As digital marketing efforts become more sophisticated, email marketing is often seen as being outdated and unappealing. Everyone wants to adopt the latest, and what is perceived to be the greatest, marketing tactics. But the proof is in the pudding. Email marketing consistently has one of the highest ROIs and when done properly, is a powerful lead nurturing tool.
As we are on the cusp of 2016, here are 5 tips to take to help revamp your email strategy in the coming year.
1.Take two steps back to leap forward.
2015 is nearly gone, but shouldn’t be forgotten. Don’t be complacent with your email strategy and continue your campaigns as usual without being mindful of past performance. If you’re using email software or a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, you can easily pull analytics reports from your past email campaigns. If you’re not, it might be time to invest in one. Ditch the Excel spreadsheets and make communication between your website and campaigns seamless.
So what kind of metrics should you be looking at?
Start with the basics. Open rates are primarily indicative of how attention-grabbing your email subject lines are. Click-through rates are more about the meat and substance of your email content. What are you offering that entices readers to want to learn more? Justification for your unsubscribe rates are less clear cut. Subscribers might not find enough value in your emails, don’t think they’re relevant, or might just feel like you email them too often.
Beyond these basics, past emails speak volumes about the subjects and types of content that interest your following most. See if there are themes of emails that have performed well. This can include the aforementioned metrics or others like conversions and even the day and time emails are sent.
Understanding how your campaigns have been performing will give your firm a good baseline for the next step.
2. Set goals and mini-milestones.
Now that you have a full picture of last year’s performance, it’s time to set goals for 2016. Having specific goals and a clear vision of what you want to gain from email marketing will give your strategy direction.
Some goals might include:
- Offer relevant and educational content to build brand awareness and firm reputation.
- Increase traffic to our website by increasing average click-through rate from X% to Y%.
- Grow email list by X number of subscribers.
- Decrease percentage of unsubscribes from X% to Y%.
- Increase percentage of qualified leads from X% to Y%.
When possible, include specific numbers. This will provide clarity and make your firm more accountable for reaching those goals.
While having overall email marketing goals for the year is important, creating mini-milestones is just as essential. A simple place to start is having quarterly goals, or even monthly goals if you want to be more granular and precise. Conducting progress checks periodically and systematically throughout the year will help to ensure that you stay on pace.
When determining your goals, be sure to keep in mind that marketing is an ultimate means to sales. Don’t turn your emails into direct sales pitches, but don’t lose sight of the end game either.
3. Come up with the right content.
Email marketing for professional services is wildly different from other industries. Emails aren’t as simple as offering discounted products or free shipping. You’ll have to be more methodical. In the competitive professional services marketplace, your firm needs to ultimately prove that you can deliver on the promises you make. This means that you should be showcasing your knowledge and expertise, providing value, and bolstering your reputation. Email is a great avenue to achieve this.
Each email should have a clear offer of an action you’d like subscribers to take. A few ideas include:
- Announcing your content (like guides, books, whitepapers, and videos) for subscribers to download.
- Educating your list with content from others about trends in the industry.
- Promoting webinars and speaking engagements.
- Providing a hard offer, such as a complimentary consultation, so prospects can get to know you and your capabilities.
- Sharing your blog posts and the ability to subscribe to your blog.
Have a mix of content to promote that will appeal to each of your target audiences.
4.Create an email content calendar.
Aside from sending valueless and irrelevant emails, the other cardinal email sin is to spam your list too frequently and unpredictably. Consistency is key. Determine how often you can and should send out emails and then plan out your campaigns in advance. You will want to monitor which days and audiences provide the best response to then help craft and edit your calendar.
This will help ensure that you have enough variation in upcoming emails to keep your subscribers engaged and educated. For planning purposes, it will help keep your team organized. Knowing what’s on the horizon allows time to write and refine email copies, as well as prepare any required resources.
5. Send, analyze, adjust, repeat.
The story doesn’t end once you hit “Send.” Much like any other marketing effort, your email campaigns will need ongoing nurturing and refinement. Continue to look at the metrics you previously identified and make tweaks along the way.
A/B testing is a great way to try out new methodologies. Want to see the impact of your email subject line on open rates? Split your subscriber list in half. Send one half an email with a short, to-the-point subject line. Send the other half the exact same email copy, but with a longer, more descriptive subject line.
Pay attention to the feedback you’re receiving as well. You can even send out an email asking for feedback. What kind of content do your followers want to see more of? Show that their needs are top-of-mind and that you have the ability to adjust accordingly.
With all the shiny, new marketing tools available, don’t let your email marketing efforts fall by the wayside. It’s a tried and true marketing technique that’s stood the test of time and will play an important role in 2016.
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