Although we’ve heard the fundamental marketing rule of “not blasting your followers with content”, many marketers are still often caught doing so. The pick-up lines of “Hi there!” or the spammy feeling people pick up on from “pushing” of content can become apparent. Go ahead and check your inbox right now. There is probably some emails that you are shaking your head at as you delete them to your spam folder.
This issue can be a major problem for marketers when forgetting the importance of email marketing. It is one of the few channels that can build authentic connections between businesses and their audiences. People don’t hand out their information often, so email marketing can be a great personal in between for your valued audience if used correctly.
There are a few key rules to keep in mind when email marketing:
- It’s about the costumer, not you.
- The content is relevant and appealing
- Useful context is crucial
Let’s break it down!
Customer Satisfaction
In order to successfully reach your audience, it is critical to be focusing exclusively on the kinds of people who actually formulate it. Curating and delivering content that only your audience will appreciate will allow you to send ONE email to everyone based off of the niche and specifics for them.
Say you are a trending tech business, comprehensive lists of gadgets, “hacks” and so on, are going to accommodate to your specific audience. Aspiring techies are going to enjoy the content that is not trying to be everything to everyone. If they are not interested in those topics, they will not appreciate the emails. Casually sending your friend an email updating them on the newest and greatest is the authentic feeling which your readers will appreciate. It is all about pleasing your people, not everyone else.
Good Content
I know, I know…It may seem so obvious that you are asking why this is even being covered. However, this overlooked step can cause marketers to leave that “spammy” and “round up” feeling on their audience. Guilty automated services that claim originality are sending simply too much or too little that is claimed as “curated content.”
In order to curate content, it must be thoughtful and relevant. Understanding what your audience cares about will help you to deliver messages that your readers will continue coming back for, week after week. So go ahead and do some digging to keep the conversation fresh and interesting with new topics.
Context is Crucial
Don’t leave now! Although it may be another obvious tip, housing useful context in your email marketing is a great way to catch readers attention. You want to avoid those long headlines that are boring to read. Instead, writing directly to the reader with a fun tone of voice and catchy content can authenticate your work. Almost as if you are speaking to a friend! Not too formal but not too chipper. Just a casual conversation about relevant information that you are excited to share.
Utilizing graphics such as GIF’s are also a fun way to master the email blast by emphasizing on your personal touch that readers will see and respect when it feels like a 2-way conversation.
In addition to the personable aspect, you want to ignore the basic templates that are easy to spot as being repurposed. This visual aspect can easily turn away readers as it may not appeal to them. Giant blocks of text surrounded by a pool of white space can bore people. Make your content visually exciting but also easy to read.
Email marketing is a great vehicle for communication with your audience IF done correctly.
- Don’t shove them in people’s faces
- Be authentic (as if you’re talking to a friend)
- Understand what your readers like
- Write towards their interests
It’s a process that does require some hard work to get it right and it all starts with caring about your audience.