How To Run An Effective Email Campaign

In a world where social media is considered the leading marketing platform to maximise customer engagement, email marketing is often overlooked by the industry. The phrase ‘email marketing’ is generally used as a term to describe sending an email message with the intention of increasing conversions or engaging customers in an element of your company. With an influx of social media platforms taking up a lot of our energy, digital marketers should work hard to ensure that email marketing is still a priority within our work. Below, I have gathered seven crucial points which should inform any keen digital marketer on how to effectively implement an email campaign within their digital marketing strategy.

Consider time
Before you begin your email marketing campaign, it is a good idea to do some research to determine which day and what time will put your campaign in the best position to be positively received. Many online sourcesoffer Tuesday and Thursday as the days that are most effective for an email campaign. Sunday evening, also affectionately known as ‘the dark teatime of the soul’, has also been tested as a great time to increase the chances that your recipient will open your email, or ‘open rates’ as it is often referred to. As the sun sets on the weekend, people will be looking to the week ahead and checking emails in order to prepare for Monday morning. This strategy means that you will notice a spike in opens on both Sunday nights and Monday mornings. 2pm is often cited as a safe and reliable timing choice, targeting your customers during their lunch hour as they scroll through their non-work related notifications.

Test your emails
When you have crafted your email campaign, it is essential that you send yourself and your colleagues a test email. There is nothing worse than sending out an innovative, visually interesting email campaign that includes a silly mistype or a broken link. Spelling or formatting mistakes can render any email campaign unprofessional and sloppy, leaving a bad taste in your customer’s mouth that will likely be associated with your brand indefinitely. Banish this problem forever by sending the email through your company’s internal mailbox, guaranteeing that the campaign is thoroughly proofread and perfected before it touches your customer’s inbox.

Keep tabs on engagement
If you are using an online mail provision such as Mailchimp, you have the ability to access and review the analytics of every email campaign you deliver. This element is a great tool that can be used to regulate the engagement of your followers. Not receiving a lot of engagement on a Wednesday at 10am? Shift the sending day to Thursday and give that a go. Mailchimp can compare all of your campaigns and will be able to offer information on which campaign performed the best. Eventually you will appoint a time and date that works best for both your company and your proposed audience.

Follow up on interests
Once you have reviewed the overall information about your marketing campaign, you can observe what links the customers have chosen to click. If you notice a trend per customer (for example, repeated clicks on one product link) you can then send a follow-up email which details the product the customer on the receiving end is interested in, creating a personalised service which will be appreciated. Furthermore, you can notice the aspect of the email campaign that didn’t interest customers, and perhaps take a look at the content in order to adjust it for the next campaign. By keeping tabs on what your customers are responding to, you are helping to improve your services and create a dynamic, responsive campaign that will only increase customer interest.

Shape mailing lists to your advantage
One great aspect about an email campaign is that you do not need to send every campaign to your entire mailing list. For example, if you are an online clothes supplier, you might want to take into consideration the gender of the customers you are sending to. If you wish to make your mailing list aware of womens’ clothes sale, your male customers will likely be less interested in the campaign. Mailchimp and similar provisions offer the ability to hold multiple mailing lists, so be sure that you utilise this function if your products are designed to suit particular audiences.

Regularity of campaigns
As practical as email marketing can be, try to resist bombarding your customers with email campaigns. Promoting a flash sale or an offer that is due to finish through email campaigns is an efficient way to contact the customer directly, but mailing this out routinely will begin to bother your audiences. Instead of small, regular bursts of information, consider a monthly or bi-monthly newsletter that holds vital information your customers will want to know about. Within the newsletter, you could include exciting company events, sales and exclusive offers, which brings me on to…

Exclusivity
Your email campaign will garner more interest if you mention a company exclusive within the content. For example, you could offer a first peek at a new range you plan to stock, or the opportunity to take part in a competition before anyone else. Many ticket vendors already utilize this ‘exclusivity’ within their services. Hamilton, an award-winning musical which took Broadway by storm is due to make its way onto the London stage in 2017. Those interested had to sign up to receive an exclusive email with information about pre-booking. This added exclusivity, and makes the recipient feel that they are part of a group that is considered ‘more important’, which is ideal for making conversions. Additionally, ticket vendors can adjust ticket prices accordingly depending on the reception of the exclusive sign-up service. By providing an email campaign similar to that of a ticket vendor, the company can get an insight into how well their email or digital campaign is going to be received by its customers.

So why is email one of the better forms of digital marketing? For starters, email isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It has taken over the phone call as a main contact point within business, and provides a secure, private communication platform that social media simply cannot offer. Most social media is on public domain and can be accessed by anyone, making it a fantastic platform for worldwide engagement. However, personalised email campaigns are the ideal way to target an individual with offers and products you believe would fully meet their requirements.

As I have illustrated in the points above, email campaigns often take a lot of trial and error in order to find the ideal campaign position for your company. So, why not hire a professional digital marketer to do it for you? Here at Active Internet Marketing, we have the capacity to run professional email campaigns that will boost customer engagement. Why not get in contact with us today? Call 0800 772 0650 today to talk to a member of our team about our extensive range of services, including email campaigns, social media campaigns, and website development.