Email marketing is one of the subjects that is continually in the marketing spotlight. Done well it can reap huge rewards, done poorly and you can end up being labelled as a spammer. I’ve previously written about 8 top tips for improving your response rates, but when scanning the internet for more interesting hints and tips, I found a great post by an internet marketer called Gobala Krishnan.
Reading Gobala’s post he suggests the two main components of successful email marketing are:
1) the list,
2) the content.
The List
I like his thinking about the importance of your ‘relationship’ with the list. The better you know your list the greater the response you are likely to achieve.
But how do you improve your relationship?
The key is segmentation, as with any other marketing campaign. Try to identify groups of people with similar traits, whether that’s geography, age group, sex, needs and wants, or other. Use whatever you can interpret from your list data and start to group people, or segment them. Once you have your specific segments you’ll be able to better tailor your message to that specific group.
Gobala goes on to talk about frequency and recommends getting in touch every 4-8 weeks. This really depends on your product, list segments and your objectives. If you have customers that make frequent repeat purchases, then you could try to increase the frequency of purchase by emailing every 3 weeks rather than 4.
The Content
The content is king approach is also important. I’ve written before about the need to add value to increase your list, but also keep people interested. But some simple sales and advertising techniques would also be useful. Try reading Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy for some great ideas.
Also, consider Gobala’s suggestions:
1. Create short, appealing headlines and personalise your emails.
It’s a no brainer in direct marketing, if you address your letter to your recipient it’s more likely to get opened.
2. Add one link only.
I’ve worked with plenty of clients that send emails selling pretty much their whole catalogue. The result, very few click throughs. By using only one or two links to your products there are fewer options and therefore it’s an easier decision to make.You will also find there are less opportunities for leakage.
3. Create good copy.
Again, I suggest you read David Ogilvy’s writing on this subject, a well known and respected copy writer. Two tips I have taken from Mr Ogilvy are:
- to write an attention grabbing headline – “every headline should appeal to the reader’s self interest…It should promise her a benefit”.*
- body copy should be written as if you are talking to the woman next to you at a dinner party. You should write as if she has asked you a question and you are trying to answer it.
Think again about whether you are adding value. Ideally you want to get repeat customers.
So there you have it, some ideas to improve your email marketing response rates. I’ll say it again, read Gobala Krishnan’s blog entry and also David Ogilvy’s writing – one of the most successful advertisers and copy writers of all time. One final point is to think about testing.
Try split testing every campaign you run on a small sample of your list. Change the headline, or the copy, when you send your emails and work out which has better conversion rates. This way you can work out which will perform better on your full list.
I will write more about testing soon, but it’s such a good concept that it merits it’s own post.
* Confession of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy, 2004, Southbank Publishing
I can’t believe email marketing still works…
It’s sounds so 90′s
and probably gmail spam filter catchs it…
Great article – thank you! just ordered a copy of David Ogilvy’s Advertising Man!
Building that relationship is even more important with emails. People have already put trust in you, giving you their email, you need to keep that trust by offering great content, and making that list as personal as you can.
thank you for the article i think the above points will surely help in creating a good email for marketing purpose.but some times email marketing can annoy the public and reduce their interest in the product but a presentable email can surel be beneficial
Thanks for the tips. Email marketing can easily drive traffic to your product or site. You’ll be successful in this method if and only you are doing it right/ properly.
My email subscribers are one of the most biggest traffic source that I have on my blog. Believe me it still works.
Yes interesting to see that email marketing is still around and obviously still working…always good to have a refresher about the do’s and don’t when it comes to this marketing tool….thanks!
great article, email marketing is very effective way of introducing people to your products
Great article – thank you! just ordered a copy of David Ogilvy’s Advertising Man!
Indeed email marketing is so 90′s and there was a lot of money to be made in that industry. Creating custom messages to a targeted list can always yield fair results. The problem arrises when you do something spammy like purchase someone elses list. If someone else has a list then it is best to have them send out a sponsored email on your behalf. Finally, the one thing you don’t want to do is rent someones list where they provide you with the names. There is no way for you to ensure that the latest opt-out people have been removed, and it is highly likely that you can opt-out people for them (nor do you want to) after your mailing is done. Someone who has a good quality list would never want to physically give you the email addresses. Just some other great tips, I hope this helps.
I agree with you…the email marketing is the main source for the online business today…so we can get the highest traffic generation…keep sharing.
I’ve read two of Ogilvy’s books and I have to admit that the title is and body are as important as the product itself. These days it’s harder to appeal to a potential client, due to the large amount of spam emails. So, honesty and fresh approach can be a solution.
I dont think email marking are so 90′s, I think it does work till now. But yes is quite more hard work now then before
I actually plan on starting a list for email marketing very soon so this post came in realy handy for me right now. Thanks for the good advice so that I can see some conversions when I start my email marketing.
Very interesting post! Email marketing is really a good opportunity to settle the matter and make a good business.
E-mail marketing is an old school way but still gives effective and efficient way of promotion. I do still believe of using e-mail marketing and you’ve provided more information to strongly use it and suggest this wonderful tips to follow.
Love your post and really helps me a lot.
Email marketing is the best way to reach your target audience. If done properly you can have good amount customers.
E-mail marketing is an old school way but still gives effective and efficient way of promotion. I do still believe of using e-mail marketing and you’ve provided more information
Interesting to hear email marketing described as old school considering email hasn’t been around as long as other marcoms channels e.g. print advertising, events, television, radio etc. That said, email marketing is certainly a mature tactic and there’s a lot to learn if you want to do it well and avoid the spam filters.
Email marketing is no doubt one of the most powerful marketing tool used globally for the marketing of all sort of items. Usually people avoid as the response is not that good, but by implementing the tips discussed in this post, i am sure one can easily improve the response. Thanks for your useful sharing.
Excellent article. Email marketing is definitly important to build relationships on the Internet!
I am still very skeptical about email marketing. I just can’t imagine anyone going from reading an email to clicking the buy button at the end of the funnel. Maybe I’m just too negative, but I can’t.
Thats a good article as im newbie to e-mail marketing and think this will help me. Thanks!
this is nice article, i am involove with different types of markeitng, but i never applied email marketing. as i am deep sure that it work well. thanks for sharing such nice informations
Email marketing is no doubt good opportunity to suceed in intenet marketing
Thats a good article as im newbie to e-mail marketing