Email Marketing Etiquette

You’ve decided to use email marketing for your business. Where do you begin?

First, it’s important to understand the purpose of a newsletter. While it is a great way to reach out to your customers without spending a lot of money, it is also a large responsibility. It is more than just putting an email together with a bunch of information. The recipients of your newsletter want something in return with value, not spam. That is why you want to make sure when it comes to email marketing you are taking all the necessary steps to derive the results you want. Here are some things you should keep in mind when creating your newsletter:

DO be relevant. The best question you can ask yourself when creating your newsletter is, “What would my customers find useful in my email?” Think like a customer. Try to stay away from sales talk and long paragraphs. Get right to the point. People have a lot of emails to go through and so little time. By focusing on too many goals can make your newsletter overwhelming. Stay on topic and stay away from outdated information.

DO provide a call to action. Give your customers a reason (an imperative need) to contact you. This is where you can get creative. Your call to action can vary from a discount or a limited time promotion. The Direct Marketing Association* found that 66% of consumers have made a purchase online as a result of email marketing message.

DO link your website. What can’t be said in your email, can be said on your website. By providing the link will drive your recipients of the email back to your website.

DO make your contact information visible. Place your phone number and email where they can easily be found. Don’t bury it amongst your content and make people search for it.

DON’T send out a newsletter to just send one out. Set up a deadline in advance. A monthly newsletter is typical for most businesses and allows enough time to start gathering the important information that needs to go out.

DON’T send before you proofread it. I cannot stress this enough. There is nothing worse than sending out an email to your customers and having misspellings and grammar mistakes. People will notice. Make sure to proofread it yourself and even read it out loud. Sometimes hearing the words spoken can catch any errors you wouldn’t have before. And once you’ve done that, have someone else read it over too.

DON’T leave out social media links. This gives your brand that extra push for reach and encourages people to engage with your business on the platforms you have. It allows you to also plug your services and products. According to eConsultancy*, 59% of companies are integrating email and social media channels together.

DON’T forget to brand yourself. Keep your newsletter appearance consistent. Create the kind of image you want to project your business as through colors, tones, and fonts.

If you are interested in learning more about email marketing or need help for you business, please contact us TODAY. #TurnTheLightBulbOn

*Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-stats-list

About Megan Tschopp

Megan Tschopp is a Digital Media Specialist at Harness TechED. She is a graduate from Eastern Illinois University with a B.A. in Communications and Public Relations. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, she now currently resides in Southern Illinois. When she's not diving into all things social media, you can usually find her exploring new places to travel to, overseeing her sorority chapter as a Recruitment Advisor, or surfing the web for all things Disney.

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