If you’re reading this blog post, take a moment to consider how you got here. Did you find it organically – you were on Farmhouse’s website and decided to check out the blog – or were you led to it from somewhere else? Chances are you were pointed here from social media or perhaps you landed here as the result of an email you received in which case KAPOW! BEHOLD THE POWER OF EMAIL MARKETING!
Look, you don’t need to be embarrassed that you fell for a marketing tactic. The point is that email marketing is — dollar for dollar — probably the most effective way to drive customers to a business, whether it is brick and mortar or a web storefront. A regular email blast is one of the best ways to develop loyal customers and keep them up-to-date with news about your business, its products or services, and its people.
And did we mention: it is CHEAP.
Of course, cheap doesn’t mean there is no finesse to an email marketing campaign. There’s a lot to consider – from content to scheduling – but there are some very specific VERY IMPORTANT aspects to the structure of an email campaign that we have to establish before we look at the strategy involved. The very foundation of successful email marketing lies in using a reputable email marketing platform, and here’s why:
If you send 12,000 emails in one fell swoop from a private server – yourbusiness.com – they will get flagged as spam. When you send a mass email from a reputable service – we like MailChimp and Constant Contact – the receiving inboxes will recognize and accept the emails instead of marking them as spam.
People will skip anything that takes too much effort, like downloading and opening an attachment, so you are going to be sending an HTML-style email – one that contains graphics and photos in the body. You want those images to show up automatically, and services like MailChimp or Constant Contact use software that enables the recipient to see the graphics and photos instantly.
Using a reputable service allows you to better control the database of email addresses. When someone unsubscribes or opts out, you get a notification, and the list is constantly updated based in part on interactions you have.
These services provide statistics and analytics, enabling you to track your success via reports on open rates and click-through rates.
Getting the basis of your email campaign established is simple and cheap. Next comes the fun part: getting all that awesome content you’ve got ready to go out there to prospective clients and customers. Watch your inbox* for a heads-up when we talk email marketing strategy in an upcoming article on our blog.
*See what we did there?
Look, you don’t need to be embarrassed that you fell for a marketing tactic. The point is that email marketing is — dollar for dollar — probably the most effective way to drive customers to a business, whether it is brick and mortar or a web storefront. A regular email blast is one of the best ways to develop loyal customers and keep them up-to-date with news about your business, its products or services, and its people.
And did we mention: it is CHEAP.
Of course, cheap doesn’t mean there is no finesse to an email marketing campaign. There’s a lot to consider – from content to scheduling – but there are some very specific VERY IMPORTANT aspects to the structure of an email campaign that we have to establish before we look at the strategy involved. The very foundation of successful email marketing lies in using a reputable email marketing platform, and here’s why:
If you send 12,000 emails in one fell swoop from a private server – yourbusiness.com – they will get flagged as spam. When you send a mass email from a reputable service – we like MailChimp and Constant Contact – the receiving inboxes will recognize and accept the emails instead of marking them as spam.
People will skip anything that takes too much effort, like downloading and opening an attachment, so you are going to be sending an HTML-style email – one that contains graphics and photos in the body. You want those images to show up automatically, and services like MailChimp or Constant Contact use software that enables the recipient to see the graphics and photos instantly.
Using a reputable service allows you to better control the database of email addresses. When someone unsubscribes or opts out, you get a notification, and the list is constantly updated based in part on interactions you have.
These services provide statistics and analytics, enabling you to track your success via reports on open rates and click-through rates.
Getting the basis of your email campaign established is simple and cheap. Next comes the fun part: getting all that awesome content you’ve got ready to go out there to prospective clients and customers. Watch your inbox* for a heads-up when we talk email marketing strategy in an upcoming article on our blog.
*See what we did there?