works the same for EVERY business. This is why it is vital that you take the time and do YOUR research on YOUR customers. Because who knows your customers better than you?
Still not sure if email marketing is right for you and your business? Check out this short SlideShare to discover some amazing stats about the power of email marketing!
