E-mail Campaigns.
I recently attended an event held by the Blackstone launchpad at Temple University about the importance of web identity. The featured speaker was successful entrepreneur Aaron McLean. . The most interesting part of the event had to do with properly using email campaigns. The number one way to reach is customers is through email, this has been consistent since the dawn of digital marketing. Email campaigns seem simple on the outside, however there are many factors to consider before getting started.
So who do you include in your campaign? Perhaps the most important thing about an email campaign (or any other form of marketing) is reaching the right customers. Stay away from buying customer lists/information. Artificial lists are a waist of time and money. The best way to grow a customer base is organically. How do you grow your customer list? The best way is to build your own database, for small businesses this could be a simple excel spreadsheet. The company website should have an easy to find form to sign up for the mailing list. Reaching out to your social media followers is another great way to add to the list. Growth will not come overnight, but quality is most important to start: not quantity.
So when should emails be sent and what should be in them? The more emails you send, the lest likely a customer a is to open it every time. Keep email marketing to once a week or less. The content of the email should be short and sweet. The reader should comprehend it within a few seconds of opening the email. Most importantly, every email needs a call to action, never assume the customer will know where to go. Something like a big easy “click here to buy” button will work.
So how do you optimize your campaign? The best way to do this is through A/B testing. Split your customer list in half. Mark one half A and the other B. Changing only one variable in the email, send one variant to group A and the other to group B. The metrics to track are the open rate (how many customers open the email) and the click rate (how many customers click the link in the email). There are many web-services that will easily track these metrics for you. Whichever group has a higher open and click rate, continue to use that email and continue to split. Something as simple as changing a link from orange to green can have a huge impact on customer click rates.
Thanks for reading! Remember, it’s all about reaching the right customers at the right time with the right content. GOOD LUCK!