A Beginner’s Guide To Email Marketing

Email marketing is an important channel of communication for brands looking to build relationships with their customers and leads. While target audiences might miss a new update on a brand’s website or social media, an email is delivered straight to their inboxes and can be read at their convenience, which makes it a great tool for sending newsletters and special offers to customers. 

But there are a few things to be aware of to ensure you get the formula right and don’t end up spamming (read: annoying) the people you want to engage with you. 

Step 1: Build a contact list

Before launching an email marketing campaign, you’ll need to develop a contact list with email addresses. This can be compiled from existing customer information or new sources such as a website pop-up or in-store poster encouraging people to subscribe to the email newsletter. Consider local data privacy laws and spam regulations when developing your contact list to ensure you have the right permissions to send promotional emails.

In order to send targeted communications, other than basic information such as names and email addresses, ask for details about people’s interests that are related to your business. This is especially helpful if you have multiple product categories. Tailoring your email content to suit a specific customer segment increases the chances of recipients taking action on the email. At the same time, it reduces the likelihood of the email being perceived as irrelevant and marked as spam, or your contact unsubscribing from the database.

Step 2: Get started with an email marketing software

Once you have your contact list ready, it’s time to set everything up on an email marketing software. There are many out there, including Mailchimp, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Marketo and more – choose one based on your needs and budget.

Many email marketing software systems will guide you through the entire process of setting up an effective email campaign. Typical features include:

  • Contact database that stores customer information
  • Signup form that can be used on your website to enrol new email subscribers
  • Email templates for different styles of emails (announcement, event, newsletter, etc.)
  • Content personalisation (e.g. customising the email greeting to include the recipient’s name)
  • Email previews on different devices
  • Email scheduling
  • Reports to track email performance

Step 3: Craft actionable emails

As much as sophisticated software could level up your marketing game with personalisation and automation, don’t neglect your fundamentals: the email itself.

Focus on crafting attention-grabbing emails that encourage action based on your marketing goals. Here are some email best practices to keep your customers engaged with your email marketing campaigns:

  • Use subject lines to stand out and make a good first impression
  • Write concisely so readers can take in key points even when skimming through
  • Focus on your target audience and how the information you’re sharing benefits them
  • Include strong calls to action with links that direct readers to relevant pages
  • Use engaging copy for your call-to-action buttons. For example, instead of “click here” or “sign up now”, try “learn more about [topic]” or “join the fun”
  • Keep the email colours, design and tone of voice on brand so your readers have a consistent brand experience

Step 4: Measure email performance

With so many elements to consider, invest some time in setting up A/B tests to evaluate the performance of various aspects of your email. For instance, running a test on the subject line could help you determine which option garners higher open rates, while running a test on the body could help you pinpoint the ideal placement for the email’s primary call-to-action button. Optimising the email will ensure your efforts achieve the best possible results.

The story doesn’t end when you hit “schedule” or “send”. After the email is delivered, it is crucial to measure its performance in order to make corrections for future campaigns.

Five useful metrics that can help you understand email performance are:

  • Delivery rate
  • Open rate
  • Click-to-open rate
  • Unsubscribe
  • Conversion rate

Email is a key component of an integrated marketing plan, and keeping track of your email performance over time will enable you to identify potential areas for improvement, further refining your strategy to build and strengthen relationships with your customers.

Need help refining your email marketing strategy? You’ve come to the right place — chat to us at [email protected]

The secret to getting people to open your emails

Getting your point across in an email isn’t as easy as you think.

No matter who your customer base is, chances are they receive dozens of emails and newsletters every day, informing them of special deals, new information or other updates to their business that might be of interest. It’s incredibly easy to get lost in the noise.

People are busy, and you have about one second to grab their attention when your newsletter pings in their inbox (check out my previous blog to help you create a newsletter people actually want to read.) That one second comes down to what you choose to put in your subject line. It’s what determines whether they click to open, or click to delete.

After all, what’s the point in sending out the greatest email there ever was, if no one opens it?

I subscribe to pretty much everything, so as you can imagine I’ve got a decent sample of both good and bad newsletters to draw inspiration from. There are a bunch I delete without taking a second look, but what about the ones that I actually do bother to open and actually read?

Here are some examples of effective emails that have landed in my inbox, which compelled me to click.

Zalora

Email Subject: How to look stunningly well dressed for any occasion
Content: Fashion/clothing options for any occasion

Zalora have crafted some amazing emails and really know how to use the power of email marketing to get directly in front of their readers. They have used what is called a “trendy topic” headline and made it catchy and relevant to their subscribers.

AirAsia

Email Subject: HURRY, grab your FREE SEATS now! Only 4 days left!
Content: A selection of destinations across Asia with free flights

Most people know AirAsia, and in this particular email they have really drawn on the “free” aspect to get people’s attention. Their audience are regular travellers looking out for cheaper deals (why else would they subscribe to a budget airline newsletter?) and so the use of the word “free” is an instant attention-grabber. The subject also has created a sense of urgency that encourages readers to click through – a very clever move.

The attraction to open email newsletters is heavily based on what is written in the subject and how much it appeals to a person at that particular time.

