Email marketing remains the most effective form of digital marketing. Statistics show that open rates are on the rise and lead conversion is higher than from any other platform. Adding in personalisation, mobile optimisation and segmenting campaigns results in campaigns that convert to sales.
How do I get started?
You need a quality database of email addresses and a campaign platform like Campaign Monitor, Dotmailer or MailChimp. Choose from fixed templates or find a good designer to create an in brand html visual for you.
After deciding what the purpose of the campaign is (eg brand awareness, engagement or direct sales) you have to prepare high-quality content. Image-led campaigns work best, so keep the text as short as possible.
You could even include a video. Make sure there is a call to action in there, and that the email is driving the reader to your website or a specific landing page.
How can I optimise my campaign?
Personalised emails perform much better than generic ones. Having the recipient’s name in the title or top fold can make a big difference. Bear this in mind when you’re collecting a database, because to do this it needs to be well organised with the actual names attached to email addresses.
Segmented campaigns – sent to only part of the list in line with their interests – also perform better. For example, a supermarket collects a database of emails and on the subscribe form there is a field for ‘dietary requirements’. They could segment subscribers in this way, i.e meat eaters vs vegetarians. This will result in a much more effective campaign than sending a newsletter with the subject line ‘How to cook the perfect Christmas Turkey’ to a vegetarian.
Mobile responsivity is also important, although most email marketing platforms offer this option. Tests should always be done on desktop AND mobile before sending out.
Why was my campaign unsuccessful?
Many things can contribute to an unsuccessful campaign, including sending to a low-quality list, an unexciting subject line, bad timing or irrelevant content.
One common issue is a lack of spam testing. When writing content, you should consider which words might be flagged up as spam to email clients. You can check a list of phrases to watch out for here. Seemingly innocent sentences –such as ‘Increase your web traffic! Contact us for free or fill in the below form now to find out how’ – quickly push your email into the junk box.
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