by Adam Basheer, on 05-Jun-2017 14:21:00
With all the attention surrounding social media in recent years, people tend to think that email is no longer as effective as it once was. Part of this may be due to the volume of emails, and indeed promotional emails, received on a frequent basis. This generally causes customers to remove themselves from many emails lists as they feel they are not receiving any value. The other downside is that businesses perceive email marketing as a traditional approach to reaching out to existing customers and therefore believe it is not relevant or useful anymore.
However, a crucial point is that some emails do have value – it is all about relevant content. When done correctly it is still the best way to stay in touch with existing customers and acquire new ones. Email is almost 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined in helping a business acquire new customers (McKinsey, 2015).
So, what makes an email have value? This will depend to a great deal on your target audience and their wants, needs and desires. Below are some key tips to help boost your email open rates:
Provide unique content
Developing a content marketing strategy is the first step to consider. This form of marketing provides an online platform for sharing useful marterial such as, blogs, videos, eBooks and whitepapers. Nowadays, content marketing is a reliable and effective lead generation tool used to drive more visitors to your website and helps to increase brand awareness. This is key to acquiring new customers. That said, content does not have to be mind-blowing, though it must be useful and relevant to what your audience is searching for. Further, you don’t have to write 1000 words for an article. Simply providing a valid opinion from someone with some perceived expertise is useful, unique content.
Share relevant news
The high number of Twitter and Facebook posts provides a plethora of news. However, when you send an email to your subscribers or potential clients you can cut through the non-relevant news and provide information that is relevant to your customers. Some comment on this information might also be relevant.
Demonstrate your product/service
Chances are you have remained in someone’s email basket because they may one day be interested in your service. Demonstrating your product, providing case studies, suggesting a useful tip or simply talking about a new customer could all be useful to someone looking to buy your product in the future.
Aside from the above key tips, you can also foster a deeper, one-on-one relationship with your audience. By making a few simple changes, your emails will appear more personal and authentic than any other marketing efforts you take (more on these later). This builds trust with your customers because even though you’re not actually face-to-face with them, it feels as if you are.
Therefore, it’s important to focus your time and attention on email marketing in addition to social media, paid advertising, and search engine optimisation. It’s one form of marketing that’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and rightfully so.
For further tips on how to make your marketing emails more effective, download the free Email Marketing eBook.
If you need further assistance on email marketing, please contact Fit 4 Market, marketing strategy and inbound marketing specialists.
