Email marketing is an efficient method that has been used since the beginning of the Internet. Today spam and junk mail filters keep most unwanted emails out of an email inbox, but when email marketing is done well, both the recipient and sender benefit. Keep reading to see how to improve your subscribers’ lives and your pockets.
A simple, but often overlooked, part of running a successful email marketing campaign is validating the email addresses on your list. You don’t want to waste precious time hunting down addresses and resending e-mails after getting dozens of bounced back messages from invalid addresses. This can be a waste of your time!
Anything that you email you should proofread first. The content of your emails, from subject to footer, must be typo-free and properly written. Before sending out your email, test the layout in a few different email clients to be sure it can be read the way you would like it to be read. Additionally, test all hyperlinks in your email and double-check that they point to the right place.
Personalize each marketing message as much as you can. Customers will respond more positively to such messages rather than all the ones that are bland or impersonal. When these messages are from an important person in the company, such as the President or CEO, it gives a better impression to your customers.
You want to make certain your emails are rich in content by putting in helpful information and not just making it into a sale’s pitch. Send subscribers information they can’t find on your site. Include offers for your products or services. Send greetings for holidays or a personalized message for birthdays for instance.
Target your chosen audience. When you have a substantial number of readers, brainstorm ways to have them sign up friends. It is important to add a subscribe link to your emails. With any luck, people can forward it to friends that may be interested. Your subscriber base will grow by itself.
Getting permission before sending emails to someone, is of utmost importance to doing good business. If they have not, they may send an abuse report to your ISP, web host or bulk email provider. Your email provider might even drop you due to a mass amount of complaints being filed by consumers.
Try mixing up your format to be more personal. If your messages in email marketing are in HTML format, try sending messages written in text format on occasion. This can help your customers relate to you and your products.
Don’t put critical information in images when sending emails. Many email clients won’t automatically show images. This could possibly interfere with your customers viewing the email correctly. Use clear and readable text for your relevant information, and ensure that all images have a descriptive alt tag.
Test out variations of what you want to use on your subject line by using A/B testing. To do this, simply select an email and then send it to one half of your mailing list with one subject line, and the other half with a different subject line. This will allow you to check out which subject line is the most effective, as well as which subject line gets ignored the most.
All images included in the messages should be tagged with Alt data. If an image fails to load or the recipient’s client refuses to load images, the image’s alt tag will appear. These tags should be descriptive and relevant to the image they replace, so that readers can still grasp the intent of the message. Use these on your links too.
Try using different techniques when you are email marketing. Don’t just check online, but head to your local library or bookstore too. You can probably find a number of classes or workshops in your neighborhood, so be sure to attend as many as you can.
Use your emails to provide customers with incentives. People will buy something from you if you provide them with a reason to do so. For example, you can offer free shipping on purchases over a certain minimum dollar amount for those who click on a certain link and place an order on your site.
Provide an option so people can sign on to your mailing list. This can be anywhere on your site, as long as there is an easily located place where your subscribers may go to update their preferences.
On your sign-up page, give your customers the option of providing their first name. This way, you can customize each recipient’s email so that it addresses them individually, making your message seem more personal. When a customer is identified by name, they feel less anonymous and emails are welcome.
Be sure that your emails have more information than a simple sales pitch. Emails should be newsletters that carry pertinent information about your niche, the industry or your business. People usually don’t appreciate a blunt sales pitch and this may turn off many potential customers. Though the ultimate purpose of the newsletter format is to make sales, it is important to offer customers something more than just blatant selling tactics.
Wish your subscribers a happy birthday. When your subscribers are signing up, give them the opportunity to provide their birth date. You can then send an automatic birthday greeting on the appropriate day. Just this simple step will go a long ways in making your customers feel like they are remembered and special. This can be especially true if you add a promotional code, discount or coupon for them.
If it is done correctly, the recipient of your email will not see your messages as marketing. If you give your readers a value or service, they will be excited to view your current and future emails. This will help your brand. Your loyal client base will return in the future and continue to use your service. Use the tips outlined above and you will soon see the benefits of email marketing.
