Email Marketing Strategies
Direct email marketing is a very cost effective format for email-based advertising campaigns where separate advertisements are delivered to a selective list of recipients. The emails, which can be HTML, text, or multimedia, appear much like regular web-based ads and are presented to the recipients just like they would receive a print ad. The recipient can then respond by clicking on a link to the advertiser’s Web page or going directly to the company’s Web site. However, unlike print ads, recipients of emailed advertisements typically have not acknowledged receiving the email before continuing to the advertiser’s Web site.
Advantage
Direct email marketing has one major advantage over social media marketing: it is cheaper. In comparison to social media marketing, in which an advertiser must establish a large network of followers in order to generate enough interest to prompt them to act on a brand’s behalf, direct emails can be sent at any time. Furthermore, the cost of creating and distributing emails is lower than the cost of distributing advertisements through social media, often no more than five dollars per email. This is because unlike in-person ads, marketers do not need to pay to have emails distributed. The cost of having these emails displayed in recipients’ inboxes, however, is still significantly more than the cost of purchasing sponsored links or banner ads on Web sites with user bases that are thousands of times larger than that of an average email client.
Custom Messages
Direct email marketing also offers marketers the ability to create and deliver custom messages. In addition to the ability to customize the subject line and body of the message as well as the keywords and content to be used in advertising, marketers have the ability to tailor messages to recipients based on their individual characteristics, likes and dislikes, or even interests. E.g., if a client is married, the marketing messages sent to the in-box can be geared towards those who are married. Likewise, if a user has purchased a particular item from a specific merchant, then the marketing messages sent out to recipients with the same shopping history can be tailored to those who have already purchased the items being advertised.
E-mail marketing
While most Internet marketers would agree that building subscriber lists is a key component of e-marketing campaigns, some marketers would disagree. While some marketers feel that building subscriber lists is important, they believe that it takes too long to achieve success, and that the cost of having subscribers is more than worth the benefits of e-marketing campaigns. Because of this, many opt-in lists are considered useless by many marketers. However, by offering special reports or information downloads through email or asking the reader to sign up for future services, marketers can greatly increase the number of subscribers they have while drastically reducing the cost associated with having those subscribers signed up. This is where email marketing software can come into play.
Software
Email marketing software is basically a computer program that aids in creating, sending, and managing email marketing campaigns. It generally functions as a sort of spreadsheet software that can be used to create and track various elements of a promotional campaign, such as demographics of the audience, which promotional offers are working, how effective those offers are, how long it takes the audience to receive and open these offers, etc. Depending on the needs of the company, the email marketing software may also be able to track the response rate of the promotional emails. These pieces of software can also be used for tracking the performance of the transactional emails, and can be used to determine what is working and what is not. This allows marketers to make adjustments to their promotional strategies, which can ultimately help improve the amount of sales that are generated.
Strategy
When it comes to creating an effective email marketing strategy, it is best to start off with a good product. Not only does it help define your brand, but it also makes it easier to build a strong email marketing list. Once you have created a good product and gathered your email list, the next step is to send out your first email campaign. Remember to always keep your content relevant and timely, while making sure to stand out from the competition. This will help to ensure that your campaign establishes itself as a successful initiative.
Question
How do you manage your email marketing strategy? Leave a comment below with your answer.