Lauren Ackerman, Web Content Specialist
An email marketing program can be one of the most flexible, measurable and intelligent marketing channels for your business. Especially now that smartphones have put email at easy reach anytime, from anywhere. But in order for emails to be most effective, they have to be part of a carefully considered contact strategy. So, whether you’re just getting started or you just need a refresher, here are some best practices for email strategy.
GOALS
Before you dive into the details and data of an email strategy, start by setting some specific goals. Don’t go in with a general goal of “just making it better,” as this can mean something different to you than it does to me. Instead, think about your needs in the coming weeks, months, years – for revenue and for engagement metrics. Think about which metrics you are trying to beat. Last month’s, last year’s, both? Even if it’s not as specific as, “I need an X percent increase in revenue in three months” you probably have an MVP metric – whether it’s revenue (which it usually is) or open and click-through rates.
Revenue
If it’s more revenue you’re after, the easiest and simplest solution is to send more emails. However, the easiest choice is not necessarily the best choice. Unless you’re sending infrequently to begin with, increasing the frequency of “batch and blast” emails without increasing the relevance is likely to decrease open rates and increase unsubscribe rates.
There are ways to increase revenue without immediately increasing your frequency. For example, conversion testing and optimization at every step in the sales funnel are effective and can have immediate results.
Engagement
Emails with more varied content, videos, how-tos and editorial copy can positively impact engagement, but they often don’t translate well into sales. However, these emails are great relationship builders, and they can increase the likelihood of a future sale.
So, what’s a marketer to do when they want to increase revenue and engagement at the same time? Fortunately, there is an answer: Relevance.
A relevant, targeted email based on past purchases or shopping behavior is as close to a silver bullet that you can get. Partnered with automation, it’s even more powerful as you create messages that are specifically designed for where the customer is at in the relationship with your company. Are they new to the relationship? Send them a warm welcome to your brand. Are they losing interest? Include them in a reactivation series with a compelling reason to take another look.
FREQUENCY
While your goals can vary, one thing shouldn’t change – and that’s talking to your most interested customers more frequently, and vice versa. A highly engaged segment of your file might want to hear from you daily, while some might be content getting an email from you once a week. Some might only want to be contacted once or twice a month.
Open and click-through rates go a long way in parsing who those customers are. Segment the customers who are consistently opening your emails into an active group – and contact them consistently – usually a few times a week. Segment the lapsed subscribers and reduce their contact frequency.
TESTING
While all aspects of your email strategy are important, perhaps the most important is actually testing it. Every audience is different, which means testing is the only sure way to know how your audience is going to respond to different offers, designs, colors, layouts and messages.
Remember that the success of any marketing campaign is a combination of three factors:
- Offer: This includes merchandise featured in the email as well as the offer. And an offer doesn’t always have to be a discount – it could be new looks/tech for fall, etc.
- List: This includes the timing, frequency and segment. Who you contact and when.
- Content: This includes the layout, design, message and conversion path.
Create a structured plan that incorporates all of the above. Offers and creative testing are the most time- and labor-intensive, so aim for one per week, or every other week if that’s more manageable.
Subject line tests are the easiest to run, and what’s even better is that these tests are pretty powerful. A subject line that interests them enough to open the content of your email gets them into the first step of the sales funnel.
Just make sure that your test results are statistically significant. If you don’t have a large enough sample size, the test results aren’t reliable enough to declare a winner. Here’s an online calculator to make it easy.
ACQUISITION
Last but not least, keep your list healthy. Some marketers make acquisition a low priority, agonizing over gradual declines in open and click-through rates that are actually a symptom of an aging list. List churn is unavoidable, so you should be continuously and aggressively adding subscribers. Do this with strong incentives like welcome offers, and give the email sign-up a bold presence on your website.
Everyone wants a silver bullet, but we know there is no such thing. That’s why it’s so important to back your email campaigns with well-thought-out contact and testing strategies, and to have specific, measurable goals in mind. If you need a hand getting your email strategy off the ground or filling in the blanks, email me at laurena@jschmid.com. I’d love to help you get started!
Tags: contact strategy, email campaign, email marketing, Lauren Ackerman