Not that it really went away. But marketers have been ploughing their efforts into video campaigns, storytelling, and other new-fangled trends in recent years – and to the detriment of their email marketing.
And yet email marketing is so effective. Who wouldn’t want to tap into a global audience of 4 billion people and generate a return of £0.81 for every £34.12 spent?
Perhaps you think it’s a waste of time. After all, most emails go straight to junk. Meanwhile, the rest are deleted or read and ignored.
In fact…
- Your prospects are compulsive email checkers – with a whopping 99% checking their inboxes daily in 2021.
- Nearly 70% of businesses use email marketing – so you’ll be missing out on a big slice of the pie if you don’t partake.
Read on to discover:
- The reason email marketing still matters in 2022
- The best way to create successful campaigns
- Why tracking open and click-through rates matters
Why is email marketing important?
#1 Email marketing is about making a personal connection
Email marketing is a great way to connect with your audience. Naturally you’ll need to understand them first. And so it’s important to create personas before jazzing up some catchy copy and eye-catching imagery.
But first, what is a customer persona? Simply put, It’s a profile of an ideal customer. Depending on the complexity of your offering you could end up with several – each tailored to a different product or service.
Personas can help you understand prospects’:
- Pain points What keeps them awake at night and how are you best positioned to solve their problem?
- Job level. What is their job role? For example, you may want to target only CFOs with buying influence.
- Budget. Does your target persona have a monthly budget of hundreds, thousands, or millions?
#2 Email marketing is about gathering information
The next step is to convert your personas into questions – so you can harvest data and start segmenting leads. To do this you’ll need to create landing page forms.
Questions to ask might include:
- Which of the following tasks do you find challenging?
- How much do you spend on ‘X’ per annum?
- How many people do you employ?
- What is your job role?
- Do you outsource?
From this will evolve segmented lists based on business size, revenue, budget, or job role. Using this insight you’ll be able to tailor messaging and language that’ll resonate with your audience (and which is more likely to convert).
#3 Email marketing is about positioning your offer
Just now we talked about segmenting. By niching customers into highly specific lists, you’ll ensure they feel valued – instead of another number on your list.
Imagine running a law firm specialising in:
- Employment law
- Property law
- Family law
Using a catch-all tone of voice for all three groups won’t work here. That’s because the prospect’s state of mind and knowledge will vary in each case.
Emotively charged language is more likely to win the trust of someone recently bereaved. But it won’t have the same effect on a landlord looking for facts.
How to create successful email marketing campaigns
#1 Keep it short and simple
Your prospects are busy people. So get straight to the point by explaining your offer and its relevance to their situation.
Less really is better. So keep content within the 50-125-word range to prevent audience fatigue and abandonment.
#2 User experience matters
The layout of your email should be clean and uncluttered. So, avoid overcrowding your message with too many words and images.
Leave space between sections, ensure font sizes are readable, and create a clear call to action – so your audience knows what’s expected of them.
#3 Nail the subject line
It doesn’t matter how compelling your content is. A boring, spammy, or irrelevant subject line could destroy your hard work in seconds.
- Hurry: 50% off BBQ sets ends today is hardly exciting (plus the customer knows there’ll be another offer next week).
- Spice up summer with 50% off BBQ sets instead leads by setting the scene – creating an intriguing visual picture.
Good email marketing is often about doing what the humdrum crowd isn’t. Dare to be different and you could reap the rewards.
#4 Email is a two-way channel
It’s all too easy to focus on the outbound aspect of mail marketing. But what if a customer has a question? Making it easy for them to reach you should be a high priority.
Despite this, so many organisations and businesses use @no-reply addresses. And if a prospect can’t get a fast answer to their query they’re likely to give up and go elsewhere.
#5 Acknowledge previous actions
Did your customer sign-up on the promise of an e-book, free sample, or to subscribe to your company newsletter? If so, mention it in your email.
‘Dear John, thanks for downloading our free e-book which is packed full of free marketing tips for your business is a great conversation starter.
That’s because it:
- acknowledges the effort they made
- reminds them of the action they took
- builds rapport with them too
To increase your open rates consider sending messages from a named person in your company who prospects can contact with any questions.
Email marketing is an ongoing process
Track, learn, adapt
It’s important to track who is (and isn’t) opening or clicking your messages. This will help you create targeted content brand advocates love – while trialling alternate topics with non-engagers.
Don’t overegg it
At the same time, exercise restraint. Deluge prospects with 15 emails per week and your unsubscribe rates will soar. So, track how often you message contacts and watch those numbers.
Conclusion
Email marketing works. But to create that all-important personal connection with prospects – (and turn them into happy long-term customers) – a great deal of thought and research is required.
Don’t be dissuaded if a campaign fails either. Creating a buyer persona and carefully crafted landing page won’t guarantee you success. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, an email campaign can bomb.
In fact, mistakes are the most powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal because they tell you which tactics are and aren’t working – allowing you to continually adapt your strategy.
In reality, do you:
- Have time to create customer personas for each of your products and services?
- Understand email marketing well enough to write persuasive content that converts?
- Know how to design user-friendly experiences that’ll confuse instead of confound?
If the answer is no, then handing the reins to an expert makes better business sense.
B2B email marketing experts you can trust to create compelling campaigns
With a provable track record of creating successful email marketing campaigns, we’re ideally positioned to help your business enjoy the success it deserves. Contact us now to arrange a free consultation.
