Increasing Awareness Through Email Marketing
Once you’ve given your brand the foundation it needs to stand strong (with a great Brand Identity Guideline), it’s a good idea to start spreading the news. There are so many ways to do this, but a favourite amongst us and our clients is for sure through email. Not the spam kind we all know and delete, but the kind that gets you reading on, curious to learn what comes next!
At Scotch & Tell, we facilitate the entire process of email marketing for our clients – from the copy and design to the sending and reporting. We’ve come to realise that some clients are going to love this way of communicating with their audience, and others are going to do everything they can to stay clear of it. Either way, here’s what you should know about email marketing:
1. Consent. Consent. Consent.
For your email marketing to be effective, its crucial that you target the right audience. This means that you want to start building your subscribers list with people who are GENUINELY curious and keen to engage with your brand (and the messages you want to tell). Asking for permission to add people to your list is always a good idea and giving them a way to opt out is a good way to build trust. Adding a subscribe button on your website works well to organically build this list of interested people.
2. Value. Value. Value.
As mentioned, you don’t want to be adding to the noise. Sending an email to your list means you have something important to say. Ensuring that you deliver reliable and exciting messages through your email marketing will ensure that you retain your subscribers. You also aren’t necessarily limited to sending information that relates only to your brand, you could get really creative and work on some great collaborations with other brands or share insights into market trends.
3. Personalisation. Personalisation. Personalisation.
We’re huge advocates for personalisation. There’s nothing more generic that receiving a “Dear User…” message. Each of your subscribers have names, USE ‘EM! You also want to keep in mind that if what you are sending in your mailer is location or age specific for example, you want to target the people on your list who it is relevant to. No point in sending a wine dinner invite for next week Tuesday in Cape Town for someone who perhaps lives in San Francisco!
4. CTAs. CTAs. CTAs.
A CTA is a “Call To Action”. It prompts the reader to do something… to take action! If you’re inviting them to the wine dinner, your CTA would be a link to buy the tickets. If your message was about a free download, you’d provide a great graphic explaining why they should download the resource (and then give them an easy way to locate or download the resource).
With CTA’s, you want to be clear on what the reader will be getting, and you want to make sure it’s so good that they can’t resist! Like following Scotch & Tell on Instagram and becoming part of a network of people who choose their knowledge and creativity.
See what I did there?
5. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.
Adding to the value side of things, being consistent helps readers know what to expect and when to expect it. This way, they’re less likely to be taken by surprise and do the thing … the unsubscribe thing. You can keep it consistent in many ways, for example sending it on a particular day every week or month, or even keeping the structure the same each time.
Looking to implement an effective email marketing strategy and need some help doing so? Follow the CTA!