Email Marketing - Part 4

Putting it together

Proper strategic planning creates a successful email marketing strategy. I've talked extensively about the importance of your subscriber lists, and I cannot stress the fact that you have no strategy without proper maintenance and growth.

Make sure that it is easy for people to become subscribers, and don't forget to ask. Sign-up forms on your website, pop-ups on the home page, and social accounts are a necessity. Beyond that, ask for explicit consent. This can be done via a check box on the form or by having a double opt-in.

I briefly touched on the role personalization has in email marketing campaigns. Use the insights you have on your customers like location, interests, and purchase history for establishing the segmentation criteria for your business.

Next, put your segmentation into action as it's much easier to do this initially and is critical as your list grows. As your strategy unfolds, you may need to adjust the variables you are using to segment your subscribers and send individualized content (Adams, 2018).

Integrating automation will allow you to scale your email marketing efforts efficiently. Most email tools have this capability built-in. Beyond times and days for sending communication, automation can be configured based on the variables from your segmentation and behaviours of the subscriber, like following a purchase with an email about a complementary product or service.

Now you're ready to start growing your list through powerful email campaigns.

An often-underappreciated part of email marketing strategy is the look and feel of the email. Millennials want to buy from brands with values similar to their own (Kitterman, 2020) and feel they know and trust. Use a theme that is easy to read, aligns with your branding, and matches the tone and voice established for the brand. This will help your customers recognize your communication and stay true to what attracted them in the first place.

Most email tools have built-in themes that you can use and modify to meet your needs if you don't have a graphic designer on hand. If you have a graphic designer, they can create a unique branded theme that reflects your brand.

Email marketing campaigns by type

There are three primary email types and understanding them will help determine which type is most suitable for each segment or goal.

The first is promotional emails. These are offer or sale based. Here's an example of a promotional email sent by Lole Canada. Notice the subject line, sender, and content in the email? All make it abundantly clear who is sending the email and what tactic they are using.

The second is rational emails. This type delivers a promise such as a weekly or monthly newsletter, free gift, or the information they were looking for. Check out the New York Times email below for an example. Notice how they have added a reply to for encouraging

Lastly, transactional emails are sent when someone subscribes, makes a purchase, or changes to subscription preferences.

My Thoughts

Email marketing will enhance your overarching marketing efforts and can be run based on specific goals. Smaller ticket items like clothing and housewares may find it easier to set goals like sales and offer promotions. In contrast, a home builder would more than likely build brand awareness and deliver educational-based content to build trust.

When building your email marketing campaign, don't forget to connect the dots between your email strategy and the rest of your marketing strategies and activities. Email marketing can be done as a stand-alone campaign with its own goals and objective or can be layered into other marketing campaigns as a tactic. You can run your weekly corporate email newsletter and have a promotional email from a specific store location go out mid-week.

There is a lot of information in this post and an ocean out there. The most significant piece of advice is to get started. Remember that you can and should be optimized as you learn more about your particular customers and as your company's goals change.

So, get out there and send some emails! Our contact us and we'll make sure your emails are on the right track for achieving your goals!

Works Cited

Adams, M. (2018, 7 11). Email and Newsletter Marketing Course. Retrieved from LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/email-and-newsletter-marketing-foundations/defining-email-marketing?u=2109516

Forsey, C. (2020, July 23). The Ultimate List of Email Marketing Stats for 2020. Retrieved from Hubspot: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats

Kitterman, T. (2020, Dec 8). Report: 83% of millennials want brands to align with them on values. Retrieved from Ragan's PR Daily: https://www.prdaily.com/report-83-of-millennials-want-brands-to-align-with-them-on-values/