Email Marketing 5100% Return on Investment?
By Rustam Irani
According to the Direct Marketing Association, on average, email marketing generates a return of $51.45 for every $1 spent. No, this is not a typo; the average return is 5100%. Email marketing can be a fantastic investment; the key is to do it correctly. Here are Easy-To-Implement strategies for an effective email marketing campaign.
ONE
Target Audience & Time Delivery
According to eMarketer, “44% of marketers surveyed believe the biggest challenge in email is providing relevant content.” Delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time is critical to the success of any marketing campaign, especially email. How does one create a relevant email marketing program?
Evaluate your customer base and define your target market for each email campaign. A good strategy is to segment your customers into certain profiles. Targeting certain customers will generate a more effective email campaign. For example, an attorney may focus her email campaign on a specific client base, demographic area, or specialty of service area. Timing is another important factor to consider. If you are selling a monthly service, send an email towards the end of the month for a discount on the following month. The key is to test this campaign and find the most effective timing for each of your product or service campaigns.
TWO
Content Is King
Keep in mind that the recipient is spending valuable time reading your email; what’s in it for them? Don’t just give an overview of how great your product or service is. Provide them with a compelling offer, a discount, progress on a new product, and valuable updates. You can also give your customers helpful techniques, tips, or even free gifts.
Understand the value of an email address. Many of us are bombarded daily by offers and promotions through email. Why will your customer open and read yours? You have to create a value in your email, and make your customer feel a part of an elite, special group - YOUR CUSTOMER. The content should provide them with expertise and resources from your company which will eventually grow their trust and commitment to you.
There are two standard formats for sending email campaigns, promotions or newsletters. Below are some examples of each:
A Promotion format to:
Move excess inventory
Offer Coupons
Boost Sales, appointments or traffic in otherwise slow months
Reward loyal customers
A Newsletter format to:
Educate and inform your customers
Share industry insights
Position your company as a valuable resource
Gain Feedback on Services
THREE
Create A Call To Action
What do you want the recipient of your email to do? After viewing your email and reading your content it must be clear to the recipients what you want them to do next. There are various analysis tools that can analyze your email and indicate the path of your recipients’ eyes and where on the email their eyes will end up. To keep it simple, just make a clear path for the recipient to easily be guided to your phone number, coupon, special or offer. Don’t distract your recipient with too many offers, or too many parts of your email that stand out. For example, this can be as simple as “Click here for a free oil change when you buy 4 new tires.” One of the crucial elements of an email marketing campaign is a clear call to action.
FOUR
Delivery Tracking System
As with any marketing campaign you will need a good way to distribute your emails and to track and evaluate your response rate. The email service provider should have software that tracks the email, stores contact information, and provides statistical analysis and message history in a database. The key is to find a user-friendly provider with ongoing support. There are 4 main features of a good email service provider:
- You want the system to have flexible email creation tools to allow you to personalize your emails.
- You want your email tracking software to accurately and effectively track how many people have opened the email, how many unsubscribed, and how many have taken the call to action.
- You want software that easily imports contacts and allows you to manage them.
- You want a software provider with excellent deliverability. Basically this means that your email will have the best opportunity of actually being delivered to an inbox.
Email marketing is growing and more and more companies are taking advantage of the 400 million people with access to the web. Any business can utilize email marketing to offer promotions or give valuable information through email. Take time to organize and analyze your customers, the information you have for them and start marketing to them, through email. Email marketing should become a regular marketing strategy and can provide an incredible return on your investment. Could you use a marketing strategy that returns $51 for every $1 you invest?
About the Author
Rustam Irani is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of The Media Crew, LLC, a Tampa based Inc. 500 Top 50 Advertising and Marketing Company in the US. Rustam frequently attends industry conferences where he has presented and was recently asked to present at the premier industry conference Ad-tech in London. Rustam can be reached at rustam@themediacrew.com or 727.517.3839.
|
