How to develop an effective email marketing strategy

Six steps to sending out better emails

 

1.      Plan content your audience will find valuable

It helps to take a look at your customer segments and think about content that could be helpful to their role. Here are some examples of different email strategies you may want to use:

• Onboarding communications
  These can be an effective way of welcoming new customers and reassuring them they made the right choice doing business with you. You can signpost them to key features of your product over a series of days or weeks
  
  
• Engagement emails
  These can be useful for giving customers and prospects advice and guidance about the industry. For example, a customer who has already bought a product from you might find tips on how to get the most out of the product useful. If you are looking to grow your database, you might want to offer them a newsletter
  
  
• Service emails
  You can use these to both save time and provide your customers with well-timed communications about your products. You may be able to automate these. While it will take time to set up automatic emails, you’ll feel the benefits in the long run           

 

2.     Get personal

Most email marketing platforms let you personalise communications. This can be as simple as adding a customer’s first name in the subject line and calling them by name at the top of the email. It can also help to have the email come from a person within your organisation rather than the company name. Being personal helps to build trust and the more your clients trust you, the more likely they are to buy from you when they are looking for a new product or service.

3.     Use creative subject lines

If your subject line doesn’t grab their attention, your recipient is less likely to open your email. Don’t be afraid to get creative here. Here are a few examples you might like:

·         You need to hear this…

·         Five reasons Group Protection is good news for your business

·         Why you need to be thinking about [insert subject related to your product/service]

·         What’s all the fuss about [insert subject matter]

4.     Make sure the email is mobile friendly

Most email marketing planforms will let you see what your email will look like on a mobile device. Given that nearly 60% of emails are opened on a mobile, it’s important to build mobile-optimised email communications for best engagement.

5.      Video content

Including your video content within email communications is a great way to boost engagement with your customers, so get personal and change up your communications.

6.      Include a call to action

Remember, only send an email if you have something worth saying that will add value to your customers or prospects. That’s why it’s important to make sure you have a clear call to action in your email. That could be to click through to a page, complete a survey, watch a video or read an article. You can test which call to actions work best over time.

 

Email marketing is a versatile, cost-effective to keep in regular contact with your customers, so make sure you’re taking advantage of it as much as possible.