Yes! However, today’s email marketing requires “new-school” workflow and automation strategies.
We already know your sentiment. You hear the words “email marketing” and instantly think of monthly inbox newsletters, emails from people you don’t know, or those insidious spam ads that go straight to junk mail. Sounds a little “old-school,” right? Well, that’s because it is. However, emails themselves are not, especially when you apply best-practices, strategy-driven workflow, and marketing automation to your email correspondence efforts. As such, email marketing still works if you do it right.
Emails have gone from the monthly newsletter to today’s relevant content, workflow, and marketing automation.
Workflow is merely diagraming a process of steps based on how a user will interact with your emails and website.
A simple example would be an email that asks a question and has “yes” and “no” hyperlinks. So, if users select “yes,” it would trigger email series A. And if they choose “no,” it would prompt email series B. When marketers diagram this, it’s called the workflow. In fact, the workflow is imperative to understanding your buyers’ journey and what content is most valuable to them. After determining what that content is, establish your workflow before writing any emails.
By knowing what content your buyers need and value most, along with the best way to present it to them, the process of developing the right email content becomes more comfortable and second nature.
So, what has changed when it comes to email marketing?
To answer this question frankly, we’d have to say, a lot! Buyers prefer to consume content that solves problems rather than reading blasts that have a salesy-type pitch to them.
With every explosive shift that takes place in the world of digital marketing, businesses must understand that change is not an option; it’s a requirement. Making the appropriate adjustments is vital to their online marketing success. Moreover, each strategy and tactic a business uses will be crucial to consistently reaching the targeted audience and seeing their ROI.
Some of the distinctive changes in email marketing are as follows:
| Email Marketing | Old School | New School |
| REACH | “Spray and Pray” – One blanket email sent to everyone. | Segmentation – Unique content sent to specific groups based upon their needs and sales journey. |
| DELIVERY | “Wordy and Salesy” – Marketers would deliver emails with extensive sales pitches, content, and calls-to-action. | Three S’s – Keeping emails simple, short, and sincere. Also, quickly getting to the point helps keep the reader’s attention and foster action. |
| FUNCTIONALITY | “One-off emails” | Automation – A system based on the user’s interaction with your emails and or website. |
1. REACH – Today’s marketers utilize and understand the importance of personalization.
It’s crucial to quickly capture your reader’s attention, connect with them on a personal level, and immediately get to the point. Each personalization element in an email promptly communicates to your readers that you understand what they want and that you can help them.
2. DELIVERY – New-school emails have the Three Ss – they will be short, simple, and sincere!
Today’s top email marketing goal is to get to the point quickly, not to lose the recipient’s attention. Good lead generation and email marketing strategies will get visitors to your site, but excellent and engaging content will keep them there. Short, simple, and highly-connective email messages with images and bullet-points make it easy for a targeted audience to view, read, and act on their interests.
3. FUNCTIONALITY – Emails today are responsive and utilize marketing automation.
Marketers understand that their recipients must be able to access an email on a smartphone, desktop pc, or any other digital device they utilize. Responsiveness is why businesses must design emails for all digital devices. If a recipient doesn’t open an email after a few days, marketing automation will follow up on lost opportunities.
So, why do some email campaigns work and others don’t?
The number one reason why some email marketing campaigns don’t work is that they have **No IMPACT**! In other words, some businesses and marketers fail to plan and develop a strategy that will reach their targeted audience. As such, companies that do not plan will also not make an impact on their email recipients because they:
- simply send out newsletters without making a connection
- push emails that only showcase their work, or
- email information that isn’t relevant to the needs of the site visitor
However, successful email marketing campaigns usually start with a well-thought-out plan and execution strategy to reach customers and site visitors who are looking for certain products or services. For this reason, companies should design and channel emails around connecting quickly to site visitors whose needs match with what they offer. In fact, on the website’s homepage and within the email, your business should present the solution right away.
The critical element that every business owner and manager must first understand is that people use search engines to find answers and solutions. Visitors primarily read emails, come to a website, or search online not because of a company’s name or what that company does, but because they believe that company “may” offer a solution to a problem.
However, a second reason why many campaigns don’t work is that some companies do not follow best-practices for today’s email marketing tactics.
FREE DOWNLOAD – “The Power of Email Marketing”
What are today’s new-school email marketing tactics and strategies?
We’ve provided a nice down-and-dirty list for you to sink your teeth into below!
1. Personalization of emails – We mentioned earlier in this article, using their names and other personal data to differentiate emails is entirely sufficient for reaching your target audience.
2. List segmentation – Every email isn’t relevant to all of your database, so make sure you send to each type of recipient precisely what they need to move further down the sales cycle.
3. Automated campaigns – Based on how a user interacts with your website and other emails, other relevant content can automatically be sent to database subscribers.
4. Testing and optimization – Which subject lines and calls to action are producing the best results. Email database sampling.
5. Responsive design – Emails should look good and read well on desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices.
6. Avoid this mistake – The one major misstep that some businesses still take today is to send a long, drawn-out email that’s chocked-full of text. The majority of your recipients will automatically delete or disregard an email that is long and full of words. If they have to work too hard to figure out what you’re saying, they will stop reading after a few seconds.
7. Visual engagement – Use of simple imagery, graphics, and video relevant to the content. This will help keep visitors engaged on the page longer and compel them to act.
When you need help with what you don’t know, it’s time to connect with a reliable marketing partner.
At BUILDINGBLOCKS, we’re here for you as a reliable business marketing partner to help you fill in the gaps when it comes to executing a successful email marketing campaign. We can become a vital extension of your existing marketing department or work as your fully outsourced firm. In either case, we can help you leverage the strategies necessary to achieve your marketing objectives and build business success.
Ready to get started? Connect with us online, or give us a call today at 281-203-0529.
