Is there anything more tedious than creating a marketing email that doesn’t land its intended audience?
Yes, there is. You have to deal with unsubscribe requests, complaints, and lost sales – all because you haven’t found a way to effectively communicate your message.
What’s the big idea behind effective email marketing? It’s simple. Every message you send needs to accomplish a goal. To put it another way, your email marketing content should move the ball forward. If it doesn’t move the ball forward, you haven’t achieved your goal.
So, how do you create effective email marketing content?
The 3-Step Email Marketing Process
Now, it’s time to lay out a game plan. Let’s look at the process you need to go through to create effective email marketing content.
Step one: Determining your target audience
The first step in the email marketing process is to determine your target audience. Does your email marketing campaign aim to grab the attention of millennials, or Gen-X, or maybe even Baby Boomers?
The demographics and psychographics of your target audience will determine the content you need to prepare. For example, if you’re aiming to reach millennials, you might want to prepare a slick piece of content full of video, music, and memes. Maybe you’ll even want to design a fun web banner to attract your audience.
If you’re going to pitch a luxury brand, you might want to prepare a piece packed with big words and fancy charts. Do some research on your target audience and then craft an email that will speak to them. You can’t predict what will work and what won’t, so you have to try a variety of methods.
Step two: Define your objective
The second step in the process is to define your objective. What does your email marketing campaign want to achieve?
It’s best to write down your objectives either on a sticky note or in a notebook. Keep a piece of paper nearby so you can refer to it throughout the creation process. You might want to state your objectives and the expected results of your campaign in the following manner:
- To increase online orders by 10%
- To boost conversions by 10%
- To grow our email subscriber base by 10%
Your objectives should be realistic and measurable. If you set yourself up to fail by aiming too high, you’ll end up disappointed. However, you can’t set yourself up for success by saying you want to achieve a low target. When you set your sights on a specific number, you’re more likely to reach it. The more specific your objectives, the more you’ll be able to track your progress.
Step three: Create different versions
The last step in the process is to create multiple versions. You need to be ready to send out your email campaign in a variety of formats. What’s the point of having a cool-looking web banner if you can’t send the right people to it?
Since everyone has a different display screen and web browser settings, you need to make sure your message looks good on all devices. Your target audience may need to click on links in your email to be taken to your site. In that case, you need to make sure the links are easy to find and press. This is why you want to create a few different versions of your email. Remember, some companies get over 90% of their email opens on mobile devices. So, you have to make sure your message looks good on all platforms.
If you have a limited budget, you might want to consider creating multiple versions with a content mill. They can take care of the writing for you and then you can focus on polishing and implementing it into different formats.
The bottom line is this. Nobody likes going through an email marketing funnel. People hate losing their valuable time filling out forms and answering questions. However, the time you invest now will be worth it in the end. You’ll be able to tell if your email marketing is effective or not based on your results.