Email Marketing Best Practices

Email marketing best practices: Marketing has been taking off like a rocket in recent years. Where once it was an industry dedicated to print and video media, the commercialisation of the internet opened up a new form of marketing, digital. Not only that but with platforms like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and more it wasn’t long before the internet’s accessibility was followed by the accessibility of the marketing industry.

One of the most accessible forms of marketing (which is why most businesses these days are using it) is email marketing. Simply put, it’s the act of getting customers to sign up to a mailing list in exchange for special offers, promotions, and information regarding the company. It is one of the most cost-effective, and easiest to implement marketing strategies, and we’re here to tell you all about it.

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The Difference between Spam and Email Marketing

There are quite a few differences between email marketing and spam emails. The laws and regulations regarding spam can be found in the Spam Act 2003, as well as the Spam Regulations 2021.

However, talking about their differences is another matter altogether to talking about their legality. The first major difference is the reason why the emails are made in the first place. Where one is made in order to grow a business and appeal to its clients, the other is made solely for the task of tricking people into handing over their personal information.

Then when you compare emails their function and characteristics are totally different. Email marketing:

• Provides special deals and promotions.
• Doesn’t acquire any more information than it requires to work, or that the customer is willing to give.
• Doesn’t interfere with personal data.
• Keeps customers in the loop with your business.
• Identifies as a communication from a brand.
• Makes it easy to unsubscribe from the mailing list.
• Obtains customer consent before sending emails.

Spam on the other hand:

• Offers false promotions that ask for excessive personal information.
• Harasses their target.
• Can become threatening if the client engages with the scam company and then attempts to opt-out.
• Provides nothing to their target.
• Operates under false/stolen identities.
• Difficult to get rid of.
• Do not get consent from their targets to use their emails.

Email Blast Best Practices

Just like everything, there are rules for how you go about it. Getting your email marketing content out there depends on using their best practices, the rules that dictate what makes a “good” email blast and what makes a bad one.

When it comes to email blasts following these best practices will ensure a winning campaign every time.

Build an Organic List of Subscribers

It can be tempting to buy an email list, but this is a fast track to doom. Email lists are the calling card of unscrupulous spam companies that prey on targets, rather than market to customers. Remember, we’re marketers, not spammers. If you buy an email list, not only are you invading privacy (sending promotional emails to people who didn’t give you permission to contact them), but you’re also opening avenues for your business to suffer, as frustrated leads will likely spread the word about your unsolicited email blasts and then damage your reputation. When you build your mailing list, do so organically, using SEO, and CRO strategies such as landing pages or paid advertising, and acquire your email list through customer consent.

Choose a Platform

There are countless email marketing tools out there, and a fair amount of research needs to be done before you can accurately gauge the worthiness of which one you want to use. Here are the following points to focus your inquiries on:

List Management:

The ability to manage your email list is crucial, as the segmentation and personalisation of the content you email through to your customers is what will drive customer interest and conversion. If you can’t manage your list, you will damage the efficacy of your email marketing.

Templates and Customisation:

Many marketing tools make the use of templates and email marketing tools should be no exception. When you’re investigating which tool will suit your needs, make sure you examine the templates they have and how powerful their customisation options are.

Mobile Friendliness

The number of online interactions carried out through mobile these days are staggering. And why not? In an age of convenience the computers we carry in our pocket keep us connected to the world on the go. The thing is, you need to take this into consideration when researching email marketing tools. Make sure that whichever one you choose has functions for mobile email optimisation, otherwise your conversions will suffer.

Analytics

Analytics are one of the most important, if not the most important thing about any marketing strategy, as it provides the data that you need in order to be able to market accurately to your audience. Make sure that your chosen platform offers sufficient analytics, or is able to be linked to Google Analytics.

Testing Options

Any email marketing tool you use should have the ability to run A/B tests. These tests are invaluable in determining good quality projections on what your audience will react well to. If a platform doesn’t have A/B testing functions, consider other options.

Automation

Automation is at the heart of all email marketing. It is only because of Automation that email marketing is so simple. It allows users to draft emails in advance and schedule them for sending at a certain date/time, or when triggered by a certain action.

Segment and Personalise

Once your mailing list is established, it’s time to send email content, but make sure you adhere to the best practices when doing so. Your mailing list may consist of hundreds, even thousands of emails. Make sure that as they come in you’re segmenting them based on characteristics of your audience such as age, sex, open rate, location, etc.

Once your lists are segmented to your satisfaction you can draft several emails, and personalise the content within to those specific sub-demographics. This will vastly improve the effectiveness of your email marketing blast.

Call-To-Action

Calls-to-action aren’t a secret, but at the same time, there’s an overwhelming number of marketers not using them. You know how when you’re browsing on the internet for something to buy and you’ll come across something that says “click here for more information” or “read this eBook”? Those are calls to action. They are basically prompts that encourage a user to take a specific action, and they are proven to be one of the most effective ways of increasing conversions and getting people to sign up to mailing lists.

Monitor and Improve

There’s a reason we told you to see what analytics your desired platform offers and it’s because of this. A marketing strategy is only as good as the amount of information the people behind it pay to their audience. Marketers may be experts, but we’re not mind readers. Looking at statistics is the beginning of every campaign we implement, but it’s also the middle and end of every campaign. Make sure that you’re regularly looking at the analytics of your campaign, and assessing what could be improved on the next time – because there will always be a next time.

Provide Options

Part of what differentiates email marketing from spam is that marketing emails are easy to unsubscribe from. This is more than a formality, it shows your customers that you respect their privacy and aren’t looking to overstep any boundaries. Make sure that the option to unsubscribe or to change the nature/frequency of the emails they receive is not only present, but easily findable and used.

Traffic Radius, the Email Marketing Gurus

Traffic Radius is one of the most trusted marketing companies in Melbourne, offering a full wide range of services to over 400 clients. Our team are not only trained and experienced in their field, but they’re also genuinely passionate about their job and love to help businesses grow. You can contact us here or call us on 1300 870 901.