9 Email Marketing Steps Small Businesses Should Follow
One of the best and most affordable ways of reaching your customers and attracting new customers to your business is email marketing, says Jason Seed, president of cloud Point of Sale platform for retail and hospitality stores, Kounta.
Although a customer only sees the tip of the iceberg, there’s a range of tools and tactics you can implement in the back-end, that will give you the power and potential to achieve really good results.
To get as much involvement, and as much success out of email marketing campaigns, you need to give people what they want, and make the experience really easy and enjoyable. Here are nine tips that will help you do this:
1. Make subscribing easy
The easier you make it to subscribe to your email, the more subscribers you will get – simple as that. Make sure it’s on your homepage.
2. Tell them what they’re in for
Tell your subscribers explicitly and simply what they can expect. Just a short statement about whether you intend to send them updates regarding the company, special offers, or anything else will suffice. It’s vitally important to tell your readers what to expect and how often to expect it. Don’t softsoap them, or take advantage of them in any way. Be straightforward and transparent.
3. Reward them for signing up
Send all of your customers a welcome email. This reminds people that they’re on their list, and reassures them that signing up was a worthwhile act. You could even send new subscribers a special offer or exclusive content, in order to welcome them on board.
4. Keep branding consistent
Branding is one of the biggest buzzwords in the world for a reason. It works. Your emails should not merely fit into the brand that your company is projecting, it should make a contribution towards building it. Make your emails match the colour scheme of your company, and ensure that the tone of the text is appropriate. If you don’t think you can write well enough to do this, hire someone.
5. Make your emails easy to read quickly
Make your emails easy to read via scanning. We’d all like to believe that information we produce and send out is of vital importance to people, but that’s not the case. People receive hundreds of emails a day, and can’t dedicate enough time for everything. You need to be able to grab people’s attention quickly with your emails, so break them up into manageable bite-sized pieces. Use headlines to tease the email, and make the subject line to the point and clear as well.
You should also make it really easy to read from any device. Optimise it for mobile and tablet devices, so people can read on the go. More than 60% of emails are read on a mobile device now.
6. Send them what they actually want
This might seem straightforward, put yourself in your customers shoes, and send them content that they will actually want. One of the most basic facets of consumer psychology is to make people feel as if they are getting something for nothing, and this should be the absolute by-word of your approach to email marketing.
7. Keep track and plan ahead
Keeping a publishing calendar will be extremely useful for you. Don’t underestimate the commitment required to produce a regular viral marketing campaign. If you send too many emails in too short a period of time then you will annoy your subscribers, but if you don’t send anything for months then you will be forgotten. Plan your time accordingly.
8. Check everything twice
There is nothing that screams amateurism more than basic spelling and grammatical errors. Make sure your work is proofread diligently, ideally by someone else, and ideally by someone else with editing skills and a proven reputation. If you can’t acquire such a person, make sure you run it through a suitable word processor spellchecker.
9. Test everything
Finally, test out whether your emails are working, and different approaches to the process, not to mention the visual appearance of your emails. Send test emails to colleagues, or use a testing program to make sure your emails are suitable. Try A/B testing, to see what works better. When you look at your test emails, consider what you’re trying to convey. Get the opinions of others, and encourage them to be constructive and objective.
These tips are simple when you know them, but a lot of it is about being diligent, focusing on the detail, and planning and testing everything you do. If you follow these tips, your customers will love you for it.
Latest News
History Has Arrived: It’s The Cairns Crocodiles Inaugural Shortlist
Pen the acceptance speech and ready your best thongs and muumuu, because the Cairns Crocodiles shortlist has arrived.
IAS Launches First-To-Market Integration With Roblox To Provide 3D Immersive Measurement
Integral Ad Science, a global media measurement and optimization platform, today announced a market integration with Roblox, a global immersive platform for connection and communication. Available for advertising campaigns on Roblox later this year, IAS’s Viewability and Invalid Traffic (IVT) Measurement products will provide advertisers increased transparency into the quality of their Immersive Ads within […]
Fast And Furious: Top Gear Australia Launch Thrilled Motorheads, Car Entusiasts And Guests
B&T is still no closer to knowing who the new Stig is, except that she is a woman and a ridiculously fast.
TV Ratings (02/05/2024): Seven’s The 1% Club Wins The Night
The 1% club did not live up to its name when it comes to TV ratings last night.
TRA Welcomes Raft Of New Hires; Bolstering Expertise Across Markets
Insights and research agency TRA announces slew of new hires. Still no news on the return of marble wash denim, however.
CX Lavender Hires Boston Consulting Group’s Kim Verbrugghe as Chief Strategy Officer
CX Lavender announces new strategy hire and channels 'acoustic folk act at local RSL' for the publicity pic.
Opinion: Community standards, will they be the death of us?
This columnist is talking community standards. Sadly not those people who put dogs in trolleys in supermarkets.
Tegel gets heads bobbing with new free-range chicken platform
Sure, there's a lot of moral considerations when buying a chook. Yet, not as baffling as buying eggs or canned tuna.
