Email marketing is far from perfect. It often gets given short shrift when something new and shiny and… well… social comes along, and marketers struggle with volume all the time.
Around 205 billion emails get fired out to some 4.5 billion email accounts every single day, and the average business user will find 121 of these in their inbox every day.
But there’s no denying it works. Email is still one of the most effective channels we have, and in most cases it’s still more likely to convert than social or PPC. So how can we retain that value while avoiding overwhelming our lists? Luckily, there’s a #ClickZChat for that…
This week we’re talking Email – we want your tips on optimizing, building lists and more #ClickZChat pic.twitter.com/72qNNUxcIa
— ClickZ (@ClickZ) May 11, 2016
#ClickZChat is our weekly Twitter forum. We ask the @ClickZ and @SEWatch audiences three questions about a marketing or search topic. Here’s what you had to say about Email Marketing Optimization.
Q1: is email still the most effective marketing channel? Why? Or why not?
Q1: Is #Email still the most effective marketing channel? Why or why not? #ClickZChat pic.twitter.com/rVH9mEXyZf
— Search Engine Watch (@sewatch) May 11, 2016
@rajnijjer Kicked things off with a resounding ‘Yes’ vote, noting the extremely high average ROI from email campaigns:
Yes! For every $1 spent, your ROI is $38see @salesforce example: https://t.co/JP9HAUOfpW https://t.co/oQ0rFPQ8gw
— Raj Nijjer (@rajnijjer) May 11, 2016
Of course, not all campaigns are created equal. Several of our followers mentioned that email works best in very specific situations, where longer, more complex interactions are required:
A1. That totally depends on your goals. Email has specific purposes, but it’s not everything. #clickZchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) May 11, 2016
A1: I (Read more...) #email is definitely one of the most effective channels to welcome new customers & reconnect with the current ones #ClickZChat
— Tetyana (@mitetyana) May 11, 2016
And as Jason Stockwell pointed out, high ROI may be a result of more mature measurement models:
@ClickZ Is this because with email it’s easy to attribute conversions to the source as you already have the database? #ClickZChat
— Jason Stockwell (@jj_stockwell) May 11, 2016
There’s also a certain weight of expectation with email. We might not be so quick to assume that a tweet would convert (at least in a financial sense), again showing the value of communications with more context:
@ClickZ Interesting to consider other channels – we ‘expect’ email to convert, not the case with many content channels(?) #ClickZChat
— Matt Owen (@lexx2099) May 11, 2016
Finally, there is also the matter of engagement. As I mentioned earlier, we get a LOT of emails each day, but generally speaking we still ‘see’ a lot of them, even if we don’t go as far as opening. Email is a curated list of information which we have actively asked for in many cases:
A1: Email seems to combine the best of a few worlds: flexible format, digital, cheap to distribute, people check it every day #ClickZChat
— Bex Sentance (@rainbowbex) May 11, 2016
But we can still make ourselves unwelcome by sending too many updates, or opting users into mail they have not requested:
@rainbowbex @ClickZ But so much email gets filtered out automatically. Not saying don’t use email – but use other things too. #clickzchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) May 11, 2016
Which brings us neatly on to our next question:
Q2: What are the pros and cons of email automation?
Q2: What are the pros and cons of #email automation? #ClickZChat pic.twitter.com/uMlC00A2FN
— Search Engine Watch (@sewatch) May 11, 2016
Kim Stiglitz is a content marketer for Campaign Monitor. She was quick to point out that in many cases, automated emails had some of the highest engagement rates:
@ClickZ A2: Automated emails have some of the highest engagement rates. Welcome emails boast an avg open rate of around 50%. #ClickZChat
— Kim Stiglitz (@stiggy1) May 11, 2016
This clearly brings up the issue of user need. In many cases these are expected emails, delivered to assist with an action that the user was already trying to complete:
Q2 great for fixed events, such as abandoned baskets, birthdays etc. #ClickZChat
— Graham Charlton (@gcharlton) May 11, 2016
However, it is still possible to damage your customer relationship at this point. Personalization was mentioned as a key factor by a number of people:
A2. Email automation is best when it’s personalized – send different emails to each person based on what they open (or don’t). #clickZchat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) May 11, 2016
Automation provides us with a very powerful set of tools, but it does take real time and effort to deploy correctly:
#ClickZChat A2: Pro: The opportunity to do beautifully executed content-led nurture campaigns. Con: The fact that so few orgs do them!
— Anastasia Yates (@AniAreYouOkay) May 11, 2016
@ClickZ A2: Pros: more time and overhead to devote your day to. Cons: Savvy users can see thru phony “personalization” #clickzchat
— Odem Global (@odemglobal) May 11, 2016
This is a major concern, but as Dawn Anderson mentioned, are we being too hard on ourselves or expecting too much from the channel?
@sewatch So very true, but I wonder if it’s mostly because we’re marketers that we realise that they’re automated?
— Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) May 11, 2016
Six top tips for great email marketing
Finally, it wouldn’t be #ClickZChat without a top tips round-up.
Q3: What one thing should marketers do to improve the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns?
Q3: What is your top tip to improve #emailmarketing results? #ClickZChat pic.twitter.com/lyCXXcboHP
— ClickZ (@ClickZ) May 11, 2016
1: manage your data carefully
Q3: try to avoid buying data if you can – build your own lists wherever possible, and keep it clean! #ClickZChat
— Matt Owen (@lexx2099) May 11, 2016
2: Think beyond the technical. Content quality matters here too
@ClickZ A3: Make sure the content is good! A headline will hook you but compelling content makes them stay, consume, & click! #clickzchat
— Odem Global (@odemglobal) May 11, 2016
3: Think about “what” you are sending, not just how/when it is deployed – is this useful for the person receiving it?
Use non-ESP tech to improve what you send, not how you send. Ie @kickdynamic @movableink and obv @phrasee 👍 1/2 https://t.co/kFR7gP9FJP
— Parry Malm (@ParryMalm) May 11, 2016
4: Don’t over-extend your welcome (and don’t spam people!)
A3.
Don’t email for emails sake.
Keep lists clean.
Always include a clear call to action.#ClickZChat— Jason Stockwell (@jj_stockwell) May 11, 2016
5: Email requires a different kind of copywriting focus. Optimize for the format and channel
@ClickZ Figure out how frequently people want to hear from you and have someone really witty to do your subject lines. #ClickZChat
— Mike O’Brien (@MikeO13rien) May 11, 2016
6: Test, test and test again!
@ClickZ #ClickZChat Of course, test! Formats, timing, wording, and anything else that can be tested!
— Scott Jones (@scottchjones) May 11, 2016
As always, a huge thank you to everyone who took part in this week’s chat. Please let us know any other email tips and tricks that you have found successful in the comments, and be sure to join us on Twitter this Wednesday at noon EST (5pm UK) for another #ClickZChat.
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