What are the characteristics of a great email marketing campaign?
I've read a lot of sources saying that email marketing is obsolete, and others saying that it's still alive & kicking. There are also contradictory articles on what works for subject headers, how long it should be, how frequently you should email, etc. What has been your experience with email marketing campaigns? What works, what doesn't?
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Apr 15, 2014
Right now, success is based on great data with some sort of insight (the customers preferences, buying habits, etc). In the future, it will be opt-in. The EU Data Regulation will impact email marketing in ways we can't imagine. Due to come into force 2016. Check http://bit.ly/SCiEUDR
Apr 8, 2014
Hi Rob,
1) What do you want to communicate?
2) Segment your content affinity
3) Do not use sales pitch
4) Do not talk about how good you are, you talk about why you do what you do.
5) It focuses much of the message speak to their motivations. (Feature> attribute> Consumer Benefit = Magical dream )
6) Simplify the maximum
7) emphasizes what is relevant to the target.
8) Balance text content with images (50/50)
Recommendation:
People do not buy technology kg ... etc, people buy rewarding experiences or ideal situations.
Jesús F. Gordillo
General Manager Kellenföl Advertising
kellenfol.com
Apr 2, 2014
Awesome question for starters, you are making me go in my bag of tricks lol. Email marketing is like caring a fragile box, one wrong move everything can break. The people that told you email marketing is obsolete are those that do not know how to carry the box, they always deliver a broken item. Yes email marketing is alive and kicking, when you know how to carry that fragile box. What do I mean? Well caring the box symbolizes email marketing. ( I know you figured that) Well to carry the box properly you must take the appropriate steps, In email marketing you must do the same. For example when caring a box you must take your time. If you move to quickly the fragile item will break. (The fragile item is the consumer and his or her connection.) When sending out a email marketing campaign one must take his or her time NEVER EVER over load the consumer with a bunch of emails, it is rarely effective. One must never under email the consumer he or she may for get about you. But if you email properly (not to much but not to little with just the right amount of information each time) you can and will capture the consumer attention.. This is a tiny gist of information I can offer you on email marketing. For more and full explination please contact me.. My services are not free. I have bills to pay :)
Mar 29, 2014
Targeted audience
Relevant information, not marketing 'weasel-words'
Keep it short.
Sensible call -to-action
Mar 27, 2014
Here's the answer you may not want to hear but it's the truth.
What works for some, may not work as well for others. It depends on your list, what relationship you've built with your list, how responsive your list is to you, etc...
As a marketer, we get the fun task of testing everything we do (at least we're supposed to).
You will have to test. I believe most common autoresponder services will let you send out the two different versions of an email - one to half your list and the other email to the other half.
And just about all services have analytics so that's another way to see what's working for you.
Just start by testing the headline because that's the first thing people see.
Email marketing is dead for people who don't do it right. For other's it's the easiest way to stay in contact with those who are interested in your products and services...and it's the simplest and easiest source of income.
Corrisa
Mar 27, 2014
Personalized email increases the # of Opens. Freemiums increase the # of Sign Ups, immediate personal Follow Up increases the # of Conversions.
Mar 27, 2014
Email is still very much alive... although many marketers don't know how to use it properly.
Like all great marketing, it starts with understanding your target audience and what will motivate them to take your desired action. You have to use best practices to design emails that will work on mobile devices and in preview panels. You need a subject line that will motivate the target to open it (and be shorter than 40 characters with spaces).
It should be short, sharp and to the point. Use bullet points and subheads to break up copy. Have multiple places to click (including links and buttons), include an image (people like to look at pictures of other people) and your message should be solutions/benefit oriented with a clear call to action.
Frequency strategies are complex and would take far more space than I have here to answer.
Hope this helps.
Mar 27, 2014
Lower your expectations. All advertising industry statistics show that any well executed mail (or email) campaign gets only 3% response from target clients. Most don't get 1%. Another facet to consider is the rule of 20. The first 10 tries don't net anything more than mild interest. It takes at least 20 attempts to break through into sales. By then you've completely alienated or angered some recipients. Nobody honest said it was going to be easy.
