Email marketing management can usually be done by your website manager. Big companies, however, will often hire a dedicated person to perform all the tasks associated with email management, such as writing copy, creating and tracking campaigns, managing subscribers, etc.
If done correctly, email marketing can be one of the most effective methods of promoting your products or services. The conversions can be very high and unlike other forms of online marketing, such as SEO, the effects of email campaigns can be seen within hours.
It is estimated that there are around 4.3 billion e-mail users worldwide and around 3.2 million emails are sent every second. Let that sink in.
Everyone I know has an email address because quite frankly where would we be without it? In order to subscribe to any type of service online you need to have an email address.
This is a clear signal that email marketing presents a great opportunity to reach your target audience very quickly.
Advantages of using e-mail marketing
Some business owners are hesitant to use email marketing because they reflect on the amount of spam they receive themselves. Yet there is a big distinction between sending unsolicited emails and emails that your visitors agree to receive.
Let’s take a look at the benefits of using email marketing to connect to your potential audience.
Reach your potential customers directly
Your subscribers who consent to receive your newsletter and offers can get them instantly in their mailbox. This is a huge advantage over, for example, posts in social media, where we are unable to predict if the posted content will reach the desired audience.
Email marketing can be made more personal
Emails can be personalized and appeal to a potential customer on a personal level. You can’t do that with many other forms of online marketing, such as SEO or Pay Per Click advertising.
Personalized emails that include the receiver’s name have higher conversion rates. In addition, email campaigns can also be divided according to the gender and interests of the recipients and appeal to specific groups.
Build a direct relationship with your audience
Regular email campaigns such as newsletters help to build a relationship with your audience. Not only through personalized communication but also through regularity. If you send an e-mail with valuable content regularly, weekly or biweekly for example, many of your subscribers will be waiting for it.
It’s similar to YouTube videos. The channels that are most successful are those that post new videos regularly. That’s how you attract a bigger audience.
Email marketing will increase your website traffic
Since every email will contain a link to your website, your online business will receive more web traffic. This, in turn, will improve your web stats and your SEO because return visits are an important metric in search algorithms. It means your audience keeps coming back.
Most email campaigns are carefully written pieces that lead only to one thing, your email recipient clicking on the link within the email body. That link should point to a sales page or a page where you finalize your conversion, for example, the purchase of a product or service.
Email marketing is fast and cost-effective
If you want to provide your subscribed audience with updated information about your promotions, changes in store hours, or announce a local BBQ party, you can reach them quickly through email and it costs next to nothing.
How to manage your email marketing?
Email marketing management starts with building a list of qualified subscribers. A qualified subscriber is someone who confirms their email address by clicking a confirmation link from an automated email they received after subscribing to your service. This is also called opt-in subscriber.
All of your subscribers need to be opt-in and confirmed. Otherwise, your company and servers might be flagged as spam and your hosting provider might shut down your website and you may lose your Google rankings.
To mitigate this, most website owners send campaigns via a different server with a different IP than their website and company’s email accounts.
It is generally a lot safer to use third-party servers to send out your emails. There are plenty of specialist companies that exist solely for this purpose, for example, MailChimp, Sendinblue, Mooseend, and many others.
In addition, these subscription-based email marketing companies offer online software that makes managing and creating email campaigns a lot easier.
Most importantly, using these companies will eliminate the risk of your own servers being flagged as spam.
I bet you’re asking yourself, why would I receive any red flags if all my contacts are opt-in and confirmed? The answer is simple. People change their minds and forget.
They might have signed up to receive a free ebook and they are not interested in anything else you have to offer them. But instead of simply unsubscribing from your newsletter and email campaigns they mark it as spam.
A badly written copy of the email body may be too controversial for some people and to punish the sender, they mark it as spam
And then there are also those that simply don’t remember signing up for your emails. It happens. We are constantly bombarded online by information and promises and sometimes it’s simply difficult to keep track of it all, especially when we made a decision in the spur of the moment.
