Email marketing is alive and kicking

You probably notice it often enough yourself when you open your mail app: you receive a very large amount of emails that you immediately delete without even reading them. That's because we receive so much spam and, in addition, receive countless marketing and sales emails. As a result, it has almost become a reflex to simply ignore many emails we receive and immediately throw them in the trash.

Yet there are still emails that grab our attention because they are relevant and they give you the information you are actually looking for at the right time. And that's no accident, because those emails are well-timed and perfectly tailored to trigger you as a consumer. That's where you want to go with your mailing strategy.

"Email has the ability many channels don't: creating valuable, personal touches - at scale."
- David Newman

The first step for an effective email campaign is to generate leads. This is done by making people aware of your brand. Although getting leads is not always obvious. There is more to it than focusing on just one channel.

It is the combination of different channels that ensures success in your lead generation campaign. Think social media, advertising, SEO, webinars, direct mail, and so on.

To obtain email leads, some form of email opt-in is often used. That is, a potential customer leaves their information in exchange for certain benefits, such as using a certain tool on your website.

A good lead generation strategy has some important benefits for your business:

• Reaching the desired customers
• Increasing brand awareness
• Increasing sales

So how can you make sure people leave email addresses and other data? Make use of gated content. That's content that is only accessible to people if they give their contact information. So you entice readers to subscribe to your email list in exchange for certain content, such as white papers, e-books and more.

In order to generate optimal results from your email campaign, lead scoring is often used to lead scoring is often done. Lead scoring means that you will estimate the likelihood that potential customers will make a purchase. Thanks to that estimation, you are less likely to pass up prospects with high potential. It's those prospects who would most like to see your emails come in.

You have obtained data, fantastic, but how does it progress? Of course, this is not the final stop. If it were, you would be missing out on a lot of potential customers... The next step in your email marketing campaign is lead nurturing. Finally, you're going to turn those leads into valuable customers.

In this phase of the marketing funnel, you create interest, consideration and the intention to proceed to purchase. Are there people who have already come to sniff your brand or product, but are not yet ready to make a purchase? Then these are the ideal prospects to include in your email marketing strategy at this stage. Provide them with the right information about why they should become your customer and answer the questions they still have.

Email campaigns focused on lead nurturing are meant to prompt the leads obtained to take certain actions. Therefore, it is important that you answer possible questions the leads may have and provide them with content that motivates them to take the next step.

As cited earlier, it often starts with the opt-in. An effective nurture campaign guides leads through to the sales funnel. Therefore, stay top of mind by sending enough emails every month without being too pushy. No one wants to receive dozens of emails from the same brand every day.

A useful tool in email marketing is email automation. Those mailing programs send automatic emails to specific recipients at a specific time. Good times to mail include opt-ins, subscriptions, purchases, and so on. Those programs, by the way, make it possible to personalize the email. And let's face it, it's always nicer to read "Hey Jose" instead of "Dear Recipient."

When drafting the email, there is one important rule: avoid too many frills. This is because too many triggers distract from what it's all about: the message of your email. Keep the design of your email clean and the content concise. Choose a clear font, use plenty of white space and bold keywords, like in this blog, go for a simple template and place a clear call-to-action (CTA).

Furthermore, it is important that the subject of the e-mail immediately grabs your attention. Make the reader of your e-mail curious so that he wants to know more, or tends to click further. The use of emojis.

Not insignificantly, because that application can make a marked difference in the opening rate of your email campaign. If the title of your emails is right, there is a real chance that people will want to read on.

Once the intent is there to proceed to purchase, you move on to the final stage in the marketing funnel, which is sales. Again, it is important that you guide the prospects through the sales process. After all, they haven't bought anything yet. To persuade them anyway, emails can be the necessary nudge.

Suppose the lead has discovered your product and may have even put an item in the shopping cart. Yet the lead does not proceed to payment and leaves the item in the shopping cart, closes the site and completely forgets it exists. An email reminder of the product in the shopping cart may then be just what the prospect needs to proceed with a purchase after all. Such emails are called abandoned cart emails.

Okay, the prospect has finally made his purchase. The moment when you can proudly say "Yes, we did it! All that effort paid off.". But then is this the end point? Of course not, but what else can we do? Of course, it doesn't end once the leads have proceeded to a one-time purchase. You want them to come back.

"If social media is the cocktail party, then email marketing is the 'meet up for coffee'.
The original 1-to-1 channel."
- Erik Harbison 

Listen to the customer and grow into an expert in their eyes. Show that you are a real person. No one likes to have contact with a (sales) robot. Moreover, it is important that you keep consistent contact. Relationships take time and effort. Unfortunately, if you don't hear from you for a long time, you're not going to stay in the customer's mind for long. Therefore, send a few emails, including newsletters , every month so that the customer stays in touch.

Make sure the customer can contact you even after the purchase. Are you hard to reach when the customer needs you afterwards? Then it doesn't matter that the customer was once super happy. It comes across as implausible and the chances that the customer will want to make another purchase from you are slim. Again, this is where mailing plays an important element. After purchase, ask about the satisfaction of the product or service. This will make the customer feel heard. Moreover, he is more likely to leave a positive review after it.

Finally, this is the ideal opportunity to do up-selling and cross-selling. Up-selling means you offer the customer a better version of the product they bought before. Cross-selling is offering a product that matches what they are going to buy or what they have already bought before. When you take a strategic approach and send this to them at the right time, the customer will appreciate your advice and even be happy with the suggestion you offered them.

1. Put the focus on your target audience. Isn't it right? Then you're hitting the ball completely wrong.

2. Stay consistent and honest throughout all of your brand's communications.

3. Attaches importance to the layout of your mail.

4. An eye-catching topic and clear CTA are essential.

5. Review what works for your brand. Make adjustments as needed.