Digital marketing has been growing tremendously for years now. Several businesses and sectors are now incorporating digital marketing tactics and techniques into their marketing plan in order to grow and expand their presence and reach. Before the internet was invented, nobody expected the market to switch to digital mediums to advertise and promote goods and services.
Digital marketing doesn’t necessarily is limited to simply advertising and promoting products and services online, it is, moreover, the ability to target your intended audience, track and measure your performances, and evaluate what’s working and what is not working for your business.
Email marketing, for the sake of growth and expansion, is one of the most crucial digital marketing techniques to date. Email marketing is also known as one of the first digital marketing techniques to be followed and utilized by businesses and brands. Hence, it is learning what email marketing really is and what benefits email marketing offers to companies and brands.
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is nothing but companies sending emails to their customers and clients that include newsletters, important updates, and other necessary announcements and events. One of the most highly opted and result-oriented techniques to advertise goods or services is done through the utilization of email marketing.
Almost everybody who has an email address comes across email marketing on a daily basis. For years, email marketing is seen as crucial for attracting new consumers and keeping them around. Email marketing is done for various different purposes. Aside from order confirmations, order updates, tracking of orders, and direct replies to consumer inquiries, any email a business sends out might be categorized as email marketing.
Benefits of Email Marketing
Now, let us learn a few benefits of email marketing
1. It Increases Sales And Profit
Whenever you come across an email sent by a brand or a company, you are directly exposed to what the company is wanting you to know. Several reputed companies, like Digital Scholar, for example, send several emails inviting their customers and clients to try out their services. The below image is an example of their email marketing –
2. Increases Brand Awareness
As stated above, companies send emails so that their clients and customers are directly exposed to their services and products. Whenever people are sent direct and personalized emails, they gain awareness regarding the whereabouts and updates of the business and brand. This, in return, helps in increasing brand awareness.
3. Increases Visitors To Your Websites And Social Media Accounts
A brand will not merely put up the update or message and send it directly to their customers without inserting any hyperlinks to their website and other social media networking accounts. Whenever an email is received by a customer, the customer is sent several crucial links via which he or she can reach out to the expected place the brand wants them or to.
Now that we have understood what email marketing is and what its benefits are,
Keeping the overview and context in mind, let us now finally dive into the crucial part of this article – 20 Do’s and Don’ts of Email Marketing!
Let’s go!
10 Do’s and Don’ts of Email Marketing
Here is the table on Do’s and Don’ts of email marketing
| SI No. | Do’s of Email Marketing | Don’ts of Email Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | First and Foremost, Be Precise and Concise | Don’t be Inconsistent At All |
| 2. | Focus Upon The Subject Line | Avoid Being Repetitive |
| 3. | Do Proof Read Before Sending The Mails In Bulk | Stay Consistent, But Don’t Send Out Too Many Emails |
| 4. | Focus On Your Targeted Customers And Clients | Don’t Force Your Clients And Customers |
| 5. | Create More And More Personalized Emails | Dont Follow The Same Email List |
| 6. | Maintain Consistency | Don’t Neglect Optimization (VERY IMPORTANT) |
| 7. | Be Real. Be Authentic | Don’t Stuff In Too Many Pictures Or Images |
| 8. | Remember, It Is All About Your Business | Don’t Forget Or Avoid Headers And SubHeads |
| 9. | Keep An Eye On When Your Emails Get The Most Responses | Don’t Degrade Other Brands |
| 10. | CTAs Or Call To Action Is A Must | Lastly, Don’t Forget Your Loyal Customers and Clients |
10 Do’s of Email Marketing
Starting off, let us first start with the Do’s email marketing that is to be followed and abided by.
1. First and Foremost, Be Precise and Concise.
As the title implies, it is very important to keep your message short and sweet. Whenever it comes to business emails and email marketing, long forms of texts and messages won’t be worth it as the customer did not willingly ask you for an email. Customers and clients are neither expecting mail for you nor seeking it. Once they have received an email for your business account mentioning the details and updates you want them to know, it truly depends upon them whether they want to reach it completely or not.
Hence, in order to grab the attention and time of your clients and customers, it is highly recommended that one should attempt to explain several things within a few lines or sentences. Know that fact that your clients and customers are already receiving more than 10 emails from other various businesses and brands, how you stand apart is in your hand.
2. Focus Upon The Subject Line.
As mentioned in the facts and stats above, Thanks to a customized subject line, 62% of emails get opened. It is highly necessary for businesses and brands to develop and create eye-catchy subject lines that will compel your customers and clients to open your mail. Once your customers and clients and opened your email, consider the fact that your 50% work is done.
