Email marketing good practices
Published in 18 de noviembre de 2013
Despite the huge impact of Social Networks nowadays, e-mail can be still a powerful way of reaching different groups of customers at a very low cost, on condition that is well deployed. You can use e-mail marketing campaigns to dispatch personalized communications that strengthen your brand awareness and build relationships with customers. You can achieve all of that at a very low cost because what you actually need is a contact list, customized layout and an email marketing software to measure conversion rates.
The main concern of many e-mail marketers in how to deliver an e-mail to the right inboxes, thereby follow the email marketing good practices and avoid spamming.
However, it's not enough to only deliver your communications into customers' inboxes and wait for their response. You have to act! Bear in mind to send an email that will make your contacts take a certain action and engage. To find out how to do it, take a look at the following best practice tips stated below:
1. Plan before you start
It's important that you plan before taking any action. By doing so, you will ensure that your email marketing campaigns have more chances to succeed. Remember that, you need to organize yourself, set up every action in time and keep accomplishing each goal at a time.
2. Build an “opt-in” contact list
We recommend that you acquire readers via an opt-in method and never purchase contact lists. Futhermore, always make sure you segment your readers accordingly to their interests as it's much more effective to send campaigns to people who really want to receive them. You should also remember that purchased contact lists contain recipients who did not opt-in to receive your messages and it means that sooner or later you can be reported.
3. Set up goals
Do you know the aim of each of your campaign? Whether it's increasing brand awareness, selling a product or gathering new visitors, make sure you always set an expectation for each campaign. You can use your first campaigns as benchmarks, learn from received feedbacks and improve the effectiveness of future campaigns. The more you know your contacts the easier it will get to establish a goal.
4. Create and test landing pages
Landing pages are a must. Do not fill up your emails with messages that lead to standard pages on your website and do not link to your homepage. You want your recipients to open the email, right? So, instead of bothering them with ordinary and boring stuff, induce an action and link to a landing page! Furthermore, make sure your landing pages have an easy to understand “call to action” structure and carry out tests a/b before you actually dispatch your communications.
5. Segment your customers
Your subscribers are not all the same! Some of them may be interested in cars whereas the others may find this subject boring. Therefore, sending general campaigns to your entire contact list is not always a good idea. It's much more effective to send campaigns to customers who wish to receive them. By doing so, you will ensure your clients receive newsletters that are relevant to their interests and will have more chances for conversion.
6. Maximise deliverability
How to maximise your email deliverability and stay away from being accused of spamming? You can simply use emailmanager online tool with a solid reputation for deliverability and make sure your campaigns are delivered to recipients' inboxes rather than spam junk.
7. Ask questions and get answers
When someone becomes your customer by completing a contact form, make sure you ask him questions that will help you plan your future campaigns. Ex. If your strategy depends upon discovering the subscriber's eating preferences, ask for it!
8. Go straight to the point
Make your subscription page easy to browse and clear to understand! Do not complicate and confuse your potential customers! Bear in mind, that sometimes less means more and it can bring you more good than harm.
9. Include inviting title
Always use a title that presents foretaste of what is inside of a campaign. By doing so, you will deliver a valuable message to your readers informing that your email campaign is worth reading.
10. Measure results
Email marketing works when it supports communication, dialogue, sharing and conversions. Thus, remember to always monitor both: opening rates and click rates. These two factors will give you an idea of what works well and what you should improve in your email marketing campaigns. Take time to read and understand campaign reports and start planning your future campaigns effectively.
Now, as you are familiar with our list of email marketing best practices you can start working on the effectiveness of your current performance and identify areas that need improvements. Should you have any more ideas on this subject do not hesitate and let us know what you think. We are open for conversations and would like to hear from you! You will find us on facebook or twitter. Alternatively you can contact us via email: gomula@ecentry.com
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