Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools your business can use. Everybody has an email account that they check at least once a day, but the most recent statistics show that people receive 121 emails per day on average, so you need to stand out from the crowd – here’s how.
Email Marketing Campaigns
There are, of course, more than just four types of email marketing campaigns. However, there is no point wasting your time and money trying to do all of them!
It is your choice how often you choose to send your emails. Once a month is a good benchmark to aim for if you’re starting out. Depending on your content and schedule, this can be upped to once a week or multiple times a week. Here are some of the best email marketing campaigns to send to your audience:
Newsletters
Newsletters are perhaps the most popular email marketing campaign out there. That’s because they can do it all – promote your content, send reminders about upcoming events and encourage your customers to engage with your brand.
The simple format of a newsletter, paired with some dynamic graphics and snappy CTAs, helps attract the reader to your content by doing the work for them. They don’t have to hunt for your website or trawl through your posts for your latest content – it’s right there!
Newsletters are usually sent on a consistent schedule, such as the last day of the month. This makes them great for monthly wrap-ups or summaries of what your company has been up to in the past month.
Acquisition Emails
Also known as lead-nurturing emails, acquisition emails are a great campaign to convert leads into customers. These emails help guide your leads through a sales funnel and build trust with them. They are not yet customers, but this type of email marketing campaign can help them get there!
Acquisition email campaigns are made up of more than just one email. They are a sequence in which you demonstrate to potential customers that your company is trustworthy and valuable. For example, you may send them a welcome email thanking them for signing up to receive emails and providing more information about your products or services.
Other lead nurturing emails can include offers and promotional events for new customers or provide them with more information on a product or topic they have recently viewed on your website.
Informational Emails
Informational emails provide a lot of value to your customer. They help bring your audience up to speed with any new events, products, or announcements they might have missed.
There are many forms of informational emails, including dedicated emails sent to invite customers to upcoming events or announce a new whitepaper. Because they contain so much valuable information, these emails need to be well-presented and snappy to prevent consumers from losing interest due to the number of words and detail.
Consider including a few videos in your informational emails – videos are proven to be highly engaging and can hook your customers in!
Promotional Emails
Another major cornerstone of email marketing is promotional emails. Everybody loves a discount or a sale, but people receive so many promotions from different companies that yours has to have more value and stand out above the rest.
Promotional emails should never be as blunt as saying you have 15% off your entire range. Focus instead on how your product or service will provide additional value. Illustrate your points with thoughtful, well-written copy, such as testimonials.
The best promotional emails don’t feel like promotions. Incorporate promotions into birthday emails or information updates so your customers are not bombarded with codes and products.
Email Marketing Tips
Even when you have decided which types of emails you will send, getting started can still be a bit of a minefield.
Here are some other things you may want to consider:
- Test your emails – send your emails to yourself and your team before sending them out to your audience. This way, you’ll be able to identify any broken links or poor images before they go out en masse. Tools such as Mailchimp allow you to send as many test emails as you like before launching your campaign.
- Avoid spam – spam emails are usually quickly deleted, so make sure that none of your emails are using tactics that could relegate them to the spam folder, such as too many exclamation marks or using all capital letters. Also, avoid sending too many emails in general – your audience may get fed up and flag your content as spam too.
- Don’t neglect copy – the point of emails is to attract your customers’ attention and keep them engaged. Using high-quality copy within your email content can help to weave compelling stories and craft catchy CTAs that will draw your audience in time and time again.
- Personalise your content – it has been proven repeatedly that personalised email content has a greater chance of being opened. Make sure your customers know that you value them by taking the extra step to ensure that each email is addressed to them personally.
Studies have shown that useful content receives the most clicks and opens in email campaigns. What consumers deem valuable content can vary but mainly includes eBooks and blank templates for them to fill in themselves.
Depending on your niche, you can incorporate this type of content into all of your email marketing campaigns – for example, offering an eBook in your lead nurturing campaign to encourage them to become a customer.
Conclusion
Deciding on a dedicated email marketing campaign takes a lot of time and effort. Planning content, how often you send emails, at what time, and to who is a long process, but one that pays off – email marketing has one of the biggest returns on investment of any marketing strategy.
Remember: every email has to have value for your audience or risk going straight in the bin. Don’t focus on quantity – keep your eye on quality and grow from there.
