Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Back to Basics with Email Marketing

How much email do you have in your inbox?

I checked mine before writing this blog post and I have 2394 emails...in my Primary Gmail folder...going back only one year. Suffice to say, I get a lot of email, you probably get a lot of email, most people get a lot of email.

And because of that, email gets taken for granted. It makes sense that it's become difficult for email to standout or get attention in an era of new channels of communicating with people popping up every year. Snapchat, Periscope, Twitter make email look like...well, paper mail.

But email remains an effective way of communicating with consumers, members, and audiences that you want to reach. According to Campaign Monitor, you are six times more likely to click through from an email campaign than you are from a tweet. Undoubtedly, email is a part of your strategy, but are you giving it the attention it deserves?

Here are a few simple things to remember as you double check your email marketing strategy:

GROW YOUR LIST 

Seeing as there are over four billion email accounts in the world today, you could always be reaching more people. Beyond that, though, there are probably untapped emails in your existing client base. CU Insight reports that most financial institutions have valid email addresses on less than 50% of their account holders. That’s an existing consumer base that is being lost on something that should be standard. Whatever your business is, there are ways to add grow your email list just by hitting refresh with people you already have an open dialogue with.

CHECK THE NUMBERS 

If you’re consistently emailing large groups of people then chances are you use an email marketing service like MailChimp or Constant Contact. These platforms have built in analytics for their users that can give you information relating to individual campaigns. Analytics like:
  • Opens 
  • Clicks 
  • Bounces/Unsubscribes 
  • Forwards 
  • And more 

Analyzing these numbers after each campaign is vital to understanding what you’re doing to create a positive email experience for your email base and what you could be doing to make it even better.

GO MOBILE  

Over half of emails are opened on a mobile device and that number has been growing for years. That growth should bring in new considerations for your team. What kind of email subject is going to grab someone’s attention when it pops up as a notification on the lock screen? What images and text will display well and look good on mobile? Is the navigation experience from the email optimized as well as it can be for mobile? Be responsive in more ways than one and accommodate the way in which people consume information.

BE INTERACTIVE 

Give people an opportunity to explore your brand beyond their inbox. Again, this isn't just a way to disseminate information, this is a chance for you to personalize an aspect of your brand, a special offer or education about your services. A lot of that needs to happen beyond an email whether you're linking to an existing page on your site, promotional microsite or social media account. Give people a chance to engage with your email so that they feel like they're a part of the conversation.

Email is so standard that we often think of it simply as a way to get information to as many people as possible. But just because it is used by essentially everyone at this point doesn’t mean that it needs to be standard fare. Make each email you send an interactive experience in terms of content, design and insight and you’ll create well-informed and loyal customers.