Globally, the volume of emails exchanged each day in 2023 amounts to a staggering 347.3 billion, as reported by a reliable source. In this era dominated by digital communication, the influx of emails has become an integral part of our daily lives. Many of these emails originate from the online stores we have previously visited, while a considerable portion of them fall into the undesirable category of spam.
However, it is worth noting that among this multitude of emails, there exist messages that contain valuable information, potentially piquing your interest.
Consequently, the persistent bombardment of emails has become a regular occurrence in our lives.
Yet, it begs the question: how many of these emails do we truly open and engage with?
Given the sheer volume of emails individuals receive on a daily basis, it becomes an arduous task to ensure that your email stands out amidst the sea of messages flooding one’s inbox. This reality might discourage you from contributing to the already overwhelming noise. Nevertheless, it is crucial to acknowledge the substantially higher return on investment (ROI) that email marketing offers in comparison to other marketing channels. As indicated by Omnisend’s 2022 forecast, every dollar invested in email marketing yields an impressive average return of $40.
Consequently, it becomes evident that crafting a highly effective email marketing campaign is an indispensable component of any comprehensive marketing strategy.
Let’s get started
An email marketing campaign is an act of nurturing leads and current customers with the purpose of encouraging engagement and increasing sales through a scheduled series of emails. Each campaign is created with a specific call-to-action in mind, such as sign-ups, bookings, continuing reading, or adding a product to their cart.
We receive a lot of email campaigns daily without even realizing it, and that’s because those email campaigns aren’t all that effective.
This is exactly why it is imperative for businesses to create high-performing marketing campaigns.
An email marketing campaign when executed correctly can be a great way to grow your business, drive traffic and increase sales. The right campaigns help businesses in building lasting relationships with their subscribers by keeping them engaged with relevant content.
Furthermore, email campaigns make it easy for organizations to collect data about their subscribers to study what’s working and what isn’t.
Let’s put it this way: when it comes to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you don’t “own” your fans or followers. If the platform shuts down, you could lose contact with them altogether.
Plus, you must constantly adapt to changes in trends, algorithms, and your customers’ preferences. On the other hand, if you have your customers’ email addresses and their permission to market to them — that’s an asset that you truly own.
In short, email marketing can be a powerful tool for staying in touch with your audience and driving business results.
According to Statista, more than 4 billion people are expected to have at least one email address by 2023, making email one of the most common forms of communication on the planet.
Investing in Email Has Its Benefits
“Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches—at scale.” – David Newman
Email is an effective and cost-efficient way to reach a large audience in order to generate significant returns on investment (ROI) for businesses.
Investing in email marketing requires a solid understanding of email best practices, including the importance of building and maintaining an email list, creating compelling content, and measuring and analysing campaign performance. Let’s understand the ‘why’ first:
- Drives a higher ROI: According to a study conducted by McKinsey, organizations that prioritize data-driven personalization in their marketing and sales strategies can achieve a marketing return on investment (ROI) increase of 15% to 20% or more.
- Increases sales: According to a report by Adobe in 2016, almost 90% of consumers claimed that personalization played a role in their buying choices. (“The Personalization Payoff,” Adobe 2016).
- Users feel empowered, appreciated, and understood: The results? Your unsubscribe rates drop: When promotional outreach and marketing messages are customized, over 60% of consumers develop a more favourable view of the brand. (“The Personalization Payoff,” Adobe, 2016).
How to Run a Successful Email Marketing Campaign
Let’s take a closer look at each of these steps:
1. Ideation:
This is how we begin.
Ideation involves coming up with ideas for the content of your email marketing campaign. You need to decide on the purpose of your campaign and identify your target audience. You also need to consider the type of content you will include in your emails, such as promotional offers, newsletters, or product updates.
In a 2022 survey of marketers from various countries, newsletters emerged as the top choice for email marketing campaigns, with 88% of professionals utilizing them to reach existing and potential customers. Promotional email campaigns ranked second, with 73% of professionals employing them for marketing purposes. Source
2. Execution:
Once you have come up with ideas for your email marketing campaign, you need to execute them.
This involves creating the content for your emails, designing the layout, and selecting the appropriate tools and platforms for sending your emails.
