The best email marketing practices provide multiple benefits.
Email marketing is the use of email in marketing campaigns and actions . In this way, this tool is used to promote services and products and to encourage user and customer loyalty .
It is important, before continuing, to pay attention to the two terms that make up the concept. Email comes from the English expression electronic mail : that is, electronic mail . It is a system that makes it possible to transmit messages through a computer network. Marketing , on the other hand, is the discipline that aims to boost demand and promote commercial activity.
Features of email marketing
Email marketing is a digital marketing resource . By appealing to a list of subscribers or a database, an email campaign allows you to disseminate corporate news, offers, promotions and discounts, among other information of interest.
It is key that what is sent by email is relevant content for the recipient . On the other hand, you must have the sender's authorization to include it in the list or database: otherwise, it will be spam .
Email marketing can be understood as another marketing channel. In this sense, it is possible to complement its use with other instruments within the framework of a marketing strategy .
It must be considered that email marketing does not have a single purpose. It serves to send recipients offers and promotions, but also news or useful information. Likewise, email marketing is used to gather opinions, build engagement (commitment or connection) or simply maintain contact.
It is important to keep in mind that email marketing gains more value when audience segmentation and personalization are carried out. Thus, each individual receives an email according to their interests and not a mass or generic communication. The construction of different groups can be done through demographic segmentation, behavioral segmentation, geographic segmentation or other distinction. On the other hand, creating a personalized email can be as simple as including the recipient's name in the subject or body of the message.
Email marketing helps customer retention.
Analysis of the response
In marketing it is always important to monitor and analyze the reception of campaigns. Email marketing is no exception: there are several key indicators and metrics that must be examined to determine if the actions carried out are meeting the intended objectives:
- Delivery rate : It is the percentage of emails that arrive in the recipients' inbox, calculated from the total number of shipments.
- Open rate : Calculated by dividing the total number of emails sent by the number of emails opened by recipients.
- Bounce rate : Reflects the percentage of emails that did not reach the recipients' inbox.
- Click-through rate (CTR) : Associated with the number of recipients who clicked on the links included in the email.
- Conversion rate : The number of recipients who responded to a call to action (CTA).
- Unsubscription rate : Indicates how many subscribers unsubscribed after receiving a campaign.
Performing data analysis is essential to confirm or modify the direction of the marketing strategy . Otherwise, errors or non-recommended practices may be repeated.
Email marketing platforms usually record these metrics, making them available to the user. Therefore accessing the data is not complicated.
Writing an effective subject line is very important in email marketing.
Types of email marketing
There are numerous types of email marketing, which can be associated with different types of campaigns. This classification is linked to the different formats that emails can adopt depending on the purpose.
The welcome email is the first communication established with the subscriber once they have registered. Since this email usually has a high opening rate, it is important to know how to take advantage of it.
A promotional email , meanwhile, seeks to achieve the positioning of a service or product in order to influence the recipient's possible purchase decision. If the customer has already completed the transaction, a transactional email can be sent to them with a summary of the purchase, shipping status, etc. A thank you email , as the name implies, is used to thank the buyer and open the door to another future transaction.
When contact with the subscriber has been lost for a while, it is possible to try to reestablish it with a reengagement email . In that case, the aim is to renew the recipient's commitment to the brand. Email surveys , anniversary emails , and newsletters are other types of email marketing.
Advantages and disadvantages
It is possible to list advantages and disadvantages of email marketing. Like any tool, it offers benefits but it may also not be beneficial.
The possibility of generating sales, attracting visitors to a website, adding followers on social networks and building or strengthening the relationship with the community are some of the points in favor of this instrument. It should also be noted that it is not expensive and can be implemented with few resources.
As for the negative aspects, emails can become a nuisance for recipients. On the other hand, given the great competition that exists for people's attention, it is very difficult to stand out and stand out.
Examples of email marketing
Take the case of a hamburger chain . On its website and social networks, it invites customers to subscribe to receive useful information via email. In this way, the company informs in its messages about launches, special promotions and even corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
Another possibility is for a digital magazine to create a newsletter to disseminate its contents. In this case, email marketing aims to generate traffic to the website. Periodically, subscribers receive an email with a summary of the articles published by the magazine and a link that leads to reading them in full on the site. By increasing the flow of visitors, the magazine can increase its advertising revenue.
One more example of email marketing: a football club sends its members an email with a weekly summary of the team's activities. This is exclusive content for these people, who enjoy distinctive and privileged treatment compared to supporters who are not members of the institution.