This is a common question from entrepreneurs when they are starting to use this marketing tool.

What is email marketing?

It basically consists of sending a large number of commercial or informative emails in order to improve loyalty from existing or new clients, strengthen the brand image and to open new lines of communication (in terms of sales, subscriptions, cross selling etc…?)

Email marketing sounds really good

Sounds good right? Of course, if you mention these advantages to an entrepreneur they are going to jump at the chance of using email marketing and getting their hands on email lists to use.

Well, sometimes email marketing can have a negative effect, often through silly ideas, badly understood concepts and poorly written phrases.

So, how can we make email marketing successful? In order for it to work, we need to keep 4 things in mind:

The language: If you run a funeral service, you are not going to use informal or fun language, maybe this is an extreme example, but sometimes it is needed for better understanding. You have to bear in mind your type of business and prospective clients.

The design: Here we will use the saying, ‘a picture speaks louder than words’. Apart from the correct use of language, it is also important to have the perfect design so the client correctly receives your message. These days the business’s image is one of the most important aspects in marketing.

The distribution: Emails should be sent to existing clients or clients that have shown an interest in your product or service. If emails are sent to random strangers, we create a lack of trust and a bad image (spam).

The timing: This piece of advice lies in testing and more testing. You need to know when your clients are more likely to check their emails, what messages are effective, what looks good on a mobile phone, that all the links work and the amount of the emails that are opened. Luckily, these days there are services such as Mailchimp or Getresponse that can check all of these elements for you.

If you keep these points in mind, your email marketing campaigns will be successful. We always advise that you seek the help of a professional in this sector.

Author: Alejandro Jaime