Comprehensive Email Marketing Strategies
Email marketing strategies are designed to reach a multitude of customers through their online accounts to let them know about business discounts or promotions and to keep them involved in the organization, winning more sales for the business. Email marketing strategies can be difficult to create, since customers are naturally suspicious of business emails and rarely pay attention to any type of email advertisement. While companies can measure the success of programs based on how many customers sign up to receive emails or learn more through email links, email should still be based in a broad marketing strategy that treats all customers with respect.
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Mailing Lists
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When first creating an email marketing strategy, the business should make a mailing list of all the customers it will be sending emails to, along with their proper addresses. Companies should make sure these mailing lists include only customers who have agreed to receive emails: otherwise, the emails make customers angry and end up in spam filters. Companies should also make sure the email addresses are spelled correctly and contain no obvious mistakes.
Wording
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Email wording is also important. Headers should be clear, to the point, and include no immediate promotion information. Too much header information often loses emails in spam filters. Companies should strive to make the body of the email friendly, personal and informative. While HTML can add company images and product pictures to make the email more interactive, many email applications block these images, and a plain text email can be seen as more personalized and inviting.
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Timing
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When the business sends an email can also influence customer participation. Businesses that send emails at busy times of the day, when customers are likely to be sifting through many emails, rarely get results. Companies that time their emails when customers are more likely to be perusing social media and have extra time receive better results. Companies should send out batches of emails at different times throughout the day for maximum effect.
Frequency
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Email frequency can also be tricky to manage. Ideally, the business should not send emails too frequently, or customers will create a rule to send all messages to the spam filter out of annoyance. Too few messages, and the customer will forget too much information about the business to care. Companies should aim for a middle ground where they send out information once or twice a week at the most.
Events
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Email makes a great arena for hosting events. Promotions can be jump-started through email by providing subscribers with print-out coupons for special deals, or letting customers know about private showings. Contests and prizes are another popular email tool, but businesses should use these carefully. Not only can companies get in trouble for asking for too much information or setting up a lottery, but customers may not appreciate being forced to sign up for a long line of drawings.
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