Excellent Email Marketing – It’s All About the Content

When creating a new email marketing campaign, marketers have a tendency to put a great deal of emphasis on the newsletter’s design and somewhat neglect the content. Neither can be said to be more important, nevertheless, here are a few common mistakes that email marketers tend to make regarding content.

email marketing

5 steps to success

1. What happens to your content after it’s published?

Although it’s true that content displayed on social networks has a very short life span, the same does not necessarily apply to your marketing blog. When you publish a new article, do you promote it in your newsletters only on the day that it was published? If that’s the case then you’ve got it all wrong.

The newsletter’s purpose is to distribute content that is already available on your blog. Refresh your old content and don’t be afraid to market the same content, even twice a month, using different promotions.

2. Do you have a call to action?

Professional content, such that provides readers with tips and information is good and interesting for your readers, but if you don’t incorporate a call to action, you’re leading your readers down a dead-end street. Providing interesting and useful content is important, but don’t forget that you’re still marketing something (product, company, blog, service, etc.) and you can’t miss any chances to call your readers to take action.

An action button can lead to your website homepage, a landing page or a specific article in your blog. It can also lead to an online survey, or straight to a sign up form that will ensure further information about your products will reach your new customer.

3. Know how to convert leads into actions?

An important question is when and how to take leads into the purchase phase. In this case, the content team must work alongside the company’s sales team.

Create a list of all the criteria that make a “potential lead”. After considering the important criteria, start thinking how to implement them into your content or sign up forms. For example, if you’ve decided that in order to make a sale the customer must be a woman, change the call to action text to specifically address women.

4. What about a “Thank You” page?

Ending the sale process is a very important page that is often neglected. Create a “Thank You” page that pops up or is sent to the customer’s inbox.

Thank you pages can increase your conversion rates, decrease unsubscribes and allow you to convey further marketing ideas to your customers.

Design a thank you page and incorporate a call to action to “strike the iron while it’s hot”. For readers that aren’t ready for that kind of commitment, suggest that they follow your company on social networks to further expose them to professional content regarding your products and services.

5. What’s your job after publishing?

Once your campaign is ready and is sent out to your readers, the real work begins. You can’t just send out a campaign and forget about it.

Follow up on your campaign results. Professional marketers should use any feedback from their campaign to start working on the next one, making it more professional and efficient. Take the time to look over your results and see where you can improve and optimize your future campaigns.

Everything comes with a price

So before you send your next newsletter, make sure that you pay attention to all of these steps. They may seem like small tips, but never underestimate how much a small change can make a huge difference.

Want more tips on designing and sending marketing newsletters? Visit ActiveTrail’s blog