To email or not to email? Is that even a question?
We started the month with a beginner’s guide to email marketing. And then we introduced you to Mailchimp, an email marketing software designed to make your life easier.
Today we talk to Sally Acton who has been using email marketing campaigns to reach her audience. She gives us insight on email campaigns, analytics and so much more.
Sally, tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Sally Acton, I am MD of Torque, an Employee Experience agency. I have worked in a number of industries – from running bush camps, to digital marketing, employee experience, CRM and eLearning!
What’s your view on content marketing?
I think that content marketing is the way to go, as long as you are providing true value to your prospects and customers.
What type of content do you prefer? Text, video or audio?
Personally I like text for reusable content or opinion pieces and video for storytelling.
Is email marketing dead?
Definitely not.
When is a good time for a company to start with email marketing?
In my opinion as early as possible! Keeping in contact with your audience is important.
I’m new to email marketing. Where should I start?
Short, personalized emails that add value to the segments you are trying to reach.
What’s the best way to convince people to give me their email addresses?
Ask them for it and let them know what you will be giving them in return.
How will I know if my email campaigns are working?
That really depends on your industry and goals you set – are you trying to build awareness? Is it thought leadership? Are you driving traffic to a blog / sale / social?
What analytics should we keep an eye on?
Open rates, link clicks, unsubscribe rate.
What should I do to boost my conversion rate?
Target, target, target. Send a specific message to a specific group at a specific time. Spray and pray doesn’t work by handing out flyers at a robot. It doesn’t work in email either!
What type of content would you recommend for top of the funnel vs bottom of the funnel?
Quite industry dependent, but I go back to adding value. Spend the time to map your funnel, identify who your clients are and see where you can add REAL value to that client at each stage and that should inform your content creation.
How have you changed a strategy or campaign by studying campaign analytics?
I think it is easy to get swayed by vanity metrics. The size of your database or the amount of likes are not always indicative of a successful campaign. How many people actually bought or reached out after the campaign? Customer acquisition is the target, so setting up and seeing that metric or the steps fulfilled towards that goal is the main thing that should inform a change in strategy. If everyone likes it but no one buys, was it successful?
Which email marketing software do you use?
We use several for different clients, Everlytic is great, Sharpspring, Touchbase Pro.
What advice would you give someone who hasn’t incorporated email marketing into their digital marketing strategy?
Get your data right from the beginning and create your lists / personas. Figure out a way to keep this up to date as easily as possible.
It’s A Wrapp!
Email marketing is effective, but only when used effectively. As Sally says, spraying and praying doesn’t work. You need to have a clear strategy as to what you’re doing.
Leave us a comment below to let us know what metric you’re keeping an eye on.
