These days it can sometimes feel as though getting your
company noticed is all about social media and viral marketing. Once such a
revolutionary concept, it can now seem as though the humble email is already
fading into the background when it comes to devising an effective marketing
campaign.
Many of us assume that marketing emails are not even read anymore,
but simply dismissed as junk mail and deleted instantly. Consumers have got
wise to it, we may think, and so we have to find new ways of reaching them.
But this is not the case at all: customers will still take
notice of email, provided that companies can adapt and learn to use it in new
ways. For example, the Direct Marketing Association’s 2012 Email Tracking Study
reported that consumers are still signing up to receive marketing related
emails.
According to the organisation, consumer approval of the content of
marketing emails is actually on the increase, with 25 per cent saying that they
still find more than half the emails they receive relevant and of interest to
them. Put simply, it is not the medium itself that is lacking but simply that
some companies are still employing it in fairly obsolete ways that no longer
suit today’s consumer.
So what are the kinds of changes companies need to be making
to their email marketing activities? For one thing, it is not good enough to
simply send out hundreds or thousands of generic emails to random consumers and
hope that a high enough percentage respond. Nowadays people are wise to this,
so if you want to achieve an acceptable level of success you need to take a
targeted approach. Take the time to build up a detailed database of existing
clients and break them down into sub-categories. This way you can send them
emails that are relevant to their interests and needs. Anything else is a waste
of both yours and the recipient’s time.
You can personalise emails still further when it comes to
emailing previous customers by employing a method known as behavioural
targeting. People will be much more inclined to read their emails if they feel
the seller has really taken on board their needs. You should, therefore, be
looking at how they responded to previous emails, what their website browsing
patterns are and what kinds of things they have tended to purchase in the past.
Remember also that mobile marketing has been a real game
changer. Nowadays people are relying increasingly on smartphones to read their
emails or catch up on the news. This is something that many companies are still
failing to take on board when it comes to adapting their marketing emails.
Layout is absolutely vital for mobile: responsive design is key as it should be
easy for users to take action within seconds of opening the email. The wording
should also be extremely concise so they can get the gist of what you are
trying to sell them in the first couple of sentences. There is very little room
on a mobile screen for long-winded, wordy messages. Consumers don’t like
‘clever’ marketing jargon these days. They want to be told things simply and
quickly.
It’s really worthwhile taking all these points on board, because if you get it right then email is still one of the lowest cost marketing methods available to you