Email Marketing Done Right: What are the Most Effective Strategies?
I recently opened my website. How can I create a list for my newsletter from scratch? And how long do I have to go?
The first step is to clarify our ideas about who we would like to see on our mailing list.
This is because, based on the identity of our buyer, both the data we want to collect and the promotion strategy of the letter information and mailing list launch and development will change.
Some key questions to ask include:
· Who are the people we would like to reach?
· What are they doing?
· What are the needs we can meet?
· Who are the people we would like to write to?
· What are they doing?
· What are the needs we can meet?
· What are their habits, interests and sources of information?
Let's put ourselves in their shoes, and when we design the subscription form and create the editorial plan, ask ourselves if, from their perspective, we are interesting enough to allow us to go into their inbox.
What’s the best way to invite visitors to my site to subscribe to the newsletter?
The best way to achieve this is to have a site that offers something useful: answers, advice, fun, information that you can’t find anywhere else, or that, as we present it, no one else can.
If we can trigger the “this is exactly what I'm looking for” stepping stone, then by the time we show the infamous newsletter subscription popup, people will be happy to drop us their email.
We must first of all convince them that it is beneficial to them, and this conviction must be based on real value, which convincingly answers the question "what is it?" that I gain?
At this point, instead of asking “subscribe to my newsletter”, we can make much more interesting proposals, like “read our weekly tips”, “get preview offers on the products you need”, “learn to use CSS files in 10 lessons”.
What are the contents of my blog best suited to be pushed within the newsletter?
Compared to ten years ago, the role of blogs has changed dramatically.
If in the early 2000s bloggers wrote very often, if only to post a link or a photo with two lines of comment, this was perfectly acceptable. However, today this type of micro-content is mainly entrusted to social platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
In blogs we tend to write less often, but we hope that when we write it's because it's worth it and we need a space of our own where we can clarify our point of view in a more articulate way than a simple commentary or telling a story.
If we write on our blog once or several times a month, and they are “dense” posts, it is likely that some of our readers would like or feel comfortable receiving our posts through a newsletter. This gives us the opportunity to add other types of content to the newsletter, or to create a call to action for our current offers.
If, on the other hand, we write more often, it may be appropriate to create periodic newsletters with a summary of the latest articles, or to distribute articles dealing with different topics separately.
How important is it for an SME to develop a good email marketing strategy?
Email marketing is one of the promotional channels that, if used well, yields better results. What’s more, a well-growing email list increases its value and returns over time.
However, results don't come by accident or automatically: a successful strategy involves building an editorial plan, creating (or deciding who needs to create) good content and segmenting the mailing list – because it almost never is a good idea to write the same things for everyone.
Yes, it is an investment, but like any job well done, it pays off.
Can the fact of having a .it domain, therefore associated with the idea of made in Italy, be an added value for an email marketing campaign?
Presenting ourselves without even a domain of our own, or a site, does not exactly convey the idea of professionalism, seriousness and solidity that we generally want to transmit, in particular to our potential clients.
Even sending a newsletter from an email address created from a generic provider, like Libero or Gmail, is unprofessional.
Choosing a .Swiss or .ch domain immediately characterizes us from a national point of view. This can be an added value, especially if our market is sensitive to the value of Made in Switzerland or Swiss Made.
What is the right timeline for an effective email marketing campaign?
As always, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and choosing the right frequency is part of the strategy.
We should make sure to write whenever we have something interesting, original, and useful to say, and often enough so that we are not forgotten.
Hopefully this will happen at least once a month, otherwise you run the risk of losing the interest of your audience, or of them unsubscribing from your newsletter.
Let’s keep in mind two important factors: balancing our energies well, committing to writing at a pace that we can maintain, and respecting our members’ time and attention, trying to get into their inbox every time with something worth opening.
What are the main advantages of a newsletter over social media to communicate with your customers/users?
A newsletter is straightforward, intimate, and allows us to collect a lot of data about what each subscriber is really interested in, so that we can write to everyone who is most likely to be interested in our content.
Like the site, the newsletter is a space entirely ours, not subject to the rules and always variable.
Are there some industries where email marketing is more effective than others?
Some of the industries where email marketing is most effective include:
· Those in which up-to-date skills and information are sold
· E-commerce with a very wide and often updated offer or in which it is possible to often renew promotions and offers
· Everyone from associations and non-profit organizations.
People can comment on social events, but how can I get feedback on a newsletter campaign?
The first returns are quantified: open rates, clicks and conversions, but also sharing of newsletters on social networks and trends in new subscriptions and cancellations. It is essential to monitor them, both against industry benchmarks and against our mailing list history.
What are the advantages of a newsletter in terms of conversion to my website?
In almost all customer journey maps, email accompanies people on their journey from awareness to purchase and even beyond purchase, playing an important role in attention and loyalty.
As you can see, when done correctly, email marketing can reap many rewards; however it is essential that it is done correctly.
At EWM., we specialize in supporting businesses with their email marketing needs. Contact our team for effective email marketing campaign solutions.