Note: this entry is part of a series about using marketing to generate leads and enhance brand awareness. Please see previous blog posts in Sales & Marketing topic.
How many SPAM e-mails do you delete a day? Are you sick of receiving endless sales pitches through e-mails? Well, your target audience is no different, and they don’t want to just receive sales pitches from you all the time.
Consumers are hitting the delete button more frequently and IT departments are setting up stronger SPAM filters. So is e-mail marketing dying? The answer is no…but if you aren’t getting results from your e-mail marketing program, it might be time to change your approach.
For many companies, their e-mail marketing strategy is to send as many people possible their sales pitch, cross their fingers, and hope that a sale is made. This doesn’t work in a world where your target audience is getting bombarded with e-mails left and right! Your e-mails have to be personalized, targeted and unique.
Here are five tips to improve your e-mail marketing programs
Have an established content strategy: A good e-mail program establishes your industry credibility. Instead of using your emails to blast sales pitches or talk about your company’s history, send useful information to your audience. Examples include quick how-to tips, industry news or information that actually solves the problems of your target audience. If you give them what they want, they’ll think of you as a subject matter expert. Then, when they’re ready to buy your products or services, they’ll come to you.
Be consistent: Sending out a single e-mail out every few months makes it more difficult for your targets to develop a connection. Select a consistent e-mail template that conveys your brand and stick with a set schedule for your e-mail marketing program.
Drive traffic back to your website: Include links in your emails that bring readers back to specific pages on your website with more information. More specifically, your e-mails should send readers back to pages with forms (or landing pages) so that targets leave their contact information in exchange for something such as a white paper or checklist. (Read our earlier blog entry about website content for more information). This will help you qualify leads.
Clean up your e-mail database: Turnover happens at companies, individuals get promotions and decision makers change all the time. Consistently add new e-mails to your database and dedicate time to correcting outdated records.
Evaluate tracking reports: nearly all e-mail marketing software systems and vendors enable you to pull tracking reports. Tracking reports show you the results of your e-mails such as who viewed your email, who clicked on the links, and who unsubscribed. Use this data to create more targeted lists and e-mails.
By using a more a strategic e-mail marketing approach, you can stand apart from the competition!
In Part 7 of the series, we’ll discuss the importance of Public Relations!
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