There is a lot of competition for marketing attention nowadays – particularly from areas such as social media, pay-per-click, banner advertising, blogging and website creation – and it’s easy to think that the humble e-mail has had its day.
The truth is, however, that a well-targeted, individual marketing email is still a very powerful tool and can benefit your business in a number of ways. We do happen to speak with a little authority on the subject because many of our clients do ask us to email their eCard that they purchase from us to their own customers. We also do put a marketing budget aside to email our clients and prospects. So we know about the pitfalls and the successes of the strategy.
- It is a simple way to keep in contact with your customer base and target your real fans.
- It is normally opened by the person the communication was intended for.
- If you target the right people you can take advantage of impulse buys for your latest product.
- They are easy to create and track.
- Email communications are easy for your fans to share with their contacts.
- Sending something like a corporate ecard is a cost effective and targeted way of reaching out to consumers and clients.
The challenges of producing effective email marketing remain as they always have – how to reach out to your audience and get them to open and read the message you are sending.
5 Steps for a Successful Email Marketing Campaign
Build your list. Give your consumers every opportunity to stay updated with your latest developments. When they buy a product or service prompt them to join your list. Have a link to signing up clearly positioned on your website.
Develop and maintain your email list. People don’t always keep the same email address and it helps to prune and maintain your list so that you are sure it is being sent to the right addresses. Unopened or undelivered mail can skew your metrics and give a misleading impression of how a particular campaign is going. If you have different facets to your business then sort your email lists to reflect these so that you can better target your updates.
Make sure the content you send is meaningful. While the purpose of an email marketing campaign may be just to keep in touch and remind your clients or consumers that you are there to help, being focussed on their needs and attuned to what they want leads to far better results.
In other words, don’t simply contact them for the sake of it, have something to say.
Make your email communications special occasions. Deciding how much and how often to communicate with your list is key to effective email marketing. You want to stay in touch but you don’t want to bombard your consumers with too much information or appear to be spamming them.
Celebrating special occasions are an ideal, soft approach for keeping in touch. According to Marketing Profs Online, it is one of the areas that businesses should be focussing on. Think about sending e Christmas cards for business that can be personalised and make your clients feel special.
Don’t forget the metrics. The most important part of any email marketing campaign is how you measure its effectiveness. Many businesses, particularly small to medium size ones, pay scant regard to who opens their emails and what happens next. Be clear about what you want to know and use those metrics to inform future campaigns.
Whether you are sending a product update or just wishing your clients a happy Christmas with corporate ecards, the power of the direct email is undeniable. It’s still one of the most cost effective and simple ways to keep in touch with your fan base.
eCard Shack is here to help your business with our selection of high-quality ecards – you can quickly create your own design using our eCard design tool with a choice of designs and personalisation available, choose from our range of Premium eCards or get your bespoke Christmas business eCard designed from scratch for your business which will be unlike any other.
Looking for more interesting content? Find it on our blog!