Email Marketing

Email Marketing has come a long way since its introduction in the late nineties. Once the effectiveness of emailing customers was as disputed as social media marketing is now – but today, practically every major business and most other types of organisations engage in some form of email marketing.

Just because it’s become well established though, that doesn’t mean that its instantly understandable. If you’re launching your first email marketing campaign, here are some basic tips:

Reach your audience: Your email marketing, whether its a regular newsletter or sporadic promotional messages are only worth doing if its going to interest your audience. You may be writing about important developments at your company – but do customers really care about them? If you feel you have to include news and information that doesn’t have a direct affect on the customer experience, then make it the minor message rather than the main feature.

By the same token, you need to make sure you stand out from competing messages in a customer inbox. After all, you’re unlikely to be the only person trying to reach someone by email – and this includes personal mail, not just marketing. Your work doesn’t stand in a vacuum. Make your messages more than just routine bulletins – find a hook to draw the customer in.

Know what type of marketing email you’re sending: There are two major types of these kind of email messages, which have different inherent objectives. The first is the brand email, which doesn’t aim to affect immediate behaviour but to build brand awareness, loyalty and goodwill among your customers. Broadly speaking, this includes regular newsletters, even if their main subject is a new product or service; you’re making people aware of your goods for the future, not actively attempting to get them to visit right away. Of course there’s no harm if they do – but its not the main purpose.

Then there’s the direct marketing method which is closer to straightforward advertising, seeking to drive people to ‘click through’ to a product or service in the case of a single instance. This can be a promotional offer or just plain advertising but they shouldn’t be sent at regular intervals and they should always contain new information. Saturation may work for TV marketing but in email, its seen as an unwanted intrusion.

Remember the reason people signed up: One final tip – many people who receive email marketing messages become exasperated when they sign up for an email service related to one service, then start receiving dozens trying to promote your other products. For example someone signs up for a recipe newsletter – then starts receiving emails about cutlery. Maintaining a clear relationship between the reason people signed up and the messages they receive is crucial for maintaining good relations and reaching your audience.

Kyle Rosson is a freelance author who has vast knowledge in bulk email marketing and email marketing software. For more information on email marketing he suggests you to visit: http://www.graphicmail.co.uk/
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