There are a lot of options for reaching your target audience. Traditional media, such as newsprint and TV, are still valid advertising channels, and social media is touted as a free tool for reaching your target market, but there’s another method of reaching your existing customer base that’s just as effective — email marketing.
Most businesses have an e-mail list, be it an or organized one or not, they usually exist.
Using this list can lead to increased sales, and sending e-mails is also a highly effective way of communicating with your customers.
Many businesses and organizations may already use e-mail campaigns, but may not be using them effectively — just sending a campaign and assuming your e-mail has been read may not yield the results you expect. If you’re thinking, “I have 500 subscribers to my e-mail list, therefore I must be reaching at least 500+ people when I send out my newsletter” (the + representing the expected e-mail shares) you’d be very mistaken.
Some readers will see your e-mail, and keep it in their inbox for later, some will simply deem the information irrelevant and delete it, and those who care will click the links — that is, of course, if you’ve added links to your campaign! To effectively gain information on your users’ interactions, your campaign should contain links to more information on the product, service or news update you’re providing. Ideally, these links will be directed to your own website.
By encouraging your customers to click links you’ll be able to track their interest level on your product or service. How many people clicked the direct link to your website or clicked the link to your special offer? Knowing this information gives you some understanding about how successful or unsuccessful your campaign has been. If you’re not seeing any clicks on your links you can somewhat deduce your customers’ interest level. Equally, if you check the statistics and notice that nobody has opened your e-mail it might be a good time to revamp your campaign, perhaps the design isn’t eye-catching.
Finally, having the flexibility to segment your e-mail list into select markets gives you the ability to target different groups for different campaigns, furthering your understanding of the interaction your target market is having with your campaign.
There are plenty of free and paid solutions for effective e-mail campaigning which allow you to track the results of your campaign. If you’re not tracking all this information how can you determine if your campaign is successful?
