Email marketing means more than just sending out mass emails to everyone who has ever bought something from your business. A properly conducted email marketing campaign can be complicated to put together, but if you know what you are doing, the rewards can be great. Read on to find out how to do so.
Insert a link to your subscription form into your marketing newsletters. That way, if your customers forward marketing emails to their friends, their friends can easily subscribe to your list too. Using this strategy makes it easy for you to build a large list of potential customers who have agreed to receive your marketing emails.
Make sure that you get permission from customers or potential customers before sending out your emails. If people do not want to get emails from you, they could mark your emails as spam or even ignore you altogether. There is even a chance that your email service could take you out of their system.
Be especially careful when crafting your first three emails to new customers. A new customer should get an introductory email inviting them to join your marketing list. Once they accept your invitation, the next email should tell them about discounts or special offers they can expect to get now that they’ve signed up. The third email should contain their first newsletter and their special offer.
Try engaging the customer using the subject line of the email. Your email must grab your reader’s attention the minute it lands inside of their inbox, otherwise it may go into their trash. If you have a weak or uninteresting subject line, that is exactly what will happen. So try spicing up your subject line with some creativity.
Try to make it as easy as possible for customers to unsubscribe from your emails. By not making it simple, they will feel like you are being too pushy and may be turned off from your product or business. Give them the option to opt out from some of your emails or all of them.
From time to time, change up the format of your emails. If you typically send out email marketing messages composed in HTML, then occasionally send one or two of them using a plain text layout. When done judiciously, this can make your customer feel a personal connection to you and your products.
Make sure that every email address is correct. It is a waste of your time having to fix incorrect information and re-send emails when you find them returned due to an invalid address. It’s a pointless waste of time!
For maximum accessibility, send your email marketing messages as multipart format. Any email clients that support HTML or have it user-enabled will show your content in HTML format. However, if someone receives your email and only allows text content, that is what they will see. Doing this allows everyone to see your message, regardless of their client or settings.
Try and make all of your messages sound personal when you send out mass amounts of emails marketing. This will make it more likely that customers will read each message without growing bored of the same old content. When you make the message come from someone like the President or CEO of the company you let people feel like they are cared about and give a lasting impression to your customers.
Protect yourself by including a confirmation that customers wish to receive your emails. By doing so, you are less likely to be listed as spam. When a visitor signs up for your email list, they will automatically be sent a confirmation email that asks them to confirm the subscription. The message should contain links for both confirmation, and one to deny future messages. Doing so protects your client’s security and ensures that they don’t think you are spam.
Ensure that your subject lines are succinct. Make your subject line 60 characters or less. This is more attention-grabbing and you will get more readers to open the email. Important information should be listed in the beginning, so attention is piqued.
Keep your important aspects of your messages “above the fold.” This “fold” refers to the area that is previewed in an email program. Anything that is important should be arranged with this “fold” in mind. Many readers use these to preview a message before deciding to open it. Keep anything important within this area so that they don’t have to scroll to find it.
There is nothing wrong with composing your marketing emails in HTML, but you may find it rewarding to give it a break from time to time. A simple message composed in plain text will be taken as a little more intimate and a little less formal by your subscribers. If you exercise moderation, sending plain text emails can encourage loyalty and draw your readers closer to you.
Tell your customers up front what they can expect from your email marketing campaign. Include information at opt-in that will let your customers know if they can expect to hear from you monthly, quarterly, or more often. Tell them what you will include. Whether it be sales, coupons, or special promotions.
Running a great email marketing campaign can seem like a daunting prospect, but do not let your fears prevent you from getting started. As you have seen, it does not have to be a onerous chore. If you remember the advice you have read in the preceding article, you should be able to put together a highly effective campaign.
