Creating a Successful Email Marketing Campaign.pdf

8/12/2019 Creating a Successful Email Marketing Campaign.pdf

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How to conduct an email marketing campaign

Why is this important?Email marketing is one of the most cost effective and fastest ways to communicate with yourcustomers. Its therefore a great way to manage customer relationships, generate new leads and takeadvantage of market opportunities in record time. Easily personalised, Email Marketing gives youthe flexibility to test different campaigns with different markets and makes tracking results easy. Itscomparably fast response rates also means that you can tweak campaigns after testing to achieve ahigher success rate. But dont be fooled, achieving success can be much harder than thisseemingly simple click and send marketing tool would have you believe.

What to do

Before conducting an email marketing campaign its essential youre up-to-date on email marketingprotocols and privacy regulations, have selected the right email solution for your needs and budget,and you have a firm grasp on ways to get your message read.

Follow the three steps below and youll be well on your way to producing a successful emailmarketing campaign.

1. Protocols for email marketingIn Australia, there are strict privacy and anti-spamming laws governing the collection and use of anindividuals personal details. Businesses who ignore these may face significant financial penalties. Forfull details, visit the Australian Direct Marketing Association andPrivacy Commission websites.Itsalso a good idea to abide by certain email etiquettes if you want to build customer relationships andloyalty.

Seven quick rules of thumb for email marketing

Always have permission. The best way to do this is to ask a persons permission at the time ofcollecting the email address. Include an opt-in tick box on data collection forms or ask when yourespeaking to people if its okay to send marketing material.

When buying/obtaining mailing lists dont assume the inclusion of an email address gives youpermission to market electronically. Always check with the list supplier what the recipients on thelist have agreed to receive. Youll lose credibility if youre perceived to be spamming people andcould end up breaching the Privacy Act.

Protect your customers privacy. If youre using a standard email program to send your email,always use the BCC (blind copy) feature. This will stop your recipients from getting the email

addresses of all the other recipients that your message was sent to. Even if your mailing listmembers are trustworthy, you cant be sure that their computers arent infected with a virus thatwill spread to all your customers once it finds the addresses in your newsletter.

Protect your computers with anti-virus software and keep it updated. If you send someone a virus,youll lose credibility.

Include an unsubscribe link and privacy policy. Make sure your email contains easy to findunsubscribe and our privacy policy links, and that protocols are in place to action responses/unsubscribes promptly.

Remember: Just because youre losing a mailing list member, doesnt mean youre losing acustomer, yet. But make it hard for people to change their subscription options and theyll taketheir business elsewhere.

Limit the amount of campaigns you send. Your customers wont appreciate being bombarded byemails. Its a sure fire way to have your emails ignored or worse lose a subscriber and customer.
http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://www.adma.com.au/http://www.privacy.gov.au/http://www.privacy.gov.au/http://www.adma.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/



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2. Choosing the right email marketing solutionWhen it comes to email marketing, there are infinite possibilities to choose from (Google tells methere are 598,000 solutions for Australia alone). And while email marketing is one of the more costeffective marketing tools, there are still costs involved, especially if campaign distribution andmanagement is outsourced.

Ideally you want a solution that is reasonably priced, easy to use and track, and, from your recipientspoint of view, easy to read and navigate.

Working with what youve got

One of the cheapest solutions is to use your standard email program (be sure to hide your recipients

identities by BCCing). This is a good option if you have next to no budget, but youll be very limitedin tracking capabilities (receipt and bounce notifications at best), what you can do to make yourmessage visually appealing, and how many recipients you can send an email to at one time.

For small budgets with big ideas

There are a number of affordable, web-based, email marketing solutions that will make you lookgood in front of your customers and your accountant. These generally include email templates andtracking and reporting tools. Rates are normally billed on a monthly basis and are calculatedaccording to the number of subscribers you have. Take a look at MailChimp (theyoffer free plans aswell) andVision6 (anAustralian company) as some viable examples.

3. Tips to ensure your email is read

Most business people face an inbox overflowing with emails on a daily basis. They weigh up emailmessages quickly, scan rather than read and concentrate on emails that help them get somethingdone. The rest are deleted. Therefore if you want your message to be read it must be carefullycrafted.

1. Create a compelling subject line.

If you want your email to be opened then your subject line has to be an attention grabber. Keep thisline short, relevant and informative, and above all else avoid the use of words/phrases that are likelyto have your message caught in a spam filter, eg free. There are a number of free spam checksonline which are great for testing your campaign before you send it.

Because subject lines are important, its worthwhile spending some time developing these and

testing them on friends and colleagues before sending your email.

2. Identify yourself.

One of the first things people look at is who the email is from. If its from a friend or someone theyare familiar with, they are less likely to file it with the junk mail. Use a consistent from name andemail address when you send your email campaigns so that your audience knows its you. You mayalso find greater readership when the email isfrom an actual person rather than just [email protected].

Note: If youre sending your email to first time readers, you may want to use a more recognisablename that includes your company, eg Jane from company ABC, so your reader wont dismiss you asa stranger.

3. Make your email easy to scan.Give your email distinct sections so people can build up a relationship with it and skim read it easily.If you choose to include images, then only use small images and use them sparingly. Also, try toavoid using animated elements like flash as not everyone is capable of viewing these.
http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://www.mailchimp.com/http://www.vision6.com.au/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.vision6.com.au/http://www.mailchimp.com/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/



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4. Welcome new readers.

