Over the past 18 months, email marketing has once again been in the spotlight. This can largely be attributed to the different ways in which the pandemic has impacted consumer behavior: As organizations have now more fully embraced remote work, and as more and more people shift their purchases online, email is simply a convenient way to communicate. Unsurprisingly, marketers have caught on to the surge in email use, and begun championing email as a true pillar of their digital strategy.
To be clear: The enCOMPASS team has long believed that email marketing, when done strategically, is an invaluable part of any digital effort. And as consumer behavior continues to evolve, it’s important that marketers be ready to adapt in kind.
What does that mean for your email marketing strategy? There are a few steps you should take to ensure you’re getting the best results, particularly as consumers rely on email communication more and more.
Four Ways to Adapt Your Email Marketing Strategy
1) Make sure you’re segmenting your email list.
Email is most valuable to your consumers, and thus most beneficial to your business, when it provides a personalized experience and specific solutions.
Achieving this means segmenting your email list, ensuring that you’re providing your subscribers with content that’s more laser-focused on their needs or goals. Of course, you should be segmenting customers as soon as they are added to your email list; for instance, you may have a list of people who have actually made a purchase, then a separate list of users who simply signed up for your email newsletter. We recommend segmenting further, collecting customer data and using it to tailor your email content to different needs, interests, and preferences.
Note that, as third-party data collection becomes increasingly fraught, first-party data collection from your own website and customers is going to be a key component of future success.
2) Experiment with when you send emails.
Another way to get more out of your email marketing strategy is to play around with different sending times. Believe it or not, the time of day you send emails can have a big impact on your open rates. Alas, it’s hard to recommend a single time that’s best for sending emails, as it can vary from one customer to the next. (Some people may check emails just once daily, first thing in the morning; others are more likely to open emails during the afternoon or evening.)
Be mindful of even these small details, and willing to experiment with different sending times. Of course, we don’t recommend blind or random experiments. Make sure you’re actually analyzing the data and using it to optimize sending times.
At enCOMPASS, our email marketing platform automates this, collecting individual data for subscribers and determining the best time to send to each subscriber based on their history of interactions with emails received. We make this automated approach available to all of our digital marketing clients.
3) Emphasize personal connection.
In many ways, a lot of us remain physically distant from one another, particularly those who are still working from home. This makes any sense of personal connection truly precious. That’s something you can provide through your email marketing efforts, engendering the trust and goodwill of your recipients.
What does this look like, exactly? Avoid emails that feel robotic or overly salesy. Instead, include personal touches that allow recipients to feel like they’re corresponding with an actual human. Take some time to write compelling emails that make customers feel seen and understood.
4) Show a sense of compassion.
Along the same lines, underscore that you and your email recipient have a shared, human bond. You can do this by acknowledging that you, too, are impacted by the tumult and disarray of our world. That doesn’t mean taking a political stance, but it might mean showing solidarity with a meaningful charity, non-profit, advocacy group, or cause.
The point here is to show your customers that you understand what’s happening in the world around you, and that you care about more than just selling your products. Aligning with a good cause or even just acknowledging the craziness that surrounds us can help you establish that human touch, making it more likely that subscribers will read your emails and consider buying from your brand.
Always Be Evolving
Email marketing has long been an essential way to connect with customers and clients, but in recent months, it’s really taken on a new urgency. There are plenty of ways you can adapt your approach to email marketing, continuing to evolve along with consumer behaviors.
Questions about how to update your email strategy, or about how to execute that strategy most efficiently? We’d love to chat with you. The enCOMPASS team is here to provide digital consultancy services, along with access to best-in-class marketing technology. Contact us anytime you’d like to talk further.
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