Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results. Email is as good today as it ever was, however, the rules have changed with the volume sent.

Why send emails anyway?

Email is the cheapest and arguably the most effective way of selling directly to customers.

They take little time to do and complete an important part of your marketing campaign.

We all know about the three keys to selling as Know, Like and Trust and emails can support the first to sections, In fact, they can sometimes complete the circle of faith as they become trusting buyers.

I email most days. It may be the same email to different customer groups as I segment my list but it provides a point of touch to the customer.

The other Golden rule is the rule of 7. A customer needs to be touched by you seven times before they buy. Email may be just one touch or all seven depending on you

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results
An age-old rule of marketing that is still as relevant as 100 years ago

I don't want to be pounding rules at you but they are the cornerstone of marketing and if you ignore them it is at your peril.

Email Marketing at Wikipedia

Do emails still work

I sent out a few emails today to a segment of my list, I offered insight and support on a particular problem that many people were having, no heavy sell just an I can help message.

I had a reply from a guy that wants three services from me. I just checked my records and my first email went to him in May last year, some 16 months later he bought a product

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results
They are still the best low-cost performers around

He talked to me like a best friend and sought my advice on his particular problem I had filled the know like and trust and the seven contacts.

Replies vary with the offer but yes they still work.

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results planning is first.

Plan what you want to achieve

Everything you do will need a plan. This may include:

  • What do we want to achieve with this marketing?
  • Who will do the necessary work
  • Ensure you have a timeline
  • Be sure to have a regular review
  • Claim your results, you deserve them

Write for a mobile phone

A lot of emails now end up on a mobile phone so you must take particular care that it does look good on a small screen.
Don't have links or pictures close together because this will show up as an error in the reporting. a great test is to view your email when finished so you can make changes.

Build your base and segment it

I am not a huge player in this space however I still have 58 different list categories.
I understand that customers vary in their needs so I will try and target a need.

My market is small to medium business but that can be a fixed retail premise or even a one-man operator.

I generally don't factor in Male / Female preferences, although at times I do consider this.
For example ladies, hairdressers are a bit different from the local plumber or even the government departments we deal with. This, of course, depends on the product.

It is always a consideration

Marketing with emails, you need a list

Ways to build a list

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results
Building a list is developing an asset

This is the hard question that most often comes first when discussing emails.

The customer list is an asset that should be used to increase touches on a regular basis.
Everyone you deal with should give you a name, email address and phone number.

Your website should request these details in a trade for providing them something.

You can buy lists but this is fraught with danger and it is not on my recommendations.
Facebook, Instagram, clubs, shows, business cards, every contact is a potential customer.

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results with an introduction

The introduction always comes first

V
The introduction is an important element

Your very first email should always be a handshake introduction.

Hi, my name is Brian the plumber and I work in the building Industry. It's a tough market at the moment but we're trying our best to give our customers the support they need.

This is no different from meeting someone at a party. You would never say Hi I am Brian the plumber do you want your pipes fixed or shall we dance.

We will reach out to the closing action further down the page but every page must have a closing link.
They may want to dance on the first date so give them an opportunity to say the magic word.YES!

Not everyone will like you

Sometimes the dance floor is too busy, they have been asked too many times or it is not convenient at the moment.

They may have contacted you about a particular product and have since bought it or moved on
to a new project so you no longer present value to them.

It is not personal! You may hate rejection but we all lead a busy life and only some things will retain our interest. However, times and subjects change so what was today will be different tomorrow.
My open rates vary from a little under 20% to a little over 60%. Same base different emails.

Spam reports

This is important for your future. When someone gets an email they did not want and had no past communication with you they think it is spam email and they record it as such.

This is not always easy to control and you will get some.

In fact, I had one guy that sent me a nasty email complaining about my message he had just received and he had never heard from me.

When I checked my history he had been sent about a dozen emails that had all been opened and went back about 12 months.

He was having a bad day.

I recently started a new list and decided to change carriers. My segment was new but my material continued my standard approach that has stood a test of time.

One guy laid out a complaint so the carrier black banned me from future business. I had broken no rules but this guy had a real beef about something and laid into the carrier.

My old and existing carrier had handled hundreds of thousands of emails without a problem so I believe it was in their template that they were at fault.

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results. never spam

Do you need a closer

Every email should have a closer, a reason to subscribe, an email or phone call address.

If you don't ask, you don't get, so give them a reason to click.

One of the things we want to track is who clicks what and when. Use big coloured buttons and give them a reason to click.

The most important reason is to have your next email looked at. So give them a glimpse of what is to come. Build some anticipation so they will look forward to hearing from you.

Who is the email from

We all get emails everyday, some more than others, but we generally build a following.

Each morning I scan the emails by name and I highlight them all.

As I go down the list I save ones by name of the sender and then by the subject. This way very little has my attention.

However, one day when I am looking for a solution I will move my eyes to the subject line.
They may have sent me a hundred unopened mails and one will gel.

The reason the first email is an introduction is to have the following emails opened

Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results Title and heading.

Title and heading

The title, the heading and the footer need particular attention. You may have the best content but if no one reads it you have wasted your, and their time.

