Marketing has changed beyond all recognition in the last couple of decades. Whereas cold calling used to be the way forward, now only 1% of all cold calls result in a meeting. It’s no wonder, then, that email marketing has become so popular. Yet, it’s still not a guaranteed thing.
When done well, email marketing is a great way to generate business. However, all-too-often, those who are responsible focus on all the wrong things and that can limit its potential as a selling tool.
What Makes Email Marketing So Popular?
Before we look at some of the key tips to maximize your business’ email marketing potential you need to understand the benefits of harnessing this form of marketing strategy.
Using email as a marketing technique has proven to be highly successful for businesses both large and small and they’re a fantastic way to make the marketing budget go further. If used well, email marketing helps businesses to boost their bottom line in several ways.
The benefits include:
- Building up stronger customer relationships as customers are kept well informed
- Developing a unique brand for your business by cementing the brand identify even further in the minds of customers
- Establishing yourself as a leading industry authority by distributing high-quality expert content
- Increasing your time efficiency through a speedier marketing process
- Reducing the cost of your marketing overall through a reduced need for TV, radio and paper advertising
- Increasing your business credibility
These advantages are all very attractive. However, if you’re going to harness their potential to the full you’ll need to be aware of the right approach to take to exploit all of email marketing’s positive facets.
Email Marketing’s Primary Metrics
There are three primary metrics in email marketing:
- The open rate – this is the percentage of recipients who open the marketing email. All companies should aim for a good open rate, but what is a good open percentage for email marketing? The answer will depend on the industry, but the average rate overall is around 29%.
- The Response Rate – this is the percentage of recipients who actually respond to the email.
- The Conversion Rate – this is the percentage of recipients who make a purchase.
While most email marketers tend to focus on the Open Rate, it’s more important to look more closely at how the Conversion Rate can be increased since that’s the way to higher revenue.
With this in mind, here are 4 key things you should know about email marketing to help you win more customers.
1. Make It Simpler To Buy
Whatever product or service you’re offering, make it as easy as possible for your customers to make a purchase. While this sounds obvious, a surprising number of companies make it a challenge to buy something from them. When customers have to jump through hoops, make additional telephone calls or answer a host of complex questions before making payment, they’re likely to give up before the sale is complete.
Focusing on the buying journey of the customer is absolutely essential. Testing must be carried out to make sure that the process is smooth and speedy from end to end. The simpler customers find it to make their purchase, the simpler it is to boost your profits.
2. Communicating From The Viewpoint Of The Customer
Many marketing emails spend time hyping up the sender’s brand. However, recipients aren’t interested in all that. They don’t care about the company until they know they want to make a purchase. That means recipients are only going to open and respond to emails that are entirely or at least mostly about what you’re selling. Sell the benefits, not the features – that’s the key to successful marketing emails.
The customer doesn’t really need to be told all of the product’s complex details. Instead, they need to know how it’s going to improve their lives. Focusing on how your products and services can make the customer’s life more convenient, more simple or happier in your marketing emails gives you the best chance of turning recipients into buyers.
3. Forget Sales-Like Language
Recipients rarely trust salespeople and are wary of aggressive selling techniques. It’s important to avoid sounding like a salesperson if you want to make a sale.
Avoid stereotypical terminology and phrases and make sure everything you claim can be supported by facts. If customers believe that they’re able to trust you and your services or products, they’ll be more willing to make the purchase.
4. The Rule Of One
Recipients are only going to glance at your email before moving on. There’s no time to waste. So use the Rule Of One – one benefit, one differentiator and a call-to-action. Explain why your product or service benefits the recipient, why you’re the best company to buy it from and then your call to action with a link that takes the reader straight to your site.
With these four top tips in mind, your email marketing campaign should quickly gain ground. It can be one of the very best ways to connect with your customers and potential customers and to establish your brand identity even more firmly.