Email Marketing as Some Must-Have Tools

Even with the advent of newer methods of marketing goods and services, email marketing still holds a strong spot in the list of marketing options. This is an important method of strengthening connections with your leads and is arguably a consistent winner amongst others. In this article, we go into the usefulness of this marketing tool and how to get the best from it.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a direct approach to marketing that involves sending messages in email form to actual and prospective clients.

Apart from responses to customer inquiries, all other emails sent to customers are considered email marketing. It is a type of internet marketing that helps with generating leads and building healthy and productive relationships with customers.

History of Email Marketing

Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer sent the first email in 1971. He also introduced the “@” symbol. The first email contained a streak of alphanumeric characters. The first email marketing was done by Gary Thuerk in 1978.

He was the head of marketing at Digital Equipment Corp. He sent direct emails to inform people about a new product. Although his list had only 400 email addresses, the action produced $13 million in sales.

The internet became more available to the masses during the 90s and this lead to a serious change in how people communicated and shared information. The usefulness of emails in marketing also became obvious to marketers.

To prevent abuse, some regulatory updates were implemented. For example, every marketing email must allow for the recipient to opt-out, should they want to.

Types of Email Marketing

For the best results, email marketing must be strategic and calculated. Below are some of the types of email marketing used by brands today.

The Welcome Email (A Series):

These are a series of emails you send to a new subscriber or customer. These should be sent as soon as possible and at intervals to set the tone for subsequent ones. Through these emails, you introduce your brand to your new customer.

You can also invite them to your social media, ask them to fill survey forms, etc. Feel free to use a survey maker by LeadQuizzes for that. Important perks to improve the success of these emails include showcasing your brand identity properly to stand out among competitors. Also, you can give a welcome bonus or discount on offers.

Standard Email Campaign:

Almost everybody has at least one of these in their inbox. These are emails sent about products and services offered and they are usually less strategic. However, sending a dozen look-alike emails will not likely yield good results.

It helps to be more progressive about it (the preceding email should be some kind of continuation from the last. Using popular terms or slags, infusing humor, offering discounts, or free products are ways to spice up these standard campaigns.

Campaign in Season:

These include emails sent during festive seasons or summer/ spring/ winter/ autumn. For improved results, it is advised to have a build-up to the celebration days. Have a list of relevant holidays in your operating country and draft emails in preparation for them. Discounts and bonuses for a limited period are also useful here.

Advantages of Email Marketing

#1. You can reach a global audience

People use email all over the world. Hence, this is a useful way of communicating with international and local clients at the same time.

#2. It is easy to start and measure progress

Once you identify your target audience and lay your hands on the necessary tools, you can start sending those successful emails.

#3. You can send specialized messages to target groups

Being able to group your clients according to their needs means that you will be able to send them personalized messages.

#4. It is an affordable and efficient marketing option

#5. It is permission-based and shareable

This means that your actual and potential customer’s wishes are respected concerning receiving your messages. They can choose to opt out of your emails.

#6. It produces rapid results and is a very safe investment

Disadvantages of Email Marketing

#1. There a possibility of undelivered emails

Sending multiple messages at once, one might not be delivered due to network speed or capacity.

#2. The file size requirements must be obeyed

The larger the size of component files in your email, the longer it will take to load. Hence, you need to reduce the sizes of photos, documents, videos, and other files they might contain.

#3. A successful email campaign requires some special resources and skills

A successful marketing email can only be designed with some level of skill at doing it. The content of the email must be purposeful and simple.

#4. Your emails can irritate people who are not interested in your products

People can get irritated when your brand keeps sending them messages that they are uninterested in. On your part, you must include an “opt-out” option for them.

#5. Designing emails that appear uniformly on all devices and platforms might pose a challenge

An email might appear differently on different devices. User/ Interface Experience design skills are needed to optimize this.

Building an Email List

There are different ways to build an email list with many relevant leads. The best method is to build lists based on contacts as it is harder to attract a new customer than to keep existing ones.

You can build an email list using the following methods:

• Website pop-ups and slide-ins
• Put out a signup notice
• Host a giveaway
• Create an online community
• Leverage on networks

The best tip to keep in mind is to never let a contact or customer leave without having the opportunity to subscribe to your newsletter. The chances that they will opt-in increases with the degree of value you show them. This must also be put in mind.

What Does a Successful Email Template Contain?

There’s a way to compose marketing emails that are not a long, boring read but are short and effective. An effective marketing email should be seen as a copy that is always aimed at converting to sales. Let’s review the components of a successful template.

The Header

Your subject line is what shows up in notifications and to catch and hold the attention of the recipient, it must be short and striking. Action-based and personal lines that people can relate to at their best.

Your brand name should be visible and be something they can recollect easily. Also, edit the message preview to reveal important details that your customers would want to see.

The Body

Once your customer clicks on your message, a huge part of the marketing exercise has been done. The body of the email must also do justice. Your brand identity is key, so, your brand logo and colors must be visibly present.

Keep the message short and concise (some 20 lines, at most) and sprinkle some photos here and there (3-4 photos). Finally, you must leave a call to action. This doesn’t necessarily need to be at the end. Positioning it at a point where they must have read enough to be spurred is just fine.

The Footer

A good closing is as important as a good beginning. Your email footer should contain contact information, address, social media links, and an unsubscribe button.

Best Email Marketing Platforms

There are numerous email marketing platforms available. Some offer free plans. These platforms enable you to set up periodic emails. Some of them include;

• MailChimp
• Constant Contact
• GetResponse
• Sendinblue
• Mailer Lite
• SendX
• ActiveCampaign and many others.

Must-Have Email Marketing Tools

 icon-angle-right Reverse Email Lookup Tool

This a tool that is used to identify people and find out information about them using their email addresses. The email lookup service can be used to find out a person’s contact address, phone details, and social media accounts. There are numerous lookup software that you can use such as CocoFinder

Benefits

Reverse email lookup helps you determine whether the emails you have belonged to real people and this might also give am insight into their suitability for your products.

 icon-angle-right JPEGmini

JPEGmini helps you maintain good photo resolution whilst reducing the size of such images. This has been particularly helpful in making newsletters that can load easily in different network conditions.

Benefits

When you reduce the file size of photos used in your marketing email, the loading time for the visual constituents is reduced. This covers the impatience of some customers. This is very useful for mobile audiences too.

 icon-angle-right Email Spam Test

You can come up with the most enticing and effective marketing email and still have it fall into the spam section of your customers’ email. Therefore there is a need to test for spammy qualities. Mail Tester is an example of this tool that is used to determine to what degree your email will be considered spam.

Benefits

This tool enables you to edit your marketing emails appropriately to bypass spam filters in your actual and prospective clients’ emails. This will increase conversion rates. Running the checks multiple times will yield different results here it is safe to run them.

 icon-angle-right BombBomb

Due to the large amount of information encountered daily, the human attention span has reduced over the years. Hence, your marketing email must break the ice effectively enough to hold the recipients’ attention. Visual elements like photos and videos are effective for this. BombBomb enables you to send custom video messages to your clients.

Benefits

This tool helps you hold your recipients’ attention for longer increasing conversion rates in the long run. It is also useful for tracking the success of the emails sent.

Conclusion

Email marketing has been around and has improved over the years to refine the results obtained. Each email sent out is to be designed in such a way that it leads the recipient to click the right links to make a purchase. The email marketing tools discussed above are a must-have for brands that want to be successful at email marketing.

About the Author!

Emily Andrews is the marketing communications specialist at RecordsFinder, an online public records search company. Communications specialist by day and community volunteer at night, she believes in compassion and defending the defenseless.