So 2017 is nearly over and its just the right time to have a think about your 2018 email marketing strategy if you haven’t already done so. As is the case pretty much every year those that gleefully announce the death of email marketing as an effective part of your overal digital strategy, are yet again being forced to acknowledge that it’s still the real workhorse of marketing, even more so in the mobile arena. So as we head into a New Year this is some of the things you need to seriously look at for your business email strategy.
Business Email Marketing for 2018
As always a good place to start is with those elements of the 2017 Email Marketing Strategy which worked well – this is what our clients tell us and it’s always a good idea to build on prior successes, and only abandon those parts of the overall strategy which aren’t working as well. But don’t just repeat those successful components – make them better by testing, refining, and creating more streamlined campaigns.
We mentioned last year about making your email campaigns data driven, this will be even more important in 2018 and emerging in May is GDPR which is likely to drastically alter how you manage your data both in terms of externally from customer and internally, if you haven’t already you can read more on the Information Commission Office website here – definitely bookmark this link.
Automation is going to play an even stronger part in marketing activities in the coming year, this software can automate part of your marketing options, so for example if a customer clicks a link to see product A on your website, the software knows this and can automatically send a review on that product – or whatever you’ve set it up to send back. This software can then segment your data based on feedback from the actions of your subscribers. You can try this here with our brochure that will automatically send you a series of emails – Brochure Download
There will be more use of a microsite for individual campaigns, that is specific website for a specific campaign targeted at a certain group from your data, so that hyper targeting will reach a microsite aimed specifically at them and there needs and wants.
The use of mobiles only in campaigns should still be way up your list, we mentioned how important this was last year and we’re seeing data that shows a significant number of campaigns have the majority % of action be that opens and clicks from mobile only devices. You can read more about the importance of making your newsletter work for mobiles here on a previous new entry on this website.
Finally as we always say you need to make it crystal clear to your target audience what kind of action you want them to take when they receive your email. Many a campaign has been unsuccessful, or much less successful than it might have been, because it did not clearly relate to the reader what the desired action should be. If you want readers to click on a link, make that clear as day. And if you want the reader to visit your website, be sure that the URL is clearly provided, and that the navigation path is fully functional. Don’t leave any room for doubt in the mind of your readers, or you’ll probably lose them.
If you need help to grow your business or to find out how we can make email marketing work for your business then please get in touch with our business team through the website and download our brochure here.
