Developing an effective email marketing strategy may be in large part based on the patterns and behavior that is typically demonstrated by the average consumer. Knowing how your target audience works will go a long way when it comes to developing campaigns and promotions designed to enhance and advance your corporate brand.
Over 97% of all users check their private email accounts every day, and almost two thirds of that number admit to checking the account several times during the day (this author is part of that latter two thirds). With the pressures of life mounting every year, people are jealous of their time, and as such will react negatively to any email that wastes that time.
The vast majority of email users will not hesitate to delete email that is deemed irrelevant, or delete messages from someone who sends them too many messages. As consumers, we only want in our lives that which is relevant and applicable to our needs. Anything else is going to be unceremoniously tossed. If you get marked as spam, then forget about any future messages getting through to that particular client.
What do we mean by relevance? Relevance is defined as “the intersection of content and context that is metered by frequency”, which is basically short for “right place at the right time”. If you want to engage your clients most effectively, consider the following:
Employ Audience Segmentation. This is key when it comes to driving relevance in any meaningful way, and may be measured by cost, revenue, and profits. In fact, most e-mail marketing budgets are markedly higher for companies who do not adopt the audience segmentation approach. Taking the time to employ this concept will almost always result in more cost effective marketing campaigns.
Make Testing a Part Of Each Campaign. By figuring in market test designed to measure what does and does not work, you can easily determine what strategies need to be reused and refined, and which others need to be discarded. Look at the variables such as frequency of messaging, time of day the messages are sent, and the quality of the content. Do they produce the results you are looking for? You should determine the number of messages that a subscriber is going to receive during a given month, say once per week, but take care to make sure your subscribers don’t get tired of seeing your name n their inbox. You want your brand name to be a positive thing.
Work With Subscriber Behavior. Whenever possible, pattern your efforts around the activity and behavior exhibited by your clients. Outfits such as Travelocity and Kroger send information based on the customer’s activity at their site or in their store. By tailoring your response to their actions, you are almost guaranteed a higher click through rate, greater brand name awareness, and customer satisfaction.
Content Is Still King. To borrow a tired cliche. Your content should be relevant to your clients’ needs, and using behavioral patterns to trigger content response is one of the best ways to directly connect with your subscribers. Make sure that what you are offering is of considerable value to your clients needs and wishes. The end result will be a much more satisfied customer base, as well as improved response and sales numbers. This is an ongoing process, since continued monitoring of customer behavioral patterns is crucial when it comes to maximizing your e-mail marketing efforts.