Without advertising you can't sell much. But advertising isn't selling. It's akin to canvassing (creating a list of interested parties) versus closing (ushering prospects into sales column). As a defense mechanism, customers get their heart set on something that either isn't yet available or once was. Sales will always be a one on one transference session. It separates buyers from money and remorse. Ads don't have that persuasion. Advice from an expert and reputation for excellence remain more powerful.
In short, don't spin your wheels with disinterested parties, get a qualified list of prospects, get your foot in door, then don't blow it when you get a chance.
Mar 27, 2014
Hi Rob,
I have mixed feelings about email marketing, as do I about internet marketing in general. More businesses are getting into it, and it leads to a lot of businesses just blasting emails to people in bulk and in turn much more noise to people. Unless you are like me, or even yourself maybe, you are constantly subscribing and unsubscribing knowing that this is the only real way to to see what a business has to offer as far as content or services.
The best answer or insight I have for this is that the most important part about email marketing, as is the case with really any online marketing in general is that you have to understand your customers and what they want to know... Which is clearly a lot easier said than done. The best way to do this is at the opt in point, by getting as much information as possible. For one client of mine they are a scuba dive shop, and the form people fill out for their newsletter directly asks what they want to hear about. This is a real simple way to put it into the customers hands, and for you to know specifically what to send. However, segmenting would depend on what specifically you have going on marketing wise.
Another thing that I find works well is simple. Just be direct... in your subject line, and extend it to the content of your email. If your email is a free tutorial about how to use google+ about business, than your subject line should simply say that, and the email should speak for itself.
This is just my 2 cents, there are also tons of great responses below!
Mar 27, 2014
Hi Rob,
For me email marketing has always worked,provided your emails are crisp,customized and talks about the potential customer you are trying to reach.
These days when we all get tons of spam mail,to make your potential customer to open your email and give it a thought is a task.
People respond if they see that you have studied their business/business problem and are not trying to sell at the first go. It is important to engage the prospect initially rather than selling.And if you see the prospect is interested in knowing you/your product etc make sure you do send mailers after every 15 days/or once in a month as timing also plays an important role.hope this answer helps!! Happy Emailing!!
Mar 26, 2014
Your goals and objectives need to be different for whether it's an eblast (promotional email) or regular enewsletter. Eblasts are great for getting quick leads/sales, while enewsletters are better for staying top of mind, educating customers on new offerings, or providing helpful industry updates. I have found them to be very successful, but what works and what doesn't requires testing (of both the subject line and creative) and varies per business.
Best practices for both types include have a compelling call to action, making text digestible (short paragraphs with read more buttons), always having an opt-out button, subject lines that are no more than 5-7 words, and above all make sure you have dedicated link tracking in place so you can see exactly what works for you. Good luck!
Mar 26, 2014
Always, always, Do your homework on "What defines a prospect?" Start by taking a look back at who you've been most successful with and how, in your current base of customers. Or, if you're just starting out and have no customers, do consultative interviews with who you think is the best targets as well as with your trusted advisors. If you've got a solid list of existing customers, contact them and ask them why they bought in the first place, in particular, noting their milestones or key tipping points in your sales process. There is nothing better than to do this in a F2F over lunch so they are undistracted and you're in the position of the grateful and appreciative host. As you get this info, qualify them on their customer satisfaction - first - and showing every opportunity to illustrate how much you value their business relationship. As appropriate, consider the right time in these conversations to be sure to ask about the potential opportunities to support them in their future growth with repeat business (often called "clothing" or "starburst"). In this way these conversations become a triple hit -- not only a plan to help marketing but a real opportunity to show appreciation for their business and that you consider them a valued stakeholder as well as a person who is willing to earn as well as gracefully ID and position for repeat business. Noting, of course, the cost of this sales decision - for them and you - on this potential second phase transaction is ~ 10/15% of the initial cost of sales - being that this is a satisfied existing customer.
Back to the Marketing Campaign; Once you have these data points, package what it is you want to sell in this new mail campaign using real anecdotes and stressing the benefit and your special ability via the feature/function/service you especially or uniquely provide.
