Most business is hyper-aware of the fact that email marketing automation is a wonderful tool in today’s marketplace. Yet, an email marketing campaign implemented poorly is often a waste of time. For many companies, the mystery of success is elusive and causes them to simply procrastinate.
How can email marketing software engage customers and prospects?
We have broken the basics into five key factors.
1. Trusted Upon Arrival: The email simply cannot arrive in their spam box. Secondly, the reader needs to already have some level of trust with your brand, product, platform or service. The best way to establish trust is to set expectations early in the relationship. Set up metrics in your CRM software to assure the emails meet expectations on a regularly to maintain this trust.
2. Distinctly Relevant: This is a cornerstone of effective email campaigns that cause the buyer to respond. Readers want information they need -when they need it. A thorough understanding of your ideal customer is critical to being relevant to their needs.
3. Conversational Tone: No more pitches. No more writing that sounds like corny TV commercial copy. On the flip side, no more stifled corporate-speak either. Consumers want your message to be a conversation, but direct at the same time. Get to the point. Add some personality. Talk to them like a friend. See your revenue increase.
4. Interconnected: Cross channel connection goes beyond a great email signature or consistent graphic artistry. An email marketing campaign must be interconnected seamlessly with all your other marketing and social media streams.
5. Strategic Implementation: Strategy is not something you do only at the beginning of email marketing automation. Without strategic adjustments email campaigns are doomed to produce mediocre or non-existent results.
• Create a strategy to give the reader valuable information
• Carefully craft metrics in your CRM software
• Analyze customer data about what the like
• Consistently adjust the strategy
The Path of Powerhouse Lead Nurturing
Consumers have a legion of choices set out before them 24/7. The multitude of choices is in both the real and virtual worlds. Effective email marketing automation software depends on the significant relationships formed through strategic techniques and analytics/metrics.
We’ve meandered through the 5 steps to an engaging email blast, now let’s focus our attention on what it takes to nurture leads.
Relevance Revisited
After the last Google Penguin update every serious marketer makes relevancy the primary focus of all digital marketing. Distinct and direct relevancy is the major way to keep the number of unsubscribes from skyrocketing.
It’s not only about relevant information, but delivery as well. In terms of leads, what could be more powerful than sending the answer to their prayers just as they utter the word, “Amen”?
Come through for people at the right time. Don’t bombard people at the wrong time with irrelevant calls to action (CTA). First understand who you’re talking to, listen and speak carefully.
Two-Way Communication
One big mistake new email marketers make is attempting to do all the talking. Stop trying to impress, and seek instead to listen and then inform.
Stop yelling at people!
There is no such thing as a one-way conversation. Without engagement, readers will not stay around too long.
Thankfully you have access to CRM technology that invites innovation with email blasts that engage. Email marketing automation is light years ahead of where it was only 5-8 years ago. An online CRM can store information about each sales lead and customer, monitor how they respond to your email campaigns, and show you what is working on a customer dashboard.
Ongoing Engagement & Conversation
Ascend above the noise and cyber-clutter by showing solidity. Consumers are used to seeing start-ups come and go like pollen on an early spring day. Once your sales leads allow you to be a part of their inbox, the conversation has to be maintained over the long haul. No silent or inactive brand can survive in this hypercompetitive environment.