Remember the futuristic TV series Beyond 2000? We sauntered beyond 2000 and while we were all either looking out for flying cars or the world to end I don’t think we ever really stopped to consider how this technological boom was going to affect our business strategies – or how digital would come to feature in our marketing tactics.
No doubt about it – our new dynamic marketing environment posed a challenge we accepted. We all have to sell. Email marketing came in with a swoop. A longstanding favorite among direct marketing channels it quickly became an important tool in most marketers’ arsenal. But digital never rests and with drastic recent changes our online environment it’s time to reflect on how to make these latest developments work in favor of your email marketing strategy.
So what exactly are we looking out for?
A strong foundation
The days of people actually reading their emails are over. It’s no longer a replacement for snail mail, but more a quick way to say “Hi!” and letting consumers know that you’re brand’s still around. Its purpose, more and more, is to get top of mind in an over-crowded consumer mind. Ultimately, you want your email to send your existing or potential client to your website, where they’ll - fingers crossed - make a purchase, a booking or a donation – but in order to do that they’ll have to open and read first. And that’s where we head back to basics: Strong copy in your subject lines and the content of your email. It remains the basis of communication!
Keeping up
Naturally changes in the email industry have a great effect on how you approach your email marketing – but I recently published this post on how to adapt to changes by major ISPs so I won’t go into that here. Another emerging trend to keep an eye on is the approach to video in email as it will raise questions such as which ISPs are enabling it, how to go about inserting it and how to incorporate video into your email content.
The whole shebang
And then, of course, the infamous rise of social. How many times have we cursed Facebook for unleashing the beast of social? Yes, indeed, social and mobile are extending our marketing sphere even further - we’re now dealing with multiple communication channels that all need to be strategized appropriately. If you’re smart about it, you’re finding ways to integrate all these different channels. It should come as no surprise that GraphicMail offers a range of social and mobile tools that enable you to integrate them with your email marketing! Watch this video for a glimpse of possible ways to integrate.
Can never get enough
As we’re pulled further into our online environment, we’re signing up to and receiving more and more emails! Email volume is increasing continuously. Make use of our automated segmentation tool to create sub-groups of your mailing list – then be sure to write content that’s relevant and valuable to your subscribers. It’s the only way your email will take priority in a never-ending inbox!
Catch them if you can
By now, most of us also have more than one email address – your personal and your work email, and often an extra one or two thrown in for good measure. These addresses are also often changing quite rapidly as we move jobs and finish off projects. Amidst all these changes, it’s quite easy for you to lose a subscriber because you’re sending to an outdated email address. Be sure to remind your subscribers to update their details regularly and manage your mailing lists effectively. Much of GraphicMail’s list management tools are automated, making it easy to stay on top of your lists.
When everyone wants it their way…
The way in which online interaction has developed has given users steadily more control of what information they want to consume, in what format and regularly. We’ve become acclimatized to having this kind of control and are increasingly selective in what we choose to consume. Luckily, email marketing is permission based, which is appealing to both marketers and subscribers. Allow your potential clients to manage what brand information they receive from you as easily as possible by allowing them to set up subscriber profiles and preferences.
Staying on track
More than ever, measuring and tracking your various marketing efforts are becoming increasingly important the more the marketing environment expands. So, yes, you need to keep an eye on your email marketing reports and stats, but take not of your social share stats as well. These will tell you where, how and by who your email newsletter was shared across social channels. Also remember that it’s possible to track your bulk SMS sends.
It is also possible to integrate your GraphicMail account with your Google Analytics – a truly excellent way of seeing how your campaign has affected your web traffic.
Consumers have come to expect automated marketing that caters to their individual needs, interests and specifications across a range of channels. The good news is that email marketing is the perfect tool – you just need to optimize it accordingly.
Image courtesy of Francesco Marino.