8 Email Marketing Strategies That Will Boost Sales

Email marketing is one of the most underrated, yet beneficial strategies ever invented to generate worthy leads. A 2015 study by the DMA found that for every $1 spent, email campaigns have an average of $38 return on investment (ROI). Email marketing is surprisingly cheap and effective enough in keeping in touch with your customers. As such, you need to come up with an effective strategy to achieve your set goals.

Your email marketing campaign strategy must answer these four Ws:

What is your message? 
Why do you want to send it out? 
When do you want to send it? 
Who are the email recipients? 

Email marketing is the key to establishing great relationships with both existing and potential clients. Building these relationships is key to encouraging repeat purchases from your customers!

Below are some proven tips and strategies that will elevate your email marketing from basic to platinum performance:

Build an audience

Before starting any email marketing, make sure you have an email list of individuals or organizations in your target market. Email marketing has evolved from mass email blasts to targeted, market-specific campaigns. Today, businesses focus less on mass email communication and more on strategically addressing market needs. Did you know that about 99% of website visitors don’t usually take any action on their first visit? So how do you capture this audience – most of which may never visit your website again?

Building an audience takes effort. You need to research and strategically grow your email list with contacts that fit your target demographics. A website opt-in is a great place to capture your potential market. The other key strategy to build an email list is to deploy lead magnets. A lead magnet is an enticing offer provided by a business in exchange for a potential client's contact information. It can be anything, like a contact form for newsletter sign-ups, quote requests, or coupon downloads!

Copy 

Email marketing requires an engaging copy that will entice your customers. I use the AIDA model for copywriting: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Ensure that your email content can do the four in the easiest way possible. So how do you do this? Use simple language and ensure that not only your persona, but your clients’ shines through words. Should the opening line be 'Dear Client' or 'Dear [Name]'? Ensure that everything is relatable and finally and most importantly, never forget the call to action. Click here to order, read more, request a quote, and learn more are examples of calls-to-action.

Design

Now that you have your copy, it’s time to design your email. Think through your content before you design your email, from the subject line to the images and even the links. Is your font consistent across all sections? What do you think about the colors?

The best way of approaching this is to think like a customer – what would appeal to you? Usually, using more images and illustrations works better than just words. This is because people may not read marketing emails. However, if there is something attractive, it will capture their attention, and they’ll consider looking at everything else more keenly. Make sure to name and link every artwork or image you use for better SEO. Finally, do not forget to put in social media icons like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to encourage sharing! They work together effectively and will bring you results.

Device Optimization 

Have you ever visited a website on your smartphone and seen a popup asking you to open it on a desktop for full details? That is an example of a website page that is not properly optimized. An email may look good on your laptop but can appear differently on your mobile phone after you send it. On average, 47% of all emails are opened on mobile devices. It's a major issue when almost half of your target customers can't view your messages as you intended. This will in turn reflect in the volume of business your email campaigns drive. In order to beat this, it is advisable to use a responsive email design. By so doing, you will ensure a seamless interaction with your content for everyone regardless of the device or browser.

Timing

Like every channel of communication, timing is key for email marketing. It is advisable to do extensive research on your audience list before you send a marketing email to them. The timing usually plays a significant part in the success of your email as it influences the open-rate and click-through-rate. Send your email when your audience is most likely online. This ensures they read it, engage with the content, and avoid marking it as spam.

Frequency

What do you do on days that you wake up and have several unread emails? Skim through the lines, open those that look important and mark all the rest as read? We feel the same way. What we mark as spam are often promotions, and, well, marketing emails. There is a thin line between keeping in touch with your customers and spamming them. After determining the best timing, consider how often you want to send emails. Email marketing frequency affects open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates. The frequency of emails varies by industry, ranging from every few days to monthly. Some email marketing platforms like Mailchimp give great insights into the level of email marketing performance within each specific industry. Keep in mind that overwhelming your subscribers' inboxes will likely result in them unsubscribing. Therefore, protect your potential clients by emailing them important things.

Email Marketing Automation

With the basics covered and a clear understanding of why you need an email marketing strategy, it's time to outline the steps that will simplify the process. This is done through email marketing automation. There isn't a one-size-fits-all model in marketing; what works for one entrepreneur may not work for another. Therefore, start by analyzing your needs before you move towards thinking about a solution. Automation should complement email marketing strategies, focusing on tasks that are predictable and repeatable. If not, take care of it yourself.

Automation is ideal for delivering messages to website visitors, lead generation, and prospect nurturing. The main benefits of email automation include: improved message targeting, improving engagement rates, and bringing in more qualified leads. Automation is a good fit for certain messages, such as reminders, post-purchase education, a “happy birthday” message. Send a "Welcome Email" that includes a special offer, a white paper, or a helpful guide that encouraged the contact to share their email. Automation can help customer loyalty programs by automatically sending rewards via email when customers earn a certain number of points.

Offer free, accurate information to build your credibility.

Depending on your industry, there is always something that can be offered for free. It could be anything, ranging from free consultation, a software trial, an informative newsletter – anything! Sending such information can be easily automated. Showing them that you have real value is imperative. To boost conversions, use automation to inform potential leads and customers about your brand, offerings, and advantages over competitors. Early on in the decision-making process, potential customers want to learn more about you. You want to learn more about them and find their email addresses to implement a lead nurturing strategy beyond your landing page or blog posts.

Highlight regular offers

Something about offers will always get to a consumer. Don't we all strive to save a little something even after making a purchase? Offering promotions like "buy one, get one free" on website purchases or discounts on visits between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm on Mondays can convert your email marketing audience into buyers. Additionally, consider using electronic coupons redeemable in-store. Email marketing tools like Mailchimp offer numerous templates that help create effective designs for your audience.

Always follow-up

Communication is defined as the exchange of information. When you meet a prospect at a networking event, be sure to collect their contact information and send a follow-up email. Email marketing is effective for both large audiences and following up with potential leads. By so doing, you will increase your conversion rate. You can also use automation to achieve this. Automated emails can inform potential leads or customers about your products or services before they convert, helping to encourage them to follow you and ultimately make a purchase. Automation emails can be sent to leads and customers involved in the decision-making process to help finalize their conversion. After conversion, these emails can check in on their experience, offer guidance, provide information links, or encourage repeat purchases.

Making your email marketing strategy work goes beyond just collecting email addresses and sending campaigns to subscribers. Create a deliberate plan to enhance your marketing efforts by helping your target market better identify with your brand. Contact us today for assistance in implementing an email marketing strategy that delivers great ROI.