Share
Email
marketing isn’t dead. In fact, it’s growing, and why wouldn’t it. According to
research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, its return on
investment is astounding. They found that for every $1 spent on email
marketing, the return, on average, is $32. Spend a buck, get 32 back. Not bad.
Let’s face it,
email marketing gets a bad rap. Many companies shy away from it for two
reasons:
- It’s not new, inventive, cutting-edge or exciting. Sure, but who cares if it works? Go back and read the first paragraph—the return is $32 for every $1 spent.
- It’s often―and most times unfairly―associated with spam. According to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, you’re not in violation if you’re not selling anything, you include your address and phone number, and you offer an easy opt-out (unsubscribe) link.
If you’re either thinking about utilizing email marketing—or do
and would like to enhance its value–he following tips will give you points to
consider what delivers one of the highest ROIs in digital marketing.
Build your list, don’t purchase it
The success of
your email campaign will only be as effective as the list you’re using. If you
have a great email list of prospects that fit your ideal client’s criteria
(e.g. age, occupation, income, education levels, zip codes), or have a source
that will provide a list like this, then you’re set. If you’re going to manage
it, the ability to segment your list will be important if you’ll have different
messages for various types of prospects.
Purchasing
lists is a minefield. One wrong step, and you could quickly lose the ability to
use one of the many ESPs (Email Service Providers) or ISPs (Internet Service
Providers) available to your organization. If an email recipient reports your
communication as spam, your ESP may shut you down quick, and for good. Any ESP worth
their weight will specify that you can’t use purchased lists.
Also, purchased lists can steer you directly into a SPAM trap. If a list provider has hundreds of thousands—or more—email addresses they sell, there’s a very good chance they won’t know if their database contains SPAM traps. Or, they may know it, but not care. They want you to purchase the list; they already have their money.
SPAM traps are addresses that have never been used or contain some
type of unique identifier. For instance, an email could contain @gnail instead
of @gmail. However, once an email is sent to one of these addresses, it tips
off the ISP operating the trap that they’ve processed that phony email. They
will probably blacklist your domain—not good. It’s possible to get
unblacklisted, but doing so isn’t a walk in the park. It involves a pretty
extensive justification and verification process, all stuff you won’t have time
for.
Day and Time
It’s been
proven time and again that the best day to send out emails is Tuesday.
Wednesdays and Thursdays are OK, but steer clear of Mondays and Fridays.
Studies have shown that just before lunch is the best time of the day to send
out emails. The next best time is between 8 pm and midnight. People like to
check their inbox prior to turning in for the night.
Mobile Optimized
Well over 50%
of people read emails on mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. So,
if your email campaign isn’t mobile optimized, a large chunk of your audience
may scroll right past your message.
Don’t Sell, Nurture
Email
campaigns are for lead nurturing, and the best way to accomplish this is by
educating readers on a topic they can use, either now or down the road. If you
have a newsletter or blog, an email campaign promoting them is one of the best
ways to nurture the relationship. Just ensure that the sign-up form is simple,
short and intuitive. If they have to work or think too much, you’ll lose them.
If readers
sense that they’re being sold to, you can forget about nurturing the
relationship. If you’re worried people will consider your email marketing
campaign as nothing more than spam, don’t sell─ever!
Always offer a simple opt-out
As mentioned
earlier, failing to offer an “unsubscribe” feature is against the law. But
don’t bury the opt-out feature in 2-point type in some hard-to-find nook or
cranny of the email. You wouldn’t like this, and the recipients of your emails
won’t either.
Questions about email campaigns or other
elements of a digital marketing strategy?
The fact that email
marketing is alive and well, and profitable, isn’t news to d2. The campaigns we
create and deploy for our clients get open and click-through rates that
consistently exceed industry metrics.
Talk to the tenured,
highly experienced professionals at d2 Designs. d2 is the most innovative
digital marketing agency, creates, executes and manages multi-marketing
solutions for customers with a focus on brand engagement that optimizes the
digital experience through traditional media, social media, lead gen and key
analytics, e-commerce and experiential events. Check us out at d2.designs,
or email us at info@d2.design.
And please follow us via social media for more great, informative digital
marketing tips and suggestions.