My title today in my email was How I had a customer jump with Joy.

What would make a customer so happy just had to be read?

It was a true story of carrier incompetence that needed something special to solve a problem. That something was me, in this case, achieving more than they considered possible

Build excitement with your emails

During an email, series tell them what comes next to gain interest and hopefully extra opens.

In your next mail, we will show how X company increased sales.
We won company awards because of this one thing.
Our one-time special offer.
What others say about us.
Customer exclusive offers up next.

The idea is to get your emails read

Think autoresponder

Image of mail going out with an auto responder
The smart way to market

An autoresponder is a wonderful thing. It saves you a lot of work and regularly keeps in contact with your clients. You just type a series of mails and time them to go out over a period of time.
I often use them with a product release or something aimed at a particular client base.

It is a long subject and I wrote a great post on Autoresponders recently

The email series

Whether it is by an autoresponder or a manual series the journey is much the same.

  • You will introduce yourself and try to get some Know factor coming.
  • Then what business are you in and why do people deal with you
  • Problems others have and how they got around them
  • a testimonial or two to build some trust
  • The solutions you have provided
  • How you can help them
  • Special offer
  • Closing hard hit 1
  • More closing
  • Saying goodbye
  • off to a newsletter, however, tell them what to expect

Manage your results

All marketing results determine action.

You enter a market with an idea that you wish to achieve and when that is not met you make changes.

I always send a test email or newsletter to determine results. I generally use the same list so I understand the readers.

A bad mark and I rewrite the material or change the header so that I can see what I did wrong.

By using a small list you can soon see your mistakes and have time to make corrections

Re-segment your list

When you load your contacts you put them into an appropriate list but that does not last forever. When they buy and move them when products change vary them when they are stale put them to a newsletter. Just keep them active and contributing.

Remember email marketing for results

Start to close the sale

We talked about a closer on each and every email and the essence of that will grow as you get closer to asking for the order.
You can start to use statements that will increase demand;

  • limited time offer
  • Running out of stock
  • People in your industry are demanding this product
  • Without our product, you will struggle for success.
  • Increase your sales or your money back.
  • Offer available until Tuesday at Noon


    All this is timed to get some action.

Strip out non-openers

There are people that can not say no, they won't unsubscribe they will continue to ignore you and never read your exciting stuff. So what do you do with them?

Get them off your list and move on. However, it is a bit harder than that because you may believe one day they will strike with you and become a customer.

Be ruthless at times and cut back on a dead list.

I sent out an email to a dead list that said along the lines of “if you don't want my emails then hit the big red unsubscribe button below”

How many reacted to this? Not one. Why? because they have a delete mentality and would sooner spend time deleting rather than unsubscribing. Do it for them.

Send to a newsletter list

When I have exhausted an Autoresponder or a list I generally transfer them to a newsletter-style campaign.

No heavy selling, just a consistent touch and refresh about your business.
You can see the openings and the clicks and work with them to a greater extent.

Keep your newsletter as just that, it is not a headbanging sales tool, it is an information and entertainment product.

The ones I read are all different, The tyre store that relates to cars both old and new. The curtain guy that has seasonal changes, the sign writer with building wraps are just a few.

The format with newsletters is easy to do.

Mass marketing with emails

If you have a list use it regularly and often. In fact, more is better than less.

Don't ever be afraid to email, your target person will tell you what is too much as your opt-out rate increases. They are often the people you want off your list

Conclusion

Email marketing is as alive today as it ever was.

We get a lot of our information over emails however they need to be done correctly. The game is to get them to read and respond too.

You have ample opportunities to test and try, change and alter until the formula works.

Set yourself a daily task as the first issue on your daily list. As a marketer you are about selling products and that only happens with action.

My first daily action is what can I do to get a sale today. Most often it is some type of email activity, a broadcast, a newsletter, perhaps a follow-up email to a quote or to someone new.

Nothing is achieved without action

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Peter Hanley

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Email in marketing, the things you must do to get results by Peter Hanley

Peter Hanley

I have been in business for many years and the internet to find ways to grow your business faster

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Rodarrick

    Very interesting article you have gotten up here and you did a great job of expatiating on the rudiments of email marketing. Definitely yes! Email marketing works and we can only make it work when we input enough energy and work from our end towards doing it the right way. I guess everyone would agree with me that this post has enlightened fully on what makes email marketing unique and the various ways to ensure success is achieved through it. Thanks for this

    1. Peter Hanley

      Thanks for your kind remarks. And yes I email nearly every day so I understand it works.

      Kind regards

      Peter H

  2. Ramos

    Email marketing is evergreen and it is still very much in use till today because it has been proven to generate enough results over the years. Though it may be difficult at times when getting started with it but then, growing overtime would ensure success along the line. Just like me, I am sure everyone that read this post would have gained valuable tips that would ensure they get success in their email marketing because the points discussed are spot on. Cheers

    1. Peter Hanley

      Thaks Ramos, appreciated.
      It can be a set and forget or a daily effort but either way it works..
      I personally try to send something every day, you can’t send too often.

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