Strategic email marketing
The marketing world has changed dramatically over the past few years, giving businesses more options to reach out to clients. While newer social media options like Twitter and Facebook should be a part of every business’ marketing program, email marketing shouldn’t be forgotten. It’s a cheap and effective way to keep the relationship strong with your customers and prospects.
With minimal time spent, strategic email marketing allows you to tailor your messages, offers and solutions to the needs of your customers.
Here are five steps to creating an engaging email marketing strategy:
1. Planning
- The content is more important than the design. Consider if it is of real value and interest to your customers
- Have a clear and defined purpose, whether is it to update your customers, to expand your contact list through send-to-a-friend features, to sell products, to encourage repeat business or to reward your existing customers with special offers
- Consider which clients you are targeting with each email and keep the message relevant to them
2. Contact list management
- Build your contact list of existing customers and prospects
- Increase your contact list with email sign-up forms, capturing opt-in at time of enquiry or purchase, send-to-a-friend functionality (note: you must ensure you adhere to your local SPAM legislation)
- Maintain your contact list by removing those who unsubscribe and keeping contact details up to date
3. Email creation
- Design and construction:
- Consider if the design effectively reflects your brand
- Use images to vary the content
- Include calls to action that will encourage people to go to your site or use your services
- Include links to more information like your website, Facebook or Twitter
- Make sure the from address is recognisable to your customers
- Use a compelling subject line because this will impact whether people actually open your emails
- Build the campaign
- There are many email providers out there. Try a few to find the one that best suits your needs. I have tried Mail Chimp, Constant Contact and VeMail
- Test in different email programmes to ensure it is delivered and presented as you would expect
4. Send it
5. Do it all over again, and regularly. One newsletter does not make a marketing strategy. Consider how often your clients want to hear from you, and if you don’t know, ask them. Plan a schedule and stick to it.
Robyn Mayne
Children’s portrait photographer, workshop facilitator & customer experience fanatic
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Robyn operates the popular photography & lifestyle blog Today is Different and provides photography courses, workshops, retreats and networking events for photographers.
Robyn is offering all PhotoMerchant customers a 25% discount off two day workshops in Sydney (Register here and use the discount code pm1210a, or get 10% off consulting services anywhere in Australia by quoting the same discount code. |
