Email marketing?! We’re kidding, right?

You might be surprised at our answer: a resounding, “NO!”

Email marketing is a classic, but also very powerful way to grow your business. Today we present to a few best practices that will go a long way in creating a successful campaign. It’s a platform that has yet to be disrupted. We use our email for communication, as well a way to log into our social media accounts, shopping websites, online software, etc.

As powerful as email marketing is, it’s easy for it to get lost in a crowd, as many of us receive more email than we have time to read. So how do you entice the recipient to open your emails?

There can be a few reasons, brand loyalty is near the top of the list; people are interested in the products and services a company offers, the content provided lends value and creates a positive experience. All of this lends to connection, increasing the likelihood that customers will open the email. Buzzfeed and Medium are amazing examples of producing content and sharing information about products and services in a way that makes people want to learn more.

Here are a few tips companies should follow to rise to the top of a cluttered inbox.

• Use social feeds to your advantage. Social content can bridge the gap and make it easier for companies to gather new email addresses. Offer something of value to potential clients; perhaps a webinar, a series of education emails, or a downloadable document with worthwhile information. There may be available content that can be repurposed, for example, turn the information shared in a popular blog into a downloadable PDF document.
• Direct customers from a post or ad to a landing page.  A well-worded post or ad can send clients to a landing page on your website. Users are prompted to enter their email address, and a copy of the document is automatically emailed to them. Companies gain another contact, and future clients can see the value added by the company, all with little to no work on the business end! Don’t ask customers for a lot of information. Just the basics of a name and email address will open the door for you.
• Deploy your website. This strategy utilizes your company’s most important content hub – your website! One of the best ways to do this is to include a link to your site in either your social feed or an email that drives traffic to your site. Then, create a landing page that matches the content in the campaign. Visitors will appreciate a seamless transition, and will be drawn to take a look around your website as well. Again, giving users downloadable content for free is another way to entice them to enter contact information, broadening your reach.
• Keep subject lines and headlines short and attention-grabbing. We humans are a finicky type and our attention spans are dwindling quickly, leaving very little time to rope in a potential customer. Peaking the reader’s curiosity is the best way to prompt them to open your email or follow a link. Short and sweet is the best option, and you’ll gain bonus points by using emojis! You can search and find codes to copy and paste them here.
• Grow your email contact list by leaps and bounds. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. That’s where 100th Monkey’s LinkedIn Services can come to your rescue! We can help you find and connect to the titles, companies, and leaders that would best align with your marketing goals. From there, we verify and organize your email contacts into our database, create crisp, clean email campaigns, and monitor the leads that fall into your lap! It doesn’t get any easier than that. If you’re more of the DIY-type, we’re also happy to consult with you and teach you how to accomplish this yourself.

If email marketing is something you’re ready to tackle with our help, give us a shout and let us know! We’d love to help you gain new contacts and turn them into sales leads. Don’t hold back when it comes to this powerful marketing strategy!