So if some users don’t remember signing up, they might treat your email as spam, sending a red flag to your email hosting provider.
Capturing emails and building your list
There are many ways to capture emails, but by far the most effective way is to offer a free product or a discount. This could be done through a dedicated landing page, a pop-up, or across all the pages of your website in the sidebar, header, or footer.
The form needs to be simple and contain an attractive heading that entices users to sign up. The old and simple ´Sign up to Newsletter´ heading doesn’t work very well anymore unless you’re a recognizable brand.
Here is a good example of a pop-up form to capture emails from visitors.
Needless to say, if you already have clients that made a purchase from your online business, you already own an email list. Your past clients make the best future customers so that database is priceless. Use it to market new products or services.
Creating your email campaigns
Creating a successful email campaign and writing copy that converts well is like an art form. It’s not easy and in most cases needs input from professional copywriters. To an extent, this depends on your business model. Some businesses have it easier.
For example, an e-commerce business can simply send emails with new items on sale or new discount coupons. Those kinds of emails are is easy to compose.
Yet some businesses need to dive a bit more into the art of persuasion and customer relationship building. I am not going to do this here because that is an entirely new topic, but here are the basics.
Captivate your subscriber with an interesting message subject
It all starts with the message subject. Among the dozens of e-mails that we receive every day, the subject must attract attention and convince the subscriber to open the message. If it’s not catchy or attractive enough, nobody will open the email.
Here are some techniques for email subjects that work well:
- Personalize it (I have a gift for you! See inside..)
- Apply a time limit (Only Today you can take advantage of this offer..)
- Appeal to a sense of loss (You’re missing out on this 2-for-1 deal..)
- Excite (Shocking breakthrough heals headaches immediately…)
- Warn (Do not commit these email mistakes!)
- etc..
One thing I would mention is to avoid clickbait and make sure that your subject matches the content of the email. Otherwise, your subscriber may mark your email as spam.
This is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg. Remember that it is always worth testing different solutions. Use A/B tests to check what gives you greater open rates because what works for one business does not always work for another.
Greet your subscriber by name
When you send an email, make sure you greet your subscriber by their name. Also, take that opportunity to thank him or her directly for being a valued subscriber. Make them feel special.
You can also use their name where you would naturally use it in a conversation. Also, use it in the greeting at the end of your email and possibly also in the call-to-action link.
Stats show that we tend to be a lot more responsive when information directed at us is personalized.
When you use email software you will be able to inject the dynamic name variable anywhere you like within the body of the email.
An interesting story often wins over sales content
Again, this largely depends on the type of business you are running but try to replace the typical sales formula with valuable content.
Let’s assume that you run an online shop with world-class coffee beans. You can send a promotional email explaining why your new types of coffee beans are special. Share your knowledge and educate them (without preaching). Write what properties they have or how they differ from the rest.
Your subscribers know perfectly well that the messages they receive from you are of a sales nature. When they receive an email with some educational content, they might change the perception of your intentions. It’s a change that they will certainly appreciate and one which might influence their decision to purchase those beans from you.
Add the call-to-action link
A must-have element in any email is the call-to-action link that sends the recipient to visit your website to take advantage of a promotion or read an article.
The call-to-action is the most important element and the main reason for the email campaign, to begin with. Therefore, it needs special attention.
It can be both a sentence at the end of the email or a button that takes you to the desired page. The call-to-action link should do precisely that, call the user to perform an action, to click the link or the banner.
Outsource email marketing management
If you don’t have experience in email campaign management my suggestion would be to outsource it. There are too many things that can go wrong and an experienced website manager can navigate these dark waters for you and optimize your campaigns.
Email marketing has many advantages. It is worth using ready-made tips, tested by others. Remember, however, that it also pays to look for new solutions and adapt them to your individual needs.
If you need someone to manage your email marketing campaigns contact me here.