The Email inbox is a direct link to some of your biggest fans
– Using this line of communication can give you a marketing advantage
Effective email communication and marketing can be a complicated web to weave. As citizens of a consumer-based economy, we are all bombarded with marketing messages every day – and can frequently be annoyed by them.
Think of your own experience. We’ve all been in the situation where we give out our email address to get membership access, or a give-away, or additional information, which we need at the time – we just didn’t realize that also means we will be getting a weekly newsletter about auto parts 4 times a month.
Despite the risk factors, as a marketing agency Ajar still encourages clients to maintain an accurate and robust email list. In fact, we help design certain marketing strategies to collect emails by offering swag and/or proprietary items and information.
Our philosophy is that an email marketing list is something that should be ever growing. We do this because with the right marketing message and content frequency, email marketing can be a powerful tool.
But just as Spiderman had to learn, with great power comes great responsibility.
When someone gives their email there’s a sense of trust that it won’t be abused by the marketer. Over use of an email account can be intrusive. Instead, we treat it as a permission given by the email recipient, and we take it very seriously. Why?
Because this represents a direct link to an actual customer. While about 70% of adults report having used the internet for Google searches and online shopping, 90% report having email accounts, which they are in the habit of using regularly.
Compared to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram – Email is still a legitimate way to connect with customers and prospects.
Now, the question becomes, what will you communicate?
This can also be a delicate web to weave. Frequency of emails usually depends on your business, the message you are trying to send, and the relevance and timely manner of the information to your intended audience. There’s a lot to consider.
The risk is that the wrong information, or marketing “overkill” can annoy people and drive them to “unsubscribe” from your email list. Then you’ve lost the trust. And you should honor their wishes by
removing them from your list – Meaning you will have to regain their trust if possible to reconnect with them in the future.
And yes, it can be done. With the right communication strategy, anything is possible.
Here’s a more concrete example: Imagine the marketer is a local grocer or neighborhood pharmacy. It could be argued that they have weekly, and even twice weekly, specials and offers on items that their frequent shoppers typically buy. Therefore, a frequent email marketing flyer with store coupons may be appreciated by regular customers.
On the other hand, car dealerships and auto insurance agents are selling more specific, bigger ticket items. People do not need weekly reminders. Face it, unless we’re Elon Musk, then we’re not constantly looking for cars to shoot off into space. Likewise, we are quickly going to unsubscribe when we start hearing about auto insurance sales and offers twice a week.
Now, if the insurance agency were to email other relevant or useful tips and information on a topic that interests us, we might stay on the email list and accept frequent emails from the sender. There are creative ways to stay front of mind without resorting to annoying advertisements.
As you can see, there are an endless array of reasons to communicate with a target audience. The more you dig into the specific messages you are sending to recipients the more you will want to think about who is receiving the information and why they should care. That is how you should go about crafting an email marketing campaign.
In reality, we often coach clients on how to maintain several email lists, or categories, to help better cater individual email messages. We think about demographics and whether recipients are past customers or new prospects.
As an added bonus, we also help clients repurpose email marketing to increase the company website content and help with SEO traffic. And we often find ways to reuse past marketing material in a new formula for email marketing success.
Constant communication is an ongoing challenge. Remember, Ajar is always standing by ready to assist with an email marketing campaign or online publication.