More and more businesses are trying to figure out how to use email marketing to improve their communication (and sales) to their customer base. I’d like to share a few quick things that I’ve learned along the way to help improve your email marketing practices.
Don’t ignore your customers. By waiting 3 months in between messages, your customers may not be aware of any new products or services that you are offering. If you haven’t communicated with them in awhile, send out a special message to reconnect with them.
Integrate your lists. Make sure that your email communications are going to the right group of customers. Some businesses have lengthy contact lists and they segment them based on what those clients need or are most interested in. Don’t forget about prospects either; integrate your email list with a prospects list whenever possible. Personalize all of your messages so that your customer base knows that you know who they are.
Offer them a deal! Offer them something every time that you communicate with them. By offering them value in every email that you send, they will be more likely to open and read the next email you send to them. Don’t rely on one offer, experiment and test different offers. Ask for their feedback and offer them a special incentive for responding to your email.
Utilize different platforms. Mobile and social media have burst into the mainstream so be sure to take advantage of these channels so that you increase your chances of getting your customer’s attention.
Most email marketing applications offer some sort of statistics package. Take advantage of it! Part of marketing is measuring your campaign’s success, so if you’re not coming back to view those statistics, how will you know whether your strategy is working or not? Measure level of interest by mixing up the topics, changing the layout, offering them something and giving them the opportunity to provide feedback.
A successful email marketing strategy consists more of just logging into the system and sending out a quick message, but these few suggestions will help you get started (or restarted) on the right foot!
