One would be hard-pressed to find a consumer who has not received an email promotion at one time or another, or a business that has not sent one. While it is certainly good news that marketers are understanding the importance of advertising through this relatively simple medium, all should be wary about the problems and challenges contained within saturated markets and an endless stream of corporate communications flowing into the average consumer’s inbox.
So, let’s talk about getting those emails up to a level of excellence that makes it impossible for them to end up in the trash before even being looked over. Although email marketing is indeed one of the more simplistic forms of digital advertising today, it is far from being one that can be approached in a flippant or unplanned fashion. Rather, if you want to separate your restaurant, store or other operation from competitors in your market, you’re going to have to work.
Luckily, there are several ways to make this a bit easier on yourself and others tasked with managing your advertising program, especially as so much rich information has been aggregated due to more campaigns being launched. At the end of the day, if you want a Bugatti or a Maserati, you better work.
Core demands of email engagement
Marketing Land recently listed some of the main areas email advertisers need to focus upon to ensure the integrity of their programs, affirming that the first step is to collect qualified leads and contacts. This may be the single most important aspect of email advertising today, especially when it comes to achieving high returns on investment, as companies only need to send out the communications to consumers who fall within their target pools.
When marketers begin to send emails to everyone possible, this is when spam-like outcomes will begin to take hold and reduce the chances of building a successful program. According to the news provider, the focus should be on building “metric movers,” which involves lead sources, high conversion forms and establishing a foundation that keeps new prospects entering into the equation over time.
Connecting, converting and circulating were the three other matters the source argued needed to be streamlined and optimized to have success in email marketing campaigns, and businesses can often gain some traction in these areas by leveraging more robust analytics and reporting solutions. The main theme should be intelligent, efficient and targeted efforts that lead directly to more advanced performances in the email campaign from its outset and throughout its life cycle.
Email engagement best practices
Biz Report’s Kristina Knight recently interviewed data scientist Aaron Beach regarding the best practices of engaging consumers in email ad campaigns. He started by answering a question regarding how sound email advertising will help companies profile their customers’ behaviors.
“Current email providers like Yahoo and Google are using algorithms to track email engagement and determine if your email marketing campaign will be delivered to the inbox or the spam folder. Instead of fixing the problem by using data to enhance and add value to their email marketing campaigns, many marketers are trying to find loopholes in the algorithms which allow them to fake a good email so it gets delivered,” Beach told Knight. “However, just because an email was delivered doesn’t mean that it was opened or clicked on.”
Knight noted that he later went on to suggest marketers personalize email ads that are formatted properly and include the right number of images, while ensuring the subject line demands the recipient’s attention.
All types of businesses can benefit from a strong email advertising campaign, but the best outcomes will be a result of sound practices that lead to higher click rates.