As far as the mailings go, the classic is a minimum of at least three times with a one/two week period between mailings, all tied together with a theme, journey or underlying common message - "you really need our stuff", "we must be on your short list". If you're not going to send out at least three emails, don't even bother going down the mailing campaign road. It's too herky-jerky and a shot in the dark.
So, maybe we should have said this earlier but up front, you must think about your budget/efforts/head count (outsource?) to support this duration/type of campaign - with the tasks of research, message crafting, follow up and handling inbound responses when they come in - within the day. Also and almost a 'must have', think about packaging in a 'give away' hook, such as a White Paper or quick, link a light video clip as a teaser in with the emails. Be sure the message here is you have something interesting and/or a 'need-to-know' in your industry space to offer, and here with this White Paper or video is a taste of what we mean. It should position your industry knowledge/know-how in a subtle but clear way. Make them want to know more.
Remember, when you get those return/in-bound calls or Emails, someone has to email or call them back today.
Also, from day one, be positioning this mailing list for future events/things like a webinar, establishing 'user groups' and the sort of things that help establish a stakeholder community that becomes a company asset and marketing test sandbox.
Mar 26, 2014
few
words of mouth is the best way to get a company started, nobody like spam email, even if it is eloquent spam email
but if you really want to know read Guerilla Marketing
Mar 26, 2014
Hi Rob
I'm of the opinion that email marketing is alive and kicking and offer a great opportunity when it comes to ROI.
Consistency is whatever you want it to be, as long as your audience knows what this will be when they sign up they'll generally be ok. That said I would certainly engaging with them every month. If you don't want to over sell then split your content into two email, one that is focused on promotion of products and services and the second sharing knowledge and expertise from within your industry.
With each campaign you can run split line or split time testing. This type of exercise helps you to taylor your future campaigns by identifying keywords that receive a better response.
Titles should be engaging but avoid words that could see your emails end up in spam / junk folders.
Hope that helps
Mar 26, 2014
Hi Rob. Email marketing works. 3 key requirements for the same are Brevity, Purpose and Benefit.
Brevity - unless it's a real tempting offer, if it is just text beyond 1-2 paras, it's dead.
Purpose - why are you sending it [special offer, annual membership, upgrade request, custom annual package details,... ...]. Hint a quick response in case of a limited period offer.
Benefit - why should the recipient buy into what's in the emailer [save cost, time, referral discount,... ....]
If relevant, consider adding customer reviews to it. That makes it more impactful.
Mar 26, 2014
Hi Rob,
Email marketing is still an awesome tool if you use it correctly. Some rules I've learnt from experience:
1) don't send emails more often than once a week, but you should test for your niche, mine is B2B.
2) don't send out emails on Mondays, on Mondays the percentage of emails that are sent to the bin is the highest (but again, might depend on the niche, I heard the for e-commerce weekend are the best time for email blasts)
3) don't start using email marketing if you do not have content that would be valuable for your target audience. Email marketing and content marketing can't live one without the other, email amplifies great content.
4) vary your messages by intent - send not only informational and promotional messages, but also enable triggered ones - someone fills out a form on your site - send them hints, up-to-the-moment manuals and guides on what they can do next
Well, those are the things that came to my mind at once, but there are lots of in-depth things about creating a good email marketing campaign. But the cornerstone is good and well-targeted content.
I am adding two link for your reference with more detailed advice http://blog.act-on.com/2014/02/b2c-three-ways-increase-revenue-customer-base-email-marketing/ and http://blog.act-on.com/2014/03/b2c-email-marketing-dont-rush-discount/
Hope that helps.
Mar 25, 2014
It works if this campaign bring value to your contacts. If you create SPAM message, the feedback is double-negative: "OMG, another useless mail" (firte negative feedback) "And from now it's SPAM" (second and worst-one feedback).
From my experience, you have to follow 3 important step:
- Images. Use images. Not only long text.
- Try to sell VALUE, not product
- Think out of the box. You have to use a good copywriting professional to catch attention.
However, email-marketing should be used in additon to other "tools"....
Mar 25, 2014
What is the product or subject. I may suggest you the best way to get on market among people very fast.