Email Marketing Tips: Part II

This is a continuation of Email Marketing Tips: Part I

When fresh, new marketers start to gather experience under her/his belt, they start to see that it's not enough to just read some "Top 10 tips for this-and-that Marketing" and call it a day. In fact, those who dare to google "Email Marketing Tips" quickly realize that without rhyme or reason - the lack of strategic purpose will get you stuck deciding which tip is most helpful. But also, the sheer amount of marketing tips you have to absorb is daunting. Even from reading only 3 articles with 10 tips each, that's already 30 new things you have to memorize. In addition, you still have your own existing dos and donts.

At this rate, every marketers' downfall will be inevitable and something is bound to be forgotten. By the end of their email campaigns, people will be back to square one. You'll be looking for the latest email tips and hoping the next article has examples better related to your situation (which never seem to quite happen).

So how do you keep up? How do you find the right fit for your email strategy? Establishing a strategic purpose is like building your lighthouse. At times you may get lost or face uncertainties however, your strategic goals will help shed light back on your path toward success. Always look to your lighthouse, always look to what your strategy is trying to achieve. The following points are strategic-centered ideas which will help you see the bigger picture rather than becoming inundated with how many characters you might want to cram into your subject line.

Shape Your Message

In order to understand your email audience, you have to understand that emails are a tool for conversation. Like all conversation, it starts with an introduction. To properly introduce your marketing emails, start thinking about how familiar your audience is with your brand or message.

Unfortunately, some businesses struggle to introduce themselves. Often these same businesses try to sell too many things at once or self-sabotage themselves with competing messages. Keep in mind there are other factors when funneling your audience to your Call to Action (CTA). It's also important to emphasize your brand's first impression. You can obtain a returning customer relationship by talking to your audience as if you're in it for the long haul because ideally, you want to be engaging with them for some time.

Stick With Your Message

How often have you been in a grossly off-topic meeting where you're battling an epic lunch-food-coma and struggling to stay awake because your boss is sitting right next to you? Maybe not always, but we all understand that the off-topic struggle is real. When a conversation can't keep its train of thought, it's hard to find a reason to listen. So why should your email audience feel engaged if your emails can't finish what they were intended to start? Conversations need to start and finish on topic. Look to your lighthouse to guide you towards your strategic goals.

Follow Your Message

Meaningful conversations happen in more than one sitting. Your emails need to be staged or versatile enough to extend your message throughout several occasions. Best practices recommend that a creative campaign should have a succession of three executions, with the final message delivering your most impactful CTA. But the number of executions in your campaign can be arbitrary. The real purpose is to not overdo it. Verbally vomiting all your messaging into a single email can leave very little to be desired. Users may feel there are too many things being asked of them. As if it's a 3-course meal, segment your marketing messages so that they're digestible to your audience. Visually entice your audience to wet their appetites, provide them with a meaty CTA and polish off with a sweet followup.

Remind Users What's Meaningful

As conversations evolve, they begin shape relationships. Quite often, these relationships need reminders about what's meaningful. Just like how you and your SO may have an anniversary, the customer journey can also be reminded with loyalty programs or even special messaging to show that they're still in your marketing radar (they still have your affection). Show your users that you're not interested in just a fling but a proposal with returning satisfaction throughout the entire customer journey.