Every business needs to be active in the email marketing arena today. Campaign Monitor, an email marketing platform, points out the average return on a $1 investment is $38 for this type of advertising, and more than 80 percent of companies leverage strategies in this medium. Virtually all reports reveal similar findings, with email marketing widely viewed as the most cost-effective and profitable form of advertising today.
If you run an insurance agency or other business, here is a beginner's guide to email marketing to get you started:
Preparing for launch
You will need to cover the following bases to begin an email marketing strategy:
Once you answer these questions, the next step is to craft a campaign.
Best practices of email marketing campaigns
Depending on your industry and objectives, your campaign's contents will vary. However, all email marketing ads should abide by the following rules:
In terms of management, you have to decide if you will handle email marketing in house or outsource programs. Outsourcing will ensure seasoned professionals handle the program, though in-house strategies are generally more affordable. If you choose to keep it in house, refer to this list of top management software available from PC Mag. For outsourced services, refer to this list of providers from Top Ten Reviews.
If you run an insurance agency or other business, here is a beginner's guide to email marketing to get you started:
Preparing for launch
You will need to cover the following bases to begin an email marketing strategy:
- Compiling lists: Post Bulletin, an online publication, suggests offering current and prospective customers incentives to subscribe to your email marketing list while also making permissions and the guidelines of the subscription abundantly clear from the start. The source notes subscribing should be a seamless, easy and quick process. When starting from scratch, your sales and marketing teams will need to work together on reaching out to your audience.
- Initial strategy: You need to have established goals in place before crafting the first email ad. For example, what type of ROI are you expecting? How many current customers do you hope to engage in the first campaign? Are you trying to attract new clientele with your email marketing campaign? All of these answers will guide the strategic aspects of each campaign going forward.
- Budget and management: How much are you looking to spend? Will you adopt an email marketing platform to handle the campaigns in house, or will you outsource your strategy to a service provider?
Once you answer these questions, the next step is to craft a campaign.
Best practices of email marketing campaigns
Depending on your industry and objectives, your campaign's contents will vary. However, all email marketing ads should abide by the following rules:
- ClickZ, a marketing publication, urges businesses to keep the frequency of sending at either a monthly or weekly pace.
- Digital Doughnut, an online advertising community, suggests marketers to keep their email subjects lines as concise as possible. The subject line needs to offer a clear and valuable incentive to ensure a click.
- Digital Doughnut also recommends optimizing email ads for mobile, as about half of all emails are now viewed on a mobile device.
- Practical Ecommerce, a news site devoted to online commerce, reports tracking results is imperative, especially when playing the long game. Make sure you have a tool - such as a campaign management platform or app - to measure the success of each campaign. Key metrics include open rates, conversions and virtually any other interaction a consumer makes with the ad.
In terms of management, you have to decide if you will handle email marketing in house or outsource programs. Outsourcing will ensure seasoned professionals handle the program, though in-house strategies are generally more affordable. If you choose to keep it in house, refer to this list of top management software available from PC Mag. For outsourced services, refer to this list of providers from Top Ten Reviews.
