Email is a valuable aspect of any successful marketing campaign. However, the business world is changing, and so are the interests and needs of consumers, for continued marketing success, your strategy needs to changes too.
The use of smartphones and tablets to browse the Internet is on the rise, and this means that marketers need to adapt to appeal to the mobile crowd. Email plays a significant role in this process, since many people access their accounts on a mobile device. Consumers’ interests are shifting to reflect the modern business climate, and marketers need to address these changes.
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With that in mind, here are a handful of suggestions for small businesses that hope to have success with the modern consumer in their email marketing campaigns:
1. Use a compatible and accessible layout
This transition to a mobile-oriented world has implications for email and digital marketing, since consumers are increasingly viewing content from different platforms. Marketers will need to adapt to the tendencies of their audience, and developing strategies that are compatible with smartphones and tablets is imperative.
Tech.Co contributor Diogo Costa wrote that without a functional email layout that works for both mobile and desktop users, a marketing campaign is relatively useless. A company’s approach should be focused around the user experience to increase the chances of a recipient responding or taking action. Including links to other forms of content – like websites and social media accounts – can also improve the likelihood of further interaction with potential clients.
2. Don’t overcomplicate things
Direct Marketing News spoke with GoDaddy’s senior vice president of business application Steven Aldrich, who said that one of the most important aspects of a successful email marketing campaign is to keep it simple. He argued that small business owners should take it slow when establishing connections with customers to avoid overwhelming the audience. For example, he noted that after a purchase is made, it is not wise to send an email receipt, promotional offers and a welcome message all at the same time.
Instead, SMBs should build up the relationship with a client before inundating him or her with information. Staggering the distribution of email content can help grow brand recognition without annoying the recipients.
3. Cultivate an organic audience
Aldrich also cautioned that small businesses should seek to grow their audience using authentic methods. SMBs can ask for email addresses on their websites, at social gatherings like industry conferences or even in person at the company’s store or office. Consumers do not take kindly to receiving marketing emails that they did not sign up for, so it is important to make sure that they give consent by signing up. Aldrich said that this practice can lead to more positive relationships between clients and marketers.
4. Communicate a clear message
Nobody wants to read huge blocks of text that labor to get to the point. Costa advised being direct and clear with email marketing to avoid distributing unappealing or worthless content. When informing customers about a promotion or sale, mention it immediately. If it’s a newsletter, begin with a strong lede that grabs attention but also is relevant to the context of the content. Consumers are not likely to read long passages in an email, so Costa suggested using lists and being direct to better engage with them.
5. Aesthetic appeal is everything
Costa warned that the use of images in email marketing can make or break the campaign. An effective picture or graphic can immediately resonate with consumers, while including something that is not necessarily relevant or appealing might turn a recipient off. Costa remarked that on a basic psychological level, humans are very visually oriented. For example, he said that brains process images 60,000 times faster than words, and that almost all of the data that our minds handle is visual. Appealing to customers with aesthetically pleasing images and designs can generate positive reactions and lead to success in an email marketing campaign.
6. What benefits can email offer to your organization?
Disregarding consumers’ interest, Aldrich stressed that it is highly important to ask yourself how email marketing can improve your current practices. He pointed out three main benefits that SMBs can typically relate to – it’s inexpensive, it’s personal and it can promote thought leadership.
In comparison to other forms of marketing, email is much more cost-effective for cash-strapped small businesses with limited resources. But this does not mean that its impact is compromised – rather, Aldrich said that email allows companies to form personal relationships with their customers, which can help secure continued transactions in the future. In addition, certain kinds of content that can be distributed via email – namely newsletters – help to establish an organization as an industry expert. Aldrich also pointed out that SMBs can use email to notify customers about upcoming events, promotions or projects that the company is working on to keep them updated and informed.