The very first thing your customers and clients will look up to is your subject line. The probability of your emails being opened profoundly depends upon how strong, creative, and interesting your subject line is. Get in touch with your copywriter and your marketing head. Discuss the various ways your subject lines can compel your audiences and push them to open your email moments after you have sent it to them.
3. Do Proof Read Before Sending The Mails In Bulk
This is not just limited to emails, but make sure you always proofread your content before sending or uploading. The whole point why experts recommend proofreading is that it aids in eliminating faulty meanings and sentences. As the first point in this list explains, it is important to keep your text and message concise. Once you have created a precise and concise message, it is highly necessary it has no grammatical errors or mistakes.
Once you have created your creative email with effort and time, make sure you utilize or cross-check your content with the help of software and applications like Grammarly and others. Grammarly profoundly helps in reforming sentences that may sound grammatically incorrect or rectifying and highlighting any spelling mistakes that will lower your brand’s credibility.
4. Focus On Your Targeted Customers And Clients
Emails are generated and created in order to notify, update, and announce any upcoming events in the future. Not necessarily that everyone in your email list is supposed to be notified of your emails. There are a few emails that are for the masses and there are other emails that are specifically created for a specific audience.
Once you as a business and company have shortlisted and targeted your customers and clients, it becomes easier to target them via sending them emails that are just for them to see. The whole reason why customers are targeted and sent customized emails is that the possibility of them clicking and being benefited by the specific email is higher as compared to generic emails for the masses.
5. Create More And More Personalized Emails
As stated in the above point, personalized emails for specific audiences, clients, and customers will result in higher email clicks and email interaction. In reality, hardly half of the emails sent from brands to their customers are opened and interacted with. It proves that apart from multiple emails your clients and customers are receiving, there are fewer chances that your email will surely be opened or reacted to.
According to 62% of marketers, personalization is the most successful tactic. When a brand sends personalized and customized emails and content, it shows that the brand cares and thinks about the customers and clients abundantly. Whenever customers receive customized emails, they feel the brand is specifically interacting with and thinking about them. This leads to a human-like presence and interaction via emails and the chances of customers opening the email increase profoundly.
6. Maintain Consistency
As the title implies, it is highly important to automate your email marketing so that your clients and customers consistently receive updates from your brand and company. As stated above, your clients and customers receive more than 10 brand-related emails from various different companies. They are constantly sending emails in order to promote and advertise their products and services.
The only way you match up to other rivals and compete with them in email marketing is by being highly consistent. When your customers and clients regularly receive updates and news from your company, they feel they are kept in the loop of everything. Moreover, sending clients and customers, regular emails will keep your brand’s name in their minds forever.
7. Be Real. Be Authentic.
Just because you, as a brand has to send several emails to your clients and customers every month doesn’t mean you can draft emails with wrong and faulty information. Keep in mind that customers and clients today are far more aware and intelligent about businesses and other sectors.
Make sure you are delivering and sending out information that is true and real. Never flaunt your business’s capabilities and growth. Keep everything real and protect your brand’s credibility by staying authentic and honest.
8. Remember, It Is All About Your Business
Email marketing is all about marketing your goods and services and keeping your clients and customers in the loop of everything. The whole reason why you are drafting an email is either because you are informing the entry of new products and services in your product line, letting your customers know about new offers or sales, or calling them for an event taking place by your business.
Email marketing is strictly regarding your business and upcoming future plans. Make utmost sure that you as a business or startup, are not communicating with your customers in a way that is not formal. As a brand, you must follow formal and respectable language and write information that is relevant. Do not write sentences that are usually written on messaging apps. Follow a formal tone and keep it all about your business.
9. Keep An Eye On When Your Emails Get The Most Responses
Emails are not to be spent at any time of the day. Considering your targeted and intended audience, focus on when your emails are getting the most interactions and responses. As mentioned easier, your customers and clients are already receiving several different varieties of brand-related emails on a daily basis.
If your targeted audience is millennials, for example, consider sending them emails in the early mornings or post 7 pm as these people are mostly employed and are working professionals. Even sending emails on the weekends would work as they are probably free.
10. CTAs Or Call To Action Is A Must
Have you ever come across digital buttons like “Buy Now”, “Reveal Now”, “Get Now”, and more? These words and phrases are called CTAs or call-to-action buttons. Once you have drafted your email and your message abides by all the points mentioned above, do not forget to add a CTA after or between your message.
Consider this example, if your company has introduced a new set of products in your product line, your email tells everything about the products but it doesn’t have a link or button that redirects your customers and clients to the product for more information, wouldn’t this be a waste of time for both you and your customers? Adding CTAs will increase the chances of interactions and sales.
