The Irony in Email Marketing

I’m trying to get my head around sending an email about sending an email. Irony … sure, let’s call it that. Before this blog starts sounding like an Alanis Morissette song let’s get to the point that email marketing (when done right) is a righteous way of reaching your target market effectively.

The one advantage of email marketing is also one of its glaring challenges … it’s like rain on your wedding day, a free ride… when you already paid. OK, I’ll stop. What I mean there is that when clients seek solutions that are readily and inexpensively right in front of them, they sometimes do it wrong.

ReThinc Advertising is a digital marketing agency in Phoenix that specializes in doing things right. Email marketing is one of those things.

Good email marketing starts with good database management. That alone could provide enough content for its own blog but since we don’t have all day let’s just say that acquiring emails in a legitimate fashion (important), segmenting those emails into groups and keeping your database free of clutter is a very good start. Clutter by the way is defined as subscribers who haven’t opened your email since Bill Clinton was president and Canadians who don’t ice skate.

Content is another important component to good email marketing. Think of your inbox as the doorway to your home. Good content is your family, friends and the occasional neighbor. Bad content is not relevant or welcomed by the recipient. Sticking with the analogy bad content is like the uninsured meth addict looking to trim palm trees that aren’t even on your property. Nobody welcomes that … nobody.

The frequency at which you send emails will depend on your business. For instance, Banana Republic seems to think I need to invest in a wardrobe overhaul every single day. Annoying? Yes, but I’m good with it as I’m a slave to fashion. Your brand may want to be a little less intrusive. Just know that frequent emailing can lead to frequent opting out, headaches, dizziness and loose stools.

Testing is just as much fun as it was in school. With email marketing, testing pits various elements against others to see what’s more effective in getting better open rates. Subject lines, cadence, HTML vs. text, time of day sent are all examples of elements that you can use to test your email. To my knowledge, testing does not lead to loose stools.

There’s so much more to email marketing than what we covered here today. Know that email marketing can do a lot to keep you top of mind with your customers. It deepens the customer relationship. It can also improve all facets of your overall digital executions like customer reviews, content marketing, and social media.

And yes, you can do this kind of thing yourself. Some of the more popular self help platforms like Constant Contact, Mailchimp and Emma walk you through the process. What they might not do is give you some of the valuable insight you need to maximize the impact that email marketing can have on your overall integrated marketing strategy. They also won’t quote Grammy Award winning artists or make you uncomfortable with overused medical disclaimers.

If you have any questions, shoot me an email at ed.olsen@rethincadvertising.com.