Nowadays there are numerous channels to inform existing or potential customers about your company, news about products or services, and much more. With so many options, it is not always easy to keep track of and to choose the right channels to address specific customer groups. One channel that has suffered in general perception beside the booming social media platforms is the Email Marketing channel. This article shows how important Email Marketing still is and gives tips for professionals on how to best address their customers.
Email Marketing in general
Email Marketing is the use of specific tools to send out emails with advertising messages to a larger number of existing or potential customers (let’s name them subscribers in this blog post). With more than 3.9 billion email users worldwide in 2019 (Statista, 2020), it is obvious that this channel is also widely used among marketeers. Users can receive almost unlimited messages and get them immediately. This channel also has its disadvantages - who hasn't been annoyed by countless advertising emails which have been deleted without closer examination? The art is, therefore, to stand out from other advertisers in terms of content and to send information relevant to the specific subscribers.
“More than 50% of the world’s population are email users”
Email newsletters do not necessarily have to contain only sales-related content. Whether industry news, information about your clinic, invitations to events/webinars, or "how to" articles - the range of content that can be sent via email is extremely wide. Since subscribers have already expressed their interest in receiving content in one way or another (newsletter subscription on websites, after purchasing a product, etc.), the advertiser can create specific, interesting content that will be attractive to their subscribers.
Side note: For more information on what you need to know about privacy issues related to Email Marketing, please see: https://www.iubenda.com/en/help/5640-email-newsletter-compliance-guide
Content ideas for your next Email Marketing campaign
In Email Marketing, it is central to offer high-quality and interesting content on a consistent basis. To do so, your company needs specific content that addresses the needs of your subscribers.
Are your subscribers more interested in sales offers or in product or company information? Knowing the characteristics of your subscribers is the most important precondition for the whole Email Marketing campaign.
Furthermore, one should define the purpose of the campaign and, broken down, the goal of each individual newsletter. As already mentioned, the range of possible topics is very diverse. Promotional newsletters should include special offers and link to further information on how and where to buy. More informative newsletters may contain new information that is relevant and interesting for the subscribers. Below is a small list of topics that could serve as inspiration for valuable content:
- “How to”s (Tips & Tricks, usage of product)
- Define problems and give solutions
- Reviews (products, events)
- Interviews (testimonials with customers or with experts)
- Events (personal invitations, reminders)
- New releases (new products, new accessories)
- Organizational changes (new contact person)
Once the target group of subscribers is known and the topic chosen, the actual work begins. The newsletters must be designed (or use predefined templates), content created, filled in, tested, and then finally sent to the subscribers.
Which tool should be used?
Nowadays you don't need any HTML/CSS knowledge to create and send visually appealing and professional newsletters. The following article at pcmac.com gives a good overview of the best Email Marketing software solutions on the market today. In the end, it always depends on the field of application - whether you are a small SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) that would like to occasionally send out newsletters or a larger company that wants to send out newsletters frequently and connect the software tool to its CRM (Customer-Relationship-Management)- there are good solutions and affordable offers for every budget and need.
Some valuable facts
The effect of email newsletters has been studied a lot. Here are a few interesting facts:
- Email newsletters sent out on a Tuesday at 11:00 am (subscribers time zone) have the highest click rates (HubSpot 2015, WordStream 2017).
- Recipients are 75 % more likely to click on an email coming from an advertising campaign with segmented addresses compared to advertising campaigns without segmentation (MailChimp, 2017).
- More than half of all emails today are opened on mobile devices. Almost all reports on email opening rates come to this conclusion (Campaign Monitor, 2018).
Conclusions
As described in this article, there are a few things (and a lot more) to consider if you want to communicate actively via the Email Marketing channel. Email newsletter subscribers have actively given their consent to receive regular content from the advertiser. This condition distinguishes the email newsletter from paid social media content or search engine marketing. The possibility to address the subscribers personally and to adapt the communication more specifically to their needs is a big plus of this channel. If you are aware of the goals you want to pursue with the individual newsletters, this channel can be very valuable and cost effective.
Finally, be aware that with all digital channels, a well-structured website is essential as a foundation. Almost every digital communication action converges there. Good cross-channel marketing is necessary to talk to your customers on every aspect of his customer journey. A well-designed email newsletter with relevant content does not help if she or he does not find further valuable information on your website.
At Bernafon, we are currently revising our Email Marketing strategy - there is always something to do and improve. If I have encouraged you to also invest more in this channel and offer your subscribers sustainable added value, I would be very pleased.
References
Hubspot (2020) Die ultimative Liste der Marketing-Statistiken. Retrieved from https://www.hubspot.de/marketing-statistics
Iubenda (2020) How to Make your Emails and Newsletter Compliant (with Form Examples). Retrieved from https://www.iubenda.com/en/help/5640-email-newsletter-compliance-guide
Mailjet (2020, March 23) 7 Tips for Creating More Engaging Newsletters. Retrieved from https://www.mailjet.com/blog/news/7-tips-creating-engaging-newsletters/
Marketing-schools (2020) Explore the Strategy of Newsletter Marketing. Retrieved from https://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/newsletter-marketing.html
PC MAG (2020, September 2) The Best Email Marketing Software for 2020. Retrieved from https://uk.pcmag.com/cloud-services/3708/the-best-email-marketing-software
Statista (2020, March 25) Number of e-mail users worldwide 2017-2024. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/255080/number-of-e-mail-users-worldwide/