Encore Presentation: The Good, The Bad & The Staples of Email Marketing
What Does Email Marketing Look Like Today?
Presented by Robert Cowes and Lianne McOuat originally at the NAHB’s International Builders’ Show in Orlando last month in the form of a Tech Byte. Read on. Recording and slides below.
The very first question Robert and Lianne answered before diving in deep with The Good, The Bad & the Staples of Email Marketing is… “Why email marketing still?”
The reality is email still dominates over Facebook marketing, online display ads, and online video ads. Why?
- 5 million users in the U.S alone have an email (80% of the population).
- Consumers ages 33‑45 subscribe to 15 different email marketing offers on average.
- 50% of people ages 19‑60 check their primary email multiple times a day.
- And even millennials love it.
(Relevancy Group Executive Survey 2017)
After establishing some of the reasons why email still dominates online marketing, Robert and Lianne kick off their presentation by dissecting the good, the bad, and the staples to give attendees a good foundation of what to watch for in the upcoming examples and strategies.
Some of Robert & Lianne’s favorite examples included a somewhat new staple that’s always an engagement changer…video!
We did say earlier that email dominates over video ads, but if email is what your clients and customers are seeing first and foremost, why not include your videos in email to increase the chances of visibility?
Do we have your attention now?
Let’s dive in and put the presentation’s learning outcomes into practice with examples.
- Identify what types of emails to use to achieve a specific purpose.
- Identify the different types of marketing emails for different audiences.
- Learn the different types of CTAs and where to place them to gain more engagement.
- Be confident your emails and your content are reaching your audience.
One‑click preferences – aka asking for pieces of intelligence – is a SmartTouch® specific staple.
Also, be careful not to forget the actual important details or the relevant CTAs. The story and aesthetics are important, but for promotions like event emails, you must include location (forgetting this happens far more often than you think) date, time, etc.
The human element is another big factor often forgotten. Marketing automation systems like SmartTouch® NexGen and the ability to send to a huge contact list is undoubtedly the way to go to reach a large audience. But be personable, relevant, and segment(!) your list where you can.
To Say or Not to Say?
Actually, it depends on the situation. Mix it up. Acquisition emails are most often short and sweet, but having a strong block of good content that’s a little heavier can be very powerful and effective as well. The important thing is to know your audience and to stack for mobile.
Wrapping up the Presentation
We’ll leave you with one more juicy detail before you watch the full recording.
What a lot of marketers are ignoring – mostly accidentally – are the different things they can do to help DELIVERABILITY and making sure their amazing images and persuasive copy are actually being seen. Just ask yourself…
Does the refrigerator light stay on when you close it?
Don’t send an email and assume it made it to the inbox. Here’s what you can do:
- List Management
- Having a clean and up‑to‑date list will ensure your users are ready to engage and ensure a higher delivery rate.
- Sender Reputation (IP Address)
- The more active your users the better your reputation.
- Subject Line & Sender Name
- Subject lines should be clear and creative while also avoiding things like spam words, special characters, or ALL CAPs.
- $$Free Cabinet Upgrades If You Buy Today!! #moreforyourmoney
- Content (Image/Text Ratio)
- SpamAssassin recommends a minimum of 60% text and a maximum of 40% image coverage with at least 400 characters.
- Time of Day
- Time of day and what day you send your campaign (along with your subject line) has a major impact on open rates. And open rates affect your sender reputation.
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Contact Our Presenters Directly
Robert Cowes, Co‑founder & President, SmartTouch® Interactive
rcowes@smarttouchinteractive.com
Lianne McOuat, Vice President of Strategy & Client Services, McOuat Partnership