If you look up email marketing online you’ll see lots of people talking about why it is so effective and why they use it. What you won’t see much of is people talking about the types of emails that they send and why they send them. When it comes to any type of marketing or advertising a lot of it will depend on your industry and who you are trying to target. Realistically you will need to monitor what you are doing and see what is actually working. It is all well and good reading and guide to see what works for other people, but your business is different so you need to check what you are doing is working for you.
So, what email sending strategies and topics should you be looking at sending?
1 – Educational
People want to buy from a company that they trust to be an authority figure. When you send out emails don’t always send them out as a way of generating sales, sometimes you need to just give people information. You want to give people a reason to read your emails so if you fill them with relevant and useful information they are more likely to want to open it and have a read – especially in the future. Of course by showing them that you know what you are talking about and are knowledgeable in this area you have a better chance of encouraging them to buy from you in the future because if they trust you then they are going to trust your products.
2 – Informational
If you have an event coming up or you have heard of something that might be useful and relevant to the people on your mailing list then send them an email with the details. This should be done in a way that simply tells them what is going on, rather than encourage them to buy – remember emailing marketing is about building up your reputation as well as sales! Of course sales are good, but if every email you send out is trying to get money out of your customer then the chances are that they will stop reading. Make sure that you send out informational emails too, so that they see you as a helpful figure not just someone who wants them to buy something!
3 – Promotional
Of course an element of email marketing as to be about generating sales and this should not be forgotten. One of the best things you can do is send out emails to your list to let them know about special offers and sales that you have happening. Remember these are users that have signed up to your email list so they are already interested in what you have to say – this means you have a good chance of turning this around and making it a sale. What a lot of companies do is opt to tell mailing list users about a sale first or give out exclusive mailing list voucher codes as this will also encourage people to stay on your mailing list long term which is always a good thing!
4 – Newsletter
Depending on the industry you are in or the nature of your business you could look at sending out email newsletters. Generally speaking you should look to do this no more than once a month. You can use this as a news roundup of what has been happening in your industry and at your business. You can even have fun sections such as introducing the team or running a competition. Try to keep the newsletter relevant as well as fun, because after all people have signed up to your mailing list for a reason and that is to receive news and information from you.
A big part of the emails you send will vary on what is happening with your business and even the time of year. Make sure you monitor the success of any emails you send so that you know what has worked well and what type of emails you could be looking to mimic and send again in the future.
My name is Nicola and I have a keen interest in social media, SEO and internet marketing.