If this email is your first communication with the recipient, introduce yourself and the purpose of yourcommunication. If youve spoken in the past remind them of this.

5. Personalise your message.

We all prefer to receive personalised rather than generic messages, so it should come as no surprisethat tailored messages have a greater response rate. Dynamic fields in HTML emails mean that aswell as inserting a personal greeting eg Hi Jane, you can also tailor your offering according to acustomers characteristics and behaviours by interchanging sentences/paragraphs. If you dont haveaccess to dynamic fields, simply create a few versions of the campaign and tailor a message to eachof your customer groups.

6. Let your personality shine through.

Its a great way to build relationships with your customers and theyll appreciate the sincerity.

7. Take into account what the recipient of your message needs to hear.

Do they already know a lot about the subject - if so, dont bore them with a detailed history. Are theytechnically qualified to deal with the information you are giving them?

8. Dont try to communicate too much information.

Keep your message short and sharp with only two or three key points. If your message is lengthy,break it down into numbered paragraphs or bullet points or use links and drive traffic back to your

website.

9. Brush up on your direct marketing skills.

As email marketing is a form of direct mail, many of the principles still apply.

10. The rule of value exchange.

Because youre taking up someones precious time, give them something of value in return such asan exclusive offer, prize or valuable information.

11. Dont just email advertisements.

Emails should be useful and entertaining. If youre on the hard sell all the time, people will soon loseinterest. Even if people have specifically signed up to receive advertisements, make it worth theirwhile by giving them something special like a discount or a pre-release product order.

Remember: Deliver on the promise you made that persuaded people to give you their emailaddresses in the first place.

12. Use attachments only where necessary.

Its much better to refer a recipient to a link in your website than to attach a document or form.

13. Dont forget a call to action.

What would you like your reader to do in response to your email? You need to make this very clear tothe reader and give them a time frame. For instance, if your email contains an exclusive prize offer,then you may want to say something like To redeem your prize, please call 1800 123 123 today!.
http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/



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14. Make it easy to forward.

Let your customers do the promoting for you by making your email easy to forward. You can evenencourage it by offering incentives for them to do so.

15. Use a spellchecker and if necessary a grammar check as well.

Poorly constructed text or content with mistakes is unprofessional and distracting.

16. The devil is in the detail exorcise all demons from your database.

A qualified, clean list will reduce the time it takes to prepare and send your campaign and increaseyour response rate. Make sure all email addresses are correctly formatted, there are no double ups and

you have complete information sets for your dynamic fields, eg a first name instead of just an initial.

17. Test your message before you send it.

Send your email to yourself before mailing it to your customers. Check that your email conveys theright tone for your message, all your links work including opt out/unsubscribes, and your emailformatting hasnt taken a vacation somewhere in the World Wide Web.

18. Measure your success!

Its good practice to go back and measure how well your campaign has gone so you can identifyareas for improvement, or if its even worthwhile repeating it. Many email software solutions willenable you to track click throughs and open rates. If you dont have access to these tools you canuse other means to gauge success such as measuring participation from your call to action prizes

given out, promotional codes mentioned etc.

See how its doneThe NSW Business Chamber and its subsidiary businesses use Email Marketing as an integral part oftheir marketing mix to inform customers and members, promote products and services and addvalue to our offering.

The following are examples of Email Marketing campaigns that have recently been sent.

Product promotion to existing customers: How much will it cost you to implement the new IR laws?

eNewsletter example: Australian Business Limited Apprenticeships Centre: May 2009 eNewsletter

Note: Although these examples are in HTML format, you can still draw on many of the ideas andconcepts for inspiration and use them in a standard email program.
http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://cm.australianbusiness.com.au/rp/15/test.clsp?EmailId=107848&Token=24C9ACDD5CE9727B9D4D0A49FB6AB1511http://cm.australianbusiness.com.au/rp/15/test.clsp?EmailId=116371&Token=2D779A82B3E28AF38F2D75878C0CFCA1Bhttp://cm.australianbusiness.com.au/rp/15/test.clsp?EmailId=116371&Token=2D779A82B3E28AF38F2D75878C0CFCA1Bhttp://cm.australianbusiness.com.au/rp/15/test.clsp?EmailId=116371&Token=2D779A82B3E28AF38F2D75878C0CFCA1Bhttp://cm.australianbusiness.com.au/rp/15/test.clsp?EmailId=107848&Token=24C9ACDD5CE9727B9D4D0A49FB6AB1511http://cm.australianbusiness.com.au/rp/15/test.clsp?EmailId=107848&Token=24C9ACDD5CE9727B9D4D0A49FB6AB1511http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/



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Where to go for help

Do it yourself

The following is a list of useful resources to help you develop an Email Marketing campaign:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner

Australian Direct Marketing Association

MailChimp

Vision6

Online Business Directory

NSW Business Chamber Online Business Directory connects you to thousands of businesses acrossNSW. With exclusive access to special offers and great deals, you will find a service provider,business partner or supplier who can meet your needs. Listing on the Online Business Directory isopen exclusively to NSW Business Chamber members.
http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/http://www.privacy.gov.au/http://www.adma.com.au/http://www.mailchimp.com/http://www.vision6.com.au/http://www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au/business-directory.aspxhttp://www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au/business-directory.aspxhttp://www.vision6.com.au/http://www.mailchimp.com/http://www.adma.com.au/http://www.privacy.gov.au/http://nswbusinesschamber.com.au/

Documents

Creating a Successful Email Marketing Campaign.pdf