Marketing Series, Part 2: Email Marketing is Easy and Effective

Step 2: Create Good Content

Once you’ve identified specific audiences, send them custom content. Consider what each audience wants and needs, and show them how your business can help. Send emails to notify customers about deals, events, classes, products, workshops and industry happenings. Diversify your content so subscribers don’t get bored.

O’Toole said content should “tell and sell.” Don’t bombard customers with endless offers. Find a balance. Try providing helpful information between featured deals or product updates. Put vital information at the top to ensure customers see it, and link text and images to your website of individual products to increase conversions.

Your emails should also include your company logo, contact information, and social-media links so customers can easily connect with your brand and business. You must also have an unsubscribe button to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, a law governing commercial emails.

O’Toole said creating content is the most challenging and time-consuming part of email marketing, but it’s easier once you get into a rhythm.

Some point-of-sale systems let users set up automated emails that go to individuals after they take specific actions. If a customer buys a product online, for example, you can program your email to automatically send a thank-you message. After a few days, send another email encouraging them to review the product. When customers leave something in their cart on your website, send an automated message reminding them to check out.

Automated emails help you work efficiently. You create and program the email once, and then it automatically delivers itself at opportune moments. Meanwhile, you can create more timely emails.

Don’t rush the process. Before sending an email, direct a sharp-eyed coworker or family member to proofread it to catch broken links and misspelled words. Most email marketing platforms also have a “test email” feature to ensure your system is functioning properly. Run the tests regularly to ensure your efforts aren’t wasted. As a reminder, be sure to find a point-of-sale system that gives you the power to automate.

Step 3: Optimize Your Send Parameters

O’Toole encourages clients to send two marketing emails weekly. He thinks emails sent between 8 and 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are usually effective.

Salerno, however, said smartphones are changing strict rules.

“If a buyer is on their phone and constantly checking their email, those rules won’t always apply,” Salerno said. “More people are checking their email at night or on the weekends, because they have their phone and their email is accessible.”

Salerno advises retailers to send emails at different times using AB Testing to see what works for their business and target audience. AB Testing, or split testing, is an experiment that lets retailers test the effectiveness of specific variables between two audiences. Test the send date, send time, subject line and message content. Analyze your results and adapt.