Here’s what you should be doing with your email subject line:

Summarise, and leave the reader wanting more: In a very short 40-50 characters (or less), you will need to summarise what your email/newsletter/offer is about. Keep your readers curious and encourage the clickthrough.

Make it urgent: Where possible, make the reader feel they must know the information you are presenting to them NOW. This is more likely to encourage people to take action with fear of feeling left out.

Keep the content relevant: Writing catchy subject lines doesn’t mean succumbing to clickbait. Your readers will get annoyed if your content is not relevant to what is written in the subject. You can be creative and quirky to capture attention, but ensure that your content is related.

Ask yourself why?: Why would (or should) people bother opening your email? Is what you’re saying important and worth opening to investigate further? Just because it matters to you, that doesn’t mean it appeals to others, so do your research.

 If you would like to look at ways to incorporate e-newsletters into your marketing and PR strategy, get in touch with us at [email protected]

Web

4 media pitching mistakes to avoid

Media pitching is one of the key components making up public relations, but the act of pitching is often easier said than done.

To many people it sounds simple enough: “I’ll just write a press release about my client’s business or event, find some media contacts, and send it to them! They’ll definitely run a story because it’s so interesting.”

Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to it than writing and sending emails.

Pitching typically involves a PR professional working with a business to identify key messages, interesting story angles, writing one (or multiple) targeted releases for specific media, and utilising their strong personal connections with media to ensure your story gets the coverage you feel it deserves.

Journalists receive a phenomenal number of press releases every day. The chances they won’t even open an email from you are high. The ball is in your court to do everything possible to ensure your press release reaches the right journalist and media, with the right message that is likely to get the attention of their target audience and readers. That’s what they care about – so that’s what you have to focus on.

And yet, mistakes are so often made during this process, and sometimes the smallest blunders have the biggest consequences. Being aware of the following potential mistakes can make all the difference between a story getting published… or sent to the trash.

Pitching the right story to the wrong media

Imagine you are a journalist, and you cover technology-related news, for example. You receive on average about 20 press releases a day and suddenly, you’re pitched something that has nothing to do with what you write about.

Why should you feel the need to respond to that person if they clearly don’t know what your publication covers?

huge-mistake

It sounds simple, but the mistake of pitching non-relevant content to media is probably the largest error seen in the industry. Under pressure to deliver results for client, PR professionals wrongly assume that blasting out a press release to the maximum number of journalists will result in the most coverage.

Not doing enough research before a pitch reflects very poorly on you as a PR pro and annoys journalists who don’t have time to waste as their deadlines loom.

When pitches land in the wrong inboxes, don’t expect journalists to help forward it on to the relevant parties. It is our job to ensure our pitches land in the right hands, not theirs.

Not looking into your email bounce-backs

If you’re pitching via an email blast, you’re bound to come across email bounce-backs. This could be because journalists have gone on vacation or medical leave, or because they’ve left the publication. Perhaps their overflowing inbox is finally just full.

Your job is to ensure they see your news, so you need to determine why they bounced and do something about it Journalists will usually include alternative email addresses in their automated replies to inform you of fellow journalists to get in touch with for your press releases.

Seize this chance to know someone new from the particular media, re-pitch your story and update your media database!

If that fails – PICK UP THE PHONE. It’s amazing how few PR professionals can be bothered to make a call to follow up (more on that later.)

Losing touch

Public relations is all about connections, networking and relationships. Without this, you’re just a person behind a computer hitting ‘send’ over and over again.

Staying in touch with media is what sets you apart from mediocre PR people. Make an effort to touch base with them regularly, catch up for coffees and lunches, and get into the habit of picking up the phone to say hi. Ask them what they’re working on, and whether you might be able to help. The more you stay in touch, the more likely they are to remember you when they do need something from one of your clients.

conversing

As well as staying in touch, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and time zones. When pitching a story that transcends the region, international pitching comes into play. This also means we need to be more mindful of some aspects that can affect pitching efforts.

Always make it known which time zone you are working from. This saves you from leaving the impression that you are difficult to contact (if, you know, they decide to ring you at 4am). Journalists have pressing deadlines to deal with and with you being out of contact when they will require additional information may result in them forgoing the story altogether.

If you’ll be away from the office for a period of time, ensure your colleagues have been properly briefed on what to expect should they come across any media requests. The last thing you want is to lose the chance of a great story placement from a lack of communication.

 Not following up with media

Like I said, journalists’ inboxes are flooded with press releases – meaning yours probably isn’t all that important to them. If you haven’t heard back from a journalist, it is imperative that you follow up on your pitch with a phone call.

By doing this, you will learn whether the journalist has even seen your pitch or received it at all. This gives you a second chance to bring attention to your story, and pitch over the phone in real time. Usually, this is a much better way to get a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If they say no, you can immediately ask why, and try to see whether there’s any way your story can work better for their publication by focusing on a different aspect or angle.

It’s possible a tweak is all it needed – but you might not have known that if you didn’t pick up the phone.

To discuss how Mutant can work with your business to push your story into the media spotlight, please get in touch with us at [email protected]