Five Tips for Creating a Successful Email Marketing Strategy for 2018

One of the critical aspects to business success is staying at the forefront of customers’ minds. One way to do that is through email marketing. However, creating a successful email marketing campaign can be challenging. Questions arise such as, how much is too much, how do I increase my open rates, and what makes a marketing email successful? Here are a few steps to take this month that can help you create a successful email marketing campaign for the whole year.

Plan ahead – Create an email marketing schedule and stick to it. It is helpful to look at a calendar and highlight important days, such as holidays or new inventory arrival dates. This allows you to create a clear picture of what you’ll be sending throughout the year and helps to keep you from sending too many or too few emails.

Start to build your audience – Some companies have existing email lists, others are still working to build their contacts. Ensure you have a sign-up tool to capture emails on your website and social platforms. Hiring an outside firm to collect and capture relevant email addresses is another option to boost your audience.

Strategize on content – Asking yourself questions such as, how will this help my customer, or why would someone be interested in this message, will help you develop meaningful content. Try to avoid the trap of just sending emails to send them, this can lead to contacts unsubscribing.

Have a purpose – Many email marketing campaigns fall short because they do not have a clear purpose. As you plan your email schedule, make sure to develop a call-to-action message, this will help you gauge the success of your emails, as you will be able to measure how many contacts completed the requested action.

Capture attention – Today, most people receive hundreds of emails per week, so getting your emails opened among the sea of messages can be difficult. Catchy and intriguing subject lines are important, but always ensure the subject accurately describes the email. Customers can easily become frustrated and unsubscribe if the content inside the email does not match the subject line.

Be sure to take advantage of the videos, e-newsletter Bright Ideas and the lighting stories developed by the ALA BiNational Advertising and PR Program. Contact Amy Wommack at awommack@americanlightingassoc.com with questions.