There are two main ways to bringing in revenue: gaining new customers, and retaining the existing ones. And for the former, one of the best ways you can achieve this is with a slickly-run email marketing campaign. Because unless you’re in the business of selling caskets (in which case RepricerExpress still wishes you the best), your focus is probably going to be not on one-time customers, but on repeats.
#1 Start Off by Identifying Where You Want to End Up
There are so many different ways to attack email marketing that you’ll fare best if you can clearly plot out what your goals are. Do you want to strengthen communication with your clients, or would you rather focus on increasing repeat sales? Maybe you’re concerned you don’t have enough first-time buyers and want to attract more, or maybe your repeat customers are drifting away because you haven’t been addressing their concerns and feedback enough.
And hey, maybe you have several areas you want to address — that’s perfectly okay. Just try and cap your goals list at no more than three so you don’t dilute your email marketing too much. Any more than a small handful and you’ll be both spending too much time on this and failing to zero in enough on each one.
If you’re still stuck on which goals to address, think about this: the best email marketing campaigns are the ones where you track the metrics and progress. When you can see concrete results, you tend to do better than with abstract efforts.
#2 Pick the Best Helpers for Your Goals
If you’re going to assemble an Ikea bookcase, you’ll need an Allen key and not a hammer or drill. The same goes with email marketing. Each type of campaign has unique needs that call for specialized tools, especially when your goal is maximum results with minimal/most efficient efforts. And it should be said that there is almost no good reason for doing it solely by hand, so keep automation in mind.
There are plenty of platforms out there that do different jobs for different prices. It’s kind of like buying a car. Sure, you may be able to afford that Corvette, but if you’re only going to be driving it around in dense urban traffic or live in the country and need to haul around heavy loads, it’s a bit of a waste. Find the right vehicle for your needs, but remember you don’t have to stay married to it. Play around with each one until you settle on one that feels right in your hands.
#3 Start Adding People to the List
What does every email marketing campaign need to be successful? That’s right — emails! And the easier you can make it for people to sign up, the better your campaign will run. There are so many different ways of doing this it’s easy to get bogged down in where to start, but here are some of our favourites:
- Calls-to-action at the bottom of posts
- Inside posts that hyperlink to the sign-up form
- Around posts, like in sidebars and/or footers
- On pop-up screens on the home page or checkout page
- On product pages, whether for active or sold-out items
The key is to strike the right balance between too much and not enough. You don’t want a pop-up to appear on every single page, as buyers will get tired of it and just click off. And you also don’t want just one because then you run the risk that visitors will click onto other pages that don’t contain it. To see where your efforts are most effective, track your progress with something like Google Analytics.
#4 Sweeten the Pot and Measure the Results
Lastly, add in little enticements where it’s impossible for buyers to resist signing up, things like:
- Free things, like items or shipping
- Coupons, whether for first-timers or for certain monetary amounts spent
- Special deals for big buying days (i.e. Christmas, Amazon Prime Day, etc.)
- Discounts or coupons if they refer others
And remember, always be tracking your progress! It’s not much good to start up an email marketing campaign if you don’t constantly have your finger on the pulse. You know those business idea pitching shows where an entrepreneur pitches an idea in front of a panel of successful people? You’ll want to have the same level of expertise as they do and be able to answer any question as to how your campaign is performing.
