Ensuring Effective Email Marketing

Email marketing is the most cost-effective tool you can use to reach your customers and clients. New products, new promotions, and general company news can be easily relayed to thousands and more.

The great aspect of email marketing is you have a platform that can relay any type of message. Simple copy regarding a new clothing line with a few pictures; a new industrial pump with copy, specs, images, and a link to your website; a discount on all car batteries and installation for the month. Whether you have a third party handle your email marketing or have a dedicated team, this platform can help your sales grow.

How do you assure my email marketing campaigns attract customers? There are many experts on this subject but there are also basic guidelines for your content to ensure success. The subject line is THE key factor.

It’s important that this be consistent and if feasible to also describe the content to encourage recipients to open the email. This works as an invitation to read more. A consistent subject line also provides brand awareness. They’ll remember it from last time.

Content is the second factor to make sure response rates are higher when the content fits the audience. High quality must be consistent. When the recipients have previously read good content in your emails, this will resound with your customers.

Never settle for average content as it could be hard to win back recipients you disappoint. Make sure that the content is of interest to the people on your list so research your target group and include content that is highly relevant to them.

As stated previously, clickable links are a great tool that enhances your email marketing. Something as simple as “more information,” to certain pages on your website, to a chemical compatibility chart for industrial customers. These links can allow your customers to reach a world of information, giving your company more mindshare in the eyes of your customers.

Purchased Email List

How much does an email list cost? The cost of email lists vary depending on their quality. Business email lists prices are higher than consumer lists. Mail list brokers can also provide lists with certain characteristics. For example, you could purchase a Chicago email list.

When you purchase an email list, you need to comply with laws and regulations. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act into legislation. In general, the CAN-SPAM Act contains few regulations that pertain to emails that businesses send to their existing customers or recipients who have opted-in to receive emails from you.

Some email marketing services will not handle purchased email lists, so be sure to do your due diligence before choosing one. Scrubbing and actively optimizing your purchased list is vital to ensure you are reaching the right people, particularly when handling consumer emails. It also ensures that you are not reaching the wrong people, which can hurt your reputation.

You should only purchase a list that meets the criteria of your target audience. Once you have obtained a list, you should scrub it for invalid or bad email addresses. After you send your first emails, you should remove emails that from your list that do not respond. You can sell an email list and you can buy an email list in the U.S., but we recommend building your own email list.

Building Your Email List

The first thing you want to do is make sure that you’re offering something to your customers and to anyone who visits your website. Just asking them to sign up for your email list is definitely not going to cut it. Who needs yet another email cluttering up their inbox every day or even every week?

That’s why offering a discount on your product or service is a good idea. People love to sign up in order to get coupons. They also tend to sign up for things that are free. Offering a free gift with purchase or offering a free piece of content or information that they want are also good ways to get people to sign up.

So what are the best practices for your email marketing campaigns?

• Email subject lines should be no longer than 50 characters and no less than 25. Too little information on the subject matter can be vague for the customer. Too much and your message gets muddied.
• Make sure your subject line is compelling. This gives the readers an idea of what your email is all about. This will ensure the recipients will be more compelled to open the email.
• The body of your email should be less than 600 pixels wide. Certain devices cannot support large width emails, and even on computers they look to large and overwhelming.
• As referenced before, links are a great way to reference articles and other information. The article should be referenced before the link as a great way to drive readers to your website. This keeps the email shorter and enables you to see click-through data.
• Do research on spam filtering words to make sure your wording in the body of your email doesn’t cause your email never to be seen.
• Email marketing list must be maintained properly from “opt-outs” and bad email addresses. Many companies will ask website visitors or current customers to “opt in” to your email campaigns. This will keep your open rate high.
• If you can segment your customers or potential customers by the offer or the service, you can maintain a normal “recency.” sending of emails. No matter how great your services or products are, no one wants to get an email every week with the same information. Segment your body and content to keep your email fresh.
• Research the last compliance on anti-spam and data privacy rules. Canada has especially tight regulations that change frequently

Email marketing is an essential and inexpensive tool to connect with clients and prospects. From events to services, this tool is a great way to keep connected and garner new clients.

SEO Design Chicago specializes in Digital Marketing services for companies of all sizes, and our search engine and review experts can help ensure sure your great reviews stay front and center. Contact us for a free consultation – we’re excited to help you succeed.  

FAQs about Email Marketing

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