Email marketing strategy is most effective when you have a good plan.
Planning your email marketing strategy before execution is a must or else you are throwing money away. Granted that email marketing does not cost a lot of money, however, if you are angering customers and prospects you are also losing business. Many marketers do not take the time to really plan. Here are some helpful tips to get you started with your email marketing strategy. There are a total of 3 steps, let’s take a look at each one.
Step 1: This is about your company:
- What customers/prospects are you trying to serve? Knowing your target audience is extremely important.
- How will you convey value to them? This can be difficult, but very beneficial when you get it right.
- What is your differentiation? How do you stand out and provide better for the customer? When you have this well-defined it is easy to state and prove.
- What can you do/sell for them? Do not try to be the be-all end-all for everyone. This is your chance to focus. State the benefits to them.
Step 2: This is about your customers:
- Who is your best customer? Do not just focus on profit, but also on how easy they are to work with. Sometimes the ones we think provide the most profit are actually sucking up so much of our time that they are less valuable than the ones that are easier to work with.
- What is most important to them? If you don’t know, ask. Do not assume because if you get it wrong you are wasting money.
- What can you do to help them with their most important problem? Evaluate what you learned in the previous question and figure out how best to apply that to your knowledge set.
- Where can you find prospects most like your best customers? This can be trade groups, associations or events that similar companies gather at.
Now you know about yourself and your customer, you are ready to move on to step 3 where the specific email marketing campaign planning starts. Many companies just begin a step 3 and never consider step 1 and 2. In order to create the best email marketing campaigns you really need to go through step 1 and 2 before moving onto step 3.
Step 3: Email questions:
- Who are you sending to? Target your audience in order to drive response.
- What is your message? This needs to be clear and concise.
- What is your call to action? What do you want them to do? Plan this action step by step all the way through the process. Tell them exactly what you want them to do.
- What design will work best for these people and the message/call to action? Remember that you are planning for mobile and PC use, test your designs on all types of devices from tablets to phones as well as desktops and laptops.
The best email marketing strategy is targeted to the correct people with an offer they cannot refuse and gives you a way to track it.
Really take the time to think from the point of view of your customer/prospects. In many cases it helps to have a person outside your organization look at it to provide feedback. Also, do not be afraid to consult with your best customers. The more you learn the better you are able to offer real value. Many times within the organization we make assumptions that our customers/prospects would not, make sure you are not doing that. When email marketing is done correctly you can increase your ROI. Are you ready to get started? Contact us today! We are glad to help!