Email marketing can be so effective that it can generate a US$38 ROI for every one dollar spent. Not everyone manages to realise that kind of return, however. Failure to reap rewards like this from your email marketing is not a question of your content, nor is it a matter of the size and quality of your mailing list. If you are not maximising the potential of your email campaigns, it is probably because of a lack of focus or coherent strategy. While you may get some returns from just hitting ‘send’ and hoping for the best, the only way to get the most from your carefully thought out email content, is to take a managed and strategic approach to your mailing list. Here are two tips that can help you turn your email marketing into the ROI machine it is capable of being.
Focus your emails by segmenting your contact list
One of the most common mistakes in email marketing is assuming that you can get results by sending the same message to your entire mailing list at the same time. However, you cannot treat all members of your audience as if their needs are the same. To maximise the impact of your emails, it is better to carefully segment your contact database so that you send the right message to the right people.
On the flipside of that, segmentation will also stop you sending the wrong messages to the wrong people. It may seem as if this is stating the obvious, but it is worth emphasising that sending the wrong message can damage your brand and your audience engagement. The only result you normally get from a misdirected email is an ‘unsubscribe.’ The segmentation of your contact list, therefore, becomes about more than just creating conversions in the short term. It is a matter of long-term audience engagement and nurturing trust.
You should be very careful about how you segment your database, however. First make sure that the segments you create properly represent your company’s aims and the business sectors that it serves. Then be sure that you fit the right contacts into the right segments. That will take a bit of scrupulous data gathering and analysis before you drop all your audience members into the right segments.
Sets goals, devise strategies and send emails tactically
As with any tool in marketing – or any other field for that matter – emails should be used in a carefully planned way, in the service of specific goals, and as part of strategies devised to meet those goals. Before sending out an email, decide why you are doing so. Set a SMART (specific, measurable, attainable and timebound) goal for each mail, and make sure that the mail is drafted and sent accordingly. Part of this is ensuring that you always send the right message to the right recipients at the right time. Make sure that the context and content of the message is appropriate for the specific market segment at the time of sending. This requires full knowledge and careful monitoring of your segmented contact list.
For expert help in segmenting your contact list and getting the most out of your email marketing campaigns, contact WSI OMS.