Email is one of the toughest digital marketing tactics to master. You'll often hear people say "email marketing still works!" – and while that's true, email is a difficult channel due to how much competition there is for a limited amount of customer attention.
Think about your inbox; chances are you've been successfully marketed to via email, and maybe you've even made purchases as a direct result of receiving a timely message. However, there is an immeasurable number of emails that fail because a) they are poorly executed or b) they hit your spam folder and you never see them. Even when emails do actually get through to you, there are so many of them you only choose to read a couple, usually based on the catchiest subject lines.
Luckily, for our latest digital marketing video, we tackle the ins-and-outs of email. Grab your popcorn and enjoy our take on the 5 Advanced Techniques to Sky Rocket Your Email Marketing:
1. Targeting and Segmentation Through Email Marketing
One of the biggest email marketing mistakes businesses make is sending the same blasts to their entire list of subscribers or potential customers. Digital marketing doesn't work like traditional direct mailing, which simply targets every single person on a list or in a certain area.
With so many details readily accessible to marketers, there's no excuse for not segmenting email lists and sending specially crafted emails to your various customer personas. If you have a number of products or services, decide which ones appeal to the different personas and send very specific messages to these groups. Only have one product or service? That's fine – segment your list by differentiating the reasons why your various personas want or need your offerings and build your emails around those pain points.
2. Personalize Your Digital Marketing
Getting to know your customers is only the first step to improving your results; the second step is learning how to apply this knowledge and send more personalized emails. Whether it's acknowledging birthdays and anniversaries with discount emails or creating email offerings around a customer's purchase history, using the information you have on each of your personas is vital.
3. Lead Nurturing and Email Marketing Automation
One of the great things about email marketing is that once you have your campaigns up and running, certain components – like welcome emails and other messages that move customers along the purchase journey – can be completely automated. Beyond the initial setup and organization, this requires no additional time on your part. What marketer wouldn't benefit from an automated process that pushes customers down the buying funnel?
4. Refine Your Message by Split Testing
The reality of email marketing is that many things have to go right for your emails to be read. From getting the timing down to crafting the perfect subject line, there are a number of vital components to the perfect email. This is why split testing – also called A/B testing – is the biggest behind-the-scenes method for improving your email marketing. Split testing is an advanced technique that will help you understand the things you need to do to not only get your messages read but also have your potential customers complete the actions you intend them to take.
5. Make Your Digital Marketing Mobile-Friendly
In 2016, most of your customers will read their emais on a mobile phone. Some may even read part of an email on a desktop computer and the rest on the phone, while they're on the go. The point is if you're going to invest in email marketing, ensure that you invest in mobile-friendly campaigns. In the long run, mobile-friendly email is the key to nurturing more leads and converting them to customers with timely, targeted, and personal messages.
If you would like more information on advanced email marketing techniques, get in touch with your local WSI Digital Marketing Consultant today.
