Ten Best Practices for E-Mail Marketing
A well organized and attractive e-blast inspires your readers to learn more about you. An effective email campaign elevates your identity, presenting you as an asset to the reader and opening new business opportunities with piqued interest.
1. Be reader-focused. A feature matters most to your potential customer when there is a benefit attached to it. Remember that your blast is for the reader, not for you. Build a loyal following by providing valuable content and incentives for the reader.
2. Make a point. Clarify your email’s purpous. Frivolous emails can quickly bore readers and be discarded or reported as spam. Make sure your message is valuable. Your e-blast provides valuable information about your services, an event you are having and news about your company. Reach out to your readers with clear intent.
3. Keep it brief. You have limited time to make your point. Readers appreciate brevity and are more willing to read your email when you stick to core points. Ideally, it should all fit on one screen or two. As in print media, ‘less is more’.
4. Maintain a consistent image. When designing your emails, maintain brand integrity through consistent usage of graphics, colors and type fonts. By maintaining a clean look, a professional brand touchpoint is established. Studies indicate that in ads and email blasts, graphics often play an even more important role than the text.
5. Maintain the message. What is your brand message, your “USP” (‘Unique Selling Proposition’, also known as ‘Unique Selling Point’)? Explain what makes you different than your competition. Make sure your email communication is clear and your message is understandable to any reader, whether they know about you already or not.
6. Maintain a good list. The most critical aspect of any Constant Contact or similar email blast program is maintaining a current and relevant email list. Your list can be broken out in a variety of ways; geography, special interest or previous responses to your emails. Constant Contact allows you to see exactly who has shown interest in a particular email through opens and clicks reporting. Lists can be purchased from reputable sources or obtained through opt-in email capture on your web site.
7. Integrate your marketing. Constant Contact works very well on it’s own, but when used as part of an integrated marketing plan with ads, mailers and other venues, it can prove even more valuable. Have readers click through to your website to read the rest of the article; they will likely roam around once they have finished reading and learn more about you. Announce an event and couple it with a print mailing to drive attendance. Raise awareness for a cause or a fundraiser through multi-channel marketing. Include a coupon or time-dated promotion to gauge your success rate.
8. Create a buzz. Using Constant Contact to keep your readers (clients, potential clients, vendors and suppliers) aware of your place in their world and the value you represent is key to an effective marketing plan. It is an cost efficient way to keep “top of mind” among your contacts. An effective email blast excites readers’ curiosity and increases exposure in a way that can be easily forwarded.
9. Follow up with potential clients. Using Constant Contact reporting offers you the opportunity to see who is interested in each part of your email communication. The information you gather from reader responses helps you tailor your communications going forward. In addition to emailing potential clients directly, it can be helpful to personally call or send a mail piece to strong business prospects.
10. Track and measure. Use Constant Contact’s reports to track all phases of your email-marketing program to make it more effective. Who and how many people are opening your emails? Which subject line grabbed people’s attention? What blasts got the best responses? After you have been doing this for a while, you can see trends and patterns emerge. You will find that your readers like certain themes and subject lines. The day of the week, even the time of the day can make a difference.
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