The Do’s and Dont’s of Email Marketing
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is sending a direct marketing message to a specific list of subscribers via email.
Some people believe that email marketing is dead. This is a false statement.
Email is invasive and ensures that it reaches the specific person/target market, whereas messages on Facebook and Twitter may be scrolled passed. Your message does not simply disappear in a subscriber’s inbox, the viewer has to read the subject line and recipient before taking action. If your message and content are newsworthy, subscribers will soon look forward to having your email pop up in their inbox. Email moves the conversation to a more personal environment where immediate response and communication can take place. You need to gain the trust of your subscribers, they need to be assured that your emails will have valuable information and not just consist of “soulless self-promoting”.
Email marketing encourages word of mouth advertising also known as earned media. Earned media is an unpaid form of promotion in which satisfied customers tell other people how much they like a business, product, service, or event. When an email is received and believed to have valuable offers or interesting content, the brand is recommended to the subscriber’s contacts or simply forwarded to friends.
Tips on how to send the perfect Marketing Email
- Ensure the email you are sending is brief and to the point – People have no time to spare and thus long wordy emails don’t get read.
- Wow your subscribers with your subject line – This line must have readers itching to open the email instantly. An uninteresting subject line makes for an uninterested reader.
- Capital letters and exclamation marks can be seen as a sign of enthusiasm but can also be seen as yelling at the reader – Abuse of exclamation points and capital letters is a bad practice and should be used in moderation.
- Email is not the place for formal language – Formal approaches leave readers anxious and uncomfortable. Relax. Speak as if you’re talking to a friend or colleague, yet remember to remain polite and professional.
- Hw dus It maake u feel whn I ryt lyk dis? It is actually offensive – Grammar is imperative with regards to emailing, the subscriber wants to know that you value their support enough to proof-read your emails. Always read over your text!
And the most important tip is to avoid becoming the spam monster:
Everyone knows the feeling of logging into your email and being flooded with emails from ‘annoying’ companies forcing their goods or services into your inbox. This is otherwise known as spam. Email Marketing is unsuccessful when the message is simply “buy this”, “buy that” over and over again. Yes, the recipient provided their email address, but they did not allow permission to be harassed with oversold product pitches. “Do not try to sell in every email you send on the list. Advocate the 80/20 rule, which means that 80% of mail must be content value and only 20% of mail, product promotions”. Subscribers want to receive something of value and worth their time, therefore companies need to develop a marketing strategy that appeals to subscribers and offers messages in a creative way.
“Email Marketing is a technique that is the epitome of techniques requiring: tact, finesse, and timing. If you overdo it or leave it unsupported/unexplained; your brand now goes in that psychological “spam sender” “annoying” file”.
Email Marketers need to be aware of how many emails are too many and how often is too often. Emails should not just be sent because you have the ability to do so. If people begin receiving emails from one company every single day they are most likely going to unsubscribe.
