How to create lasting conversations with great email marketing

10/29/2020

Every morning millions of people around the world have come to follow a very similar routine after opening their eyes – checking their emails. Yes, emails are still a thing; in fact, it remains a really BIG thing when it comes to marketing efforts. The reality is, consumers prefer to communicate with the brands they follow, support and love via emails.

Types of Email Marketing Campaigns

  • Newsletter
  • Marketing Offer
  • Announcement
  • Event Invitation

This form of business to consumer (B2C) interaction is permission-based. This means that the consumer has granted the business permission to send them regular communication relating to various subjects, including product/service specials or promotions, special events or updates relating to the actual business. This ‘personalisation’ makes email marketing a very effective strategy to reach your target audience and more importantly, to continue conversations with your consumers.

Types of Email Marketing Campaigns

Growing Your Customer Base

One of the main focuses of any business should be retaining & re-engaging their customers. What better way than to encourage your website visitors, social media followers, and shoppers to subscribe to your newest product or service updates?

Customers who are familiar with your company are more likely to buy from you again and would like to receive products, services or offerings that are of specific value to them.

You can increase your overall sign up through social media posts, by offering a discount once subscribed, or by using other lead magnets such as training videos, case studies, free templates, etc. that are easy to understand, actionable and available immediately.

Pro Tip: Always engage with new customers by sending them a warm welcome email which can include a promo code or an exclusive special offer to showcase your products while building excitement around your brand.

Make it Personal with Segmentation

Even though the consumer has opted in to receive communication from your business, it is vital to remember that you are not alone. Consumers get bombarded with emails daily, and they tend to respond more favourably to those emails that are personalised and relevant. Identify and put yourself in the shoes of your buying persona to make every email resonate personally!

Following this strategy, you can set your goal and personalise email campaigns to fit your messaging and content according to your subscribers’ preferences and buying behaviours. This is called email segmentation and effectively groups your consumer database, allowing you to deliver the most relevant offers and content to the right consumer.

Pro Tip: You should implement the relevant marketing segmentation by asking the right questions when consumers subscribe, to personalise their experience. Ask questions like, Do they want to receive general product updates or are they only interested in receiving sale notifications? Ask about their product interests and their location, to make your campaigns as fitting as possible.

Make it Personal with Segmentation

Exclusives & Deals Just for You!

Another great benefit of email marketing is the ability to present consumers with exclusive deals. Consumers really enjoy and act positively when presented with ‘member-only’ or exclusive deals. Sending email campaigns allows businesses to instantly and more importantly, directly interact with their consumers. This feature will enable them to tell their consumers about sales and promotions while also in most instances, giving them early access or even greater savings.

Pro Tip: Create your very own action calendar. This will help you to create a plan around when your business should send key promotional messages with the purpose of generating traffic, to keep the orders flowing. Always be prepared to communicate with your subscribers before, during, and after your sale events.

Actionable Emails that Nurture

The time has come for you to share your sales, promotions or products with your customers and to increase your overall click-through rates. Achieve this by providing engaging and easily readable content, as well as using well-placed, appealing images to support your message visually.

In addition to this, you can also set out to trigger automated emails to keep in touch or offer additional incentives when your subscribers perform certain actions, including:

  • opening an account,
  • order confirmations,
  • abandoned cart reminders
  • or purchase feedback.

Incorporating CTAs or call to actions allows the consumer to make further actionable responses. These should grab their attention quickly and make sure the customer journey is easy to follow.

Nurturing your subscribers allows you to stay connected with your consumers, building trust and credibility, whilst ensuring you are first on their mind when they want to take action.

Actionable Emails that Nurture

Email Etiquette

Yes, consumers have opted in to receive communication from your business; however, this does not permit companies to bombard them with emails. Remember, the consumers have trusted you with their information; they deserve your respect. By respecting your subscribers and treating them well, you’ll ensure longevity and increase brand loyalty.

On a side note: There are strict laws and regulations around SPAM laws, so if you’re emailing a prospect or customer, you always need to ensure that you have received permission to do so. Furthermore, always provide them with an option to opt-out.

Measure your Results

Sending out emails to consumers is great but knowing how they interact with those emails is even better. When using analytics, you can make better decisions regarding your content and overall email marketing strategies.

By keeping your finger on the pulse, you can see what’s working and what you’ll need to change going forward. It’s important to note that this process takes time, and the tracking will need to take place over a long period of time to best show consumer trends. Track metrics, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, are great to see which types of content your subscribers respond to positively. On the flip side, unsubscribe rate patterns can help you better understand what types of content your audience is not so interested in and why they are opting out of communicating with your business.

Furthermore, analytics gives you great insight into how consumers are accessing their emails. Using this information, you can assess if they are mostly using their desktop or mobile devices. Regardless of the results, in today’s fast-paced world, it is of great importance that your emails can be properly viewed on mobile devices.

Connect with Azapi to create optimised email marketing campaigns to foster real consumer conversations and meaningful interactions.