EMAIL MARKETING IS NOT DEAD – YOU’RE JUST DOING IT WRONG

The rumours are NOT true; email marketing isn’t outdated and is still very much worth your time. As social media and shortform content rises, many people have begun to disregard email marketing. The truth is that email marketing still has one of the highest ROIs out there. But – only if it is done right!

Boring Emails

Are your emails flopping? Don’t shoot the messenger but consider the fact they may be boring! People read emails all day at work, do you really think they want to check their inbox and see more boring emails? Don’t fret, this isn’t the only cause for low open rates or click throughs.

Think about how often you are sending emails out to your client lists, are you bombarding them with generic messages? or are you saying, ‘Hey we’re still here - here’s a discount’ or ‘Why did you leave this in your basket-it’s cute?’. Obviously in a way that suits your brand, but you get the gist.

You need to earn your clients’ attention, whether this is through a call to action or adding a personalised element to the email. An example of this is when potential customers leave items in the checkout and you email them saying ‘don’t forget your items’.

Email Marketing - The Importance of List Hygiene

If you are sending out interesting, targeted emails that capture attention, but the open rate is still low, it is probably time for you to clean up your email list. Having an email list with poor hygiene can impact 30 – 50% of your emails’ deliverability. This means that you have a declining sender reputation (impacting whether your email shows up in customers inboxes), spam complaints and lower open rates/click through rates.

Email list hygiene or ‘cleaning’ is when you remove inactive or invalid email addresses and update contact information. It is important to do this as your email provider will cut you off from your entire audience if too many of your contacts bounce back or mark you as spam.

Before we discuss how you maintain your email list hygiene, let’s talk about when you would do it! You should be ‘cleaning’ your email lists regularly, depending on how frequently you send out emails, but the key triggers are:

-        Following a larger email campaign, as this usually exposes inactive emails.

-        Before a promotional campaign or a national holiday.

-        If you send regular emails, it is a good idea to schedule in a clean every 3-6 months.

-        If you decide to move to a different email marketing platform.

But how do I clean my email list?

Most email marketing platforms will do a generic overview for you, however it is always beneficial. Firstly, remove any inactive subscribers. Don’t hold onto their details just to make your list look bigger. You want quality over quantity! You should verify all new email addresses and ones that have been kicking around for a while to make sure they are still active. You can do this through various platforms such as: Free Email Verifier: Instant Checker & Verification.

Create separate email lists depending on target audience and buyer personas. There may be one group of subscribers that is only receptive to one form of content, thus create different campaigns that tailor to that group. This will increase the overall engagement.

For example the groups could be: ‘warm leads’ , ‘frequent purchases’, ‘subscriber but not frequent purchaser’.

Still not convinced?

The average ROI is £36 for every £1 spent (according to the Data & Marketing Association)

Other things to consider:

-        Your email campaign should be accessible and still look good on mobile!

-        Try different subject lines that will catch people’s attention.

-        Include multiple CTA/ links to your website and socials.

To conclude email marketing is not dead and at Pinfields Marketing we turn inboxes into income.  Call to speak to us about how we can help you with this and other areas of your marketing that may be lacking. Alternatively, find our enquiry form here.