Effective Email Marketing
The other day I was speaking with a friend about my approach to online marketing, when I mentioned that I use email as a core of my communication strategy with prospects.
“You mean SPAM?” my friend asked me. No, definitely not SPAM.
I use email regularly as a sales and marketing tool. I do so because email is useful to me, and, I believe, to my prospects and existing clients.
But marketers must take care to ensure they are using email marketing responsibly. That means great email copy, tracking results, maintaining clean contact lists, and providing easy access to an opt-in, opt-out engine.
Now, on to the fun part: here are some of the email marketing topics we’d like to take a look at:
Why Email Marketing
Email marketing is fast, effective, and measurable. Learn why your organization should add it to the marketing mix.
List Management How To’s
How and where should you get your email list from? Managing (and growing) your contact list is vital to long term success.
Managing unsubscribes
We’ve all received emails we didn’t want; responsible marketers give uninterested parties ample easy unsubscribe options.
Copywriting for email
Writing for email is different. Here’s why you need good copywriting if your email is going to sell.
Email software
Can’t I just use Outlook? Well, yes. And no. Instead of making do with the wrong software, we take a look at using marketing-specific email software with dedicated features that will make your marketing campaign easier.
Email tools
Trackers, scrubbers, editors, senders. There’s a lot that goes into your being able to click “send”. Here's our run down on some popular email marketing tools.
Strategies for success
Want to make the most out of you email? Make sure it’s relevant. We share our tips for breaking through the clutter to get your prospects buying!
Metrics Matter – email campaign results
Clickthroughs, open-rate, bounces, opt-outs. Learn the how and why's of measuring the results of your email marketing
Test Test Test
The real reason email is so powerful: you can test. By testing different messages and formats, you can rest assured that your email will be as successful as possible.
What is EmailonTarget.com?
EmailonTarget.com is designed to help you get your email marketing on track; we want to help you decide on the most effective email marketing strategies to ensure you are getting real, measurable results from your online promotions.
Overall, electronic mail can be a powerful tool when developing your advertising or marketing campaign.
Marketing via email is not free, it is not easy. In fact, email marketing can be a lot of hard work. You’ve got to give special consideration to generating your contact list, developing your message, maintaining regular contact, managing unsubscribe requests, not to mention the overall look and feel of your actual email.
And sales. Let’s not forget sales. What we want is click-throughs. We want our prospects to take action, ideally to buy from us. That means providing relevant, targeted messages. Effective copywriting for your email marketing campaign can spell the difference between the trash and the cash (sorry, a rhyme seemed like such a good idea at the time.)
Emailontarget.com is our venue for sharing tips, strategies, and even pitfalls of email marketing. Many of our strategies derive from real-world experience; I recommend you develop your online marketing strategies in much the same way: research and read what others have to say, and then test, test, test. Given a few campaigns, you’ll quickly come to realize what works and what doesn't.
And one last thing: email marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It should be considered as a key component of a broader promotional or advertising campaign, meaning we recommend integrating email with as many other channels as possible in order to ensure you are taking advantage of every conversion opportunity.
About the Author
Ashleah Wilson is an Internet Strategist for netWorx Internet Marketing, specialising in online marketing campaign planning and deployment.