7 Ways to Refresh Your Email Marketing Strategy
September 05, 2013 · in
Content Marketing
Even with the quick rise of social media and content marketing, email marketing remains an effective, affordable way for brands to reach their consumers. In fact, 82% of consumers open emails sent from brands and 44% of people made a purchase after receiving an email promotion. Email is a marketing tool of the present, not the past.
Email holds an upper hand for brands who seek to improve conversion and increase revenue. On the other hand, social media and content engage consumers in a conversation, inform on news and products, and create a personality for the company. If you're seeking ways to refresh your email marketing strategy, try a few, or all, of these 7 tips:
1. Responsive design - Moms frequently use their smartphones and tablets to check email — 88% of people check their email via mobile every day. It’s crucial that your marketing emails provide the same quality of user experience on a phone or tablet as it does on a desktop. If your email doesn’t load correctly or is difficult to view, it will be ignored or deleted. The solution? Utilize responsive design. Responsive design uses CSS media queries to identify the size of the screen and responds accordingly so that your message looks great on each device.
2. Holiday-specific messaging - The value of the $38 billion dollar celebrations industry means that there’s a huge opportunity to engage with consumers around holidays. Halloween is quickly approaching. Find a relevant seasonal aspect of your brand and employ creative messaging to separate your brand from the flood of emails on costumes, party supplies, and more. It is also important to maintain a consistent presence ahead of these important occasions. For example, on Mother’s Day 80% of transactions are made from emails sent in the 2 weeks pre-holiday.
Magic Beans sent an offer to email subscribers wrapped up St. Patrick's Day messaging.
3. Subscription frequency options - If your email marketing does not offer subscription options for frequency of emails received, it's time to consider this feature. You want to be clear and straightforward with what constumers will get when they subscribe and how often they'll receive emails. This ensures that you meet mom’s expectations and she doesn’t lose trust in your brand. An estimated 35% of marketers automatically opt-in customers to their emails without explicitly asking for permission, which is a surefire way to lose consumer trust and have your emails marked as spam.
4. App integration - Email is an effective way to promote new or relevant apps that your brand offers. Highlight specific apps that fit mom’s interests, or promote specific features of their general app that will appeal to mom. In fact, 46% of moms want to receive information on their mobile device while in the store. CVS/Pharmacy meets this need through their app, which is integrated with their email marketing to feature products, encourage downloads and offer coupons.
5. List segmentation - The title of “mom” encompasses a huge range of women in various stages of life. Consider how different the needs and interests are of a mom with a newborn and a second grader compared to a mom that is just about to send her child off to college. Learn as much as you can about your consumer through surveys and feedback, and segment your emails accordingly. ArtBeads found that conversion rates increased 208% when they stopped 'batch and blast' emails sent to their entire list and began to segment high value customers (those who recently made a purchase).
6. Variability with images - Moms are likely to skim through large blocks of text, but a picture can really grab their attention. Your brand can take different approaches for the visual aspect of the email: include multiple images that beautifully feature your products or focus on one strong picture. Test the clickthrough rates to see which works best for your brand.
7. Storytelling - Rather than sell your subscribers with an offer, connect to their heartstrings through a great story. About three of every four consumers expect advertisements should tell a story. Your email campaigns are the perfect place to do so. Define your brand's story, draw insipiration from the company's history or current pop culture, and integrate that narrative into your emails.
Posted by Katie Petrillo