There’s no doubt about it, email marketing with customers and contacts drives revenue and results for businesses. It keeps you in touch with your customers, ensures top-of-mind awareness and it increases brand loyalty. But as with most things in life, there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach email marketing. And so, if you’re doing it yourself or are outsourcing to a marketing expert, this article is essential reading as we outline the main dos and don’ts of effective email marketing.
Customer databases & email marketing: dos
Ethical growth: Be ethical about how you grow your database by using a sign-up form that requires subscribers to opt in to receiving your emails. And make sure that you give subscribers the option to opt out at any time should they no longer wish to receive your emails.
Operate within the law: There are strict laws governing unsolicited emails and spam messages so make sure that your email marketing campaign is operating within the law. Generally speaking, communication emails such as online newsletters fall outside the rules and regulations, but it’s important to double check that all communications are lawful.
Make it attention grabbing: Your email has to stand out from the ground otherwise it will remain buried in the recipient’s overflowing in-box. To make your email stand out use attention-grabbing subject lines that encourage the reader to open the email to find out more. In addition, make it personal. Using the recipient’s first name will increase the chances of your email being opened by as much as 26 per cent.
Offer solutions: Your customers are unlikely to be interested in salesy emails that talk about how wonderful you are. Instead, try and present solutions to the recipient. Talking in terms of the problems and issues your customers are facing and how your product or service will help alleviate them is the key to success.
Customer databases & email marketing: don’ts
Indiscriminately add names to the database: To comply with the law, the recipient must give their express or inferred consent to receiving your email. You can’t just add names to your database where there is no existing relationship between you.
Send out emails without proofreading them first: An email with typos, broken links or factual errors is likely to see most readers hitting the unsubscribe button straight away. The consequent damage to your brand and professional image can be significant. Before you send out any email, make sure it’s been thoroughly checked so you can be confident there are no mistakes.
Send out generic emails that speak to no one: As we’ve seen, personalisation is important and this also applies to the key message in your email. Rather than sending out a generic email to absolutely everyone on your database, it’s more productive to target specific messages to particular customers based on their location, preferences or previous buying history.
Your customer database is indeed a very powerful tool. Use it wisely to get the very best out of it. If you would like to find out more about how to communicate effectively with all your customers, then get in touch with us here at Big Rock Communications. Book your free 30-minute marketing strategy session and we’ll ensure you get the maximum benefit from your database.