Study: 66% of Aussie men believe masculinity is under attack
Two-thirds of Aussie blokes say masculinity's under attack. That said, sales of Solo lemon drink appear robust.
‘Equal Writes’: Canyon reveals new campaign and refreshed brand for women and non-binary writers
As this brand redesign again proves, nothing beats black on white. Well, white on black in this instance.
Icon Agency bolsters consumer and integrated offer with major hires
Icon Agency unveils new recruits. As press photo confirms office moustache competition now a lay-down misère.
Clemenger launches agricultural graduate program
Has Farmer Wants A Wife triggered an interest in dagging & hay balers? This grads program may resonate.
Levi’s Appoint UM As Global Media Agency For $217m Account
Levi's are the jeans for rockstars, models & the cool kids. Although that's not stopped dads from ruining their image.
QMS Nabs Sean Rigby From oOh!media
Things set to get spicy at the next Outdoor Media Association dinner and dance as a rival gets poached.
Bumble Reveals New Brand Identity To Usher In New Era Of Dating
It's ironic that all the dating apps market themselves as having no weirdos, freaks or mummy's boys like their rivals.
Stay In The House From Up! Airbnb Introduces Icons
Airbnb is now letting people stay in "iconic" places that sadly doesn't include the house from Silence Of The Lambs.
Changing The Conversation: The Role Of Media In Ending Violence Against Women
Governments are finally waking up to the DV crisis. Here, B&T chats with Jasmin Bedir on the role media can play.
“If You Want To Listen To Something Else, Go For It”: Fifi Box On Blocking Out The Noise & Focussing On What Works
No one is at the coal face of Melbourne radio like Fifi Box. Here, she chats with B&T without coughing up a lung.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Ferrari Signs Landmark New Title Sponsor
B&T continuing our series on sports sponsorships. And, yet again, there's little good news for the ten pin bowlers.
Choose A Path Less Trodden This Cannes In Cairns
Not since Wonka opened the factory has there been such a hot ticket in town. Here's how to make the most of Cairns.
Cannes In Cairns MC Keeva Stratton Shares Her Top Session Picks
Quip boss calls out her highlights of the Cannes agenda. We're assuming B&T staff b-boy demonstration was an oversight.
Here Are The Agencies That Made AFR’s Best Places To Work List And What The Industry Can Learn From Them
Did your office not make the list? Make sure your boss shouts at least two schooners at office drinks come Friday.
Get Ready, B&T’s Best Of The Best Is Back With The Top Holding Company Executive Leaders – Creative!
Want to know who the Grandest of the Grand Poobahs in the industry are? Look no further than this exhaustive list.
How A Glittering Campaign Helped The Australian Museum Sell 400,000 Tickets
B&T thoroughly enjoyed the Ramses exhibition at The Australian Museum, despite thinking we were going to the Archibald.
TV Ratings (30/04/2024): A “Shoey” Straight From A Fish’s Mouth Launches The Cheap Seats Into 2024
Last night's TV saw horny farmers beat Lego nerds, who beat fame-obsessed home cooks, who beat a chap with a large fish.
Spotlight Extends Partnership With Starlight Children’s Foundation
B&T always happy to promote the excellent work of the Starlight Foundation. Less so the Starfish Fanciers Foundation.
Amazon’s Advertising Quarterly Revenue Soars To $11.8bn
There are so many Amazon couriers visiting B&T headquarters at the moment our office dog doesn't know who to maul first.
VML Wellington Welcomes Jacob McGregor As Pou Ārahi Māori
McGregor set to lead cultural competency and safety at VML Wellington in important new gig.
“They Grow Up So Fast”: Simon Fowler On Five Years Of ABEL
Abel's CEO talks lessons learned from the agency's first five years. Including staff nicking all the Nespresso capsules.
Kyle & Jackie O Urge Melbourne To Pick A Side
Who can stop Kyle & Jackie O's indelible march into Melbourne radio? Is Peter 'Moony' Moon waiting by the phone?
Future & Taika Waititi Feature In Striking New Global Belvedere Campaign
Not only does drinking vodka make you cool like these dudes, it also has great weight loss properties for the bone idle.
The Fall Of Bonza: A Case Study In How To, And Not To, React In A Crisis
Does the collapse of yet another budget airline hark back to a gentler time of 17 hours spent on a Greyhound bus?
Opinion: Agencies, Be Unique – Stop Using The Word “Unique!”
Trinity P3's Ellie Angell says agencies are overusing the word unique. You could add omnichannel & holisitic to that.
Ex Marketing & Advertising Exec Releases Melanoma Memoir
Ex-adlander Anne Gately has penned a tome to skin cancer. Which is a handy reminder to check your moles, people.
Mamamia Appoint Danni Wright As New Head Of Strategy
Danni Wright takes up Mamamia's strategy reins with a feng shui expert called over positioning of office chaise lounge.
From The Bureau: Championing Competency & Cross-Industry Collaboration
The IAB's Jonas Jaanimagi calls for more specialisation in adtech. Meaning you'll understand it less than you already do.