In this digital world, email marketing is one of the most important components of every marketing strategy. In this guest blog post, Chris Richardson (journalist, editor, blogger, and friend of the Founder Institute) outlines some of the most important tips you need for a successful email marketing strategy.
Startups are thriving in today’s era. The world is constantly evolving, and so is the marketing environment. One of the most useful marketing practices that have helped so many startups grow is email marketing. With the establishment of social media, we may think that email marketing is slowly becoming obsolete.
That’s totally not true. This strategy is one of the best ways of finding new customers while keeping them loyal. Most startups consider that email marketing it’s not important so they decide to ignore it. They are making a big mistake because incredible opportunities may arise by using this marketing technique.
Whatever business are you running, exploiting this method will aid you a lot in your expansion process. Email marketing will help you to stay in touch with your subscribers and even help you transform the potential customers into customers.
Therefore, in the following article, we will share with you 20 email marketing tips that will definitely give your firm a boost.
1. Make it Easy to Register
When you are trying to gather customers make sure to make the registration process as easy as possible. You should ask only for a name and an email, that’s it. It would be a good idea to let people register by using their social media account.
2. Offer Something in Return
When asking for their emails make sure to offer them something in return. Like a free eBook, or a discount or anything that may seem valuable enough for them to give you their personal info.
3. Give Them an Idea about What Should They Expect From You
Make sure to tell your subscribers what kind of info they should await from you. You should tell them also when they should expect it. Always be honest and do not promise what you can’t deliver.
4. Make Everything Personal
If you already asked for their name, make sure to use it. Try to personalize each email that you send with the name of the person you are sending it to. Moreover, most of the email marketing tools should help you personalize your interaction with your prospects even more by giving you segmenting possibilities.
5. Make the Text Extremely Easy-to-Read
People will never waste more than a few minutes to read your email. Therefore, remember to format your text and titles in such a way that it will easily grab the attention of the readers. Even so, remember that each email should be short and on point.
6. Make Use of Social Media as a Way to Gather More Subscribers
Don’t forget about the social media platforms. Your website is not the only way in which you can get people to follow you. You should use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ to grab more emails. But, remember, before asking them to register, explain what their future benefits will be.
7. Don’t Break Your Word
Remember if you promised to send only one email each week, do not send more. Sending more emails won’t help you generate better results. If you still wish to send more emails, make sure to ask your subscribers first, or offer them a few options to personalize their subscription.
8. Most People Read Their Email on the Phone
More and more people are starting to use their smartphone instead of a laptop to read the news and their emails. Understanding that, make sure to create a strategy that will include mobile friendly emails.
9. Monitor Your Results
Whenever you start running a marketing campaign,ensurenot to forget checking the results. By doing this, aiming for an even more specific target audience for the next campaign should be easier.
10. Learn From Your Competitors
A great tactic that you may use is subscribing to your competition email list. You will be able to see how they are managing their marketing campaign and you may get valuable insights from them. Observe what they lack and add your twists.
11. Don’t Try to Keep Your Subscribers by Force
Don’t try to keep your subscribers by hiding the unsubscribe button. If they wish to unsubscribe give them the option. If you don’t give this option they will just move your emails into the spam list.
12. Send Your Subscribers a Welcome Email
Try sending your new subscribers a welcome email with a special offer or along with some free and valuable content. Try to focus on value first, and only after remind your subscribers that they have the option to pay for your products/services.
13. Never Forget About Your Subscribers
If you forget about your followers even for a few weeks, they will forget about you as well. And when you will send the next newsletter, it will probably be too late - because they have already marked your emails as spam.
14. Make the Content you Send Sharable
First of all, make sure to send content that people would want to share. And second of all, give them an easy way of sharing it. You may create a link that will enable people to share it on social media.
15. Always Be Friendly
You may use a friendly tone in your emails. Make your subscribers feel like they are your friends. You may even use their first name. Creating a connection like this will benefit you in the long term.
16. Use Writing Services In Case you are Out of Inspiration
There are a lot of writing services that may help you create unique and valuable content. Essay Geeks is just one example. So whenever you feel like you’re out of ideas, don’t hesitate to try some of these services.
17. Send Email Only If You Have Something Valuable to Say
This may seem pretty obvious, yet many companies send emails only with the purpose of shoving products down your throat. No one likes this.So, make sure that your newsletters offer quality content.
18. Never Buy Your Emails
When people give you their email, they are interested in what you have to say. So, when they will receive an email from you they will read it. In case you have acquired their personal information and e-mail from somewhere else, you’re basically being intrusive. Instead of buying your list, start building it from the scratch!
19. Always Ask For Email Verification
If you wish for your marketing campaign to be a success, make sure to ask your subscribers to verify their email. Quality over quantity is what you need. Whoever becomes inactive, it should be labeled likewise. The majority of email marketing tools are automatically doing this for you!
20. Never Use Black Hat Strategies to Gather Your Subscribers
If you wish your business to be seen as a trustworthy company, don’t try to cheat. Even if some times it might be extremely helpful, don’t do it. This includes buying lists, intruding people’s privacy, or anything that could make your prospects uncomfortable.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that email marketing is a great method to gather subscribers and keep them loyal. Therefore, make sure to manage your campaign with care. Never neglect your subscribers and always send valuable content.
Chris Richardson is a journalist, editor, and a blogger. He loves to write, learn new things, and meet new outgoing people. Chris is also fond of traveling, sports, and playing the guitar. Follow him on Facebook and Google+.
