Bliss may be too strong a word when it comes to anything marketing-related, but according to the Direct Marketing Association, every dollar spent on e-mail marketing generates $43.62 in revenue. That, of course, is the average. Follow these rules and get better results from your e-mail campaigns.
Person-to-Person
We are communicating with people so always remember this essential point when you write your messages. Stay away from marketing speak and use language that connects on a person-to-person level.
Create a plan for your campaigns
A common mistake we see is that marketers try to say everything at once. Nurture marketers know that you have a long-term opportunity to get your message across while building a strong relationship. Subtlety, you have the opportunity to educate your prospect on your company, demonstrate your company’s subject matter expertise, educate your prospect on your products and services, and you have the opportunity to repeat important points throughout the campaign. Create an action plan for a full year; give yourself the time to create a strong and lasting impression with your prospects and customers.
Customize your messages by segment
The formula is simple…remember “PITS” when segmenting your lists: product, industry, title and sales. Different products require custom messages to a targeted prospect list. What vertical industry are you marketing to? Manufacturing requires different messaging than professional services. In the North American Sales Research Institute’s Market Research Study, “Words that Work,” it discovered that different functional titles within an organization react differently to specific words, phrases and messages. Its conclusion: you don’t want to send the same message to the CEO and CIO. For those of us with long sales cycles or complex sales, don’t overlook the opportunity to identify the segments within your pipeline and to optimize the messages you should deliver to these market segments.
Don’t overlook the “From” address
Consumers are receiving dozens to hundreds of e-mails everyday and the e-mails that they pay most attention to are those that are familiar based on who they are from. Make sure your from address is clear to the consumer.
Think about your wording
Avoid the spammy words such as “FREE” and “100% free,” and keep the subject short, personal, honest and familiar. Click here list of words to avoid:
Be selective with images
Keep your graphics to a minimum and stay away from canned templates. It’s really inexpensive to brand your own custom look and feel. If you like graphics, put them at the bottom as part of your signature block.
Create a smooth landing
Every e-mail campaign should also include a Web site landing page that reflects the messaging in your campaign.
Test
Get into the habit of testing everything you do. But beware when you make a change for testing, change only one thing at a time. If you change multiple items within an e-mail and you get a response you will not know which change caused the reaction.
Follow CAN-SPAM rules
Learn the rules against SPAM and follow them. It’s more effective to e-mail market to a small targeted list of people who you know than a large list of purchased prospects. Keep your list clean and follow best practices when it comes to e-mail.
