If you work in digital marketing, you already know how a good email marketing strategy is crucial.
Emails are the most important tool in your box because they are one of the first things users open in the morning. Firstly they scroll through their mailbox and see if there’s something interesting. So you definitely want to catch their attention and make them open your messages.
In pochi punti:
Why email marketing is still the biggest thing
After a long year of isolation and digital contacts, people are getting more and more used to virtual relationships. This certainly increase your chance to catch their attention via email.
The right email marketing campaign startegy for 2021 needs to be somehow related to the current state of things. So, don’t skip a fundamental step of your email marketing strategy: remember your typical users and which challenges they are facing at the moment.
How to make your emails time-sensitive
Your email marketing strategy needs a tool you probably aren’t already using. That is an editorial plan. But what does it mean?
You and the email marketers working for your business need to plan ahead. For example, try analyzing trends in discourse and keywords surrounding your work field.
What are people talking about right now? Which of their current problems you can solve with your products or services? And can you predict some future scenarios and how they will affect your industry?
The answers to these questions will suggest topics and subjects to tackle in the following weeks and months. Maybe you won’t need to plan an entire year of email marketing, but check this kind of things every once in a while.
What does it actually mean?
The fundamental principle behind email marketing will never change. Send the right message, to the right person at the right time. No brand marketer sets out to send an unwanted email. The difficulty is; to know what the right message is, for whom and when.
Tim Watson, founder of Zettasphere
That’s true: you need to know who to sent your message to, when to approach them and what to write exactly. That’s where a good email marketing startegy and a precise yet flexible editorial plan come into play.
5 advices for an effective email marketing strategy
After creating your editorial plan, you can improve it through new email marketing strategies, tips and tricks. For instance, here are 5 of the most recent ones.
1. Time-sensitivity or evergreen content?
We already talked about time-related subjects and topics. Surely they will get people to open your emails and therefore increase your opening rates. But it’s only temporary, and only if you truly identify the perfect matter to discuss.
So, try to alternate time-sentitive issues and evergreen ones. For example, while people right now are interested in buying face masks, they will always be attracted to nice lingerie. So, if your website sells both, alternate the more practical needs and the fancy stuff in you communication.
For sure 2021 will be a year of transition and change, so be sure to go with the flow with your content, too.
2. Trust the power of mobile for your email marketing campaign
Did you that 61% of marketing emails are opened on a mobile device? Smartphone and tablets are way more used than desktop these days.
So what can you do to honor these statistics data? Firstly, be sure your content is readable and easy to open from a mobile device. This may come as a surprise, but only half of the email marketers actually do that.
What can the result be? Well, if your potential customers cannot read the message or see the whole image on their phone, they will grow frustrated. Therefore, they won’t open your emails again.
3. Make your personalization more authentic
You already know you should always address the recipient by first name and try to write messages that are as targeted as possibile. But in 2021, you need to take a step forward.
A good, modern strategy for email marketing should sound personal and authentic. In these unprecedented times, people feel alone and lost. They need to know you value their experience and their presence in your virtual community.
So don’t be afraid to use friendly phrases and create real connection. Sure, a personalized email marketing strategy can be difficult and long to achieve, but it’s worth the effort.
You don’t have time and energy to personally address each of your recipients? Turn to an email marketing service to create and manage a perfect mailing list.
4. Use digital customer experience to your advantage
“Customer experience is the impression your customers have of your brand as a whole throughout all aspects of the buyer’s journey. It results in their view of your brand and impacts factors related to your bottom line including revenue.”
Hubspot
This definition is taken from a study of 2021 email marketing strategy’s trends conducted by Smartinsights. But how can you incorporate this notion in email marketing?
Remember that a lot of people are searching the web for the first time, or using it more than ever, in this pandemic. So they don’t really know how it works and every single obstacle could discourage them to go on.
Therefore, you need to smooth the way towards buying your products and services as much as possible. Consider their real needs in this particular time; be empathetic; lighten the mood but don’t joke about sentitive matters.
5. Always be up-to-date
In this ever changing scenario, you and your teammates need to know everything that is happening in your workfield – and in the world – in real time.
That means follow interesting people on social media, participate in public forums and groups, talk to people who are creating or using the same products as your company.
This way you will know which are the most common problems, what the discourse is about right now and how the audience perceive your brand.
Another advice for email marketing strategy
We have to say that: hire a professional. An email marketer know every tip and trick about digital communication, but is also familiar with your specific field.
Also, you need a copywriter. This writing professional figure is more and more important in the digital world right now. Every one of your customers receive hundreds of emails by hundreds of companies. Why should they open yours?
Because it’s well written, time sensitive, it has a perfect headline that catches attention and a clear, direct call to action. All of this things are impossible if you don’t have a professional writer on your side.
We have already talked about the importance of an easily readable email, but you need to add images and visuals into the mix too. The easiest way to do that is using one of the many newsletter templates available online.
First, find a color palette that suits your company logo and overall aesthetic. Than search for a light, original and easy to use template. You can browse our list of services and find out if there’s something good for your business.
In conclusion
Despite the ever changing nature of this particular year, an email marketing campaign strategy needs to be in order. Your business will benefit from it and you can always test if something’s wrong and change the plan accordingly.
The most important thing is to have a plan in the first place. The rest will follow. Continue reading our Mailsenpai News & Tips about digital work, marketing and communication and conctact us to know more.
