We’ve been hearing for years that email marketing is dead, yet the truth is it keeps growing. Companies continue to use this direct communication method with users year after year, and the trend is still on the rise.
Before going on with this tutorial, let’s look at the difference between a Newsletter and Mailing.
- Mailing is the practice of mass advertising. Companies often buy third-party databases to promote themselves. This technique usually gets poor feedback and is frowned upon, since users have not signed up to our database directly.
- A Newsletter is a form of regular, direct communication with the subscriber. The user receiving the email has previously subscribed on the company’s website. These are usually informative emails about services or products, but also about blog posts.
- When we talk about Email Marketing, we are referring to both of these concepts.
At Trilogi we recommend the Newsletter approach, as it is the most effective, profitable and “clean” method.
Why implement a Newsletter strategy?
Over the years, implementing a Newsletter strategy has proven its effectiveness. Large companies are well aware of this and keep working this channel regularly.
Here are a few points in favor of the Newsletter format:
- It’s not intrusive
The users who receive it voluntarily left their email on your eCommerce site, which shows that they are interested in our communications, whether to hear about our latest blog posts or our new products.
- It can be segmented
When we send a newsletter we can (and in most cases should) segment our target audience. We can send an email segmented by: only those who have bought from us; users who have registered but not yet purchased; a message for women or for men… The possibilities are endless.
- It drives traffic
Users who open the email and click the links will generate visits to our eCommerce site. Visits that can turn into sales.
- It’s cheap
A newsletter campaign is very affordable compared with other marketing actions. Plus, we can calculate the ROI from the metrics.
- It’s versatile
In a Newsletter we can talk about what’s new in our eCommerce store, share new blog articles, mention the events we’ll attend, or even send a segmented email to users who haven’t bought yet with an extra discount to encourage a purchase.
- It’s measurable
With email marketing we can know how many people opened our email, how many clicked the links, how many unsubscribed, and so on. That way we can always calculate the ROI of our investment in this channel.
How to run a Newsletter campaign and what to keep in mind
- Goals
The first thing we need to know is why we want to create a Newsletter. There are several reasons:
- Increase sales
- Build user loyalty
- Keep users informed
- Build your brand
- Etc.
- Message
Once our goals are clear, it’s time to fill the Newsletter with content that matches them:
- News: company news, blog posts…
- Products: new or featured products, best sellers…
- Offers: product discounts, events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday…
- Subject line
A good subject line significantly increases your Newsletter’s open rate. To achieve this, it needs to meet a few criteria:
- It shouldn’t include words like free or offer, as those words help send our emails straight to the SPAM folder.
- It should be as short as possible.
- We can include the user’s name in the subject.
- It should summarize what’s inside the email.
- General recommendations
Now let’s look at some best practices to keep in mind for our emails:
- Include calls to action in all your emails (Sign up here, Download it here, Buy now…).
- Structure the email the way you would an article (headings, subheadings, bold text…)
- Use visual content (photos, images and videos)
- Use the company’s brand colors and always the same font and size.
- The email doesn’t need to be groundbreaking; some classic formats work very well.
- Check your spelling.
- Always include your logo.
- Also include social buttons so people can share the email’s content and follow you on the different social networks.
- Add value.
- If we have an eCommerce site in several languages, we need to segment by language, but we must also be mindful of key dates. In Spain it might be Father’s Day, but in France or England the dates are different. (You can check some of them in this post on 2016 events and key dates).
- Don’t forget to include the unsubscribe option in the email footer.
If you decide to run a Newsletter campaign, Trilogi can help.
We have integrated Splio and Mailchimp into Logicommerce, allowing you to create segmented campaigns and send SMS from the same platform.
What do you think about the evolution of email marketing?