Let’s create an email campaign. Begin by asking yourself five simple questions:
- What kind of lists do you subscribe to?
- What makes you subscribe? What kind of offers you can’t resist?
- What do you like about those specific newsletters?
- How do you feel when you get your favourite newsletter?
- What makes you unsubscribe?
You need to make sure that your emails are visually appealing, contain relevant information, and are personalized to your target audience.
Key Highlights:
a. Mobile-compatible emails are key:
Not having a mobile-friendly email campaign can seriously hurt the efficacy of your campaigns as a lot of people open their emails on their phones.
46% of smartphone users prefer to receive communications from businesses via email. (Statista, 2021)
b. Short and to the point:
The subject line and preheader text should be compelling. It should grab the reader’s attention and entice them to keep reading. Pique their interest either by asking a relevant question or adding an element of surprise.
“We need your help.”
That’s quite powerful, wouldn’t you agree?
Buoy, a company specializing in water infusion products, leverages a sense of urgency and our innate desire for belonging to craft an attention-grabbing email headline. This approach aims to motivate individuals to act upon their altruistic values, align their philanthropic aspirations with the company’s mission, and make a positive impact that benefits themselves, the company, and the targeted community.
Learn More
c. Personalizing your email marketing campaigns:
This helps skyrocket the email open rate from 20.81% to 50%.
Additionally, Epson’s research states that 80% of customers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides a personalized experience. Remember, it’s great to familiarize the relationship you have with your customers.
This email entices the receivers to pause whatever they’re doing and head over to Netflix to check out the new content. The highlight is the “Top Picks for You” section displaying personalized recommendations for the user. Learn More
d. Provide value to its recipients:
Focus on balancing valuable, informative content alongside email marketing campaign ideas to entice someone to buy a product or service or learn more about your business.
e. Keep emails short and interactive:
In fact, emails with 75–100 words have the highest response rate, at 51%. Your emails should not take longer than a couple of minutes to be read through. Aim at making them simple, straight to the point, and easy to read.
f. Email marketing software:
Use email marketing software to take the guesswork out of email marketing.
They provide automated campaigns with consistent messaging to your audience. They offer A/B testing to determine effective marketing strategies and content. Additionally, they help create a strong landing page to facilitate quick customer purchases or sign up.
3. Measurement:
After you have executed your email marketing campaign using the special keys to email marketing, you need to measure its effectiveness.
It is important to realize that the collection of data is a sure way to make future campaigns a hit. Furthermore, following up on your initial email is a good way to add information, get to know your customers, and receive their input, which can help you shape future mailings.
This involves analysing the performance of your emails by tracking metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. You may use various tools such as Mailchimp, Buzz Stream, etc to track these metrics
4. Fixation:
The final step in email marketing is fixation. This involves using the data and insights gathered from the measurement step to fix and optimize your email marketing campaign.
You need to identify areas where you can improve the performance of your emails, such as subject lines, content, or timing.
Review whether the objectives you established were achieved and examine how the campaign’s outcomes were transformed into actions, such as website clicks, email or phone inquiries, and real sales.
You can also experiment with different elements of your email marketing campaign to see what works best for your target audience.
Analysing the outcomes can enable you to identify areas for enhancement that can be implemented in your future email marketing initiatives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, businesses today have a plethora of marketing strategies to choose from.
However, successful email marketing stands out as one of the most effective and reliable methods for building and maintaining relationships with customers, boosting sales, and driving website traffic.
With the increasing use of digital platforms, email marketing provides a direct and personal touchpoint for businesses to connect with their target audience. By creating email campaign ideas, engaging content, personalized messages, and timely promotions, businesses can establish brand loyalty and foster customer engagement.
As such, effective email marketing should be a key component of any comprehensive marketing strategy for businesses seeking to stay competitive and achieve long-term success in today’s dynamic market.
DigiMantra Labs specializes in assisting brands in incorporating email marketing as a crucial element in their marketing strategies. Our committed team of marketers provides the most pertinent marketing strategies to our consumers, tailored as per their needs, with email marketing at the forefront. Get in touch with our email marketing experts today and take your email marketing campaigns a notch higher.