Email Marketing

For those who think that Email Marketing is a “dead” channel, I beg to disagree. I will even go to the extent of saying that it’s probably a central channel to most marketing strategies.

Let’s assume for one second that budgets and resources are not an issue for a company; what would be the best way to orchestrate a very successful email marketing program that helps drive the business, the brand and sales?

I  believe that a successful marketing program can be successful by developing relevant content, setting-up automated triggers and enabling technology by focusing on the following:

• Quality of email communications with the right content, delivered at the right time and to the right person. Quantity of emails can be annoying, spammy and ultimately lead to very disappointing results
• Leveraging analytics insights to make data driven decision to improve the relevance of all email communications
• Investing in a mature marketing automation tool to capture behaviors and trigger intelligent time bound campaigns to multiple targeted prospects/customers segments
• Integrating with a CRM platform to communicate intelligently with  leads, prospects and customers databases

I recommend thinking at a much broader level by integrating email marketing programs with the DNA of websites, social media outlets and SEM activities to name a few. Digital marketing moves at a very fast pace which requires a lot more testing and integration to drive measurable results.

I also think that it’s a useful exercise to map out ahead of time all the potential campaigns that need to be launched with an editorial calendar and to pay attention to what competitors and other companies might be doing.

Also let’s look at the following very important best practices:

• Building an acquisition strategy prioritized based on where potential customers and customers are most likely to engage with a brand
• Developing responsive emails and landing pages to ensure an elegant mobile experience
• Using real time personalization to create a more intimate relationship with the target audience. Email, landing pages and also the web should all be personalized
• Bridging the gaps between smartphones, tablets and PCs to establish consistency and touch the audience at different stages of the buying journey
• Seeking permission to meet CAN-SPAM compliance laws and providing a preference center to the audience to choose the type of communications (as well as cadence) to receive
• Leveraging the your email strategy as part of lead generation efforts with a heavy focus on testing multiple calls action
• Using customers’ testimonials to increase response rates and establishing trust with the audience
• Re-targeting those who abandoned a transition and understanding at what level of the sales cycles your prospects left
• Re-engaging post conversions to keep the dialog going and encouraging purchasing again

Email Marketing, in combination with an effective website and customer experience, continues to be a key pillar of a strong digital marketing strategy.