Email Marketing Strategies

    By admin    2 Comments    160 views

Search by Google

In the age of friends, followers and circles, it doesn’t always seem like email marketing is still relevant. As businesses begin to add all of these social accounts, they’re forgetting it’s often the old, dependable Honda that’s still on the road instead of the newer, flashier cars.
By your leave
There’s a reason that email marketing software is still around after all these years. It’s based on permission marketing. The people who you email have clearly indicated they’re interested in your product. When you tell them about sales and promotions, they’re getting information they’ve been expecting (and wanting) to hear. As long as you don’t overstep your bounds and email them to the point of spam, they’re likely even going to be excited to receive an email from you.
Permission based marketing means you’re entering into a social contract with that person, though. They’re agreeing to welcome you into their inbox, which is essentially a private space, on the condition that you’re giving them relevant content that helps them. Assuming you’re a business owner, this boils down to coupons and sales notifications. Don’t ever contact a consumer who has signed up for email alerts if you’re not giving them something of value. You might have new products in, which is great, but it would be even better if you were also telling consumers about the sale you’re running on last season’s merchandise.
A little honesty goes a long way
Some merchants feel like having their customer’s email address is a free-for-all for contacting them daily, sometimes more. If that’s not what they signed up for, you’re breaking your social contract, and they’ll likely unsubscribe. It’s a give and take. You shouldn’t be taking away from the consumer; you should be giving value back to them.
It should go without saying, but never sell your consumers’ email addresses or use them for any other purpose than they were intended for. It’s an immediate violation of their privacy, and no one looks kindly to that, even if they can save 10 percent on power tools thanks to signing up for a clothing store’s website.
Beyond that, you have to be honest with yourself as a marketing director or small business owner. You may find every little piece of news that has to do with your company incredibly entertaining and engaging. That’s great, you should. But don’t make the mistake of thinking the individual consumer actually cares about your brand that much. They’re looking for you to give back to them, not vice versa at this stage in the relationship.
Avoid the unsubscribe button
That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have one on every email you send. In fact, you definitely should. Each communication needs to give the consumer the freedom to stop receiving updates from you. The contract should go both ways. You can always stop sending out emails, and they should be able to stop receiving them.
Rather, it means plotting a strategy that means few of your readers will ever want to hit it. A large part of it has to do with always having value. Don’t ever send out an email without asking yourself why a subscriber would want that information.
Another piece to the puzzle is timing. A good rule of thumb is once or twice a week. Don’t hit the daily amount unless you’ve specifically advertised daily updates or coupons. For example, Living Social is free to email me daily. Gap is not. There’s a huge difference in services offered with each one. Timeliness is key to Living Social, whereas most Gap sales last far longer than just one day. Decide which type of business you are (or assume you’re the latter as a safe bet) and proceed accordingly.
Email marketing isn’t mystifying or confusing. It’s a workhorse that will give back to you as long as you’re giving back to consumers.