One of the most difficult things for any start-up is to attract new clients. Digital marketing offers a simple and affordable, contemporary solution. It’s helped to level the playing fields somewhat. Now you can reach a wide audience, spread over a diverse area quickly and easy.
It’s a huge step-up from more traditional marketing media. Twenty or thirty years ago, you’d have to pay some serious money to get an ad aired. Now all you need is a halfway decent mobile phone and a YouTube account.
The downside, naturally, is that everyone is taking advantage. The digital landscape is getting extremely crowded. To stand out, you need to do some serious prep work. That’s why I’d recommend revisiting an old favorite – Email marketing.
The Benefits of Email Marketing
- Great reach
- Inexpensive
- Easy to customize
- Can be scheduled at the optimal time
The Downside of Email Marketing
The downside is partly that they are so easy to ignore. People, in general, are becoming less tolerant of marketing. If they identify your email as too sales-oriented, or spammy, they’re bound to ignore it and possibly unsubscribe off your list.
That’s assuming, of course, that they even make it into the recipient’s inbox. According to one of the leading online security experts, EveryCloud, the main risk to your cybersecurity is human error.
As a result, the company has developed a cloud-based app that scans emails before they are delivered to the server. That’s great for the company wanting to avoid cyber threats, but it’s not great for the marketer.
How Can We Improve Our Email Campaigns?
In short, you want to make your email seem as legitimate as possible. Here are some dead giveaways that could land your email in the spam folder
- Lots of links – If you’re creating a marketing email, you’ll want a link for your call of action and perhaps to some research. Aim for fewer links.
- Sales language – Using words like ‘Sale’, ‘Promotion’, ‘Great Deal’, and so on will get you shot down fast.
- A very large file – Marketing research proves that a picture really is worth a thousand words. The problem is that images are big files. Rethink the images you want to include. Do they add enough value for the bulk that they’re adding? When you’ve whittled it down to a couple of well-chosen images, be sure to compress them to save even more space.
- Not mobile-friendly – When designing the layout for your email, tailor it for the mobile user. An email that displays well on a mobile device will look good on a desktop as well. The reverse is not necessarily true. Start by using larger, clearer fonts, single columns, and full-width pictures. Then work on getting the file as small as possible so that it loads fast.
Final Notes
Email marketing requires some serious planning on your part. In the end, though, you’ll find that the effort is well-rewarded. Put a little more thought and effort into your next email campaign, and you’ll see the improved results for yourself.
