Five Steps to Email Marketing Success

by | Dec 13, 2018 | Blog, Content | Social Media | Email

Maybe you hear lots of people saying that email marketing is effective, but you aren’t seeing the results. Often, when we talk to companies about their email newsletter program we find they are missing opportunities by not paying attention to the little things. So before you abandon your email marketing program completely, ask yourself if you are using the right formula.

 

5 simple steps to email marketing success.

  1. Defined your purpose Why are you running the campaign? If you hope to build brand awareness make sure you include links to more information on your website in each campaign. If the goal is to drive sales, make sure to feature the offer prominently in each campaign. Every newsletter should offer readers a clear next step.
  2. Be consistent – Don’t promise a Tuesday Newsletter if you can’t get one produced each week. Be realistic about how often you will really have something interesting for your audience and plan ahead. According to our annual small business digital marketing survey, the most common schedule for small business owners is actually once a month.
  3. Stay relevant Your readers agree to join your list for specific information. Make sure you stay focused. It is ok to occasionally mention other products and services, but just because a reader signs up for one list doesn’t mean they want to know everything about your entire business. When you indiscriminately send content, you run the risk of increasing opt-outs as people leave your list permanently.
  4. Speak with one voice – Many business owners use their email to distribute industry information from a variety of sources. This helps establish them as a resource or subject matter expert. If you are pulling content from a variety of sources be sure to both credit the source and introduce the content in your style. If your newsletter is mostly conversational, a stuffy academic paper may seem out of place, unless you explain to your readers why you are sharing the content.
  5. Use clever, personalized headlines to grab attention – It doesn’t matter how good your content is, if you don’t grab attention in the inbox your email newsletter will never be read. So once you have crafted the perfect message, spend an equal amount of time on the subject line. And then go the extra step to let the reader know you are speaking directly to them.  Use custom fields to personalize your subject line so it doesn’t simply read: Discover Five Steps to Email Marketing Success. Instead, it should read: Mary – Discover Five Steps to Email Marketing Success.

looking for more ways to improve your email marketing program?

Check out all the tools in our resource library, Digital Toolbox.