How To Do Email Marketing Right

Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy that allows a business to develop relationships with potential or recurring buyers based on sending emails. It has been around for many years. As technology evolves and new digital marketing tools become available, many falsely assume that email marketing is long past its prime and almost dead. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Email marketing is alive and strong. Why? Because more than 85% of adult internet users have an email, whereas the percentage drops significantly for all other platforms. Keeping this in mind, how should you do email marketing in 2021 and do it right?

#1. Remember To Get Permission Before You Take Up Space In Their Inbox

You must keep in mind that you are a guest in their inbox, and you should receive their permission before letting yourself in. You have to entice your readers to sign up on your email list, and for them to do so, you have to define the purpose of your emails clearly. If you ask your readers to enter their email for future updates, I highly doubt they will be excited to do so.

A strong call to action and engaging content should come into play if you plan on building a sizeable email list. You need to establish your credibility by explaining exactly what your emails are for and give them an incentive to sign up. The motivation could be anything from free downloads to free e-books or white papers, discount promotional codes on new products, etc.

#2. Follow Through With What You Promised And Provide Great Content

Email marketing is based on expectations. People will sign up on your email list because you have promised to give them something in exchange. If you fail to follow through with what you promised, your readers will “unsubscribe” in no time. For instance, if you promised daily product updates and instead send an email once every week, you will end up with a pool of frustrated potential buyers. Similarly, if you promise an informative newsletter every month but flood their inbox with irrelevant emails every other day, your subscription list will not fare so well either.

If, however, your call to action is strong and your follow-up is consistent, your readers will be hooked.

Follow-up is vital, but the very first email they receive from you is crucial. You should, therefore, make use of the autoresponder sequence option. Almost all email providers have this option, and you should use it to ensure that your readers receive the automated response with each new subscription.

Your readers should receive the first email from you as soon as they click the “subscribe” button. It should be an introductory email where you present your business and outline how you plan to use your subscribers’ email addresses. Your first email should strike the perfect balance between concise yet informative, detailed yet quick and discreet. It is a delicate balancing act, and if you can find your bearings around it, you have mastered the art of perfect email marketing from the get-go.

#3. Make Use Of Analytics

The majority of email service providers offer complimentary analytics. A closer analysis of open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate will give you a clear picture of how well your email marketing is faring.

Based on invisible tracking pixels, your open rate will tell you how many people open your emails. If you have established and fostered a close relationship with your readers, your open rate should be high. It will show that your readers are happy to get an email from you, immediately open it, and do not just let it sit there unread. If your open rate is low, you need to find a way to provide valuable and engaging content.

Your click-through rate will indicate how many people click on a link that you include in your email. Suppose your email’s purpose is to introduce new products, and said new products could be found by clicking on the link. In that case, the click-through rate is essential in determining how successful is your email marketing and how effective it is to its end purpose.

If your unsubscribe rate keeps increasing at a faster rate than your subscribe rate, then you need to determine when people decide to ban you forever from their inbox. Is it after receiving your autoresponder email? If so, maybe you need to re-evaluate and re-write. If, on the other hand, they stick around a bit and then decide to leave, then perhaps your call-to-action is not strong enough, or maybe somewhere down the line, you fail to deliver what you initially promised.

To Email Or Not To Email?

Email marketing is still going strong and will be around for many years to come. You should definitely consider doing it and reap the rewards it has to offer. But in order to reap the rewards, you need to get it right. Are you ready?