There are an estimated 3.8 billion email users in 2019. Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy of sending emails to both prospective and current customers.
Over 91% of people check their email on a daily basis, making email one of the most popular communication channels. When creating an email marketing campaign, consider personalizing emails, providing value, and engaging with design.
Personalize Your Email Marketing
Businesses should craft personalized messages when working on email marketing campaigns. A study found that personalized emails result in a transaction rate that’s six times higher than the average rate. Yet, about 70% of brands fail to incorporate personalized messages.
In addition to creating personalized messages based on the customer, it is equally important to include the customer’s name. It’s better to humanize your email than to use a generic phrase like “Dear valued customer.”
This is the most basic form of personalization but will have a better effect than the standard opening. Emails that are personalized with the customer’s name increases the likelihood of any given customer opening that email by 16%.
Marketers should consider creating customer profiles and personalizing their offers based on those profiles.
For example, Adidas personalizes their ads by gender. In their email advertisements, they only send female offers to females, and male offers to men.
Uber, on the other hand, personalizes their advertisements by location. They use the information gathered depending on where their customers live, or where they mainly travel, to build customer profiles. The ads Uber sends out are personalized based on the location of each respective customer.
Another useful tool is to send updates about products that customers have previously searched.
For example, Crate & Barrel sends “abandoned cart” emails to remind customers not only of what they searched previously but also about what they may be interested in purchasing in the future.
It is also important that businesses maintain language that is consistent with their brand in all email campaigns. By establishing brand consistency, you will gain the trust of your audience, appear more reliable, and emphasize your message.
Email personalization can improve lead to sale conversion rates and 96% of organizations believe email personalization can improve the performance of email marketing campaigns.
Provide Value
Businesses should include articles and industry information in emails to provide value for the customer. These articles can contain tips and data that is interesting to customers. This content should have an educational aspect, which will give customers a greater reason to open the email.
Businesses should make the header eye-catching for customers. The header is the first thing a customer sees once they open an email, so it should include familiar elements like a brand’s logo or color scheme.
When creating your marketing plan, it is also important to consider including a newsletter with company updates. A newsletter can be used to inform your customers about the latest news or tips about your company. Your business can use these newsletters to send information that solidifies what your brand represents.
For example, Rolling Stone sends out a weekly email newsletter that includes notable recent articles. Each article link is included along with a brief summary of that article.
Sites like Rolling Stone understand that customers see their brand as a valid source of information. As such, people are motivated to open emails and learn about events happening in their desired industry.
Email newsletters can not only offer updates about your products, but also give outside value to people.
Engage with Design
Businesses should incorporate visuals and graphics into emails. Visuals automatically draw the eye and capture attention.
Still, when creating designs, be sure that graphics are not distracting from your content and your message. Ensure that your graphic to text ratio is appropriate, and that you include enough text to get your message across. You do not want to simply please the reader with attractive pictures, but also inform them of your service.
As well, when choosing the font for your text, be sure to use a “safe font” that is supported on every computer platform. If you design your own font, unfortunately, not all computer platforms could support your design and you end up losing control over what your email looks like. Fonts like Times New Roman and Arial are usually all computer appropriate.
Including color can also help you highlight important information by drawing the reader’s attention to a specific section.
For example, Apple emphasizes white space and bursts of color to convey their message and direct the reader’s focus to their product.
When picking which colors to include, confirm that the colors are complementary or analogous. This means that they go well together and will not be too harsh on the reader’s eye.
Finally, ensure that your email is visible on both mobile and desktop platforms to reach the most users possible.
Conclusion
Emails are an extremely effective marketing tool that allow a company to have direct contact with their audience. We at Imagine believe email marketing can solidify your brand image as long as you ensure brand consistency across all marketing platforms.
When working on your email marketing campaign, be sure that your messages are personalized, as this will increase the chances that your customers will open and engage with your emails.
Also offer client’s value with your content by including educational media such as graphics and articles. Finally, play with design to create the most eye-catching marketing content.
If you follow these tips, the potential success of your email marketing campaign will increase greatly. Partner with a top digital agency to start your marketing campaign right.
