Random acts of email marketing doesn’t work. You must have a strategy that allows you to reach your email marketing goals. Without a strategic approach, you’re just throwing things at the wall, hoping they’ll stick.
To attain your goal, you’ll need to consider how you are going to measure it. What does success of this goal look like? What are the metrics that matter? Email marketing still matters and is still a valuable channel for marketing. A 2016 survey found that email had a median ROI of 122 percent, which was much higher than other channels like social media or paid search.
But how will you know when your leads are ready? At any given time only about 25 percent of qualified leads are ready to buy. That means you must create email marketing nurture campaigns to ensure you keep the conversation going with your leads. Companies that use lead nurturing well generate 50 percent more sales ready leads. Here we look at are five nurturing topics to consider in your email marketing strategy.
Who is your target?
Do you understand who your ideal buyer is? What motivates them? What are their pain points? What problem do you solve? Creating your ideal buyer begins with creating buyer personas, which are fictional representations of who you want to target. It’s more than demographics; it also includes lifestyle information as well as where these people are. Once you have determined buyer personas, it’s time to segment your email lists. Then your message becomes much more relevant to these buyers. Relevance makes people pay attention.
Plan messaging based on context
Do you know from where your leads are coming? It’s important to identify the context of the lead. What led them to find you? Context also informs where they are in the buying cycle: awareness, consideration or decision. If they are the beginning of the funnel, the nurture strategy should be focused on developing credibility with the lead and being a resource for them.
Automation is vital
If it doesn’t have to be done manually, it shouldn’t be. Manual nurturing is extremely time intensive and keeps you from focusing on more important areas. When you automate email nurturing campaigns based on the actions of your leads, it can be very beneficial to your operations. Automated nurturing allows you to keep in contact with leads based on cues from them instead of just guessing when they might want to hear from you.
Offer value
Any message you send to your leads should have value. It should solve a problem or inspire ideas. Otherwise it’s just noise. Inboxes are already full! So you must set yourself apart. This means that everything about your email content must be on target. The value you offer will depend greatly on where the prospect is in the funnel. If the buyer is at the awareness stage then focus on educational content.
Data don’t lie.
Data analysis is the best way to understand what’s working and what’s not. It should inform your next move. Don’t ignore it; it is too full of insights. Set a baseline first and see where the data takes you. For example, look at your email open rates. What are the trends? Do certain words help or detract? Set a goal to increase open rates, and make tweaks based on data.
Ready to create an email nurturing plan? At Swift Digital, we can help you create a program that will yield the results you desire. To find out how your business can get the most out of Swift Digital’s platform, contact us today.
