Though there are many avenues of reaching clients and potential clients, email marketing still remains one of the best ways to nurture prospects and keep your brand at the top of your clients’ minds.
After all, everyone has email, and despite the pervasiveness of new forms of media, everyone is constantly on email. While you should not bombard your clients with useless communications, developing a strategic email strategy is a great way to keep your brand relevant, recognizable, and engaging to your audience.
Emails are crucial to building brand recognition, so even if recipients do not click or read all of the content inside, your brand is stil
l being reinforced. And if you are providing content that is valuable to your clients or prospective clients, they will read the content, appreciate it, and think positively of your brand! Either way is a win-win, so consistent branding through email can be critical to developing your holistic integrated marketing program.
What are some best practices for email marketing?
- Content first!
Keep things short, on topic, and relevant to what your brand does! That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your emails, or have social blasts that reflect holidays or team culture. But the first step should be curating and developing content that is simultaneously relevant to your business and valuable to your audience. This content might include tips, education, updates, or even statistics that can help a potential client with their own business.
- Use a catchy subject line.
Your subject line needs to be interesting and attractive, since it is the first thing that will draw your reader in by grabbing their attention! Head REBL at REBL Marketing Reb Risty advises the “magazine cover methodology.” When perusing magazine titles, what sort of headlines stand out? Succinct, punchy lists, catchy headers, and interesting bits of information can all make a reader stop and open your email. The key is keeping it simple and to the point.
- Include a call to action.
If your audience likes what they read, how will they get in touch? What is your “ask”? Make sure that your email includes ample (but not overbearing) opportunities for your client or potential client to connect with you.
In all, valuable content, great subject lines, and calls to action can help your emails stand out and get the attention of potential clients.
Is email marketing better for some types of businesses than others?
Retail businesses will likely need to email more: if you are having a sale or have a special product release, for instance, you might send more emails and be more promotional, since that is imperative for your marketing tactic. However, if you’re a business-to-business company or more service-based, emailing once a week to once a month might be a better approach. Email frequency should be tailored to your integrated marketing program, which must consider your business’s goals and objectives. If email is an important part of your sales funnel, frequency is important, whereas for service-oriented businesses, emails serve the role of emphasizing education, branding, and staying at the top of your (potential) clients’ minds.
What are the best ways to gather contacts for email lists for email marketing?
Be sure to invite people to your list, not just add them! When you invite a contact to an email list, offer a welcome message that explains what they will get by joining your newsletter, along with an opportunity to unsubscribe if they choose. In the service industries, it’s important to be conscious about your lists. You do not need thousands of contacts: you need the right contacts.
All in all, emails remain a very important part of your integrated marketing program, though they shouldn’t be the only part. If you leave emails out, you are losing valuable opportunities to build brand recognition and potential client relationships. If you need help developing an email marketing strategy, give REBL a call today at (858) 848-7325! We would love to help you REBLutionize your brand.
