Is it still effective in a Social Media era?

A targeted email campaign can be a highly effective tool for marketers – it places relevant information directly into the inbox of an audience who are open to receiving the information and are likely to heed the call to action. It is NOT the same as collecting as many email addresses as possible and sending a generic email to the entire database with a “spray and pray” mentality, hoping some of the thousands of recipients might respond positively.

There are 10 main benefits of professional email for businesses:

1. Keeps customers in the loop by providing regular updates on relevant topics.
2. Builds trust by teaching customers something new about the business every time you correspond.
3. Develops stronger relationships by making doing business with you a personal experience
4. Attracts more website visitors by piquing attention and providing a call to action to obtain more information via the website.
5. Provides a consistent form of communication and one which customers can save to refer back to in need.
6. Encourages helpful feedback.
7. Generates leads, leads and more leads. A carefully crafted email marketing program is an excellent sales lead generator.
8. Keeps customers coming back for more. Once leads have been converted into customers, the key to sustainably growing the business is to provide enough incentives for customers to return, which regular email marketing can achieve.
9. Provides an ideal platform for storytelling. Content comes in different styles such as product reviews and educational blog posts, however, one of the most effective content strategies for businesses is called storytelling, and professional emails are the best platform for telling your story. These can include case studies and testimonials.
10.  Increases brand awareness.

Email marketing is an important tool for tying all your digital marketing strategies together. Your email footers (if sent from bulk email service providers) has a prepopulated footer with social media icons, enabling readers to link directly to your social media pages. Email is also the perfect tool for promoting your blog posts, podcasts, tips, tutorials, videos, infographics, webinar or event invitations and other content.

How to use Email Marketing to drive better engagement

1. Optimise for Mobile

Most automated email service providers will automatically optimize the layout depending on whether the reader views on desktop, tablet or smartphone.

• Automate

Modern email service providers enable you to automate the tasks which may seem mundane but add significant value to customer relationships, such as birthday, anniversary or welcome emails.

• Provide Value

Email marketing should be used responsibly, putting customer needs first. It should also set the tone, so communicate in a way which reflects your brand personality. Refrain from always trying to sell, rather provide valuable, useful information through story telling.

• Repurpose Other Content

Content creation can be time consuming and expensive if you’re reliant on freelancers for copywriting. Repurpose content, with some tweaks, where possible and get creative with social integration.

• Strengthen your Call to Action

The call to action is probably the most important part of your email. As your prospect scans your email you have the opportunity to convert their attention into action. Decide what you want customers to do once they’ve read your email and decide on the value proposition before crafting your subject line and key elements to reflect it.

• Measure & Optimise

Your email marketing tool should provide you with statistics in terms of how many emails were delivered, opened and the call-to-action heeded. You can run two different email campaigns concurrently to see which content or imagery was most effective. Use the statistics received to optimize your email campaigns.

One critical aspect to remember about email marketing is that it is a permission-based marketing platform which requires recipient to opt-in to receive communication. The Protection of Personal Information (POPI) bill sets conditions for responsible data management and requires marketers to provide recipients with the option to unsubscribe should they no longer wish to receive correspondence. More details can be found at: www.popia.co.za