the do's and dont's of email marketing

The Do’s and Dont’s of

Email Marketing

When I give my email address to a marketer, essentially granting them

permission to knock at my email door at their leisure and then they communicate with me in a way that has absolutely no

relevance to me as a consumer.

You know what drives me nuts?

When an email marketer doesn’t understand my needs I hit unsubscribe pretty quickly.

We Should Treat Our Email Lists as a

Precious Commodity.Just because we are engaging more directly with our customers through social medial and interactive advertising doesn’t mean we can lose site of how effective email marketing can be…

…if done properly.

To help you wade through the email marketing waters here are a few brief do’s and don’ts of email marketing to ensure you don’t make some of the more common mistakes.

DO’S OF EMAIL MARKETING

1. Segment your list.

A sure-fire way to lose someone’s interest is by sending a mass email that isn’t targeted towards their needs.

Some common segments are:

Fresh LeadsCustomersWin BacksNewsletter

Cater your segments based on the product or service you are offering but the bottom line is

DO IT! 

Craft your messages based on each segment.

It may take extra time to communicate this

way but it is well worth it.

2. Create a relevant, consistent communication schedule.

There is a happy medium in staying top of mind and driving our customers crazy.

When defining segments put a strategic communication plan into place.

Ask these questions:

1. How often do you need to email your leads versus your win backs? 

2. What do you offer your current customers versus your leads?

3. What subject performs the best with your win backs?

Extra work up front will pay off in the end!

3. Write an engaging subject line.Punchy, engaging and short Experts recommend less than 45 characters, short and too the point.

4. Test your email.

Always test your email by sending it to yourself and your internal team first. 

This allows you to avoid sending :

1. A message that might go directly to spam.

2. Any formatting or link errors.

5. Offer an incentive.

Consider offering free or discounted:

■Service■Product■Information

Emails should be fresh, unique content that offer value to the email recipient or they will grow weary very quickly.

6. Never stop growing your list. People are going to come and go so it is vital to continue getting opt-ins in order to keep your list continuously healthy.

DON’TS OF EMAIL MARKETING

1. Consistently send out a “one-size-fits-all” message.This is where segmenting your list and strategically crafting your message comes into play.

For example:

Don’t send a 10% off offer that’s only available to first time buyers.

2. Over-communicate.

When you clog someone's email you are actually being counter productive.

Figure out a good schedule and test it out with a quick focus group or survey of current email recipients to make sure expectations are being met.

3. Ignore metrics.

Remember: Email stats are your friend!

There is no better way to find out what is working and what isn’t than to continuously monitor the stats of each email sent. 

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