How Newsletter Marketing and Direct Email Spur Shopping Performance

With technology at a shopper’s fingertips, companies search for new ways to promote products and services. Positive business interactions produce positive sales. Yet, how do you tell a customer that your company even exists? Also, once a customer knows of your existence, how do you make them return to your company? Email and newsletter marketing offers critical solutions to attract and retain customers.

What is Email and Newsletter Marketing?

Direct marketing through email involves sending messages directly to a targeted customer pool. The messages may focus on different verticals such as offering product promotions, informing customers of new products, or providing customer rewards. You may also use emails to follow up on recent sales transactions or perform customer surveys. Email marketing builds a relationship with a customer to create company loyalty.

Newsletter marketing focuses more on relaying important information to the customer. A newsletter may inform them of company news, upcoming conferences, or upcoming products. It may also provide helpful tips or advice. Think of a newsletter much like a newspaper that offers a softer sales approach. You want to provide information in easily digestible, bite-sized chunks.

Benefits of Email Marketing

Email is versatile. You may use it in numerous ways. If a shopper abandons their shopping cart, your company can send an automated message to remind them about their items. After purchase, an email may inform them of a special offer or discount for their next purchase. It also allows you to run sweepstakes and contests.

Another advantage is that customers may sign up at any point. You may offer an email sign-up button after the customer makes a purchase or completes a survey. They may also sign up to receive emails when creating an account. You may have a sign-up button somewhere on your site.

Lastly, emails allow customers to read them at their convenience. If customers do not feel rushed, they may be more positively inclined to interact with the email and make additional purchases.

Benefits of a Newsletter

Newsletters are more customer-oriented. They focus on the topics that customers are most interested in.

They don’t focus entirely on the hard sale. Instead, it will feature engaging news that encourages people to keep reading. Then it may offer a small free-standing insert that features promotions and deals. With people already invested in the news value of the newsletter, they are more receptive to continue reading the promotion.

You may set up newsletters to be sent out weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. They are designed to limit customer churn by engaging existing customers. You can opt for printed newsletters, email newsletters, or both to retain a loyal customer base.

Considerations for Email and Newsletter Marketing

When marketing your company with emails and newsletters, a top consideration is to have similar promotions through all channels. You don’t want to offer a 15% promotion on social media, a 5% email promotion, and a 10% promotion in the newsletter. You want a consistent message throughout each method of communication.

Another thing to keep in mind is to make it easy for customers to sign up for both. Place sign-up buttons, tabs, and forms where a customer will see them. You may combine both email and newsletters under one opt-in button. Yet keep in mind that some people may only want one or the other if both are sent electronically to their in-boxes. So, separating them in this instance may provide customers with better options without getting repeated information.

You also want to encourage customers to share the emails or newsletters. An extra discount on a subsequent purchase may lead to repeat sales from existing customers if they refer someone over with a newsletter or email.

There are many ways to market your company to customers. Newsletters and email campaigns are additional avenues that could help build a loyal customer following.

Email is both cost-effective and easily accessible, making it an excellent choice for businesses that want to convert prospects to sales. But because the playing field is leveled, it also makes it one of the most competitive types of marketing you can use. If you’re not having much luck with your campaigns, it might be because you’re getting lost in the crowd. Strategic Growth Advisors is here to give a few tips to help you stand out.

The Basics of Email

At every step of the way, there should be some degree of a strategy employed. Email marketing begins with what address you’re sending from. (In other words, what appears in the ‘From’ section of your email.) If you have a recognizable, trustworthy name, it can make for a good first impression.

From there, it comes down to what message you want to convey to your reader. For instance, some companies prefer to send emails from an individual’s name rather than from a corporate name. This can personalize the email and make the recipient feel like someone is reaching out to them specifically. Whatever you settle on, make sure you’re using a dedicated email ID so there’s no confusion.

When you’re crafting a subject line, the goal is to make it eye-catching for the recipient. This could involve using keywords for some companies, essentially telling the person exactly what they’ll get if they click on the email.

Other companies might approach from a mystery angle, though, enticing a prospect by creating a bit of intrigue. For instance, telling the customer about a special promo code created just for them. As with your ‘from’ name, you can choose to personalize the subject line by including the person’s first name somewhere in the subject code.

Content Is (Still) King for Conversions

Content remains a key factor for turning your prospects into sales. Here are several things to consider when planning the content for conversions:

Showcase your brand: Is the company fun and fresh? Practical? A little of both? Whatever your brand is, you’ll want to show it off in every one of your emails.
Single topic: It can be exciting to update a recipient on all the new things you’re doing, but you’re better off keeping it simple.
Design time: Giving your email a distinctive and interesting look can mesmerize your customer’s attention and help your message ‘stick.’

Remember that the reader won’t have all day to look at your email, so you should ideally cut straight to the chase. What can you offer them and why should they care? Graphics, colors, and clever wording can certainly help, but the idea is to make them decorative components only.

Segmented Lists

Segmented email lists can be a game-changer for your email conversion rates because they take into account who exactly is reading the email. The major trend in marketing is to have a 1:1 experience. In other words, the email is more like a friend is updating you than a company.

For instance, let’s say you’re a retailer who markets toys to both children and collectors. If you were going to email a parent of a 10-year-old, they would be looking for very different information than a childless adult who wants to find a final toy to complete a set.

You can use automated tools where you can create your own rules for each campaign. For instance, a B2B company might segment its lists based on the size of the business. This way, a small business owner isn’t being asked to spend their entire supply budget on a piece of expensive equipment.

Other segmentation categories include:

Source of lead: Has your lead come from a referral? A website? A social media post? Tailoring your email based on where the person found you can be a surprisingly effective way to connect with them.
Location: Where a person lives can have a lot to do with what they need and how they feel about your email. From geographical factors (e.g. coastal, inland, etc.) to lifestyle preferences, you can give recipients more by taking into account their individual needs.
Funnel: A customer who is three steps into the buying process will need something very different than someone who’s never heard of your company. Before you make assumptions, segmenting based on the sales funnel can help you find the sweet spot no matter who you’re talking to.

Measure Your Metrics

Your email campaigns won’t get any better unless you measure the qualified leads and revenue per email. How many people are signing up for premium services? Which segments are ignoring your messages? A well-designed campaign will keep track of how many emails are sent, what kind of response you’re getting, and whether that response has your desired distribution.

When you have a targeted ROI, and you can measure the reality against the objective. This makes it easier to understand what’s possible based on everything from your segments to your position in the market.

When you’re studying your metrics, keep in mind that an email campaign isn’t necessarily a failure if you don’t hit your total goals. Some businesses may start with unrealistic expectations. The best thing that you can do is work to improve each new attempt, watch the feedback, and then adjust when needed.

Strategic Growth Partners on Conversion

StratGrow has seen plenty of businesses fall flat on their campaigns, and not necessarily from a lack of effort. The communication might be picture-perfect, but the packaging may need to change in some way. Sometimes it’s as simple as tweaking the automation features of each campaign to boost the response. For instance, adding a new segment to reach that 1:1 marketing that every company strives for. If you want to increase your conversion rates by email, we’re here to help. Contact us today to learn more about what it means to excel at email.

Tag: email