As we’ve mentioned, email marketing is one of the best ways to reach your target audience. It does take some practice and time to get into a groove that works for your organization, but it can be very effective with the right plan and analysis. Below are some methods you can add to your email marketing strategy.
Develop Your Email List
The first thing you should do is create a list of emails and there are multiple ways to do it. You can add a sign up on your homepage; use your current address book; post a sign-up sheet at a conference or trade show; or ask your audience to sign up on social media. Just make sure you have permission to email those on your list and you give them a way to opt out of your emails. Email marketing tools and programs often take care of that for you.
Create a Welcome Email
One of the most opened emails businesses send is a welcome email. It is a great way to introduce your brand, include a special offer, and build trust with your audience. This can be an automated email sent each time someone signs up to be on your email list.
Decide What Types of Emails to Send
Email marketing entails many layers and buckets. It’s important to base your action on your goals. Decide when you want to send an email and to which groups within your audience. You may decide to send a monthly newsletter; an announcement of a new product or service; or a weekly product promotion. There are plenty of options but it’s important to tailor a plan that caters to your organization and its needs.
Draft Email Content
Depending on the type of email you’re sending, you may need to spend time creating the content for your email campaign. Or, you might streamline your efforts if you build off key messaging or blog posts. Either way, we recommend making your content personal to your audience, include visuals, and add hyperlinks to measure click-through-rates. Also, be sure to engage your audience. Call-to-actions are a great first step, but go a step further by asking a direct question or promoting how you’d like your audience to get in touch with you.
Send Email and Measure Results
After you send your email, track the open rate, link clicks, responses, conversions, and any other action taken. The results will help you measure success and you can compare results to future emails.
In our experience, middle of the week distribution yields a better open rate than the weekend or earlier in the week. However, that may not be the case for all organizations and audiences. We recommend testing to see what works for you. Also, frequency is very important. It may not be necessary to send an email weekly or even monthly. However often you decide to distribute your e-communications, be consistent! Choose a frequency that is realistic to maintain. And lastly, don’t be afraid to ask your audience what they want to see. Social media is great tool for this and you can also dive deeper with a survey done through market research.
