email Marketing

The benefits of email send outs to your business

While there’s constant innovation in digital marketing techniques that form part of an overall marketing strategy, one tactic that has remained a constant is email marketing. We would go as far as to say it’s the workhorse of our industry, the linchpin of a marketing campaign.

While we embrace social media as a key tool to engage with a wide range of audiences, its use should form part of the wider marketing strategy to help increase brand awareness. The Rule of Seven may be old but should still be taken heed of. It should be in the back of your mind that a marketing message needs to be seen or heard seven times by a prospect before they consider buying from you. So, considering all communication avenues at the outset, including email, is important.

But why email?

Reports indicate that email is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter*. In general, the recipient has at some point given their email address to you to receive further information so this gives more chance of recognition.

But how do you get email addresses in the first place? If you’re starting out, consider creating a ‘newsletter sign up’ function on your homepage. And then, make sure you add this sign up to all channels from Twitter through to your blog page. But don’t put people off, make the sign up as simple as possible.

Marketing campaigns need to not only be tailored to your business but also your customers. Personalisation is the main buzz word here. Those on the receiving end want to feel special and know that the products or services in that email are considered and tailored to them. So, once you have an email address perhaps consider sending them a special offer with a discount voucher as a thank you.

Being relevant is imperative

Ensure a subject line tells it how it is. You’re more likely to succeed with the recipient opening the email and subsequent click through if the subject line explains what’s in store rather than be too quirky and ambiguous. And, once you have their attention, content in bite size chunks is much easier to read.

If you’re embarking on an email campaign, it’s a good idea to check with your digital agency whether it will be mobile optimised. Reports show that 53% of email are now opened on a mobile device*. Therefore, ensuring the newsletter template is optimised for mobiles is crucial.

What’s important is to keep your strategic goals in sight to ensure that an email campaign is designed to target specific customers and leads for the maximum impact.

Email marketing agency Croydon

At Smart Cow we work in partnership with Constant Contact to provide you with an unprecedented level of service and expertise for all of your email marketing campaigns. Call on 020 3137 1826 or email saymoo@smart-cow.com to find out more.

*Source: Campaign Monitor – Email Marketing New Rules 

Make sure your content lives up to the expectations of your witty company name

With 40% of UK consumers more inclined to use a business with a witty name rather than traditional, is it time to revisit how your customers view your business?

The recent research by Vistaprint listed the most popular named businesses including ‘Spruce Springclean’, ‘Surelock Homes’ and ‘Planet of the Grapes’. While these names certainly do create stand out on the high street – online and offline – the brand needs to live up to its name and deliver the customer experience that is expected.

When you start out or you’re thinking of a rebrand, take a moment to create a company profile that mirrors your ethos and thoughts. Keep it simple, say what you do and end with a quirky phrase to emulate your fun company name.

Keep this philosophy in mind for any communication you do and try to keep a similar tone of voice with whatever channel you’re using to communicate with your audience.

With email marketing being one of the most successful ways of reaching your customers, making sure the content of the email is fun like your name suggests is key, but ensuring that you clearly indicate what the offer is in the subject line is just as important. Don’t let the joke take over from what you want the customer to do which is open the email and grab that special offer.

Ultimately people want to know what you do so don’t lose sight of that with too much comedy. It’s all a balancing act.

Email marketing agency Croydon

If you need a helping hand building an email marketing strategy, get in touch with us at Smart Cow Digital Marketing for expert advice on how to conduct an effective digital marketing campaign! As email marketing experts in Croydon, we can create your initial email template, write content and distribute to your database.