A longer list of subscribers will lead to higher conversion rates.†Many email marketers reason that a large email list coupled with more emails will statistically result in more conversions. A longer list will not necessarily translate into more conversions. The list needs to be targeted. If you have a list 100,000 people from various industries and different stages of their career who’s interests vary widely. Than a standard, generic promotion across your entire list will get you more unsubscribes than conversions. Email addresses for people who have no interest in your product or services have little worth and may alienate otherwise potential customers. Instead, slowly grow and refine your list by creating market segments within your list to target different interests among your recipients. “I’m a blogger, I don’t need email marketing.†Bloggers see themselves as part of the social media and often neglect to consider email marketing. While proper SEO, Twitter and RSS feeds will attract potential customers, these methods are weak compared with email. RSS subscribers and Twitter users are much less attentive and responsive than email readers. In addition, emails are opened within seconds of delivery, while feeds and Twitter posts are glossed over casually a few times a day. “Social media is replacing email.†Social media is not replacing email. In fact, it may be enhancing email’s effectiveness. You can see the evidence in the increased “open†rates realized by email marketers in the past year. As informal messages continue migrating to social media, your messages gain status among other important email messages. Additionally, in a 2010 study Merkle found that 42% of social media users check their email four times or more per day, compared to 27% that do not use social media. Plus, MarketingSherpa found that 75% of social media users said email is the best way for companies to communicate with them, compared to 65% for non social media users. “A good email is all I need to make the sale.†Email marketers have eight seconds to get their reader’s attention. The reader scans the page, soaking up your well-crafted, compelling message, reads the call to action and clicks on the link to your product. The email, however, is only step one. Unless your landing page has been crafted as carefully as your email, it will not convert. The short attention span of Internet users will not stand the test of pages that look nothing like the initial email or have no additional product information. Readers will simply close the page and move on, assigning the confusion to some error on your part. “Promotional and business-related emails don’t get read on the weekends.†Email marketers may be surprised to learn that this is not true at all. With the over-powering rise of mobile, smart phone and tablet users emails are being read at all hours of the day and on every day of the week. Often times, busy professionals who want to read your email may flag it in their inbox and when they’re sitting by the pool or attending their child’s baseball game will catch up on their e-newsletters. Also, don’t be afraid of sending an email on the weekend. After a few days check your metrics – open and click rates. Try this for a few weekends and determine if your email subscribers are more engaged during the work week or on the weekends. “If I send too much, people will unsubscribe.†As long as your emails are relevant and bring value to the reader, people will not unsubscribe from your list. In fact, by sending emails more frequently you are keeping your brand at the top of their mind, reminding them that they opted-in to receive your emails and offering them important information, discounts and educational insights. You actually run a higher risk of unsubscribes by sending infrequently because people will forget that they signed up to your newsletter and delete, unsubscribe or report it as spam. “Email marketing is no longer effective.†or “Email is dead.†With increasingly large volumes of email in everyone’s inbox coupled with the growing spam epidemic, many people feel it has damaged the credibility and effectiveness of legitimate emails. This is simply not the case. Email marketing remains an effective, measurable medium that allows marketers to easily track various email marketing metrics. Email is the preferred method of social media users who choose to interact with companies and brands. And companies are adjusting the budgets and contributing more to email marketing efforts. Forrester projected that U.S. spending on email marketing will increase by a compound annual rate of 11% until at least 2014, when it will reach $2 billion. According to MarketingSherpa, email was one of only two tactics in which more organizations increased their budgets in 2009. There is clearly a value to maintaining an email marketing strategy! “Email campaigns are difficult to design, deliver and manage.†Actually, this is entirely not the case. With all the resources, tips and email marketing providers creating effective, professional-looking email campaigns can be a very simple process. MailerMailer, for example, provides a host of guides, metrics reports and educational articles on email marketing trends, tips on improving email effectiveness and dedicated support when you’re ready to build your email campaign. https://www.mailermailer.