10 Don’ts of Email Marketing
Now that we have understood the Do’s one must abide by while drafting and planning their email marketing strategy, let us now learn about the don’t’s of email marketing.
1. Don’t be Inconsistent At All.
This point is the sequel to the 6th point mentioned above. It is highly recommended for you as a business and startup brand to stay regular with giving updates and information for your brand to your clients and customers.
Do not risk the scope of your brand awareness and recognition by not being consistent. In order to keep your brand’s image fresh and new in your audience’s minds, develop and create an email marketing plan that includes sending regular emails per week to your clients and customers.
2. Avoid Being Repetitive.
Again, in order to look like a business that invites changes and new updates on a regular basis, do not try sending the same emails and or the same offers and updates via mail to your customers and clients.
It is recommended that every mail that you send as a brand should be new, fresh, and something your clients and customers have not come across ever from your side. Being the same and sending out the same information will bore your audiences off and they switch to another brand or business under the same niche.
3. Stay Consistent, But Don’t Send Out Too Many Emails.
It is true that in order to let your audiences and clients know that your brand or business is operating on a regular basis, one has to regularly send emails for the same. But again, how many emails you send matters. Sending out too many emails might risk the subscriptions done by your customers and clients.
As per studies and research, marketing experts believe that max 2-3 emails per week is considered enough in order to increase sales and maintain brand recognition. If you are sending more emails than the limit, the chances of your clients and customers ignoring your emails and updates increase.
4. Don’t Force Your Clients And Customers
Emails are simply to inform or to force. Even if you are introducing a new product or service, or informing your clients and customers about a new sale coming on their way in the future, the message and the email should simply explain the highlights and whereabouts of the product/ service or the dates of the upcoming sale.
Do use phrases that force them to buy or click on the links mentioned in the email. Your email shall be written in a creative way that lets them know more about the product or service voluntarily.
5. Dont Follow The Same Email List
As a developing brand or a business, do not rely on the same email list you possess forever. With time, your marketing segmentation and targeted audiences will differ and change. Moreover to this, there are high chance people will stop using the email address or simply delete the email forever.
In order to make sure your email list is powerful, productive, and contains active email addresses, make sure you keep updating your list regularly.
6. Don’t Neglect Optimization (VERY IMPORTANT)
It is not possible for your clients and customers will open your email on laptops or phones only. Despite the fact that emails are nowadays opened more on smartphones than laptops and screens, it is necessary that you optimize your emails for both smartphones and laptops/screens.
It is known that if your emails are highly optimized and created attractively, the chances of your emails being interacted with or useful increase tremendously.
7. Don’t Stuff In Too Many Pictures Or Images
Brands and businesses, avoid being dependent upon texts in pictures and images. Yes, pictures and images will definitely make your email look attractive but too many of them might lower the overall email experience.
While drafting an email, make sure you use media only when it is necessary or required.
8. Don’t Forget Or Avoid Headers And SubHeads
Not only while writing an article like this, but also while drafting an email, it is important to make sure of headers in order to promote the clarity of the message. It becomes easier to divide several pieces of information and news into one single email when headers are entered correctly.
By adding headers and bold subheads, you are also making your email look neat and information-oriented.
9. Don’t Degrade Other Brands
It is true that emails can contain a lot of information and messages, but it is important to avoid talking negatively about other brands and companies. A brand should never degrade or talk ill about other companies products and services.
Never talk or compare your product and services with other brands. Be yourself but don’t try to surpass your brand’s identity with others.
10. Lastly, Don’t Forget Your Loyal Customers and Clients
It is true that email marketing is for the masses and to extend your reach. But at the very same time, it is necessary for you as a brand to not overlook your loyal customers and clients.
Once you have an email list of clients and customers who regularly purchase from you, make sure you give them different attention as compared to others. Give them updates and news that makes them feel you care about them and that you respect their choices and decision.
By this, you are increasing your brand’s credibility and also retaining them for the future.
Conclusion
So here it is – 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Email Marketing are right in front of you!
As stated before, for years, digital marketing has been expanding rapidly. To increase and broaden their visibility and reach, a number of industries and enterprises are increasingly adopting digital marketing methods and strategies in their marketing plans. Before the internet, no one anticipated that the market would shift to digital platforms for product and service promotion. One of the most important digital marketing strategies to date for development and expansion is email marketing.
Read here, if you want to know about Do’s and Don’ts of Digital Marketing!
We hope this article has been beneficial for your time and expectation. Are you aware of any more dos and don’ts of email marketing? Do let us know in the comments section below!
Happy mailing!
