With so much hype surrounding social media and visual content, it’s no surprise that something as customary as email would go forgotten. After all, how much has email really changed over the years?
While it may be true that email doesn’t undergo radical transformations like other marketing tools, the way we use email does. If you fail to keep up with these trends and modify your email marketing strategies, you’ll be missing out on some of the best customers.
The biggest challenge that marketers face is making the email as relevant and interesting as possible for the people receiving them. In an effort to target certain groups of people, targeted email campaigns were launched. Targeted email campaigns are promotions that target segmented groups of customers, such as the following:
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First-time customers
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Customers who recently made a purchase
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Customers who haven’t made a purchase in a long time
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Repeat customers
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Customers who left an item in their shopping bag
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Customers from a certain geographic location
By segmenting your audience, you can create targeted communications that have more potential to be opened, read and used. Customers like to feel that their business is valued and noticed, and having a personal connection with the company doesn’t hurt, either. When combining creative thinking with personalized email campaigns, you can have a real impact on your email marketing success.
So, what are some of the things you can start doing today? With over 838 billion emails sent in 2013 (Forrester Research), you better get a move on!
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Build a solid contact list. Acquire email addresses from visitors who sign up for your newsletter or fill out a lead form. These are the people who have some interest in your product or service, and if you play it right, you may be able to convert them into quality leads.
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Craft emails for different stages of the buying funnel. Emails should be sent out to customers throughout the buying process. This shows that they are recognized and valued, and it allows you to step in and influence the purchase.
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Make relevant offers. Whether you want to entice a customer on the fence or encourage a customer to make a repeat sale, relevant offers such as promo codes and free shipping can help close the sale, especially when offered at the right time.
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Send out informative emails on occasion. A monthly newsletter is a great example of an educational email that doesn’t oversell your business. Include a call to action to remind the customer of your services.
- Focus on the main purpose. A large percentage of your readers will be opening your emails on their mobile devices, so remember to keep things simple and to the point. Too many links back to your site will be distracting and take away from the main goal.
