While many presume that email is dead, that adage couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, to date, email marketing persists to be one of the leading sources of revenue and conversion for businesses and brands alike, returning for those who implement it correctly up to a 4400% ROI.
Yes, you read that correctly! For every $1 spent on an email marketing campaign, $44 is returned, on average, to the investor/marketer/business launching the said campaign.
In short, contrary to popular belief, email is a marketer’s most valuable asset.
What follows is a roadmap for developing a winning email marketing strategy. Not only will we discuss what email marketing is and why you as a business or brand should use it, but we will discuss the benefits, and ultimately HOW to create an effective email marketing strategy!
So, without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
Contents
What is Email Marketing?
As part of an effectively implemented digital marketing strategy, every business should have a well-developed email marketing strategy.
By definition, email marketing is a direct approach used to communicate with an audience of consumers or potential consumers in a personalized, yet often automated way to attract, lead, and ultimately convert the consumer to take a desired action.
The ultimate objective of email marketing is not only to grow a customer base, increasing conversions and thus sales, but to also turn those customers into lifetime, loyal brand ambassadors, or at the very least, repeat buyers.
Why You Should Use Email Marketing
As discussed in the introduction of this article, email marketing continues to be one of the most effective digital marketing tactics, returning those who implement it up to a 4400% increase in ROI.
If that’s not reason enough to use an email marketing strategy, we’re not sure what is. However, here are a few additional considerations to consider:
- Email marketing is an opportunity to reach your customer in the most personalized, direct way possible. There are no feeds to scroll through, no algorithms to decipher, and no search engine optimization efforts required; simply a one-to-one, send-and-receive relationship between you and your audience.
- Next, email is also a widely used application to this day. Not only do 99% of those who have email check it daily, but nearly 50% of the world’s population still use email. That’s almost 4 billion people! Why wouldn’t you want to have a piece of that pie?
- Lastly, not only are there an abundance of automated email marketing platforms available for your benefit, but they all offer ways to create and customize campaigns like never before, and at the fraction of the cost of most digital marketing efforts.
The Benefits of Email Marketing
The importance of developing a winning email marketing strategy is undeniable, and most marketers would agree. If you’re a part of the small subset that believes that email is dead, we encourage you to revisit the statistics discussed throughout this article.
Below are several benefits that you as a business can come to expect from implementing an effective email marketing strategy:
- Gathers Leads
- Increases Conversion Rates
- Boosts Sales
- Extremely Cost-Efficient and Cost-Effective
- Provides a Convenient Way to Communicate
- Allows Business to Gather Constructive Feedback
- Autonomy & Ownership over Strategy Implementation & Execution
While these are certainly not all of the vast benefits of email marketing, they’re certainly the most common and beneficial.
So, now that you understand what email marketing is and what the benefits of email marketing campaigns are, you may be wondering how to create an effective email marketing strategy. If so, keep reading to find out!
How to Create an Effective Email Marketing Strategy!
Anyone can craft an email and click send; this isn’t what email marketing is all about.
Instead, email marketing requires you to take the time to develop a comprehensive strategy inclusive of, but certainly not limited to, the following considerations.
Note that without developing a winning strategy accompanied by proper research, due diligence, and sheer effort, your email is going to get lost amongst the hundreds of other emails your audience receives daily.
So, before jumping in, start by identifying your target audience, establishing your goals & objectives, and then and only then devising a strategy.
Below are several considerations YOU as a business need to address in order to create an effective email marketing strategy:
- Build a Relevant Email List
- Segment Your Email List
- Create a Captivating Subject Line
- Write Compelling Email Copy
- Optimize for Mobile
- Automate the Process
Build a Relevant Email List
Building a relevant email list requires creativity, tactics, and patience. In the end, however, the wait will be worth it; for the quality of your email list largely determines the success of your email marketing strategy as a whole.
Segment Your Email List
Once you’ve established a comprehensive email list, it’s time to start launching email campaigns and activating your list. To do so, you first need to segment your list into relevant subcategories. The reason for email segmentation is to separate your audience based on the stage at which they currently reside within the conversion/sales funnel. Failing to do so may result in sending an email to the wrong subscriber, ultimately frustrating or confusing them, resulting in an unsubscribe and a lost customer.
Create a Captivating Subject Line
At this stage of your email marketing strategy, it’s time to personalize and optimize your emails. The first step of personalization and optimization? The subject line. In short, the subject line can be thought of as the front lines of your operation; it’s what draws people in to click and take action, or on the contrary, ignore or delete immediately. To avoid this from happening, curate a captivating subject line that catches their attention and leads them to want to learn more.
Write Compelling Email Copy
Copy is the primary method of content when it comes to email. As such, it’s important to prioritize it. After all, emails that tell a compelling story lead to conversions. Writing compelling copy requires personalization, consideration of the needs and interests of your target audience, and of course, concluding with a Call-to-Action (CTA). So, greet your subscribers by their first name, dive deep into their needs and desires, and be sure to add personality to your voice!
Optimize for Mobile
The large majority of email users have access to their email on their smartphones, using it as their primary means of communication. Failing to optimize your email template for mobile will result in an opportunity lost. With that said, before launching your email campaign, be sure to test that it’s compatible with mobile devices. This includes the template, the text, the buttons, and the load time.
Automate the Process
Once you’ve developed a substantial email list, you’ve curated an effective campaign, and you’re ready to implement the entirety of the email strategy, it’s time to consider automating the process. You’ve done the leg work, now it’s time to let technology work to your advantage.
Final Words
As you can begin to see, developing a winning email marketing strategy involves a lot of moving parts and requires rigorous planning and consideration, not only on behalf of you as a business but on behalf of the target audience as well.
With that said, email marketing is an extremely effective strategy if executed properly. By following what has been outlined throughout this guide and taking into consideration the fact that your target audience isn’t just a statistic but instead a living, breathing human with thoughts and emotions, you’ll be well on your way to achieving all of your marketing goals and objectives.
So, if you’ve been hesitant to dive deep into email marketing, thinking that it may be “dead”, think again! In just a short period, you’ll begin to truly reap the rewards of your digital labor, quickly seeing the value and benefits that email marketing provides.
Good luck!