The Do’s and Don’ts of Email Marketing

You probably receive more marketing email messages than you would ever care to read. You probably send all but very few of them to your spam or junk folder.

Are we right? We get it, we’ve been there.

While it might not seem like it, email marketing is actually still an effective means of growing your business. The catch is, there is a right and a wrong way to use email for marketing your products or services to customers. Here are some of the do’s and don’ts of email marketing. 

Do – Grow Your Email List Correctly 

Grow your email list the right way: use a subscription form that requires subscribers to opt-in to receive emails from your business. That way, they don’t feel like you’re forcing your emails into their inbox. 

Don’t – Buy An Email List 

Whatever you do, don’t buy an email list. Unsurprisingly, unless you have email leads from people who are actually interested in your business on that email list, your open rate and click-through rate will be very low. This will render your email marketing ineffective and make it hard for you to gauge what is actually working.

Do – Segment Your Email List 

Segmenting your email list will aid significantly in sending emails with content relevant to your audience. There are many ways to do this.

For example, you could organize it based on industry, geography, product interest, participation in events, content downloads, and even pages visited.

This will enable you to send more personalized emails based on subscriber data and interests. 

Do – Use the Customer’s Name 

Using the customer’s name in the body of your marketing emails makes them less of a sales pitch and more of a personal relationship. You can also take it a step further and address customers by name in the subject line. Emails with personalized subject lines are more likely to be opened. 

Do – Avoid Spam Filters 

Email filters are becoming increasingly sophisticated. To avoid the spam filters, avoid sending emails that look like spam. For example, refrain from using words like “sale,” “free,” “rich,” or “deal” in the subject line in all caps. 

Don’t – Send A Sales Pitch 

Another way to avoid the spam and junk folders are to make sure that your email doesn’t read like a brochure. Avoid using the aforementioned words and limit the number of links included in the message to be safe. 

Do – Use Video 

Video is an easy way to grab your customers’ attention and hold it, as compared to a wall of text. It helps build trust and long-term customer relationships. Most customers even say that watching a video about a product or service is what gives them the confidence to buy it.

With its high ROI and click-through rates, there’s no reason not to include video in your email marketing. 

Don’t – Poorly Produced Videos 

A video’s image quality doesn’t matter so much as the quality of the content. If your video is poorly written and produced, it could confuse your customers and drive them away. If you want to learn more about video, take a look at our recent blog. 

Above all else, what you want to give your marketing emails is value. Why would you send an email to a customer that held no value? This is the difference between the emails you ignore on the daily and the emails that Proximo Marketing Strategies sends out.

We work with our clients closely to understand their customers’ interests and motivations so we can create valuable content. While email marketing is only part of any marketing strategy, it’s an important one when done correctly.

If you would like to learn more about email marketing with us, give us a call today at 757-504-2429.