Email marketing is one of the many forms of marketing being utilized by businesses in reaching out to and engaging with customers and prospects. One would think that emails have become an old-fashioned means of communicating with the advent of social media. But contrary to popular opinion, email marketing has proven to be a highly effective marketing method, and data from research has proven this to be true.
According to a report in 2020 by the Content Marketing Institute, 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. Reports from HubSpot’s Email Marketing Statistics also show that the revenue generated from email marketing is expected to increase in the coming years with a current average of $36 ROI for every $1 spent. So what exactly is email marketing?
What is Email Marketing?
Email Marketing is simply marketing efforts directed to a brand’s audience via an email platform. It involves the process of using email messages to share information and promote products and services. Email marketing allows businesses to send promotional messages aimed at generating sales to people in mass quantities. Email Marketing has become an integral part of an organization’s marketing communication because of its cost-effectiveness and ability to keep customers and prospects constantly informed.
Moreso, it is a good way of generating traffic to your website and social media platforms. It helps you build customer loyalty and engagement without going beyond your marketing budget. This means that communications professionals should be able to understand the different elements of email marketing, email marketing tools and how they work, and how best to maximize the email marketing platforms to achieve the business goals of the organizations they function in.
What are the Different Elements of Email Marketing?
Email marketing has certain elements that you must get a grasp of to create an effective strategy.
List Building
This is a process of getting new email marketing subscribers and there are different ways to go about this. You can build your email list by creating a subscription form on a portion of your website. You can also use pop-up or page takeover forms to get visitors to subscribe to your newsletter. Another effective method is to offer valuable content for download with a requirement of signing up to access the content. And then you could take advantage of promo and discount seasons to encourage customers to subscribe to be eligible for the promo or to get more information on when next there’ll be a promo.
While some people buy mailing lists to boycott the process of building one, it has its negative consequences. Getting unsolicited mail from a company you did not subscribe to can be a huge turn-off for potential customers, reducing your chances of turning them into loyal customers. List buying could also make more of your mail go to spam which is not good for your campaign.
Segmentation
Segmentation is a very important process that helps you to meet each subscriber at every stage of their journey in your email marketing campaign and can also be tagged as list nurturing. In email marketing, you need to be able to differentiate between new subscribers and long-time subscribers. Some messages might not be suitable for new subscribers as they require nurturing first, that is improving your relationship with each subscriber via emails.
You have to build trust and credibility first with the new subscribers while also maintaining a quality relationship with previously existing customers. With the new subscribers, you are trying to create a desire for your product through strategic relevant and interesting emails. When you constantly send relevant and interesting content, you can build trust and maintain valuable relationships, turning them into loyal customers.
Setting Up Your Email Marketing Campaign
There are certain steps that should be followed in setting up your email marketing campaign in order to get the best results.
Set your goals – Your goals could range from driving sales to increasing brand awareness or engagement, or even improving customer loyalty. Before starting your email marketing platform, you have to set a clear-cut objective of what you want to achieve with your email. A good understanding of your goals and objectives will help you create content geared towards achieving them.
Create your content – Based on the goals you have set earlier, you can create content that aligns with those goals. Note that your content should be interesting and relevant to the reader. Your content could also contain links to your website or social media platforms. These links should have a clear CTA (call to action) so that your reader is not confused. Also, remember to keep it short and simple.
Choose the platform – There are many platforms that are available online today. You have to research. Each of these platforms has different unique features that may suit your brand. In choosing a platform, you have to consider some factors such as the pricing differences as related to your budget, the design features and the metrics tools available in measuring the effectiveness of your campaign. Most of these platforms have a free trial plan which will allow you to try out their features and make your choice.
Design Your email – In the course of choosing your platform, you should have decided on the design that best suits the information you are trying to pass across. Some platforms will take time to get used to but with time and dedication, you should be able to come up with designs that are aesthetically pleasing to your recipients. This step also includes choosing quality images that correspond with the content of your email.
Upload your email list – In uploading your email list, there are icons on the platforms which are self-explanatory and provide a step-by-step process on how to do so. Some platforms might require you to upload the document with your list as a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file. Keep in mind that with each platform comes its unique methods.
Start sending your emails – With all of the earlier stated steps in place, you can now launch your email marketing campaign. You have to also monitor your campaign while taking note of open rates, click-through rates and other relevant metrics.
