Email Marketing – How to Do it Successfully
Tips for Successful E-Marketing Promotions and Campaigns
May 12, 2009
In a publication titled, “How to Run a Successful Email Marketing Campaign” Technology and computer manufacturing company, Hewlett-Packard (HP), asserted that one of the basic cornerstones of any successful business is effective and regular communication with customers.
Emphasising the importance of using electronic mails as a strategic marketing tool, US-based E-Mail Marketing and Online Survey Company, Constant Contact Inc, noted that sending effective emails and e-newsletters to customers is a powerful way of staying in touch with customers and increasing business success. In an article headlined, “Email Newsletters: Stay on Their Radar and They'll Think of You First,” Constant Contact stated: “By staying on their 'radar,' they'll be sure to think of you first the next time they need a product or service you offer!” These affirmations demonstrate the usefulness of electronic mails and electronic newsletters for marketing. The following are some basic guidelines on how to do successful e-mail marketing.
Knowing Audience and Writing Targeted E-mail Content
Before sending campaign or promotion e-mails, the audience must be known right from the planning stage. Knowing the audience of an e-mail communication helps the marketer to write targeted messages on issues, products or services that are essential to the audience. “Determine whom you’re communicating with. Is it an IT decision maker, a business decision maker, a finance director or a sales and marketing professional? And tailor your message accordingly,” HP’s publication advised. Businesses of different sizes always have different problems. It is therefore important to also know the size of businesses that are targets of e-mail campaigns to be able put a good strategy in place.
Good E-mail Subject Lines
The content of an email’s subject line goes a long way to determine whether a message will be read, left unread or deleted. In a recent study, “Email Marketing Subject Line Comparison: Study of Best and Worst Open Rates on MailChimp” MailChimp, a leading email marketing company, analysed over 40 million mails and found that messages with best open rates were those that had shorter and straight-to-the-point subject lines. The worst open rates ones were found to be mails that had advertorial, sales-focused, long and ‘pushy’ subject lines. As pointed out in the publication by HP, “No one likes spam emails and at the first sign of a hard sell, most customers will hit ‘delete'.” Good subject lines are important and must be short and to the point.
Good E-Mail Marketing Content
Messages must be informative and helpful to the reader (customer) rather than being a form of advertisement or a way of pushing a customer to buy a product or utilise a service. E-marketers should know how to design effective communication strategies.
Include a Call to Action that Offers Value for Customers
“A limited-period offer, with a stated expiry date, will create a sense of urgency and stimulate the customer to respond immediately,” HP's article on email marketing stated. It is also important for the call to action information to be stated at the beginning and repeated throughout a message.
Provide Customer Contact Information
The contact details of the marketing firm sending out the e-mail should be clearly placed within the message and on other content pages of the organisation’s website to ensure that readers will have no difficulty contacting the corporate entity.
Readers may also read: How to Build Top Brands with Strong Brand Equity
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