5 tips (and more) to improve email marketing campaigns

Email marketing still stands as the most likely way to influence consumer buying decisions, according to the 2012 Channel Preference survey by ExactTarget.com. It remains the preferred direct marketing channel for consumers aged 15 and older and nets a higher daily usage rate than text messaging, Twitter and even Facebook.

According to the survey, when asked if the consumer has ever made a purchase as a result of receiving a marketing message, email marketing and direct mail more or less shared top honors, particularly in older age groups.

Consumers were more likely to look through their email to find an online deal from a company, with more saying they would check email before visiting the website, and 77 percent of respondents preferred to receive promotional messages by email. Facebook came in fourth with only 4 percent of online consumers preferring the social network.

It’s obvious from the survey that email isn’t dead. With nearly twice as many people preferring to share content by email, building a strong email list can enhance and boost your other marketing efforts.

Here are some tips from blogs around the Internet that you can use to spruce up, and maybe breathe life into, your email marketing campaigns. Follow the links for even more email marketing best practices.

Don’t Write Stuffy, Boring Emails Because You Think Your Audience Is “Sophisticated”

Jeremy Reeves, in a blog post on VisualWebsiteOptimizer.com, insists that no matter how sophisticated you may think your audience is, no one is beyond having a little fun.

“The fact is, I don’t care if you’re selling to drunk, zit-faced teenagers or to CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies. They’re both PEOPLE. And what do PEOPLE want? They want to have fun. They want to be entertained. They want to be engaged.”

People want to know that they’re deal with people instead of companies, and people generally have personality of some kind.

Inspect and test the little things

Spending all your energy optimizing landing pages, design and strategy helps with conversions, but sometimes even the little things can make a big difference.

Mark Brownlow of SmartInsights.com, shares three stats that could change the way you look at even the little things in your enewsletter. Many of the potential response boosts are temporary, but that doesn’t make them less valuable. Some examples:

Subject line tests that lift open rates 100%
CTA wording changes that increase click rates 50%
From line tests for 20% more clicks

Closely Tie Emails to Landing Pages

Every email marketing campaign you send should direct consumers toward a landing page, a page on your site designed specifically to convert the traffic into leads and those leads into customers.

Jamie Turner, in a post on Hubspot.com, suggests tying the look, feel, and content closely to match the email, as well as tracking to see which emails and landing pages are converting best.

Woo Inactives and Find Lost Subscribers

Before buying a new list of potential leads, Anthony Schneider of MassTransmit.com suggests turning to your old list and presenting them with an offer or telling them about new products and services to get them to resubscribe.

“Don’t treat your inactives as if they are active subscribers, and don’t give up on lost contacts. Reach out to your inactives with an email campaign designed especially for them. Maybe there’s a special offer, or one great new product or service you’re pretty sure they don’t know about. Keep it short, woo them, wow them… and keep them clicking.”

Get emotional

Emotion is one of the strongest influences in buying decisions, according to research by Creston Unlimited. Particularly the emotion of pleasure, which drove 23 percent of all purchasing decisions.

Design your call-to-action to emotionally connect with consumers, appealing to men’s higher values on status and pleasure, and to women’s higher values on confidence and security.

One Comment

  1. Hi Chris,

    Great post. These tips are very useful and important for those who are planning to use email marketing to promote their business. In email marketing your email content should be original, valuable and impressive enough which the readers could not resist to open to have a look at your product and services.

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