Sure, it’s easy for any company to send out mass emails to thousands of potential clients. But are they effective in generating quality leads? Rarely.
This is the problem with most email marketing campaigns—they aren’t producing increased, or even measurable, open or click-through rates. In America last year alone, less than 12% of marketing and sales emails were opened by their recipients.
So what is everyone doing wrong?Generic and impersonal messaging and one-size-fits-all email templates that are over-used. Most flat-out fail to resonate with their targets, let alone generate leads. So how can a company develop an effective, meaningful large-scale email marketing campaign? The following tips will help differentiate your organization from typical spam emails and generate those all-too-important quality leads.
1. Get Personal
People know what spam looks like—and will delight in ridding their inbox of anything and everything. Your clients don’t want to be interrupted, shouted at or saved from their workload with a time-wasting intrusion in their inbox.
You should be tapping them on the shoulder with something helpful, not screaming into their ears about how great your company is or how they are missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime.
By custom tailoring the content of emails and e-newsletters to targeted audiences, marketing and sales people can speak directly to their prospects—so approach it as such. Communications Guru Jill Conrad suggests not spending time talking about yourself, and instead invite a conversation about the recipients’ goals and how you can help them to achieve those goals.
Beyond messaging, quality design elements in the email layout can be extremely beneficial and make your branded message look aesthetically more appealing and give an air of credence to your message.
2. Get Organized
Problems often start at the foundation of email campaigns. Without an intuitive, easy-to-update corporate storehouse of assets and messaging, companies run a high risk of inappropriate, inaccurate or ineffective asset usage. If your team is using off-brand messaging, antiquated assets and expired promotions, recipients are going to immediately question and disregard your brand.
Organizing assets in Digital Asset Management (DAM) software allows for easy access of all content throughout your company. With the right DAM system, every user in your company can find the right image, message or promotion for their audience exactly when they need it—then create and send an on-brand, personalized message out in a matter of clicks. On the administrative level, this can provide for easy access to performance reports and analytics, allowing you to see what components of your campaign are working, and change what isn’t.
3. Get Analytical
Reporting and analytics allow organizations to easily see the results of their email campaigns through the use of open rates. See who opened the emails, which links were clicked and who clicked them. Analytic tools give you insight into what the next communication steps should be. This helps sales reps to know how interested potential clients are, allowing them to entice less-interested potentials and contact those seriously interested in their product—fostering more meaningful, lasting relationships.