How to use Email Marketing Effectively

Email marketing is undergoing something of a “rebirth” as brands explore increasingly sophisticated ways to reach consumers and drive ROI.

Email marketing may not be seen as the most exciting channel – it is often referred to as a little tired and uninspiring – but nevertheless it remains central to many brands’ communications strategies. And while some predicted its demise a few years ago when social media became increasingly dominant, its death is by no means imminent.

In fact, thanks to the arrival of new technologies, which are making it more interesting and engaging, email is experiencing something of a revival. Email is generating a lot of money and, in my opinion, it is having a rebirth; many companies are rethinking it.”

Successful email marketing campaigns

The brand uses email to increase sales at all points on the customer journey – pre-booking, post-booking, and post-holiday. This wide remit means the key aim is to manage customer interactions of the whole journey rather than a marketing or service touchpoint. As a result, it has a different strategy for each stage of the customer journey and “email marketing takes on a different type of beast in each of those strategies.

Email campaigns are “great for keeping supporters updated on a huge variety of subjects, ultimately all contact has to be relevant to that person. There has to be a specific need, as opposed to sending an email without a defined aim.

Personalisation and email marketing

Better personalization of email campaigns is top of the wish list for marketers, according to Econsultancy’s report, but for many, the promise of 100% personalization remains a distant prospect. Marketers believe it is a huge challenge, with the biggest hurdle by integrating email marketing systems with other channels. It’s all about understanding customer behavior and intent, and then applying the personalization which is strong in that creative.”

Retail brands with a large online presence are best at email. Amazon tops the list for consumer mentions at 14% and was noted for both volumes of emails sent and its use of email – in other words, doing the basics right. Marks & Spencer comes second with 10%, and Next, Tesco, and eBay are joint third with 7%. But 60% of respondents don’t believe any brands do email well.

Testing email marketing

Testing what does and doesn’t work might sound obvious but 47% of organizations test under a quarter of their emails. Optimising emails for different devices has been a big driver of the improvements in the design and creations of emails. Mobile has forced marketers to be more clever with content and design to satisfy behavior change.