Email marketing is one of the most effective, low-cost marketing methods around. One study by Litmus found that every dollar spent on email generates $36 in return. Email marketing can scale up or down with little effort and doesn’t take much more than researching prospects to pull together an initial list. It’s also a simple means for staying in touch with current customers and letting them know about your latest products or promotions. This tactic can certainly support your retention efforts, as acquiring new customers costs five times more than retaining them.
To begin an email marketing campaign, you simply need to put a few pieces in place. Most email marketing campaigns consist of three main components: your email list, your tech stack, and your content.
An email list is self-explanatory. However, one issue businesses often face is whether their lists are “clean,” meaning they contain accurate, updated contact information. Prospects and customers alike can move to new employers, so updating your list every six months will help ensure the information is correct. The tech stack is also something you’re likely familiar with. For an optimal email campaign, ensure you have a list or lead generation source, data cleaning service, customer relationship management software, and sales engagement platform.
Content, on the other hand, can be a bit of a question mark for many companies. Messaging is always important and should be based on your specific goals. Do you want to drive sales or improve brand awareness? Perhaps you merely want to keep customers engaged or increase their loyalty. Whatever the goal, make sure it’s clearly defined, and then use it to shape your content.
When it comes to email composition, brevity is key. You have yet to earn consumers’ time, so don’t pretend otherwise. Keep emails concise and focus on the problems you can solve, not a product’s features. Make sure you have a clear call to action. If your email addresses prospects’ pain points and adds value to each interaction, you’ll be able to nurture your leads.
Building a Stronger Email Strategy
With your list, tech stack, and content in place, you can turn your attention to the campaign’s inner workings. Remember, you’re trying to create a connection between your target audience and your brand. It will take time, but you can turn your email list into sales if you incorporate the following tips into your strategy:
1. Include more than just emails.
Though you might be launching an email marketing strategy, it shouldn’t consist of emails alone. Employ what’s called a “stacking effect,” where you layer multiple channels in your marketing mix to influence consumers. The various components of a campaign support one another, as they give consumers more than one opportunity to take action. Understand, however, that the more you add to the mix, the more time-intensive it can be. That’s why you’ll want to consider using automation through an SEP or relying on an outside marketing partner with experience in email marketing.
2. Recognize the differences in prospects.
Many companies go the easy route and put all prospects into fully automated email sequences. Although this is simple for your reps to manage, it means you’re treating everyone the same — which is not the best marketing approach. Reserve this tactic for your low-priority prospects. Higher priority ones should receive communication of the high-touch variety (e.g., LinkedIn engagements, personalized video content, phone calls, etc.).
3. Make your email sequence longer.
Rarely, if ever, will one email be enough to improve conversion rates. A study by Woodpecker found that you’ll get three times the reply rate (from an average of 9% to 27%) when increasing your sequence to include four to seven emails. Just make sure to add variety to your communication, as sending the same message repeatedly can become annoying for your audience.
4. Vary your send schedule.
Many executives and high-level decision makers check their emails before starting the days, between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., or at the end of the day, between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Some sources have found that emails sent during these times result in open rates anywhere from 37% to 48%, with an 8% reply rate. Just remember to account for different time zones.
5. Consider adding video touches.
With the continued dominance of platforms such as TikTok, bite-sized video prospecting is becoming more and more accepted. It also offers high conversions. Not only can adding video increase your click-through rates by up to 300%, but the time spent recording one personalized video takes no longer than a cold call. The key is to keep them short, as 33% of viewers will stop watching after 30 seconds, and 44% will leave at the one-minute mark.
Few marketing methods can compare to email marketing. You’re delivering a message — and a personalized message, at that — directly to someone’s inbox. If the content is relevant or the insights valuable to the recipient, the potential for engagement increases exponentially. It all starts with understanding your audience and then delivering information at the time they need it most.
