Are you disciplined enough to run your own email marketing campaigns?

The ongoing upsurge of the online audience, social media, mobile and eCommerce coupled with the overall evolution of the average consumer, means that email campaigns, whether they include marketing offers or operational documentation, need to cater to the needs, wants and lifestyle of an increasingly savvy online consumer.

Be smarter with the way you use email

The role of email in an integrated online campaign is best described as a launch pad. Email can act as the window to the digital world, where with one click you can quickly access Quick Response (QR) codes, video, music and other exciting content. As the launch pad, email should include transparent functionality (tracking, deliverability techniques, interactivity and intelligence tools) to enhance the customer’s experience and direct them to detailed relevant content where a website could be one of the multiple landing strips.

Email is not just about promotion

Email allows you to engage with customers and take them on a journey through to the sale and a flourishing, persistant online relationship. It enables the ability to share the customer’s favorite content to their preferred social network or allow them to make a payment from within the bill.

The email might be read on the go or saved for later, so it should be available on a variety of devices and platforms and when implemented correctly should result in a great return on investment, while cutting paper usage and costs at the same time.

No pressure at all. I guess that is why they call email marketing a discipline.

Email marketing IS a specialisation

The strength of this marketing tool is not just about sending out bulk email. It’s about understanding the medium, tracking each email and making adjustments to future campaigns so that your goals are met. It’s important to note that email is not a one size fits all medium – you need to create your space where you are engaging with your customers in a way that brings results. And that doesn’t happen ‘automagically’. You need to ensure you have experts in this space to help you along the way.

6 Tips for getting smarter with email

1. Delivery
   Ensure you have measures like DKIM, SPF and DMARC in place, a great data cleaning method and authentication tactics, as well as automated bounced email clean up processes.
2. Open rate and subject lines
   Keep the subject line short, clear and be wary of using words that trigger spam filters. Personalize or customize the subject line. Use a recognisable' from' name that ensures credibility.
3. Creative design
   Creative design must transform strategy into a series of templates where the combination of layout, images and colour is functional, device friendly and easy to navigate, plus looks good and works online. The creative elements of the campaign must not only work for the target audience, but should also represent the relevant brand effectively.
4. Mobile email
   Design with mobile in mind. Remember that if mobile email is the launch pad, the destination pages or functionality must be tested to ensure compatibility with all mobile device types.
5. Add value
   Be relevant via a well segmented database, add call-me-back functionality and link the reply address to a tool to assist the call centre. Add a poll for insight and feedback, a survey for data enhancement. Include a phased profiling solution and a preference centre to help customers be in control of their communications.
6. Cut costs
   Don’t send to inactive customers, continuously bouncing addresses or invalid domains and aim to run regular harvesting and adoption campaigns to reduce paper.

Now get going, there is a lot of work to be done! Call an eMarketing specialist and start sending smarter email.

Sheryl-Lynn Collins 
striata.com