Email Marketing, It’s Here To Stay
Neglect email marketing at your own peril. As you will see, reports of the “death of email” are as puzzling as they are misguided. Neglecting this invaluable tool is most likely leaving money on the table for your business, and omitting a cost-effective opportunity to connect with your audience.
Email is everywhere. Have you ever checked your work email in the car? (tisk, tisk) At dinner? Yes. On vacation? Certainly. In the restroom? Well, that’s your business. But, with almost 40% of email opens happening on mobile, email has been liberated from the bonds of the desktop computer. In short, email marketing is the the most effective tool your business isn’t using.
According to Forrester Research, 72% of U.S. adults send or receive personal emails via smartphone at least one per week. Wouldn’t you like to get a highly targeted message in front of an audience that has already shown enough interest in your brand to provide an email address?
How You Send Matters
How you send your email directly affects the effectiveness of the message. First and foremost, never send business emails using your personal email. Instead, use an email marketing platform that provides a turnkey solution to your email marketing objectives. We have customers using Constant Contact, Mailchimp, and Emma. This isn’t a compare and contrast features post, so if you want to know more about each platform give us a shout, connect@altosagency.com and we can go over the pro’s and con’s of each.
How Do You Measure Performance, Let Us Count The Ways
The major benefit of email marketing is all of the data you can collect after the email has gone out! We love data at Altos! Okay, Joe loves data. Everyone else just understands the undeniable value of collecting it. With email marketing you can track so many wonderful data points such as bounce rate, open rate, and click through rate.
Comparative Metrics Are Industry Specific
All of the major email platforms have aggregated data about businesses just like yours. When you open up the reports, you will be able to compare your open rate, bounce rate, and click through rate specific to your industry. This is incredibly powerful data. Your coffee shop isn’t isn’t competing with the hardware store down the street, and that’s no different than competing in the digital space. Learn what your competitors are doing, what’s working, what’s not, and how to enhance and optimize your own email marketing efforts.
Email Marketing Options
You might be thinking, “I have a widget business, email marketing won’t work for me.” Don’t limit yourself by your industry. Rather, focus on building a community around your brand. E-Commerce emails with products do very well. If your business offers coupons, sending coupons to your most loyal customers, or to a list of prospects can yield great results. Keeping your customers updated on new aspects of your business through a traditional “newsletter” type email can also be effective. This is where one-time customers become lifetime customers.
Tips To Email Marketing Success
First develop a strategy/plan. The key to any marketing endeavor, including email, is having a well-crafted plan. If you are going to send an update monthly send it monthly; daily… you better be prepared to put in a lot of work. Consider your audience. What do you want your readers to know about your business? Develop content that talks to your specific audience and watch your click-through-rate soar. Make sure to track everything. If you aren’t familiar with UTM code make sure to ask us when you call.
Email marketing is a powerful tool that can be used by many businesses. If you are considering starting an email campaign give us a shout, connect@altosagency.com. We are always happy to help!
