11.04 – Prepping Your Email Campaigns for Success
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective and productive methods of direct marketing, especially when targeting existing customers and warm leads. It offers unparalleled returns compared to other advertising channels.
Benefits of Email Marketing
One major advantage of email marketing is its measurable nature. Unlike printed direct mail, where you can’t track how many recipients actually read your letter, email provides precise data on:
- Open rates
- Click-through rates to your website or other assets
- Engagement with your sales team via phone or email
- Purchases or other desired actions
- Unsubscribe rates
- Spam reports
Email analytics can pinpoint which message, offer, subject line, send day, time, frequency, and list segments drove sales, right down to the individual level.
Tips for Effective Email Campaigns
Keep it Short and Sweet
Short emails with bullet points grab more attention. Questions like “Are you available for a short demo to see how we can save you 20%?” tend to get better response rates. Including direct links to key pages on your website is crucial for driving traffic, which is a key metric for email campaigns. Using specific landing pages for each campaign helps measure the impact of specific calls to action and offers.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
Always direct traffic to your own website rather than third-party sites. For instance, if sharing a story about your company that appears on a media website, embed a copy on your News page or blog. This keeps people engaged with your brand and exposes them to more of your messaging.
Re-Blasting Emails
Sending follow-up emails three to five days after the original send can boost response and engagement rates. However, it can also increase unsubscribe rates, so test this strategy before making it a regular practice.
The success of your email campaigns relies on personalisation and relevance, the cleanliness of your database, the intrigue of your subject line, and the quality of your copywriting.
Setting Up Triggered Emails
Triggered emails are automatically sent by your CRM system in response to customer actions or changes in behaviour. According to GetResponse, triggered emails had an average open rate of 38 percent in 2021, compared to 20 percent for regular emails.
One of the most effective uses of triggered emails is reminding customers about abandoned shopping carts. These emails can significantly boost completion rates, with studies showing 30 to 45 percent higher open rates and around 50 percent of recipients returning to complete their purchases.
Automated marketing campaigns can keep your messages alive. Tools like HubSpot offer automated sequences that schedule emails and phone call reminders for your sales team. These sequences, especially when targeting contacts who have already interacted with you, tend to achieve higher open and engagement rates than general email campaigns.
Implementing Personalised Emails
Personalised emails, much like printed direct mail, perform best. HubSpot’s research shows higher click-through rates when the recipient’s first name is in the subject line. Statista reports that personalised emails have an open rate of around 17 percent, compared to 11 percent for non-personalised emails.
Strong CRM and content management systems are crucial for effective personalisation. These systems enable you to tailor your content for various personas, cultures, languages, segments, and channels.
Email marketing should be viewed as a series of communications rather than one-off messages. Although the first email aims to secure a sale, multiple touchpoints are usually necessary to achieve the desired action. Consider using a mix of channels: start with an email, follow up with a letter, and close the deal with a highly personalised letter and a phone call.
By leveraging these strategies, you can optimise your email campaigns for success, driving both revenue and customer loyalty.
